Lily and Faith - Oct 19, 2011The dusting of snow covering the ground this morning made us wonder—would this cold snap prompt wandering bears to den? Not Lily. Not today, at least.
After noticing fresh dirt on Lily’s nose when I changed her GPS batteries last night, I decided to walk with her today to see if she was making a den. Documenting den preparation is something we can only do with our most trusting research bears. Lily is one.
As I homed in on Lily’s signal, I began noticing bear ‘trails’ – where Lily had been walking back and forth in the same footprints enough to leave depressions in the forest floor. Bear trails are often associated with marking trees but can form anywhere simply from repeated use. Lily and Faith have been in the immediate area for 3 days and the bear trails lead to a balsam grove where they have been bedding.
partially dug den - October 19, 2011After joining Lily and Faith, I noticed a partially dug den nearby (see picture). There is no more to the den than the picture shows—not big enough for either of them to crawl in and certainly not for both of them—and Lily did not go near the den while I was with them. However, her activities seemed to center around the area of the partially dug den.
She spent most of her time intently sniffing twigs, branches, and tree trunks. There was ample moose sign in the area—broken and browsed red maple saplings, browsed balsam branches—but the sign was old. Deer antler rubs were abundant on the aspen saplings—but again, the sign was old. No clue what information Lily was gleaning from all that sniffing. Only Lily knows and she’s not telling.
Most interesting and gratifying for me was the change I saw in the Lily–Faith relationship. When I last walked with them (Sept 30), there seemed to be something missing. It was more than just Hope no longer being part of the family. There was a distance between Lily and Faith that I didn’t expect to see with a mother and cub. And Faith seemed to be enforcing that distance—she bedded 20 feet from Lily, she foraged away from Lily, she resisted Lily’s attempt to groom her, etc.
Faith attempts to nurse while Lily grooms - October 19, 2011But today the two seemed like a family unit. Faith explored but kept circling back to Lily. She let Lily groom her and seemed to want closeness. After some resistance, Lily allowed Faith to suckle on the nipple Faith had used in the den last winter (Lily’s top left)—the only nipple that still shows some sign of use. Lily has little or no milk as she prepares to hibernate, but the suckling likely provides comfort and bonding.
A video of Lily grooming, playing with, and nursing Faith is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFlrXzWDko0.
Braveheart’s GPS signals disappeared yesterday at 4:30 PM and reappeared today in the same spot at 9:13 AM this morning—only to disappear in the same spot again at 2:54 PM. This could mean she has a den that blocks GPS transmissions and she spent the day outside. Time will tell.
Jo is still roaming around but seems to return to the same spot each time.
Lynn and Donna Rogers are in ‘the cities’ for the MEA Conference tomorrow. A team of volunteers has been working on preparations for the talk and the educational booth. Some non-educators are taking the day off to hear the “Let’s Talk Scat” presentation Lynn and Dana Coleman are doing. Nice to see support for the Educational Outreach effort—spawned by the Lily Den Cam and brought to fruition by volunteer effort. Sparking students’ interest in the natural world is a significant accomplishment when so much of their life is plugged in and tuned out. It’s an accomplishment we all should be proud of.
Thank you for all you do!
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center