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Holly, Lucky, Shadow’s Clan - UPDATE December 14, 2016

A Lily Fan captured an 8-minute, fairly high quality video of Holly getting up 1 minute 20 seconds into the video and immediately showing her fascination with the camera without causing damage Holly up closeHolly up close(Scott 3, Holly 0 in the ongoing Den Cam battle). Then she rakes straw in the way she does when she is fascinated by Vinny the Vole. Near the end, she lies down, but when Vinny moves, she raises her head and looks at the 7 minutes and 40 seconds mark, demonstrating how well bears can hear. https://youtu.be/ia3CEuDlurw.

Seeing her hearing reminds me of seeing if I could sneak up on radio-collared bears if I was quiet and didn’t say “It’s me, bear.” I couldn’t. Well, there was one exception, more or less, on April 24, 2004. On one of the early Black Bear Field Courses, Gordon Stull and I visited 4-year-old Dot and her female yearlings Cinder and Trueheart. We put a collar on Trueheart, but they all left before I could take the magnet off the collar to let it transmit. We followed the family and watched them lie down for a nap 15-20 feet away. Cinder and Trueheart snuggled up to Dot and fell into deep sleeps as young animals do when in the protection of their mothers. I wondered if I could sneak up and remove the collar without waking them up. I almost did. Leaning over them and touching Trueheart’s collar to pull the magnet off, she opened her eyes and leaped up. That made Dot leap up. Trueheart was startled enough that I couldn’t remove the magnet just then. We followed them for a half hour or so and finally got Trueheart to accept a treat and give us a chance to remove the magnet.

Shadow - August 5, 2016Shadow - August 5, 2016That evening, Gordon left and gave me a wonderful gift—his expensive 70-200 Nikon lens. He said I could use it to help bears more than he could, and that is going to happen. It is the perfect lens for Judy McClure to use at the Bear Center to get pictures of Ted, Lucky, Holly and Tasha for calendars, updates, postcards, and more. Judy is not a photographer but says she is trainable. I already knew that. Now we just have to get her a good Nikon camera (probably used) to go with the lens. Another Gordon story was another act of generosity a few years ago when Lucky needed a vasectomy. Gordon, a top veterinarian, has given more bears vasectomies than anyone I know. I asked him for advice. He flew his team up here at no cost to the Bear Center and did it himself. I want to thank him again just thinking of it. Gordon is a Lily Fan.

Two other Lily Fans carefully updated Shadow’s Clan through 2016. Click here to view. You can also find it by going to http://www.bear.org, clicking the Education tab near the top, then click the Resources menu item in the left hand column. You will see it at the bottom of the list.

As 29-year-old Shadow (above) gets grayer and grayer, we think she is about to set a record as the oldest black bear to give birth. She will turn 30 in about a month. For example the DNR's collared Bear No. 56 that died at the age of 39 1/2 in 2013 did not give birth past the age of 26.

Thank you for all you do.

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


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