According to Sarmento, bear dogs are widely touted for bear hazing, but there is no scientific research on whether they work. He spent six years comparing dogs’ effectiveness with drones, cracker shells, and chasing in vehicles and recording the result so others could learn from his successes and failures.

Wesley Sarmento was the first prairie-based bear manager at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, a job that regularly put him right in between ma

The ecosystems that contain Yellowstone and Glacier National Park have populations of grizzlies that are rebounding so much that bears are moving out from the mountains back onto the prairie, where people and agriculture now dominate the landscape.

"The drone was such an asset that I couldn't imagine doing the job without it," researcher Wesley M Sarmento said.