Another first for Den Cam viewers—a cub wandered far enough outside the den to be caught on the PTZ camera! The image is not clear enough to determine which cub it is – but we’ll likely see more cub adventures in the coming days. The warm weather is slated to continue.
Lily and Hope seemed to be checking on various trees outside the den. At one point Lily climbed several feet up a small tree, bit the trunk with her teeth, and swung around to hang before dropping to the ground. This is a move often employed to break small trees down; however, Lily did not succeed in breaking this one. Lynn saw her sniffing a willow tree in that general area when he visited the den last week. Willow catkins are one of the first foods available to bears in the spring. The catkin buds may be swelling with the warm weather we’ve been having recently, and, if they are, Lily’s nose knows!
Video of some of today’s den adventures is online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8PLOOMuDQE .
We immediately sent them on to officials and newspaper writers. Our message contrasted hunters posting bounties on Lily on the Internet with students wanting to learn from these research bears. We also mentioned WCCO's Opinion Poll that ran 98.15% in favor of protection, and we mentioned the petition you all worked on that was signed by 190 Minnesota self-identified hunters supporting protection versus only 71 Minnesota hunters who signed a petition against protection on the same website.
Representative Phyllis Kahn sent a draft of a bill she will introduce. It is not the ultimate protection we need, but it is a step in the right direction. It should stimulate good discussion and should pass. Phyllis is a tremendous asset to have working on this. She has judged the level of support in the legislature and pushed the limit with her bill. It will help while we all continue to push for protection. This fight will continue into next year. Meanwhile, we will gain strength. Articles like the two above will help gain support. Efforts by some hunters to post bounties on Lily and other research bears will backfire and ultimately help gain support for the protection. More on Representative Kahn’s bill when the wording is finalized.
Meanwhile, protection gathers momentum. What we need now are more articles like the ones above. We would ask that other Minnesota teachers who are using the Den Cam and Lily and Hope in their classrooms contact their local newspapers. We would ask that teachers everywhere have their students send packets of letters to Governor Dayton and Commissioner Landwehr. Letters from students telling about what they have learned from the den cam, and from teachers illustrating how they have used the Den Cam in their classrooms, would be most helpful.
More support is emerging in Ely, where Ely schoolteachers and leaders recognize the value of the radio-collared bears to Ely schools. They will be using one of the Black Bear Boxes in their teaching, and they will be using the $20,000 you all obtained for Ely schools to improve their science and technology teaching. Now, Readers Digest is running a contest that could bring another $40,000 or $10,000 to the schools. We need to get fully behind that voting to further show the value of the radio-collared bears to this area. We appreciate what you have been doing so far. This all shows the value of the bears in bringing the world and the Ely community together to help each other. Readers Digest voting is at http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN .
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center