The veterinarian was right. When Lily had diarrhea yesterday, he said that was to be expected and she should continue to get better. Today, Lily produced a solid stool. She’ll be fine. Faith and Hope had a long peaceful nursing session today but seemed to get very little milk. The veterinarian said Lily could probably resume lactation easier after being sick with continued suckling that she could after several days of no suckling. Between Faith and Hope, we hope this setback in lactation can be reversed with suckling from both. Faith is small but still vigorous. She can run, climb, play, and nurse—all good signs—and she is beginning to find and eat solid foods.
We’re hoping spring green-up comes soon. Yesterday we had a little snow and below freezing temperatures. Today started out below freezing but warmed to 55 degrees. Next week is supposed to have highs of 58-62 and lows of 31-47, which hopefully will mean vegetation springing up in the uplands. The lowlands are still frozen with patches of snow.
We tried hard to see June today. We haven’t seen visited her for 8 months. We want to know how many cubs she had, their sexes, and how they’re doing. We couldn’t get close. She eluded us. We’ll try again.
In the Readers Digest contest to win money for Ely, we are holding 6th place, voting like mad as people try to catch up or stay ahead of us. The link to vote 10 times in a row each day through May 16 is http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN.
In the Chase contest to win money for the International Wolf Center, you have us solidly in 3rd place with only 1 day to go. This is the contest where we can vote only once through May 4. To vote, go to this link http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving and click “Like.” Then go to this link http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/411543539-international and register your vote for the International Wolf Center.
The petition to name the black bear Minnesota’s state mammal has 1,487 votes and is athttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/BlackBear-MNState-Mammal/. Some big things are happening on this behind the scenes.
Thank you for all you are doing.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center