GARFIELD COUNTY, Utah -- The Garfield County Sheriff is crediting a bear for raiding a marijuana operation so often that he scared the farmers off Boulder Mountain.

"This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded," said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins, with a laugh. "If I can find this bear I'm going to deputize him."

Sheriff's deputies and Forest Service agents discovered 888 young marijuana plants and 4,000 starter sacks -- small plastic bags with seeds -- on Tuesday. Along with the plants, deputies found pipes chewed in half, food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the camp, and bear claw scratches carved into trees.

Perkins said it appears that whoever was running the marijuana operation decided to abandon his/her efforts after the black bear repeatedly raided the camp.

"This particular bear apparently was not going to give up and basically chased these marijuana farmers away, " Perkins said. "Our county is so tough on drugs that even the wildlife are getting in on the action."

The marijuana plants were growing on the east side of Durfey Creek in the Dixie National Forest, about 250 west of Grand Junction, Colo.