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Calendars and a Flashback -UPDATE December 3, 2014

Lily and June - June 16, 2007Lily and June - June 16, 2007The staff has orders down to a science, each one doing his or her part in an assembly line to get bags of orders to the post office every few hours. Scott Edgett is a specialist at putting calendars in heavy cardboard envelopes. He has Sue Mansfield and me signing box after box of them. Thank you for your orders!

This one-minute flashback of June and little Lily is from June 16, 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSmBg_-NtYQ. June and Lily are tearing open a small log for ant larvae and pupae, foods that become available in late May—especially if temperatures were warm enough for ant reproduction. By mid-June, ant reproduction should be in full swing, and it is a favorite food.

Lily tearing into a logLily tearing into a logLily switches to another log and goes to work. June checks it out but chooses not to compete with Lily. This deference to cubs is common. Also, if the mother has a log and a cub whines for access, mothers commonly let them have it—not always. Lily tears frantically at the log, shredding the most rotten outer wood, pausing to lick up the tiny white morsels she uncovers. The frantic pace of tearing logs apart might be because bears are hungry and after a favorite food, or it might be because adult ants grab larvae and pupae in their pincers as soon as the colony is disturbed and begin scattering their brood to save them, meanwhile spraying the air with formic acid which bears don’t like.

Lily knew right where to dig and be rewarded. Bears sniff out the colonies. Then she was done and moving on, not bothering to lick up adult ants which are much less preferred.

Lily the tiny Black BearLily the tiny black bearAt the Bear Center, Holly got a delivery of leaves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtoBdvPN0pU with more to come. Some of the Fedexed leaves are yellow, green, red, and orange, which could make Holly’s den the prettiest we have ever seen. A Lily Fan captured Holly’s reactions that bring smiles to faces as she eagerly put them in place using her paws, muzzle, and mouth. Holly looked thankful for the leaves.

Thank you for all you do.

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


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