Grizzly bear trapped in Elmira

When Karen Garrison spotted two grizzly bears eating clover outside her Elmira home, she grabbed the video camera.

She also contacted Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which trapped and relocated one of the bears and continues to look for the second.

“She was concerned,” said Garrison’s husband, Lloyd, owner of Cedar Springs Archery.

Fish and Game had learned the bears had been hanging out and raiding garbage cans west of Elmira behind McArthur Lake, said Wayne Wakkinen, a senior wildlife research biologist with the agency in Boundary County.

“We talked to several people and figured we better do something,” Wakkinen said.

They set a couple culvert traps on Friday night and by Sunday morning, they found a 2-year-old, 175-pound female grizzly inside. They also placed a radio collar on the bear and transported it to the Priest Lake area of Boundary County.

“It’s pretty good spring range and no people,” Wakkinen said. “We’re still running traps to see if we can catch the other one.”

If caught the bear will be not be relocated to the same place.

“They’re kind of like teenagers,” Wakkinen said. “When they hang out together they will get in trouble.”

It’s believed the bears are siblings who were recently sent on their own by mom.

Wakkinen suggests that people keep garbage cans stored and don’t put out sunflower seeds for birds because these attract bears.

He guesses there are 35 to 40 grizzly bears between the Canadian border and Schweitzer Mountain and into the Priest Lake area.