THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE MADISON VALLEY, RUBY VALLEY AND SURROUNDING AREAS Montana’s Oldest Publishing Weekly Newspaper. Established 1873 75¢ | Volume 147, Issue 39 Thursday, September 5, 2019 A Montanan Circle of Life Larkspur, cattle and grizzlies in the Gravelly Mountain Range contribute to trail closures BY HANNAH KEARSE lanky, leafless stems from
[email protected] palmate-leafed patches that huddle close to the ground. The smell of rotting cattle Blue-violet flowers, with dash- carcasses is attracting grizzly es of white, cluster the tops bears in the southern Gravelly of the flowering stem in the Range. The Madison Ranger summer months. The peren- District announced a tempo- nial can survive 60 to 70 years rary closure of two trails Aug. and has been a part of Mon- 28 due to the heightened risk tana’s landscape much longer of grizzly bear encounters. than cattle. Eight cows grazing on pub- Tall larkspur contains up to lic land died after consuming 20 different alkaloids, which too much larkspur, a native vary in toxicity. Poisonous poisonous plant. The Mon- content is highest during the tana Fish, Wildlife and Parks early stages of its growth. estimated that the reeking Toxicity levels can vary from meat has allured as many as patch to patch, and year to 20 grizzly bears to the area. To year in a single patch. minimize risk to recreation- According to U.S. Depart- ists, bird hunters and bow ment of Agriculture Poisonous hunters, Forest Service trails Plant Research, cattle con- 6405 and 6422 and access into sumption of larkspur usually the Teepee and Lobo Mesa peaks in late summer, when areas have been temporarily toxicity levels are declining.