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Faces of Bears - UPDATE August 9, 2014

OlianaOliana - Braveheart's daughterWe are taking face shots of the bears of Eagles Nest Community for our catalog to help recognize them into the future. Today was the first time we have seen Oliana well enough to recognize her in two years. We took a mug shot for the record and got her weight (198 pounds). She will turn 4 this winter and almost certainly will have cubs.

Today, V-Dot was good to reveal the chest V and dot that gave him his name. He is typically so shy we can’t get a good picture.

V-DotV-DotYesterday, Big Harry presented an unusual opportunity with his face lit by the setting sun. He, along with Lily and other bears, were stars of the Trail Cam by the Deep Rock Den. We retrieved that SD Card and watched the 100 videos it captured since May 4. We weren’t surprised to see Lily, Eli, Ellie, and Aster at the den, but the appearance by Big Harry was a very pleasant surprise that told part of Lily’s mating season story. Just a day after Lily and the yearlings visited the den on May 9, Big Harry was there sniffing the places Lily had been. He added his own scent by standing and rubbing a tree less than 5 feet from the den. Two weeks later (May 24), Lily visited the den again. She was still with Eli and Ellie. Three days later, though, she cruised by without them and Big Harry close behind. We’re looking forward to more light-nosed cubs like Lily and Harry have. We believe Harry is Lily’s father.

Big Harry at sunset 8/8/14Big Harry at sunset 8/8/14Among other bears that visited the den was 3-year-old Aster who had trouble getting down into the 7-foot deep den with her bad leg. Other animals included a bobcat, wolf, pine marten, snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, red fox, deer (including speckled fawns), and bats.

We’ve been wondering about bats there and whether this deep den could serve as a refugium for bats away from the Soudan Mine where local bats are being decimated by a lethal fungus called Whiteface Syndrome. When we’ve crawled into the den, we’ve looked for bats but knew they could be out of sight in the small cracks that radiates from the den. We haven’t seen any in the den yet, but the Trail Cam recorded video of bats flying up from the den and circling over it—as many as 4 visible at a time. One even alighted on the Trail Cam and covered most of the lens for a few seconds.

We’re assembling the videos to put in an update. We’re also assembling the bat videos to give to a DNR researcher who is studying bats and is concerned how bats will survive the Whitenose Syndrome problem.

Thank you for all you do.

 

—Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center 

All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.

 


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