Lily, Faith, and Hope mousepadWe checked Jo’s den at dawn and she is still there. Everything seems to be okay. We worried about Jo and little Victoria because their den entrance is visible just 62 yards off Highway 169 and a hiking and driving trail runs behind the den. We know the trail was used a lot during deer hunting season which ends in a couple days on November 20. No problem. They’re still there. All seems well.
bumpersticker carListening to their signal coming from the deepest den we have ever experienced gave us a clue to the disappearance of Colleen now two winters in a row. Jo’s den entrance is about 10 feet down a bank, and the den extends several yards into the earth. That means they are about 10 feet underground with a small entrance that lets very little of the telemetry signal escape. From a quarter mile away, it is a moderate and intermittent signal. We heard nothing from a half mile away. We don’t know how far away it could be heard from an airplane. This makes us suspect that Colleen also found a den that goes far underground and liked it so much that she used it again this winter. We are confident she will show up next summer as usual.
Your efforts for ‘Give to the Max Day’ were on the websites of at least two TV stations and possibly on the news. Those were KBJR-TV in Duluth http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/enews/breaking/Lily-Fans-Donate-165000-For-Bear-Research-134132633.html and KMSP-TV in Minneapolis (no link). KMSP-TV was good enough to mention the North American Bear Center on “Give to the Max” day, too, at http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=1975&DateTime=11%2F16%2F2011+9%3A04%3A54+AM&Term=North+American+Bear+Center&PlayClip=TRUE
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Lily & Family 2012 calendarWe are still glowing over your erasing the debt and setting us on a course of expanding the Bear Center’s education program along with 2 den cams that over 500 schools and thousands of Lily fans can follow this winter. Again we thank everyone who helped—all the people who participated in the fun spontaneous fundraisers on Lily’s page, all the people who participated in the fundraisers that members of Team Bear worked so hard to put on, and all who donated to the thermometer or generously matched those donations. Thousands of people worked for bears and bear education. It was and is an awesome phenomenon of friends working together for bears.
Shadow's Clan 2012 calendar
The calendars, mouse pads, and bumper stickers are now available in the Gift Shop at the Bear Center and the online store. All are collector’s items, but we can say that triple for the calendars.
Both the ‘Lily & Family’ calendar and the ‘Shadow’s Clan’ calendar are big, beautiful, and a memory of this past year that we are not ever likely to surpass. We are proud of them—the quality and variety of the pictures, the information, and what they stand for. The designer is a perfectionist who attended to every detail. Most of the pictures are by professional photographer Jim Stroner who uses state-of-the-art cameras. These calendars are perhaps the best thing we’ve come up with!
The ‘Lily & Family’ is available at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&;flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=898&category_id=51.
The ‘Shadow’s Clan’ calendar is available at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&;flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=899&category_id=51.
The mousepad with Teresa Fortney’s rare picture of Lily, Faith, and Hope all together and all alert with shining eyes is a keepsake http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&;flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=900&category_id=51.
The bumper sticker is a work of art http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&;flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=901&category_id=51.
Many people donated their time and talents to these items and worked to make them what they are. Thank you all.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center