Lily's GPS locations - July 15, 2012What can we tell from the plethora of GPS locations the bears send to our computers each day? Actually, a great deal! In addition to a bear’s location, we can tell; when their day begins and ends, when they are resting and where favored bed sites are, when they come in contact with another GPSed bear and who that bear is, when they are foraging as opposed to roaming, and we can even determine with relative certainty what they are foraging on.
“Really?” you ask. “You can tell what they’re eating from looking at your computer screen? How’s that?”
That knowledge comes from walking with bears for thousands of hours and seeing what foods they concentrate on in which habitats at what time of year. It also comes from examining hundreds (if not thousands…) of bear scats. Over time we have learned what bears eat, where they eat it, and when.
Lily’s GPS readings were pretty easy to interpret today. You can see she headed for an old clearcut, explored a bit, and settled in to rest at 2:04 PM. At that point she had been roaming and foraging without a break since 5:07 AM. Then between 4:23 PM and 8:35 PM she foraged almost continuously. Her brief excursion to the edge of the clearcut may have been to check out berry-producing shrubs like juneberry which often produce better along forest edges.
Interpreting GPS patterns isn’t rocket science. It’s just a matter of understanding bear biology and habitat use.
A welcoming bench sits at entrance of the NABC Nature TrailA big thank you to the Pond Chatters for raising the money to make 2 custom made beautiful benches—one in memory of Pond Chatter Kathy “Willow” Gable and the other celebrating the North American Bear Center’s 5th anniversary on May 5, 2012. We also thank everyone who helped raise money beyond the benches to buy items from the Amazon Wish List. Lily Fans are making such a difference.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center