Strawberry blossoms - May 3, 2012Following up on the news that a family broke up unusually early (April 30) this year in West Virginia, we double checked our records. Several families here broke up the first week of May in 2010, the other very early spring on record.Then we got a call from Glenn and Nancy that Colleen and her yearlings have split up. They had split by 10 PM last evening (May 2), and today they saw Colleen vigorously chasing them away.
That made us want to check on Braveheart who was with her yearlings last evening but has split from them early in past years—May 10 in 2006, May 15 in 2008, and was with a male already on May 12 in the early spring of 2010.
View from where Braveheart was to the bend we had just rounded when she ran off - May 3, 2012We went to check. As the telemetry signal got stronger, we began “It’s me, bear” but they were on a ridge a couple hundred yards off the highway and might not have heard us above the traffic. We were walking along a forest road covered with woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) blossoms that had opened in the warm rain over night. As we rounded a bend, there was the family tearing apart logs for grubs. They ran. We called out, but a truck was going by. They disappeared into the woods.
Braveheart's family - May 3, 2012As we left, we took a picture toward the bend from where the bears were feeding. We paced the distance at 165 feet. We stopped at the bend to take pictures of the strawberry blossoms. As we photographed, Braveheart and family showed up. Either they were returning to their feeding area or they had calmed down and recognized our voices. They definitely were still a solid family.
This is the year of yearlings and family break-ups. It is potentially the best opportunity we’ve had to obtain a good sample size of data for our family break-up paper. Mothers with yearlings this year include Shadow, June, Lily, Jo, Braveheart, Bow, Donna, Colleen, Shannon, Ursula, and Baby Devil. We wish we were permitted to radio-collar more of these bears.
As the BBC counts down to their first broadcast of Planet Earth Live this Sunday night, press coverage is mounting. The BBC’s USA partner, National Geographic Wild channel, is heralding the series as “the largest and most adventurous event Nat Geo WILD has been a part of since its launch just over two years ago.” A shortened version of the BBC program will air on Nat Geo Wild channel at 9 PM EDT on Monday, May 7th.
- http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/iron-range/The-BBC-w-150038275.html
- http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/iron-range/The-BBC-w-150038275.html?m=y&;smobile=y
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9244094/Planet-Earth-Live-BBC-One-preview.html
The audience the BBC and Nat Geo Wild are predicting for the series is huge. We hope the programs truly educate, and we and the BBC are working hard toward that goal. We can only wait and see.
A video of Jewel’s family from April 27 is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnCYVY32SGo.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center