It's not because of nightmares about the grizzly bear that mauled him last month.
But something wakes him. He doesn't know what.
He figures it's the pain lingering in his wounds - not his psyche - that won't let him go back to sleep.
He just stares at the dark, tries to nod off, waits for the sun to rise.
But the Stevensville man says he's mostly gotten on with his life, deciding to go back to work as a construction supervisor, to resume bird hunting when his wounds heal, to keep a positive attitude.
He's decided not to dwell on the mauling, which happened Oct. 15 along Dupuyer Creek near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation while he and three friends were hunting pheasants.
A young male grizzly bear charged out of the brush, mauled him for about 15 seconds and fled.
“I thought my buddies were going to be packing out a dead body,” he says.
State wildlife officials captured the bear a few days later and relocated it.
Grand needed surgery and bunches of stitches to close wounds on his head, face, throat, hands, arms, back and leg. His flesh was torn open to the bone in some spots.
He may have permanent nerve damage in his right hand, which was broken, but he's foregoing physical rehabilitation as well as counseling.
Grand, 39, a California native who moved to Montana nearly 20 years ago, often ventures into grizzly country in pursuit of birds, elk and other game.
He's carried bear spray in Alaska and Canada, but says he now believes that grizzlies charge too quickly for the spray to be effective.
He wasn't carrying bear spray or a sidearm when he was mauled, and he won't carry them in the future.
If fate decides the bear is going to get you, it's going to get you, Grand says.
But he may carry a shotgun that takes not only birdshot but some heavy slugs that might tip fate his way if another bear charges.
He says he and his hunting partners followed all the rules of being “bear aware” - making noise, looking for signs of bears, putting bells on their dogs - while they bagged a dozen pheasants before the grizzly attacked.
He says he's not angry at the bear, but he bristles at state and federal bear biologists, who he says are downplaying the increasing danger that grizzlies pose to people in Montana.
He said he agrees with Vic Workman, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioner who generated controversy recently by saying bear spray provides a false sense of security, and that firearms are more effective in warding off a grizzly.
Workman, who doesn't carry bear spray when hunting, made the comments after he shot at a charging grizzly, which fled into the woods near Whitefish Lake.
Workman's position conflicts with recommendations from FWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which say studies show people and grizzlies are far more likely to escape unharmed when bear spray is used rather than firearms.
Grand said he also agrees with Workman that grizzlies have become so numerous that they should be taken off the endangered species list and hunted in a limited number to teach them to stay away from people.
He thinks government biologists are taking too long to complete their grizzly population studies.
He says everyone knows many grizzlies are returning to historic rangeland that long ago was converted to farms, rural neighborhoods and other places occupied by people - places where grizzly bears should not be allowed to live.
And Grand wants grizzlies that attack people to be killed rather than relocated because the ones that “have a taste of human blood” will return looking for an easy meal.
“I'm not saying grizzlies should be wiped out” or hunted in remote wilderness areas, he said, “but we've got to draw the line somewhere.
“Everyone's always saying, ‘the poor bear.' You're talking about the fiercest animal on the North American continent. There's too much consideration given to grizzlies and not enough to human beings.”
But Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said hunting will not deter natural aggression from grizzlies if people surprise them at close range, get between a mother and her cubs, or get too close to a bear on a food source.
Servheen said taking the grizzly off the endangered list requires more than a high population of bears. It takes a proper management plan, a conservation strategy signed by a host of agencies, habitat standards and amended U.S. Forest Service plans. Such an effort is still several years away, he said.
State and federal wildlife biologists said they were not criticizing Grand or Workman for how they responded when they were charged, but the biologists said “bear awareness” and bear spray are the best chances for staying safe in the countryside.
Servheen said bear attacks are rare - there have been five this year in Montana, which is a typical number - and that far more people are injured in traffic accidents.
Mack Long, Region 2 supervisor for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said wildlife biologists and managers are working diligently to better understand and manage grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem in Montana.
The Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project is using genetic tests to estimate the population and distribution of grizzlies.
The project, results of which are expected to be released next year, is an offshoot of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, a cooperative effort among state, federal and tribal agencies, landowners, conservation groups and universities.
Long said FWP supports taking grizzlies off the endangered species list once all recovery criteria are met. At that time, the state of Montana would assume management responsibility for maintaining a healthy population of grizzlies and ensuring their safe cohabitation with human beings.
Reporter John Cramer can be reached at 523-5259 or at johncramer@missoulian.com.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)