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Foot Pads, Mink, Rain in January - UPDATE January 23, 2017

This winter, Holly’s Den Cam is giving us the best looks at foot pad removal I have ever seen. The first 1:22 of this 4-minute video from a couple days ago might be the best.Mink faceMink face I’d like to see that snippet looping in the Bear Center as part of an exhibit on foot pads in the hibernation section https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-xduXxs2Go.  Many thanks to the Lily Fan for capturing it.

Downy woodpeckerDowny woodpeckerOut the window, the mink was back at the bacon in better light this morning, giving a good look at how different its little round ears are from the larger, more pointy, fox-like ears of the pine marten. The mink even gave us a look at its teeth as it was chewing.

Mink profileMink profileA male pine siskin with more yellow than usual visited today.

I don’t have the statistics, but rain is rare here in January. Everyone is talking about the weather being above freezing day after day when we often have weeks of below zero weather. In the store, people ask me if the bears will be getting up (they won’t). The raindrops on this downy woodpecker’s head prove the light rain we had today with a temperature of ~34 F.Pine siskinPine siskin

Thank you for all you do.

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


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