Jo bear - Sept 22, 2011At this point, we know nothing except that no one has seen Hope. We all just hope she is safe. Many are praying and lighting candles. We spent the day putting together the puzzle of Lily’s movements leading up to Hope’s disappearance. Nothing is clear.
Jo and her cub - Sept 22, 2011We just want to know what the story is with Hope. With her refusing to wear a radio-collar, we are all in suspense. We are thinking the worst, of course, but we have been wrong before, and we know little about mixed-age litters. Maybe we are about to learn something. We sure hope so.
People in the area are calling us with sightings of single young bears. We do know that cubs get a little independent at this time of year. Today at midday, Faith was foraging a third of a mile away from where Lily was resting. They were together again this evening. Could Hope be doing the same, only more so because she is older? We don’t think so. Could Hope have gone off to make a den, considering that she was already into den construction a couple weeks ago? We doubt it. We left a message with the local DNR office asking for more information about young females being registered recently. We’re waiting for them to call us back.
Faith this evening. Lily is nearby.
With things so up in the air about Hope, it would be a distraction to hold Team Bear’s Round 4 fundraiser this weekend, so it is cancelled.
Jo and her cub are on the move. We intercepted them today to check on Jo’s GPS unit.
coy Shirley all decked out todayAnother crisis today was that Cookie put herself in jeopardy again last night. Before we could put up the electric fence this morning, Cookie returned to the beehives and got through the fence. The beehives are just across a road from an extensive forest that holds virtually no food after the 2 ½ months of drought. This beehive episode was the first complaint of Cookie being a problem, so it’s not a pattern with her. We recommend that beehives be surrounded by an electric fence or a strong enough fence to keep bears out, and that would include a fence over the top. We added the electric fence today, so we hope Cookie learns not to mess with the hives any more. We hope she goes to a den soon and finds more food in the woods next year.
At the North American Bear Center, the landscapers are making rapid progress in fixing the waterfalls.
Much happening behind the scenes on several fronts. More later.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center