Lily and Hope make a move
September 28, 2010 – 9:00 PM CDT
Lily and Hope moved overnight to the area where Lily had attempted to dig 3 different dens last fall before returning to her original den (where Hope was born) on Oct 3. Had Lily returned to the area to work more on one of those dens or perhaps an entirely new one? I joined up with them this afternoon hoping to finding out.
I didn’t. Lily did have dirt on her nose, but she didn’t lead me to a den or anywhere else for that matter. She’s slowing down and was content to rest and sleep (even snoring at one point) and let me hang out with Hope—who’s still quite active.
Hope knows me well and is comfortable with my trudging along behind. She was feeding on peavine and bedstraw plants scattered through the woods. At one point, she looked up then grabbed the stem of a downy arrowwood bush and pulled it down. She mouthed the leaves but paid particular attention to the inflorescence—the part of the plant that once held the berries. This made me think she’d fed on downy arrowwood berries and recognized the shape of the leaves. We’ve seen this behavior in bears before. I remember watching June look up and then pull down a lone mountain ash tree to check for berries. There were none. It’s not surprising that bears recognize leaf shape or bark texture. We humans do and our lives don’t depend on that knowledge the way bears’ lives do.
Hope did something very interesting. She briefly made the motor-like comfort sound we associate with nursing and then began to tear into a well-rotted aspen log. She grabbed mouthfuls of wood and peeled it back. Then she rubbed her head on it—again and again and again. She continued to work feverishly at the log for 15-20 minutes, stopping every so often to rub more. When she walked away, I grabbed a chunk of wood to check out later. The rotted wood smelled pleasant and 2 people described the scent as ‘almond.’
Eventually, Hope joined Lily and they rested together. At one point, Lily used Hope as a pillow (picture). At another, Hope used Lily as a mattress (picture). As I write this, Lily and Hope are still in the same area. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Braveheart roamed today but shows no sign yet of returning to the dug den. Juliet and her cubs also roamed but eventually returned to the same bed site they used yesterday. Jo is still with the deer carcass. We wonder how much of it is left.
Ely School District’s lead in the Care2 school contest has grown to 1586 over second place—incredible! The link to vote is http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/.
Lynn and Donna Rogers returned this evening. Tomorrow’s update is his!
Thank you again for all you do.
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center