Donna bear in den - Nov 7, 2011On Donna Rogers’ birthday, we found her namesake Donna the Bear! On a hunch, we checked her old den of the winter of 2009. As we approached, we saw the most thorough job of raking up bedding we’d ever seen. The forest floor was bare. Leaves were piled up by the entrance of this absolutely classic den. We were with Glenn who had crawled into this den back in May 2009 to retrieve Donna’s collar after she spent the winter there with her big cubs Skeeter and Scooter. This year, with 3 big cubs, she knew what to do. Glenn said the den goes way down in and is spacious. Thank you, Glenn.
Donna's den - Nov 7, 2011We couldn’t see the yearlings and didn’t immediately know it was Donna, but Donna knew us. She never made a bad face or said a bad word. She barely lifted her head. She knows Glenn’s voice well and probably remembers Lynn’s voice from the years they were in contact. Now, Donna has shifted her territory into the eastern part of the study area where Glenn has the most contact. We had initially worried about Donna after finding her empty collar on a tree she evidently had been marking—knowing she was without a collar and ribbons during the bear hunt.
We are relieved about Donna but still puzzled about Colleen. We believe she is alive, too, and hope to solve that mystery one day.
raked area around Donna's den - Nov 7, 2011Lynn was up early, thanks to the time change (it’s harder for old guys to adjust…) so he checked Jo’s signal from a distance about 5 AM today. Her telemetry signal was still toward the den. Maybe she plans to stay. We can’t show a picture of Jo’s den or give any details about it because it would be too easy for someone to find. We’re crossing our fingers she’s not spotted in the next 2 weeks as she settles in.
We are confident enough about Lily and Faith staying in their den that we called the landowner for permission to install a den cam in a few weeks. We’re waiting to hear back.
Occasionally, bears are disturbed from their dens during deer season, so we routinely check all dens after deer season to make sure.
The Pond Cam is down due to technical problems. The technicians have been called and should fix it tomorrow. Where is Jason when we need him?
Thank you for the many birthday wishes for Donna Rogers on Facebook today!
The mailings about the GiveMN Give to the Max Day have gone out to those on the NABC and WRI Mailing Lists. Please remember that your donations will not be matched unless they are given on November 16th!
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center