Just Lying Around
October 13, 2010 – 8:03 PM CDT
Lily and Hope are making no move to end the suspense about where they will den so we can continue planning for their den cam. We are trying to be patient…. Lily’s GPS unit failed so Sue hiked in to replace it and check on them. She found them in the exact same bed as yesterday—just lying around. Lily was particularly mellow. The pictures tell the story. This evening they moved 0.1 mile to another bed site, but they are still 1.8 miles from the den Lily dug.
This evening, Braveheart climbed the 180-foot rocky outcrop to leave her remote cedar swamp. She rested in another swamp before continuing her journey south. She is a half mile closer to the dug den she has been visiting periodically. She is currently bedded 1.36 miles northwest of the den. Although the high today was a balmy, calm 57 F, it’s getting close to the time when we’d expect most bears to be denned. We think of October 15 as the date nearly all bears are in dens.
Meanwhile, the North American Bear Center received a beautiful big wolf mount for an exhibit on bears versus wolves. Many people have asked for this exhibit which we will probably complete over winter.
At the same time, you have been voting $20,000 to help Ely’s Schools and to show how the radio-collared bears can bring good things to the region. We are still in the lead by 1,855 votes. 2nd and 3rd places are creeping up on us, but so far not at a rate to overtake us by the time the contest ends November 12. To vote, go to http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/.
The talk Lynn gave yesterday in Ely has been posted in 4 parts to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH2h89I2-jc.
Thank you for all you are doing to help.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center