Faith looks up from the den - Feb 15, 2012Yesterday, Honey and Lucky started out the day sleeping with Lucky breathing 2.6 to 3.1 times per minute and Honey breathing 3.5 to 4.1 times per minute. Midday, Honey took a walk. The staff took that opportunity to put more straw outside the den. Lucky came out and took a walk, too. Honey got back first and was near enough to the entrance that Lucky was reluctant to come in past her. We didn’t see it, but a Lily fan told us that Honey made sweet welcoming sounds. We checked with Curator Donna Andrews. She said she didn’t hear it but heard Honey make those sounds to Lucky a week ago. Those reports put a new light on Honey and Lucky’s relationship for us. Maybe they argue at times, but Honey has her soft side, too. Whatever encouragement Honey gave Lucky to come into the den yesterday, Lucky suddenly bolted into the den past Honey and into his corner. Donna Andrews said they whined at each other for the next hour.
Jewel's back with cub legs sticking out on left - Feb 15, 2012
Lily was active in her spacious den that is a cave that goes straight down 7 feet to the floor and then opens up some at the bottom. She raked bedding into her spot from the floor of the den. Faith protested as she backed into her raking but then turned the encounter into nursing.
Jewel has been showing her cubs so little lately that it took 3 days to make this highlights video for tonight’s update. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lme9m5vhKk.
Star in den - Feb 15, 2012
We checked on 3-year-old Star to see if she had cubs, and she didn’t. We’re convinced she won’t have them this year. The only recognition she gave that we were there was to open her eyes. She didn’t even raise her head. Snow eaten from near the den entrance showed she was up earlier, though.
What a wonderful thing you did and are doing on GiveMN at http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Valentinesforshadowsclan. The Icon picture tells the story—$9,445—and donations are still coming in! Thank you so much! We hope you like the Valentine download you get as a token “Thank You” for donating. It says “Be Mine” instead of “Be My Valentine” to make it more useful, and, unlike the little picture of it with this update, the download is in super high resolution at 10 by 10 inches to be frameable. It has the faces and names of all 14 radio-collared bears who—thanks to you—will get new collars so they can continue to provide data and help educate the public.
Your comments did our hearts good, thanking us for making the bears available so you can learn from them. Your 202 comments (and counting…) told us the difference this learning has made in your lives. They’ve made a difference in our lives, too. We have spent more time studying bears up close than anyone in the world, with the result being a knowledge of what they are that we want to share. A problem is that what we have seen through getting close to them is so different from what most people, including most professionals, believe, that it is difficult for most people to accept the truth. Lily fans, learning from the bears themselves, have ended up with some much deeper knowledge of bear behavior than most people will accept, and you, too, have difficulty getting people to believe what you know. We can only keep trying, and that’s the only way we know how to say thank you.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center