bed used by Jo and Victoria at base of big white pineThe landowner where Lily and Faith are denning called back today and said no problem with installing a den cam. They also said they’ve had pictures in their house for over 30 years of a bear adventure they had with Lynn long ago. The configuration of the den will present new challenges for the den cam team. Fortunately, there are some creative minds on the team!
log ripped open for grubsSome have speculated that there’s nothing to learn from a den cam in the den of a mother and yearling. They could be right. But we won’t know until we try. No one knows what goes on in the den of a mother with yearlings. Researchers have heard humming sounds coming from such dens. Do the yearlings suckle even when there is no milk? Do they hum without suckling? How alert and active are they in the den? How does activity change as the winter progresses? We may learn the answers to these questions and more.
closeup of log showing teeth/claw marksSue checked out the area where Jo and Victoria spent many days before going on their big walkabout and finally ending up in a den. We wondered if they had started and abandoned a den where they had stayed for so long. No sign of a den found. Just beds by a massive white pine, torn logs, a torn-up hornet nest, and no droppings.
torn apart hornet nestPeg Taylor, Paula Alexis Boon, and Stephanie Knapp did more sleuthing on old bears. Here’s the list as it stands at this moment: Andean bear (37, died in the past few days just short of her 38th birthday), Panda bear (34), Polar bear (42), Grizzly/brown bear (44), Asian black bear (44), American black bear (37), Sun bear (32), Sloth bear (40).
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center