All GPSed bears did the same thing today—rested.
Lily and Faith are still the same place we saw them yesterday.
June and her 2 cubs have been in an area of less than 140 yards long since our visit Monday, October 3. On October 7 at 8:29 AM, they arrived at their current spot. They are about 150 yards from the den they know. Are they at a new den or just biding their time until they use the old den?
Braveheart walked her cubs over 2 miles between 5 PM last evening and 11:37 AM today. Since then, they have been resting.
Jo and her cub remained in a 120-yard diameter area they arrived at this morning at 5:53 AM.
This was mostly a Bear Center morning and office afternoon, so we didn’t get out to see where Jewel, Sharon, and Shirley are. They are radio-collared but not wearing GPS units so we have to find them by driving and walking. A purpose this time of year is to pin down when bears arrive at their den sites. We hope to check the three tomorrow.
Lynn is giving a 9:30 AM talk tomorrow to a University of Minnesota-Duluth mammalogy class that’s visiting the Bear Center. The class is taught by Professor Ron Moen, who studies lynx, moose, and more. His father is noted Professor Aaron Moen (retired) of Cornell University. Aaron is a deer and physiology specialist who did a year sabbatical with Lynn a few years ago. Checking the date of a paper they wrote together back then, we find that “a few years ago” was 1985. Time goes by faster and faster, it seems. The paper was
Moen, A. N., and L. L. Rogers. 1985. Radiant surface temperatures and hair depths of a black bear, Ursus americanus. Canadian Field-Naturalist 99(1):47-50.
A pleasant surprise today was an official hand-written thank you note from MN DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr postmarked October 5, recognizing the significant contribution of Lily fans in raising $50,000 for Soudan Underground Mine State Park. We say thank you for the thank you!
And thank you to Lily fans for all YOU do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center