Reunited at last
Reunited at last
May 26, 2010 - 10:24 PM CDT
It was the most satisfying moment of my 44 years of bear study. When Sue and I got the cub into the little carrier kennel and I saw Sue crying, I could hardly keep from breaking down myself. And then seeing Lily and Hope’s reunion was the most beautiful expression of animal emotion I have ever seen. Hope was bawling very loudly, and Lily was doing her pleasant grunts as Hope latched onto a nipple and Lily half dragged her nearer to the white pine where they had nursed together so many times in April.
Sue is readying video she took of the reunion. It’s late, and we were up half the night last night, so we’ll fill in details tomorrow.
Thank you all so much for pulling together with us as we all went through this emotional roller coaster. The roller coaster effect continued right up to the unexpectedly wonderful end. More on that tomorrow.
While we were in the woods attempting to reunite Lily and Hope we got a call from a homeowner who had a visit from Juliet. More about that tomorrow too!
Video footage of the reunion is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk1URFahgSc.
Thank you for the tremendous outpouring of support today. We can’t wait to meet many of you all at the Lilypad Picnic in a couple months.
—Lynn Rogers, Biologist, North American Bear Center