Give to the Max Day - Tomorrow!
November 15, 2010 – 6:09 PM CST
We know what you mean when you talk about bear withdrawal. We haven’t seen a bear for nearly two weeks. That was Lily and Hope when we visited them with the landowners. Now, with snow on the ground, we hate to leave tracks to dens, and we want the bears to settle in with no disturbance unless absolutely necessary, like placing a den cam. The picture is the view out the window of the Research Cabin looking across Woods Lake. The snow is still beautiful but temperatures are still up around freezing, so Woods Lake is not yet frozen.
Hibernation is not just a bear going to sleep. It’s a reduction of metabolic rate that continues whether they are asleep or awake. Reduced metabolism means reduced oxygen consumptions, so they breathe more slowly with a long intake, then holding the breath a few seconds, and a long exhale. They typically breath 2 ½ to 4 times a minute, but some only take breaths every 45 seconds or so. Heart rate is also reduced along with reduced circulation to the limbs. There is more about hibernation at http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/black-bear-facts/hibernation.html.
Today, we reviewed Programs 2 and 3 of the new Bearwalker series that the BBC will show in the United Kingdom about mid-winter, starring Lily, Hope, Juliet and cubs, and Gordon Buchanan. We (Lynn and Sue) are in the programs a bit, but we like seeing Gordon, who does a good job. We’re not sure when the 3 programs will be shown in North America. We hope they are shown far and wide many times. They show bears how they are, not the sensationalized danger seen in most programs. People will gain a better understanding of bear behavior and much less fear. We have been asked how our research helps bear management. The best way is by giving the public and public officials a better understanding of bears. For the public, this means people can enjoy the forest more fully without excessive fear of bears. It means fewer nuisance complaints to officials. It means people are more willing to coexist with bears. And that means more bears for viewing and hunting. During the decades of this research project, attitudes toward bears have changed enough that the population has about quadrupled. To us, a better understanding of bears is at the core of many issues. So much of bear management has to do with relations between people and bears. This project is one of the few that addresses bear-human issues.
We heard that yesterday was the second highest day for web orders in the history of the Bear Center. Thank you. When you place an order, it initially is given a status of ‘Confirmed’ if the payment registered and all is well. A status of ‘Pending’ means the payment did not go through. Bear Center staff then change the order status as they process your order. A status of ‘In Process’ means your order has been received and all is well. A status of ‘Backordered’ means an item is temporarily out of stock. Of course, a status of ‘Shipped’ is what we are all want to see.
Along the line of new merchandise for Christmas, we heard today that the high definition Blu-Ray version of “Bearwalker of the Northwoods” will be out within a month. It has not been added to the web store yet, though.
It’s gratifying to see all you’re doing to get ready for GiveMN’s “Give to the Max Day” tomorrow. Team Bear, our online fundraising committee, is quite successfully gathering commitments from generous fans who want to donate toward a matching fund for tomorrow's donation drive. If you would like to donate matching funds, go to Lily’s Facebook discussion page topic: "DOUBLE YOUR DOLLARS" MATCHING GRANT DONOR'S LIST and post that you would like to contribute toward the matching funds grant. These matching fund commitments need to be tallied up by 11 PM Central Time tonight so we can fill out the matching grant form.
The matching fund donations are above and beyond what will be donated tomorrow and will serve as enticement for tomorrow’s donors since their dollars will be doubled! Also, this matching fund will make the ‘North American Bear Center’ name more visible with a highlight.
We hope this effort will generate interest among people who have never heard of the Bear Center before. When they see how many loyal people support us, how could they resist but to want to check us out and learn more?
Donations can begin tonight at 12:00 midnight Central Time. Multiple small donations count for more than one large one. Direct links to our organizations are: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/North-American-Bear-Center and http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Wildlife-Research-Institute-1
We saw your response to the fundraising committee’s auctions. Thank you.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center