Hi Herbie! - March 13, 2012Problems at Jewel's den shed prompted a change of plans. Ted Parvu needed to shut down the Den Cam to do some rewiring, so we took advantage of the downtime to temporarily remove the cam tube from Jewel’s den to make room for the video camera.
Lynn videoing at Jewel's den - March 13, 2012With the unseasonable temperatures we wondered about melt-water in the den. No problem. The little moisture inside the entrance didn’t come anywhere near the bed in the back of the den. Jewel’s den should stay dry through this week of sloppy melting.
Jewel and Fern - March 13, 2012While reviewing the footage, we were surprised to see Fern’s eyes not fully open yet. In fact, they don’t look much more open than a week ago. Herbie is bright-eyed as ever, but Fern has one eye partially open and the other not open at all even though she’s over 7 weeks old (51 days). This might be the latest eye opening on record. Our friend Dr. Gary Alt, the long-time bear biologist for Pennsylvania, once found a 46-day-old cub with one eye considerably more open than the other.
Herbie and Fern - March 13, 2012
Feet! - March 13, 2012We agree with Gary about how few observations have been made in the black bear’s hidden world of hibernation. We’re glad we took the opportunity to check on Jewel and her family today.
In case anyone missed it last night, the story on the Senate Committee hearing on making the black bear Minnesota’s official state mammal can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/1DC-Senate-Hearing—with a wonderful picture of student Grace Stone testifying before the committee.
A video of yesterday's highlights in Jewel's den is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2axJrnVVE. New videos from previous days have been posted as well.
March 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-4bVwG-7ec
March 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db0cSPCtJWk
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center