We count each day as precious as Lily and family remain at their temporary bed and show us their undisturbed activities outside the den. We are lucky to have the Den Cam for this. We could never have predicted that they would give us this opportunity outside the den. Usually, we have to join them to see what they are doing, and then we would wonder if their wanderings were stirred by our presence. If Lily had really moved last night we would have always wondered if Jason’s trip to the den shed to get the Den Cam back online yesterday was the cause. Seems the family took it in stride.
Hope is a bundle of energy, and looking at Lily’s lack of belly, we think we know where she got her energy! But that might be jumping to a conclusion because 14-year-old Ted and 4-year-old Lucky are also playing in the forest near their den.
Walking far is hard just now. Lily demonstrates that as she falls through the crust up to her belly when she doesn’t follow the usual paths they have developed.
Hope spends periods idly playing by herself while keeping an eye on Lily. She doesn’t let Lily get far away without hurrying to join her. At this moment, the cubs are playing together in the temporary bed. They seem more content than usual, which makes us think that Lily is still producing plenty of milk with three and a half weeks to go before green-up and food. We think of the beginning of May as the beginning of the flush of young leaves protruding from the forest floor. Lily seems to be foraging for old vegetation in the few areas free of snow. We don’t know what she’s finding, so it will be interesting to examine scats around their bed or in the latrine they showed us before.
Some have expressed concern that Jason is weak or ill. From what we have seen, Jason is just fine. By nature he is the more cautious cub and this may work to his advantage in the long run. Faith is more adventuresome and willing to try new things. As cubs, Lily and Cal were both adventuresome while Bud was fearful and cautious. As June led them away from the den on April 16, 2007, Bud stopped and screamed from the top of a steep incline as the other cubs hurried down to follow their mother. June, Lily, and Cal all came back to Bud and he finally followed them down. The most intriguing part of the work we do is learning the individual personalities of these bears. That’s what makes the ‘new life in the den’, i.e. cubs, so exciting. Their personalities are evident early on.
Snow will disappear fast this week. Temperatures are forecast in the mid to hi 40’s F every day with some nighttime temperatures remaining above freezing. The crust will disappear. The snow will become soft, and more bare ground will show. Lily will know when to move to a better bed. This could happen while there is still a crust for the cubs, if they become mobile that soon. It could happen when the snow is down to patches in a week or so. Or she could carry them one by one if necessary.
Team Bear is in the middle of a week of auctions to reduce our debt, which you got down to $77,664 today. Thank you so much! The auction items include autographed pictures donated by the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Vikings; a 1 troy ounce sterling silver bear coin donated by a Lily fan; a photo of Honey; and more. A Lily fan whose mother was a lifelong bear-lover donated an item from her estate. It is a set of vintage heirloom sterling silver turquoise bear paw clip earrings and a matching bear paw pendant. They are all listed at http://www.facebook.com/lily.the.black.bear?sk=app_2373072738.
A Lily fan sent us this link to an article about Christian stewardship of wildlife using Lily and her mother June as examples, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v6/n1/bears. It gives a caring definition of stewardship.
In the Readers Digest contest to win money for Ely, you are keeping us securely in 6th place and stretching the lead over 7th place. Way to go. The link to vote 10 times in a row each day is http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN.
We hope to have another video posted later tonight! Please check for recent ‘bearstudy’ video uploads on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/bearstudy#g/u.
Just as we were getting ready to post this at 7:40 PM, we saw hungry crying cubs away from the bed, climbing nicely down from a tree to follow Lily and Hope off into the distance. Our first good sighting of both cubs away from the den and so nicely silhouetted against the snow. Both cubs are walking so well, and Jason seemed to be in the lead—and likely the one vocalizing. As we finish the update they are back at their bed site. But for how long?
Thank you for all you are doing.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center