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Mothers Warming Cubs, Ted at Work - UPDATE February 3, 2017

On this cold day, I’m thinking about mother bears keeping their ten to twenty-day-old, 1-pound cubs warm. If we had Den Cams, this would be a day when we would scarcely see the cubs—possibly during a toilet break. Pine martenPine martenMost of the time, she’d have the cubs snug underneath her near her nipples with her head tucked under her chest breathing on them. Her hind legs would be tight against her sides. Her forelegs would be crossed in front of her to further minimize drafts. Her underside is sparsely furred and has little fat so she can transfer heat to the cubs. In most dens, there would be an insulating layer of bedding, but Jewel didn’t use any bedding in her sandy-floored dens. She had Fern and Herbie as newborn cubs in one and as yearlings in the other. All went well. Sand may work as insulation itself.

Pine martenPine martenOn this sunny day, Ted was busy raking, putting the final touches on his job of converting the wall of straw to bedding. Early in this 3-minute video, a shadow obscures him, but by the end it has moved out of the way, moving 15 degrees an hour (360 degrees in 24 hours). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-7GnVy9wWw

ChickadeeChickadeeOut the window, a chickadee perched in perfect light to see the detail of its feathers. Ms Marten got her daily meal of date mash and disappeared, maybe into a trash can lying on its side on the third floor deck with a lot of tracks around it. I didn’t dare look for fear it would disturb her. She’d be warmer in Quill’s House with all the leaves in it, but the trash can may be safer. It’s where I can’t imagine any other animals going except maybe squirrels that she’d be happy to see.

Thank you for all you do.

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


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