Huge hail - July 29, 2012The new Black Bear Field Course participants were watching sweet yearling Daisy (Bow’s daughter) when the biggest hailstorm any of us had ever seen suddenly hit. We had never seen how bears react to hail. Daisy did the obvious. She ran pell-mell for cover. Maybe pell-mell is not the right word, but she ran fast and disappeared into dense cover.
Hail - July 29, 2012Bears also head for cover during heavy downpours, but not running like Daisy did. After the brief storm passed and the blue sky returned, we noticed Daisy up a white pine. These trees are great for refuge with so many branches and needles to protect from hail, rain, and sun. Daisy was resting on the dry sheltered side of the trunk above the mist that was rising from the ground.
The new course participants include a Federal Judge, a Native American with a heart for bears, an animal behaviorist, a solar and water power engineer, a wild horse rescuer/trainer, an instructor, and a security expert from the UK. All are Lily Fans.
Before the course began at 4 PM, we again spent the day supporting Speakers Bureau activities and feeling thankful for the effort the participants are making.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center