Editor’s note: The IR is publishing a series of monthly profiles of injured and orphaned animals that have been rehabilitated by the Montana Wildlife Center at Spring Meadow Lake.

Each year, the Montana Wildlife Rehabilitation Center receives many bears, mainly black bear cubs. This is the story of one.

It’s a mystery how the little bear became orphaned. But there it was — perched in a tree in the middle of a “haunted” Halloween maze one October in Three Forks. The maze, part of a fall festival designed for school children to walk through, featured traditional scary things such as spider webs and skeletons. But no one expected “live animation” in the maze.

The treed little bear had earlier been spotted by town officials who had tried unsuccessfully to escort it out of town to a wooded area. This time, a Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden was called in to set a live trap.

The warden used food to bait the trap, and when the hungry cub slid down the tree and climbed into the trap, he stepped on a trigger, causing the door to close behind him. The cub had been “tricked by treats.”

The warden drove the bear to the Wildlife Rehabillitation Center in Helena. Upon its arrival, the staff found the cub to be a healthy, feisty little female — so feisty, in fact, that she really didn’t get along with the other bears, except one, a larger brown-phase male. The two began to eat, sleep and play together. When it came time to hibernate, to no one’s surprise, they went into a box together to spend the winter side by side.

Upon awakening early the next spring, they were still inseparable. After sufficiently fattening the two up for their long, winter nap, the staff released them together in June.

Once again, they were, happily, where all bears should be — back in the wild.

The bear facts

Grizzly and black bears generally wake up all over Montana in early April. The best strategy for dealing with reawakening bears is to avoid them. Learn to recognize bear signs an make noise near creeks and in think timber. Stop often to look around for movement.

In most cases conflicts can be easily avoided. But if contact does occur, prevent the bear from feeling threatened by remaining relaxed, calling out in a calm voice and avoiding any threatening movements or sounds.

If the bear charges, lay down or stay down if knocked down. The bear will most likely run past a person and then away if there is an easy avenue of escape.

People and bears can co-exist if people are smarter than bears. This includes using bearproof garbage containers, not leaving out pet or bird food and educating yourself on preventing encounters while enjoying the outdoors.