Ted - Aug 22, 2012 After speculating yesterday that Colleen might be visiting her mystery den of last year, June added fuel to that fire. She visited 2 rock dens in her territory before continuing her foraging. This is the time of year we believe many bears explore old den sites, although we know they explore potential den sites to an extent earlier and later than this. We have a video of June making her first den on July 19, 2004, and it turned out to be the den she gave birth to her first litter (Pete and George) in. We still see 7-year-old Pete most years.
Faith and her pals - Aug 23, 2012Faith is still hanging around with her two young male friends. It’s a joy to see their casual, carefree relationship. A neighbor snapped this picture of the trio. Looking at it, we were struck by how much the male on the right looks like Big Harry while the one in the middle bears a strong resemblance to Shadow. See what you think!
The lead picture is Ted looking great at 636 pounds. He does best when he’s not too heavy, and we are following veterinarians’ guidance in his food regimen. We are trying to limit his pre-hibernation weight to 675 pounds, so at 636 he is a little heavier than we’d like with 3 months of fattening to go. Ted and Honey den around Thanksgiving. Lucky tuckers out a little earlier. All three are heavier than most wild bears their ages, so we’re trying to mimic the wild as much as possible. We’re happy and thankful for these bears’ personalities and condition. We’re also thankful for all the volunteer bear-keepers who help with them in so many ways.
Today, we finally had a chance to 'decorate' Aster's collar. In order to attach the plastic strips we had to remove her collar and she walked away collarless. A few hours later we saw her again and were able to get the newly decorated collar back on. Now all the collars are brightly marked and we only wait for Oliana to be seen so we can collar her.
The last 2 nights, some of you have not received the emailed updates. The problem was found and fixed so this one should arrive just fine. Thank you for your patience!
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center