June -July 7, 2012June is back on the map. She made it easy for us today. She had just crossed a logging road and came back when we called to her. We swapped her failed GPS unit for a working one, snapped a picture and left her to continue her travels.
As we mentioned before, we’re seeing poor blueberry and juneberry crops this year. We wondered how widespread this is. A few days ago, an article in the Duluth News Tribune said that bear nuisance problems are up this year and that bears are breaking into houses, sheds, and cars for food. We haven’t heard of problems like that here where diversionary feeding has been going on for some 50 years. Hungry bears here know to go to any of the dozen or so feeding stations. Reducing attractants to avoid seeing bears can be extra effective because the bears have somewhere else to go.
Oliana - July 7, 2012Speaking of feeding stations, we received a call today from a feeding station to report a bear with an injured hind leg. Remembering the small, unidentified bear that was hit by a car and was lying on the pavement with an injured hind leg on June 28, we zipped over.
Oliana with wound - July 7, 2012It was Braveheart’s female yearling Oliana who no one has reported seeing since before the accident. The accident was over 9 miles away, which seems like a long way for a yearling female to travel. On the other hand, the injury looks like one that wouldn’t have bled profusely—there was only a little blood on the pavement—and the injury looks like something a car would do—tear the skin off the back of the leg.
Oliana's wound - July 7, 2012The large area without skin will weep for a long time, but she is walking fine, climbing trees, and healing from what undoubtedly was a painful bruise. She apparently didn’t have any broken bones. She seems to ignore the injury and is just going about her life again. The feeding station operator said she was very hungry, which is likely why Oliana stopped in for a bite to eat.
We plan to collar Oliana to track her healing and will consult a veterinarian for advice.
Today was the Eagles Nest Community Picnic. People told us they see Jewel and her cubs eating natural foods beside a road in her small territory, but no one had any complaints. In this wildlife-loving community, the main thing we heard was that they hoped no one starts throwing food to her from their cars for better pictures. So far we haven’t heard of that, and Jewel and the cubs just ignore the cars and keep feeding.
Speaking of roadsides, someone called hoping we could help a black-billed cuckoo sitting stunned beside Highway 169 after it apparently was hit by a car. By the time we arrived, it had recovered and flown away. What makes the cuckoo significant is that they are hardly seen except during tent caterpillar breakouts. This is the first year since 2001 that we have seen significant defoliation from these caterpillars, so the cuckoo is right on schedule.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center