Tasha, Ted, Monarch, Wildlife - UPDATE September 14, 2016
Tasha is out again tonight. Making progress. Not as afraid of Lucky and Holly. Lily Fans caught the action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA5wlki-330 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eeigy4VIIU
Curator Sharon Herrell tells the story.
"Tasha showed up in her enclosure at 11:30 for her breakfast. She was in for a brief time and then out and about again. She seems to love her freedom but still needs to respond to her name being called. At the 3:00 Behind-the-Scenes Lucky, Holly and Tasha were all on the mound eating. Tasha kept her distance but grew bolder each time she ran from the two. Holly does keep her watch on little Tasha. The dynamics of the relationships seem to change each day. Tasha is becoming more confident but still wants Holly to play."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riBpUbBA0RI.
Yesterday, Ted made us wonder what he was thinking. Could he be considering the Rock Den for the winter? We'll see if he thinks he fits as well in there as Honey and Lucky did.Out the window, again there are fewer bears and more food to share. This time it was mammals taking their share. I haven't seen a pine marten for over a year. Maybe two years. Marten numbers are down. But out the window, a volunteer snapped a picture of one on the railing and a gray fox waiting its turn. The marten was quick, like weasels are. Shortly the marten was peering down from the top of a red pine stump about 30 feet tall.
Not all the bears are gone, though. At dawn, Samantha was looking for her four cubs, grunting as she walked, sniffed, and looked up trees. She found them hidden high in a white pine. The one in the picture looks big, so it is probably one of her two males, her biggest cubs.
I saw ripples in a bay of Woods Lake and walked down to maybe see a beaver. It was a female mallard. By the time I got down there she was gleaning bits of vegetation from the beaver dam, which I didn't know they did.
At the Bear Center, monarchs stole the limelight for awhile as Donna Rogers and Linda Ziobro released 5 of them. A beautiful picture they sent for the update.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center