Is it true that no news is good news? There is no bear news tonight. We assume that all the bears are quietly passing this day in their dens with their heads tucked under to breathe the warmest, moistest air possible—all part of conserving heat and minimizing water loss through the denning period.
How long do they stay in dens? Pregnant females often enter dens in early September. After giving birth in January, mothers with extra small cubs have remained at their dens until early May. Eight months is about the maximum denning period here in northeastern Minnesota.
On the other hand, a few bears that have stayed up to eat acorns down by Lake Superior did not enter dens until early November. With an early snow melt, many bears emerge the last week of March. For example, Lily and Hope were out March 31st. A denning period just under 5 months is about the minimum around here.
The majority of bears around here enter dens in early to mid October and leave in early to mid April, for a typical denning period of 6 months. The picture shows a 13-year-old bear emerging from a den with her cubs in 1980.
Another bear story came in today to make 73 for the book Bear Tales. Send your stories to
Some have asked if we will enter the Pepsi Refresh project. We tried twice to get in and failed both times. It might take a concerted effort. The team will give its best shot in March when the Pepsi Refresh project reopens.
Your donations to the Ely Area Food Shelf have now gone over $1,200. Thank you.
A Lily Fan sent this link to a newscast from last winter showing video from just after the birth and from the day we installed the camera http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1350823174785&oid=263755115498. Watching it gets us excited for the installation coming up on December 30th. The team is making final preparations and getting ready to converge on Ely and make it happen again this year.
Thank you for all you are doing.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center