Faith and Aster - June 24, 2012Yesterday morning at 7:20 AM, a resident saw Faith appear in the vicinity of Aster. Aster was afraid of Faith. Things changed a lot over the last 34 hours. This evening they showed up together at one of the feeding stations, accompanied by Drew (Bow’s big male yearling). Faith played long and hard with them both of them.
Sharon - June 24, 2012
Two females playing together like this is unusual. Their mothers, Lily and June, are competing for territory. Faith and Aster will likely end up competitors as well. Today, Faith seemed to be the glue that held the three yearlings together. Where did she learn to play like that? Is it just her personality? Or was it her upbringing with playful Hope? Is it nature or nurture—the old question. The property owner got a good picture of Faith (08) and Aster (59) standing up sparring (sorry, we didn't get that pic). Then they ate together nose to nose. At one point, Faith stood up and went over to Aster, who stood up, too, as they touched noses (picture above). Faith’s eyes look gentle and friendly. Aster looks a little wary yet. Eventually, Drew drifted off. Faith immediately followed. Aster followed a couple minutes later. All interesting.
Sharon shaking off deer flies - June 24, 2012
Sharon sitting up - June 24, 2012Earlier in the day, we homed in on Sharon’s telemetry signal several miles outside her usual area to change her GPS batteries. She held for us but was wary. Any fast motion of our hand and arms made her retreat. We wondered what she had experienced in her travels. Eventually, she moved to the base of a pine where she relaxed, came for a handful of nuts, and was her usual calm self. We were surprised at her low heart rate. It began at 84 per minute but slowed shortly to 72 per minute. We said our thank you’s and tracked down Sharon’s mother Juliet to change her GPS batteries.
Juliet - June 24, 2012Juliet was in her usual territory and confidently came when we went through the greeting rituals. When she emerged from the shade into the very bright sun, her fur tips immediately became so hot it was uncomfortably hot to stroke her back—especially her hindquarters that were most directly toward the sun. Her heart rate was only 66 per minute, which is about as low as we’ve measured in a wakeful bear in summer. Her signal had not showed activity, so we may have gotten her up from a rest.
Seeing the picture of Aster and Faith playing reminded us of a CNN bear story that aired yesterday about “fighting bears” in Florida. The bears were obviously just quietly playing as young males who hang out together often do. The biting and cuffing can look rough, but it is all gentle. Fighting differs in that it is accompanied by loud vocalizations and the bites are hard. One bear looked a little defensive at the end, like he had received rougher play than he wanted, but they left together, probably to resume more of the same when the time was right.
Olatz Azcona Munarriz has put together a wonderful 434-page large format book about Lily, Hope, Faith, and Jason. It begins with a recap of 2010 and goes on to detail events from the time the solar panels went up for the new Den Cam on December 22, 2010, until the family left the den on April 2nd, 2011. The book is a labor of love that includes 941 pictures (by our count) and all the updates for the period.
Meanwhile, Lily Fans continue to send in ideas for improving education and how to make the new Hope Education Building the most effective it can be.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center