Juliet and cubs at a den
October 5, 2010 – 8:53 PM CDT
Today, the North American Bear Center was honored to host a group of veterinarians from across the nation and from 8 countries around the world. Lynn answered questions on a wide range of topics for an hour and a half, followed by a half hour discussion by veterinarian Larry Anderson on the most recent parasite discoveries in this project. Larry is a semi-retired veterinarian who lives in the study area and is part of the research team.
Meanwhile, Lily and Hope remained in an area less than 80 yards in diameter from about 9:30 PM Sunday evening until about 2:30 PM today—41 hours. Then they expanded their activities to an area about 265 yards in diameter but didn’t move any closer to their den 0.9 miles east.
The biggest news today was Sue’s visit to Juliet at a den (picture)—the same den Juliet and the cubs were born in. Re-use of dens is only about 1 in 25. Sue called the landowner and asked permission to visit the den. Granted. She needed to replace the batteries in Juliet’s GPS unit. When she arrived, Juliet and one cub were at the den. Two others were maybe 40 yards away. They have been raking bedding into the den, although only enough so far for a bed for one bear. They probably have a lot more raking to do. The den is in a jumble of downed trees. Cedar trees, including one of the downed cedars, had bark stripped to use for bedding. One of the pictures shows a cub stripping bark to help. Although mothers usually do most of the work of preparing dens, cubs have the instinct and can make dens okay if they are orphaned as some are during the hunting season.
While we were busy, you were supporting Ely’s Schools. You added 586 votes to increase the lead to 1,735 votes. Meanwhile, the second place school added 3 votes. The contest runs through November 12.
Thank you for your donations and all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center