Juneberries are at their peak, are abundant, and are bear favorites. We trust the bears will be feasting on those and staying safe until we arrive back at 1 AM on Sunday July 24th.
June’s eye looked better today. The drainage was less and it was open enough to see an eyeball. The nictitating membrane is covering more of the eye than usual, which is something we’ll check with the eye expert when we get back (we’re about to go out the door). We are hopeful she will recover without losing her sight.
The picture is of Bow, the 5-year-old daughter of RC. Bow has two cubs this year, a male and a female. They are back in the woods and out of sight.
The International Bear Conference is at the Westin Ottawa and lasts from Sunday, July 17 (Registration 1-8 PM and Ice Breaker at 7-8:30 PM) through Friday the 22nd. Wednesday is field trip day. Sue is going to Gatineau Park in a field trip that is full. Lynn and Donna signed up for the most boring field trip—visiting museums—and it got cancelled for lack of interest. Lynn and Donna will still visit museums to learn and to get ideas for improving the North American Bear Center. Ottawa is supposed to have some super museums.
The bear-feeding panel Lynn is part of is Friday afternoon.
We hope y’all fill out the survey to let us know what is important to you and how we can do better. As an inducement and thank you, you’ll get sent to a link to download a high res, signed picture. We’re not supposed to let the cat out of the bag which picture it is, but it is the very cute picture of Faith peaking out from behind the tree that is Lynn’s favorite. It’s on the cover of the Ely Summer Times all summer, so Lilypad Picknickers can grab it free when you’re here and can get it signed by the photographer easy.
Back to the survey. It’s confidential. You can reveal your name or not. Share if you dare. No information will be shared with third parties. It’s an easy, quick survey, or you can take longer and write comments. We want to know your thoughts and feelings.
Please get it done by August 1 so we can compile results and start posting summaries by topic. Here’s the link to the survey https://www.surveymonkey.c
Every vote you post for Soudan Underground Mine State Park shows the value of the radio-collared bears to this area. The crushing lead you have built up speaks volumes. At this moment, its 278,922, with 2nd place far behind at 87,661. To vote, go to http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/leaderboard and vote over and over.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Lilypad Picnic on Sunday when we’re back.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center