Jewel scratchs her nose with a hind foot - Jan 26, 2012Listening to Jewel’s cubs, we realize how little we know about cub vocalizations. We’re glad the videos are being archived for closer examination of vocalizations and circumstances in the future.
Lily’s Den Cam went down again. We were mistaken in the information we gave in last night’s update. The gateway was not replaced, only the modem was replaced for Lily’s Den Cam. The gateway is the same one that gave us trouble with Jewel’s Den Cam and we merely transferred the problem to Lily’s Den Cam by swapping gateways. The temporary fix is to hike the 1+ miles out to Lily’s den shed and power-cycle the system—and Ted Parvu will do that early tomorrow morning. You can bet we’re working on a more permanent fix!
Can you find the cub feet? - Jan 26, 2012Both Den Cams need repositioning. We’d like to aim Lily’s den cam higher and have it closer to her and Faith for a more complete view, better light, and better focus.
We’d like to do the same in Jewel’s den. Putting the camera a few inches closer to Jewel should give a better view of her interactions with the cubs.
We want the official Den-Watchers to record the best data possible. In Jewel’s den, we want to know as soon as possible about the sexes of the cubs and how to distinguish between the two so we can get better data on their early personalities (is one a squawker?), document their relationships with each other and Jewel, determine when ‘nipple order’ is established, etc.
Our graphics team has been busy working on new ‘Jewel of the Northwoods’ merchandise for the NABC online Gift Shop. With that project winding down, there was finally time to pull together a few videos highlighting the action in Jewel’s den.
Video January 22 Part 1 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAC-bnqpjME
Video January 22 Part 2 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbSYv7jV6kQ
Video January 23 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvYRiR6Urkw
Video January 24 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebu1T2B1If0
Video January 25 — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZaKHgPXdSY
Star on grass bed in den - Jan 26, 2012We checked on 3-year-old Star (daughter of 7-year-old Shannon, granddaughter of 12-year-old Donna, great granddaughter of deceased Blackheart who would have turned 15 this year, and great great granddaughter of 25-year-old Shadow). No cubs yet. On the way to her den, the good tracking snow showed tracks of snowshoe hare, white-tailed deer, short-tailed weasel (ermine), mink, pine marten, red fox, red squirrels, and wolves, but the only animal we actually saw was Star in her den being her usual calm self. The wolf tracks were less than 50’ from the den but did not go to the den. Star dug a great den and has a nice bed of grass. Hoar frost from her breath is above the entrance. She still has her ribbons from hunting season.
One of the Black Bear Boxes that is part of our Education Outreach Program for schools is in North Carolina this week, sponsored by a Lily fan. One of the parents later remarked to the sponsor’s son, “Logan said your mom came to his class today and taught them all about black bears...He talked about it the ENTIRE car trip home...Tell your mom he really enjoyed it, and he learned a lot:)”
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center