Braveheart in forest - May 25, 2012We’re glad we changed Lily’s GPS batteries yesterday because today she is over 8 miles away and traveling on. Is she still looking for a male? Is she resorting to stealing males from her territorial neighbors? She is miles outside our usual study area. We’ll watch the drama of the GPS locations play out. If we can intercept her and watch her cross a road to see if she is with a male, we’ll take the opportunity.
We did that today with Braveheart, who was again traveling. We wondered if she was still with big Burt, like she was yesterday. Nope. We caught up to her in the woods and watched her behavior. She wasn’t looking around—just responding to us and our handful of nuts. Her heart was a slow 61 strong beats per minute. We departed. She followed, at least we thought so. Then we learned it’s not always all about us.
Braveheart in clear-cut - May 25, 2012Braveheart had her own agenda. She was heading in our direction to get to a clear-cut. We found a hunter’s tree stand in the middle of the area and climbed to watch her from a distance. She checked out logs and stumps for ants as she passed through the clear-cut and disappeared into dense forest. She did no sniffing of the ground, air, and bushes as she does when she’s trailing a male. She didn’t go on alert with her nose in the air and look intently in a direction as when she is separated from a mate. She ambled along foraging lightly. We think she is done mating for this year.
June is probably still with Aster and Aspen like she was yesterday. We have seen nothing in her movements to suggest family break-up. She isn’t traveling far but settled in the clover patch—safe and sound for the moment.
Painted turtle - May 25, 2012Jewel was within a quarter mile of her den today and has not been more than 0.7 miles from it this spring. From the way the cubs are developing, Jewel seems to be finding enough to eat close to ‘home.’ When we accompanied her May 12, we were surprised at the plethora of spring foods in her area.
Nature notes for this day. First deer fly (Chrysops spp.) seen. There was a big hatch of chalk-fronted corporal dragonflies (Ladona julia) and some other kinds in the last 2 days. Robin (Turdus migratorius) eggs have hatched and the babies are already big balls of down. We saw the first painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) of the year up in a nesting area where turtles dig holes and lay their eggs.
Thank you for the kind words you have sent.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center