Two recent incidents — a woman mauled by a black bear in her Ashley Lake home and a hiker injured by a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park — should impart lessons to all of us that this is a challenging time for bear/people interactions.

The black-bear incident underscores once again that bird feeders, garbage cans and any other attractants should be out of reach of bears at this time of year.

Bears are hungrier and more aggressive than usual these days as their annual pre-hibernation gluttony is intensified by drought that has affected natural food sources.

Local game wardens has been getting 35 to 40 calls a day about bears. To avoid having to make one of those calls, make sure there’s nothing around your home that would bring a bear too close for comfort.

Too close for comfort also could apply to the Wisconsin man who surprised a sow grizzly and her cubs in the Many Glacier area.

The hiker managed to deploy bear spray and fortunately curtail the attack — another testament to the value of having bear spray and being able to use it in a hurry.

Bear troubles aren’t likely to diminish anytime soon during this unusual year for heat, drought and other weather extremes, so it’s up to everyone to take precautions so that conflicts are kept to a minimum.

Safety first on roadways

We’re glad injuries weren’t more serious Thursday morning when an earbud-wearing 14-year-old girl jogged into Main Street traffic and was struck by a vehicle.

This incident points up a couple of lessons:

1) No matter how good the tunes playing in your earbuds, you need to pay attention to the real world, which can be dangerous at times.

2) If you’re driving a vehicle, you need to pay extra attention to those less-than-attentive pedestrians who may not see you coming, especially around schools. There are lots of young people hoofing it during the school year, and they are more important than your next appointment or text message.