beaver lodge in snow Everything takes longer than one would think. Little details, etc. We suspect the Honey and Lucky Den Cam will be up Monday or Tuesday. At our end we are seeing interesting interactions that we wish we were all seeing together. Sometimes Honey gets tense and clacks her jaws. Lucky whines in submission and stays as far away as he can get. Honey came close with an open-mouth threat. Lucky moaned and whined. No contact. Then Honey settled down and slept. Why would she choose to move in with Lucky if she was going to be tense about it? How could she be so welcoming 3 years ago and snuggle with Lucky and now be so tense and distant? Will this change over winter? It is rare for wild bears to den together—even orphaned littermates—but it has been reported. We wonder how those bears got along. It will be interesting. They are together of Honey’s own choosing. The door is open and either could leave, but they are sticking it out through thick and thin—just like some people.
We’re also looking forward to seeing what Lily and Faith do. We suspect they will snuggle together for warmth and security. We don’t know how active they will be. Will they rearrange the bedding like Lily did the last two winters? Will Faith help? Will they groom each other? How will activities in that open den vary with temperature? Will they be more active on warm days? With the steep walls, will they ever come out like Lily did the last two winters? Will they fall into deeper hibernation? How slow will their breathing become?
We’re still hoping for approval for Juliet’s den to make many comparisons.
Dr. Janet Dalton and Biologist Lynne Cann are ready to schedule den-watchers to record standardized data minute by minute 24/7 like they did the last two winters. A lot of work for all concerned! And then they will summarize the data on excel spread sheets for further analysis. We’re thankful for all the people who help in so many ways.
Still writing the DNR report. Nearly done.
A moment of excitement was around noon when a family of 3 otters ran along the far lakeshore leaving one beaver lodge and heading to another—sliding and bounding—racing especially fast in the final 40-50 yards to the beaver lodge. We believe otters are living in the beaver lodges. It reminded us of another year when we had a tiny infra-red camera in the first beaver lodge to watch the beavers spend the winter in what was to them total darkness. We were surprised at the activity in the well insulated lodge when it was below zero outside. Even a spider was active. Muskrats joined the beavers and groomed them for bugs and slept next to them. A mink came in and killed a muskrat and ate it in the lodge while the beavers were out getting food from their underwater food cache of branches. Doug Hajicek made the videos into an exhibit that was at the Duluth Aquarium for years.
Thank you for all your web orders and good comments! 97 orders are waiting for new merchandise to come in, mostly ornaments, and will ship out next week. Sorry for that delay. Much appreciate your orders!
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center