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Not worried – UPDATE September 12, 2013

Bear trackBear trackAt this point we don’t see any reason for great concern about the 8 bears wearing GPS units now as shooting hours close on this 12th day of the bear season.

After resting up for a couple days, Aster moved 0.77 miles between 4 PM and 8:35 PM.  The slow movement is undoubtedly because of difficulty moving rather than foraging.  However, we view this rather long movement as a good sign.  This evening, Aster and her mother June ran into each other—June coming from the west and Aster from the east.  June left the area and headed back to the west.

June and AsterJune (purple) and Aster (orange)Early this morning, June visited a house that is said to have 20 bird feeders.  Throughout the day, she moved 3 miles, passing close to a hunter’s bait and into the safety of Bear Head Lake State Park.  There, she passed within a half mile of the state park campground, but we didn’t worry.  She has never entered the campground in her 12 years of life.

Jewel spent nearly 18 hours in a very small area until light was fading at 6:40 PM.  She then moved 0.9 mile in an hour and a half and is in an area we consider safe.

As darkness fell, Juliet moved to one of her usual resting areas.  Ursula spent the day on posted private property and is moving.  Dot is in friendly territory and moving.

Lily has not given a GPS location for over 3 hours but we are not concerned, considering the area she is in.  Her radio-collar is likely twisted in a position that makes it hard for her GPS signals to reach the satellites.

Faith worried us some today by not sending any GPS locations since about 7 AM.  We were encouraged that she was in her usual area deep in the boonies or a little south of it.  Then, at 4:36 PM, she posted a location 2.4 miles from there back in the chokecherry patch she has been using so successfully the last few days.  Had she left the chokecherry patch to patrol her territory or was she tired of chokecherries and looking for more variety?  Whatever the reason, she is back in the best chokecherry patch we have ever seen.

We trust that Fern and Star, the two bears without functional GPS units, are safe, too.

Thank you for all you do.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.


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