Lily sniffs the air while Faith follows - May 6, 2012Today, Lily and Faith paid a rare visit to the field station. We attempted to lure them onto the scale to get weights—but Lily was on a mission. We’re not sure what mission, but it was not about food. Lily ignored us and the fresh raw nuts we offered. She intently sniffed the ground, objects, and the air. Faith tagged along with her. We knew mature males had been through the area less than 12 hours before. Was she investigating their scent?
We know from the literature on mouse studies that the scent of male mice helps bring female mice into estrus. Does Lily’s interest in those scents—to the point of not being interested in food—suggest that she will come into estrus soon with family break-up to follow? Is the mere presence of males a trigger for family break-up even when they are not right there on the scene?
Another video of Jewel's family from April 28 is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOXf7Jix_Dg.
BBC Producer Ted Oakes and Lynn Rogers watch the first episode of Planet Earth Live - May 6, 2012Today was the first showing of Planet Earth Live. We watched the show live with members of the crew. The BBC crew pulled this complex operation off masterfully. Julia Bradbury was excellent. Her emotions were genuine. The music fit the scenes wonderfully. The bears stole the show in our opinion and from the reactions on Planet Earth Live twitter at #planetearthlive and on the BBC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BBCPlanetEarthLive.
This is a chance for Lily Fans to shine. Lily Fans can answer questions about bears on the twitter and Facebook pages and direct the viewers to bearstudy.org for more information about the research bears and to bear.org for more general bear information.
The best time to ‘tweet’ is while the program is on the air. The Planet Earth Live schedule of airings is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qj06z/features/ontv, so Lily Fans can get on the BBC twitter page and the BBC Facebook page at the links given above.
Not everyone knows how to ‘tweet,’ so the Bear Facts and Fun education group will be posting information about ‘tweeting’ on Lily the Black Bear Facebook page in the next couple days.
There are 7 more BBC programs to go. On Nat Geo Wild, the programs will be combined into 6 programs with the first one airing Monday (tomorrow) at 9 PM EDT.
Lily Fans are making a difference in the Planet Earth Live cutest baby animal voting contest at http://www.ironammonite.com/2012/05/vote-for-cutest-bbc-planetearthlive.html.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center