June sleeps soundly - June 22, 2012June and Big Harry were seen together this morning at 7:54 AM. When Sue joined June at 1:00 PM—hoping to video them together—June was alone. Not only was she alone, there was not even anything to video. She was sound asleep! She woke long enough to eat the few nuts Sue brought then went right back to sleep. She didn't even open her eyes when Sue gave up, said "Thank you, bear" and left. June's GPS location did not change from 9:23 AM till 4:54 PM—7.5 hours of sleep! Very unusual for this time of year. Were she and Harry up all night?
Garter snake - June 22, 2012An 18" garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was found on the walk out from June. With all the time we spend in the woods, we seldom see snakes.
Short update tonight, so we included another journal entry from the early days of walking with June.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Date: July 23, 2004
Duration: 0920 – 1835 hrs
Bear: June
Observer: S. Mansfield
I radio-located June in a remote area south of Eagles Nest Lake 2. Fortunately there was an old grassy logging road that led into where I could get a strong signal on her. I knew she was fairly close. I parked in a grassy opening at the end of the road and readied my gear. I decided I had better pee before heading out so I placed my pack, receiver, antenna, video camera, and a bag containing a few nuts and the scat markers behind my car and went around the front. I heard a noise and looked in time to see some bushes move. When I returned to my gear it appeared to all be there – except for the bag of nuts! I switched on the receiver to find her signal very close – she had tracked me down and helped herself to the bag of nuts. I have no way of knowing if she ate the marshmallow containing the scat-markers – but I assume she did. This was an interesting twist to the start of our day together. When I met up with her, she didn’t seem to understand why I had no nuts for her and was a bit blustery. We began our walk at 9:20 AM and soon settled into our usual routine.
June actively foraged for the next 4 hours and 20 minutes. Ant pupae seemed to be the main object of her search but she also fed heavily on blueberries. She then bedded down in what appeared to be a well-used bed at the base of a 5” diameter balsam and slept for an hour and 10 minutes.
Of note during this time:
- June found and ate most of a deer leg bone – leaving only the center section. She then located the pelvis nearby and ate most of that as well.
- When she came across a human-blazed trail she walked along it slowly for a short ways then bolted into the woods.
- She seemed to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly then she has on previous walks. She simply lay down and closed her eyes. Her breathing was even and quiet.
She actively foraged mostly on ant pupae for the next half an hour. Then, while I was videoing her tearing into a log and feeding on ant pupae, her attention was drawn to the sound of a distant dirt bike (later measured at 0.4 miles away). I continued to video her while she was attentive to the noise. Her eyes moved with the sound. She eventually went back to feeding briefly before walking the length of the log, then stopping to look once more in the direction of the sound before stepping off. When I began to follow, she bolted. I had lost her a couple other times for short periods and I thought this would be the same – but her signal was fading fast. I tracked her down to a cedar swamp about a half mile south where she was lying on a bed of moss. She was looking in my direction but did not get up as I walked in to sit near her. She moved slightly to a more level place and slept for nearly an hour. When she woke she foraged on wild calla leaves in the swamp before heading north to a red pine forest to feed on ant pupae. While in this red pine area she did considerable straddle-marking of small balsam firs and red pines. She gradually worked her way back towards the area she had abandoned earlier.
A total of 6 scats were collected during this walk. Nuts appeared in the last scat collected but no scat marker was found. It is highly likely I missed a scat or two during the time I lost her.