Conducting a Bear Rub Survey

Greater Glacier and Northern Divide Bear Project Bear Rub Surveys

	Repeatable survey routes are designated for sample collection. Bear rubs are identified, marked, and barbed wire is attached. Hair will be collected from the barbs on subsequent surveys.
	Bear rubs can be found throughout bear occupied habitat. Bears use many things to rub on (trees, cabins, posts, signs). This bear rub tree is next to a human used trail in Glacier National Park.
	When a bear rubs on the tree and hair is snagged on the short pieces of barbed wire we attach to the tree. Barbed wire is used to obtain large, discrete hair samples. This bear is rubbing on a tree in Glacier National Park.
	Data is collected on the rub and hair sample. The hair sample is collected with sterile tweezers and placed in a paper coin envelope.The barbs are sterilized before the surveyors leave the tree and continue on to the next rub.
	All hair samples are given to the field lab/data coordinator who enters the data in a database and sends them to the genetics lab for processing and analysis.

Return to Greater Glacier Grizzly Bear DNA Project - Rub and Scat Surveys

Return to Northern Divide Grizzly Bear DNA Project - Rub Object Surveys