Common redpoll - January 19, 2015Last winter, Holly learned how to handle intrusive mice. You slap at them! She hasn’t forgotten. In this 10-minute video captured by a Lily Fan, A vole (probably a meadow vole) investigates Holly’s nest in her den. At the 2:46 minute mark, Holly slaps. She’s out of practice, though, and doesn’t come close to the very quick vole which got the message and didn’t come back. The rest of the video just shows Holly resting. Many thanks to the Lily Fan with the good, quick use of the record button.
http://www.wildearth.tv/videomark/holly-slaps-vole-012115
In Juliet’s 4 ½ minute Den Cam video, she wakes, shakes, and settles back down. With all the bedding she has, she is not venturing out to get more bedding like Lily did in 2010 in the days just before she gave birth.
Northwoods Ecology HallYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEA59dSP-o
Vimeo https://vimeo.com/117352840
At the Bear Center, the mountain lion (cougar) and red fox were placed today. The mountain lion will be one of the first things after the moose that people see as they come into the Northwoods Ecology Hall. The red fox is by its den.
We had fun today sharing with Lily Fans the progress the teams are making in the Ecology Hall. Much is happening and much is in the pipeline. The way things are coming together, I know the Hall is something that will make everyone who had a part in it feel proud. 
Lily makes the cover of SaltscapesActually, it will be a work in progress for years to come because there is so much to tell. We are extremely glad that people came together on this and are creating something that will share so much about nature, habitat, (including bears) with the public.
Out the window, redpolls have made it here in numbers. Northern Minnesota is near the southern edge of their winter range, far from their summer range in the northern arctic.
The publisher of Saltscapes Magazine kindly sent the latest issue (Jan/Feb 2015, Vol. 16, No. 1) to me. It has the stunning picture of Lily on the cover that Lily Fans earlier voted the winner in a photography contest. It is the picture Jim Stroner took as Lily started to emerge from her den, coming up through a snow drift. Somehow, Jim captured her beautiful eyes and face with incredible sharpness and perfect light. It might be the best picture ever taken of her.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.