A Day Off!

man and bear snow sculpture - Feb 4, 2012Well, it felt like a day off for me at least.  Lynn began and ended the day working more on a bear behavior paper he hopes to get published.  It’s been an ongoing project for him but it’s getting better and better and closer to completion.  At midday a group of talented folks with great ideas (and good food) met at the Bear Center to share and discuss the current efforts to formalize our volunteer recruiting and retention process.  Two good minds joined the discussion via Skype—one from the west coast and one from the east coast.  It’s very humbling to have so many talented people step forward to offer their expertise to the NABC and WRI.

Ely Winter Fest snow sculpture - Feb 4, 2012After the meeting, Lynn headed back to work and I joined a group headed for Whiteside Park to check out the snow sculptures that are part of the Ely Winter Festival.  The park was a busy place as folks scrambled to finish up their sculptures before tomorrow’s judging.  Some will be working through the night to finish up.  Of course I had to stop to take pictures of the bear sculpture.  Interestingly the sculpture included a lanky rugged man leaning up against the bear’s back.

Now, my payback for my afternoon off is writing the update rather than just edit it.  Fair enough.

A new video of Lily and Faith from Feb 2 is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBT5pcFCSkM.

Short update so I get to post more from my bear diary.  This one is an observation rather than a walk—and a new bear this time.

Thank you for all you do.

—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

babbling brook - June 3, 2005Braveheart’s signal was very loud from the hill across from the end of Trygg Road, so I set off to pinpoint her position.  As I pulled up to the highway and checked for traffic, she was in the middle of the road watching as vehicles approached!  She finally ran back to the south side of the road.  Knowing she had 3 cubs and was trying to cross a busy highway at 10:30 AM was nerve-wracking!   I watched from a distance for 2 hours as she crossed the road 8 times and made 4 aborted attempts to cross.  I monitored her signal and videoed her crossings from a distance.  I could hear her grunting to her cubs and I could hear her cubs bawling from time to time but I could not see them.  She caused a few 'bear jams' as folks stopped to gawk and take pictures.

jack-in-pulpit feeding - June 3, 2005Shortly after 1:00 PM I realized her signal had changed so I drove to the top of the hill and found it coming from further west along the highway.  I drove west with the receiver tuned to her frequency and stopped where her signal was loudest.  Her signal was coming from the north side of the highway and I could tell by its strength she was very close.  I crossed the road and found a well-worn animal trail – perhaps the one Braveheart had chosen as her crossing spot.  Her signal was fading so I knew she was heading north away from the highway – but were her cubs with her?

Braveheart - June 3, 2005

Braveheart's cubs high in black ash tree - June 3, 2005I chose to walk in on her to see if she had her cubs with her.  After June's recent cub-less jaunt through her territory I wondered if Braveheart would do the same.  The one time I tried to follow Braveheart this year she had been very blustery so I was not sure how successful I would be.  If she sought me out before I could get close enough to see her cubs my efforts would be in vain.  To reach her I hiked about a quarter mile through a sand pit then down a bank to the Armstrong River.  The sound of a babbling brook greeted me and I was magically transported back to New England!  Here in northeastern Minnesota babbling streams are few and far between.  Water tends to just flow slowly here – not much in the way of contours to this land.  The rich soil along the stream gave rise to lush vegetation – jack-in-the-pulpit, large-flowered bellwort, rose twisted stalk – vegetation rare to these mostly shallow, stony soils. 

bear bitten white birch - June 3, 2005I followed Braveheart’s signal downstream along a well-worn path.  It soon became evident I was following a bear and the bear had been feeding on jack-in-the-pulpit leaves and roots – just like I have seen so many times in New England.  This is the second bear to lead me to a jack-in-the-pulpit patch here in Minnesota – the first was Cinder last year.  While these plants may be uncommon in this area the bears know where to find them.  I located Braveheart on the other side of the stream.  She lunged and blew in my direction a couple times then crossed the stream to me.  I place a few nuts on the ground for her and stepped back.  She commenced to eating and I took the opportunity to scan for cubs.  I located 2 of the 3 in a huge black ash tree and I suspect the other was there as well but just out of my sight.  Braveheart soon finished the nuts and came to me.  She turned back as I showed her my empty hands then became a bit blustery – lunging, swatting and blowing.  She was nervous with my presence.  She crossed back to the side where her cubs were and I began videoing her in this very picturesque setting.  She crossed back directly towards me then veered off toward a tree.  I recognized what was coming and was prepared when she stood up to blow at me and swat the tree.  I continued videoing through it – then said my goodbyes and headed back to my car.  On the way back I took time to photograph some of the bear-bitten birch trees along the path.

Some video footage I took of Braveheart this day was used in the Nervous Behavior video posted at http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/communication/62-harmless-bluster.html  Interestingly, Braveheart appears as both a cub and as a 3-year-old with her first litter in this video.

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