Braveheart & family - April 23, 2012Today marked the first visits by radio-collared bears to feeding stations. Lily and Faith put in a brief appearance at one, breezed by another, and then headed back toward the boonies. Braveheart and her yearlings finally paid a visit to the Research Center. The visit was brief but long enough to entice her onto the scale (259 pounds) and let us get a radio-collar back on her. She left her old radio-collar at her den this spring. Her yearlings also kindly stepped on the scale at 71, 61, and 52 pounds. Then the family headed on their way.
Red squirrel shedding winter fur - April 23, 2012
Braveheart's distinctive chest blaze - April 23, 2012Plucking the required fur sample with follicles for DNA identification took several hard pulls. Braveheart was tolerant of it all. Her fur is still firmly attached even though snowshoe hares have shed their white winter fur and are now brown, and the red squirrels are currently shedding their winter fur. The picture shows a red squirrel whose head is now mostly summer fur and the rest of the body is winter fur. They shed the head first just like bears.
An orphaned cub in Manitoba named Makoon has been the subject of discussion lately on Facebook. We’ve been advising behind the scenes about formula and the need to extend his care and not release him until he reaches a survivable weight. An article entitled 'Aiding the wild survival of orphaned bear cubs' published in the Wildlife Rehabilitation journal provides information that might be helpful in the discussion (http://tinyurl.com/AidingWildSurvivalOrphanCubs).
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center