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Action at the Bear Center News - UPDATE June 12, 2015

Wet MikeMike has a snackThis is "ABC News" (Action at the Bear Center News) reporting on the latest between Lucky and Holly. Lucky shows strong attraction to Holly who is likely experiencing new feelings herself. A report from a Pond Cam viewer from Ireland revealed that they were cavorting this morning at 5:44 AM Bear Time and that Lucky “almost had her pinned down a couple times.” Onlookers expressed concern for Holly’s welfare. 381 pounds is a lot for a 155-pound lass to ward off.

What to do? Holly will tell us. If she is drawn to be with Lucky as usual, we’ll let them make their own decisions. If she is trying to avoid Lucky, we’ll pen one of them up. If it is Lucky we try to pen up, we hope hazelnuts are enough to get him to leave Holly’s side.

In the wild, males eat little when they are on the trail of an estrous female, and staff this morning confirmed that she is indeed in estrus. The interesting thing is that Lucky is castrated. We’re learning what that means or doesn’t mean to his behavior in a situation like this.

Videos from this afternoon showed that Holly wouldn’t leave Lucky alone. He was cooling off in the pond, and she kept going to him to play. We’re not worried. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri6ZhPs7EiY and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvKV95mjGoI.

Herring gullHerring gullOn another topic, a Lily Fan asked if the bear that was reaching for the gull’s spam the other day actually got it. No, it ended up rolling off onto the ground. We didn’t notice a gull being around or overhead at the time, but one had been on the garage roof and may still have been there. What we do know is that when a gull flew in a few minutes later, it went directly to the ground, which it had never done before. How good can their eyesight and understanding be?

As I was at the computer by the window, the gull that is most trusting flew in and looked at me. I got up and took out a little strip of spam. For the first time, it took it from my fingers. Then it looked so beautiful clean and white and I felt so honored that I snapped a picture. It’s lower bill shows the red spot and little black dot just forward from it that identifies it, although its individual behavior would be enough without seeing the dot. I’d rather not refer to individuals as it, thinking they deserve the respect of he or she, but I don’t know any way to tell the sex of a gull. Maybe their voices are different.

On a bright note in the midst of scrambling to get the Ecology Hall together, I submitted a Den Cam abstract to a big, prestigious and very selective organization that has little to do with bears and had it accepted as an oral presentation. Everyone hopes to be selected for an oral presentation, but relatively few are. Many are asked to make poster presentations instead, if they aren’t outright rejected.

I learned that a professor who will be in the July 19 Black Bear Field Course will be bringing with him an Apache Elder who is willing to do a blessing ceremony honoring black bears. That course still has two openings if the ceremony is of interest. I look forward to learning from him a bit about Native American attitudes toward bears. Having people around the table to ask questions will help with that discussion. The professor speaks very highly of this elder. I feel honored that the elder respects our work enough to do this solemn ceremony with us.

While newspapers talk of bear problems across northeastern Minnesota because of lack of food, I still haven’t heard of any problems in and around this community. Mike was here a bit ago contentedly eating sunflower seed hearts with a few hazelnuts I added because it is Mike (thanks to Lily Fans). His back half and bottom side were wet from cooling off on this 80-degree day. Before coming here, he was doing the same thing Lucky was doing in the pond when Holly wanted to play. Where Mike is wet, you can see his brown underfur that he has yet to shed. No wonder he stopped to soak before coming. Since Jewel chased him up the tree he is by, he has chosen when he can to eat by that tree.

As a Nature Note: Mink frogs have been calling for four days now. They are the last of the 8 frog and toad species around here to chime in. I haven’t heard a leopard frog for years now and wonder what happened to them. They used to be common.

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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