Down from the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear

Author Bryce Andrews had been a ranch hand until he decided he would rather work with wildlife than the commercial meat chain.

He switched careers and became a biologist.

His work took him to the Mission Valley of western Montana on the Flathead/Salish reservation. The surrounding Mission Mountains are rugged and beautiful; they also have a high population of wildlife, including grizzly bears. When the bears leave the mountain slopes and come into the valley, they are inevitably the losers in human/grizzly encounters, even though the Confederated Tribes that own a great part of the land in the valley, revere the great bears.

Andrews began by addressing the problem of bears destroying a local dairyman’s corn crop, a necessity for the show more energy needs of the dairy cows. He researched and then devised a new way of configuring the standard electric fencing to better discourage the bears.

During this time, he became very familiar with one female grizzly who had been shot in the face with a shotgun as she came too close to humans. Over the course of several months he had to watch this poor bear become a walking skeleton that was unable to care for her cubs.

It is a truly sad story; although Andrews’ new method of bear-discouraging fencing showed a lot of promise, saving the dairyman’s corn crop was not enough to save the dairyman’s future on his land. Ultimately the land would be subdivided, perpetuating a guarantee of more grizzly/human conflict.

I’ve lived in the Mission Valley (my son was born there) and thought the author’s descriptions of the beautiful places, the people and the conflicts were very well done.

My only gripe was that the audiobook reader consistently mispronounced several of the place names. Nothing says "I don't really care" like mispronouncing place names. show less

Bryce Andrews is a Montana rancher and conservationist. He loves grizzlies and has been monitoring them for years. Here, he follows Millie and her two cubs as they face the many challenges of survival, on his land and off. He is a very good writer and really keeps the narrative flowing, as we cheer these bears on.

Mission Hills, Montana, a place that has long harbored and protected grizzlies. Millie's Woods, named after a grizzly who has roamed the woods theere, giving birth to several cubs. As more and more people move into the area, farmers, survivalists, people who just want to be alone, and of course this with no good intention, the grizzlies territory is shrinking. Now they are running into man and what man thinks is his. When the grizzlies discover corn fields, they decide to stay with the protected stalks, eating away, causing huge monetary losses for the farmer. This is a story of Millie, her fate and the fate of her two youngest cubs. A story of those who want to protect these animals, and how they try to do so.

When an author is do show more passionate about his subject it is impossible not to be drawn into the story and into his heart. As mankind goes about killing anything that gets in their way, men and women like those in this book, may well be the last defense. If you're an animal lover, an environmentalist, this story will be heartbreaking.

The author says it best in these words,

"Knowing how we have misused land and wildlife, I have precious little faith in humankind. I think it likely that we will go on wrecking the beautiful world. But, I put my hope in bears of Baptiste's sort ---hardy, seeking adaptable creatures. They will find away around or through our constructions to places that once belonged to them. Given the merest chance, they will live."

One can only hope.

ARC from Netgalley. show less

places spiral bookring, In current day, the grizzly bears are indeed coming down from the mountain, searching for easy food, such as a farmer's corn field. The pictures of the Mission Valley, although black and white, helped the reader to visualize what Bryce was doing to try to deter the bears in order to save them.
Unfortunately Millie could not be deterred, nor saved. She tangled with someone who shot her with bird shot, then was able to outwit Bryce's electric fence, ultimately needing to be put down due to infection from the birdshot. She had kicked out her cubs, hoping they would survive on their own, but they were too young and wound up in a zoo enclosure. A reminder that when the farmette's cut into the large predator areas, it show more doesn't come out well for either side. show less

A balanced and respectful look at the life of endangered grizzly bears and the many challenges of modern humans and large wild mammals peacefully coexisting--even in a place as large as Montana. Bryce's extensive background as both a rancher and a nonprofit conservationist brings a much-needed voice to the land management discussion. Top shelf nature writing and some nice B&W pics--definitely pack a copy before you head to Yellowstone or the Tetons or before you plant any corn in Montana.

nonfiction ecology/biology
a little long-winded but still engrossing story for people who admire bears.

I learned about bears. I learned how much I didn't know about bears. I cried.