Grizzly spotted near Cody
CODY (WNE) — The Saturday report of a grizzly sighted north of town prompted Wyoming Game and Fish to post warning signs at the Outlaw Trails.
The bear was seen wandering off Wyoming Highway 120, north of the Cody Shooting Complex and east of the road in the Cottonwood Creek drainage, said Luke Ellsbury, G&F large carnivore biologist in Cody. The sighting was reported by a member of the public.
When Ellsbury visited the location, he saw tracks of “what appears to be an adult,” he said Monday.
He added that grizzlies have started frequenting the Cody area in the spring and fall.
“It’s become an annual thing over the last five to six years,” Ellsbury noted, “but we don’t seem to find them hanging around. “They’ve been pretty good about staying out of trouble. There’s been no damage.”
G&F posted the warning signs at Outlaw because “we know bears have been there before and wanted to let folks know there might be bears around,” he said. “Be bear aware and carry bear spray. There’s a chance of encountering a bear in the area.”
In the past, grizzlies have been seen on Sunset Rim and at the Park County Landfill. As a result of the latter incident, there’s an electric fence around the facility, Ellsbury said.
One was hazed out of a Russian olive grove on Sulfur Creek near its confluence with the Shoshone River last year. Another was trapped near the Powell Highway recently.
This story was published on April 30, 2024.