Duluth News Tribune's list of top 10 stories of 2010, that is. We weren’t surprised. The Tribune is brave to mention Lily and Hope, though, considering that back in mid-January they ran a story on Lily and it brought so much traffic that it crashed their web site for awhile. They might have upgraded their site since then because the site says it is the Northlands Number One News Site with over 4 million visits in November. They should be cautious, though, because Doug Hajicek is bringing the same publicity guy with him this year as last. We can only wait and see. The story can be seen at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/187303/.
We haven’t caught up yet after a day off, but it was nice to relax. We hope you all had a happy Christmas day doing the same. Lynn and Donna spent the day prowling the snowy woods around the Research Center looking for the antlers from the big buck that has been coming (see update from Dec 13). Tuesday evening he still had both antlers. By Wednesday midday, both were gone. Donna’s eagle eye spotted the antler with the telltale broken tine (pictured). We think the other antler, which is slightly bigger and more perfect is also in the area. It was a fun thing to do, and we can add the antler as an object of interest on the ground outside the viewing windows at the Bear Center.
Meanwhile, Sue spent Christmas afternoon snowshoeing behind her house. About a half mile down a wooded trail she found bear sign—very old bear bites on a balsam tree. When she looked closely she found bear hair from more recent rubbing.
As our first year together winds down, many of you are working behind the scenes to further research, education, and protection for the radio-collared bears. And looking at the thermometer on bear.org, we are remembering your generous giving and diligent voting that has brought us so far toward eliminating the debt. As of right now, the debt that started the year at $700,000 is down to $127,502. Incredible!
Thank you for all you are doing. The force you have become for bears is growing and is only in the beginning stages on so many things that could grow in 2011.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center