All is well
September 9, 2010 – 8:41 PM CDT
We visited Lily and Hope today to change the batteries in Lily’s GPS unit. Their winter coats are coming in thick and fluffy, as the picture shows. The wavy underfur has grown in and makes the longer guard hairs stand out—which makes even little Hope look big. Hope is still protective of food and Lily backs off. We found we needed to feed them separately in order to work on Lily’s collar. Lily and Hope are sticking together and most certainly will den together in a month or so. We will all learn what happens if Lily has cubs this winter in a den with Hope.
The BBC spent time with Juliet and her cubs today. They filmed as Juliet and two of her three cubs engaged in mutual tongue-licking—a poorly understood behavior we have only seen before between mothers and cubs in the spring. We are always learning new things. The BBC also filmed the family feeding on speckled alder leaves and male catkins. The catkins are green at this stage and will produce pollen in the spring. We have seen this type of feeding on alder leaves in the fall before and wonder what nutrients they get from these old leaves.
We have seven adult bears with working GPS units, and all are safe. This includes Lily (and Hope), June, Ursula, Jo, Dot, Juliet (and cubs), and Braveheart. A good feeling. Shadow is uncollared, but we think she has denned early as is usual for her. Donna’s GPS stopped working but she seems to have settled into the area where she generally dens. Dot’s GPS location hasn’t changed all day—if she hasn’t actually denned she is certainly slowing down. We expect the other pregnant females to den soon. The Lily and Hope denning story is still to be learned.
After the June scare yesterday, we noticed many offers to replace the damaged bird feeder—and some to replace the bird food. The offers got us thinking about the possibility of a ‘bear damage fund.’ The township has a committee to handle bear problems, and a bear damage fund here at the nonprofit Wildlife Research Institute that the Eagles Nest Township Bear Committee could use would be welcomed by all. Problems are infrequent due to the diversionary feeding program that has been going on in the township for over 40 years, but when a bear does hit feeders at the few places that feed birds, help would be great for public support and the safety of the bears.
We don’t want to overstate the danger to bears from homeowners in this township, though. The people here are used to bears. That is also a reason there are so few bear complaints from this township. Complaints depend upon what bears do and how people feel about it. As a group, people in this township are among the most knowledgeable about bears in the world. They are accustomed to living among them. They take precautions to avoid attracting bears if they don’t want to see them. And many people enjoy seeing them. Very few people have the fear or intolerance that could lead to shooting.
We heard from Doug Hajicek, the den cam man of Whitewolf Entertainment, that Sarah made national news on CBS World News. We feel her death will mean better protection for radio-collared bears in the future. Doug also said that yesterday, Lily fans were featured on the front page of Yahoo in two articles, one about the Coolest Small Town in America and another about your phenomenal effort for Bear Head Lake State Park.
Speaking of the park, while June rested within shouting distance of the park, DNR officials held a press conference to tell how they are going to spend your $100,000. Some news articles written about the press conference don’t give credit to the hard work done by Lily and Hope fans to obtain the victory for Bear Head Lake State Park. However, some writers at the conference know the real story. We’re looking forward to Doug Smith’s article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune tomorrow. We suspect he’ll get it right.
It was lasagna for breakfast this morning, salad and peaches for lunch, and cookies and candy to snack on this afternoon. Thank you!
Our email was abuzz with activity in the Education Outreach group, as is usual these days.
Thank you for your generous donations to the North American Bear Center’s debt reduction fund at bear.org and to the Wildlife Research Institute’s research fund at bearstudy.org. You are making a tremendous difference, as you know.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center