Victoria - October 9, 2011It was time to change Jo’s GPS batteries. We found them resting on a rocky hilltop where both Jo and her cub Victoria drank from puddles formed by recent rains in the rocky depressions. They looked good.
We lucked out and got a scat to boot. It contained vegetation and apple seeds. The apple seeds could be from a yard in Tower, an escaped apple tree, or a hunter’s bait. It takes awhile for a scat to work through in these days of little consumption. The apple seeds may have been from a visit to a lady’s yard who called delighted to say she saw this beautiful big black bear in her yard with a cub several days ago. She said the bears were eating fallen apples in her backyard and she called because she thought we’d like to know. She remarked repeatedly about the large size of the mother (Jo). At this time of year, all reports are of big bears. This is the time of year when the 4-inch fur that has been lying down suddenly stands up straight as under-fur grows in. The added 7-8 inches in diameter makes all the bears look big. It’s the kind of insulation that can make bears uncomfortable in the unseasonable, near-record temperatures we have had lately.
Jo and Victoria - October 9, 20112-year-old Jewel was in a new location today. From the rhythm of her loud and soft telemetry signals, we think she was making a den. We might have been influenced in that thought by the fact she is very near the den she used last winter. The landowner showed us 2 other (old) dens on that same property. The property has the kind of soil conducive to making bear dens, and apparently the bears know that.
Last night after dark, we located yearling Shirley. She is still active and not denning. Her sibling Sharon has made a big move to the area where she was born and where she denned with Juliet this past winter. We’ll check further after getting permission to enter the private property.
After a day of rest, Braveheart and her 3 cubs went on the move again about 3 PM today.
June and cubs are still where they’ve been for a week now (since October 2nd). Lily and Faith are where we saw them a couple days ago.
Jo - October 9, 2011We can’t mention Lily and Faith without thinking of Hope. Memories are vivid of her becoming a wary little bear on her own and then gaining confidence with Lily. We remember how she tried to play with us and follow us—she seemed to want and need contact. As tempting as it was, we didn’t engage her in play. We didn’t want her to think of humans as play partners and attempt to engage someone else in play that could be misinterpreted as aggression. However, Gordon did indulge Hope in play but only for a few moments for the Bear Family documentary. Our worries that she might engage a stranger in play proved to be misplaced. We have seen other cubs display such tendencies that disappeared when they became yearlings on their own. Data on these changes may be used someday to change rules for rehabilitation. Currently, many officials across North America rule that orphaned cubs that have had contact with humans must be killed rather than rehabilitated and released. Such rules may be too strict. It is a situation in which worries about liability drive management decisions, but changes in such rules can only come with data that quantify risk and show it to be no more than would occur with other cubs and therefore not a liability risk for management agencies. Hope showed us so much. She was such a character and a vital member of her family. She is missed by all who knew her.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center