Big day at the den

Faith snoozing in the sun

On a day like today we are glad we have you to share all this with.

Lily_sleeping_water_outside_den_-_20110327

Lily snoozing in sun - puddle in foreground

We wondered why Lily was spending so much time outside the den. We also needed to improve the camera view so the den-watchers can record good data. The first thing we saw when we got to the den was a puddle just outside. A picture inside the den revealed Faith and Jason high and dry but dampness where Lily would normally lie and wetness seeping in through the back wall. Maybe that helps explain not only why Lily spends so much time outside but why there was so much squawking in the den last night when the cubs tried to settle down and nurse under Lily.

Faith and Jason (facing camera) in den

While we were there, little Faith came out and went to sleep in the sun on top of a mound. She is a sweetheart. Lily came and checked her many times between bouts of play with Hope.

Faith licked the same willow sapling that Lily licked on camera yesterday, but we couldn’t see any sap running.

Faith (facing camera) and Jason

Lily was good enough to show us where the latrine is 25 feet from the den, which allowed us to collect both fresh and older fecal plug material. The latrine was down a hole dug in the snow about 8-10 inches in diameter. Very tidy. Some of the scat was larger in diameter, some smaller, making us think both Lily and Hope had defecated there. We should have taken a picture. We’ve never had an opportunity to see such a thing before.

Jason climbing!

Jason never showed. He was bright-eyed in the picture in the den but he must have fallen asleep. Both cubs were active for a long time outside the den before we got there. Jason had climbed a few inches up a tree earlier and Faith climbed even higher while we were there.

Contrary to what we said before, now that a few patches of bare ground are showing up we are seeing areas of high ground in the vicinity of the den.

first robin seen!

We think that as soon as both cubs can follow well enough they will move to higher ground. That will likely be a few days yet. We had earlier thought these cubs were developing faster than Hope did. Now we wonder. We are only 5 days from when Lily and Hope moved several hundred yards from their den last year. We’ll see how well the cubs do in the next few days.

Spring is coming as evidenced by the first robin, a beautiful dark male. But there are still signs of winter in the background. The redpolls and siskins are still around, and yesterday a northern shrike, a far northern bird of winter, showed up for the first time in years.

A big thank you to the family of James Bowman for directing memorials to the North American Bear Center. Jim loved Lily and Hope, and his family knew it.

You are keeping Ely in a strong 6^th place as competition for the top slots becomes nearly impossible. You’re making a major effort against much bigger cities. Way to go. The site for casting 10 votes a day is http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN.

Please check for recent ‘bearstudy’ video uploads on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/bearstudy#g/u.

Thank you for all you are doing.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

Share this update: