Lucky rakes bedding - Oct 30, 2012This afternoon, Lily was in her den with no sign that she’s been out raking bedding. We wonder if she found enough bedding material inside the brush pile. We’ll find out when we insert a Den Cam or when we can crawl in next spring after she has left. Left with cubs, that is. We expect her to have cubs in January. Today, we explored how a Den Cam could view her when the entrance goes in about 10 feet then turns 90 degrees to her bed. It’s the first den we’ve seen like this since the early 80’s. We’ll learn more when we visit again next week.
John spreads straw outside Ted's den - Oct 30, 2012The bears at the Bear Center also have winter on their minds. Yesterday, Ted began digging in the rock bunker that faces the viewing windows—the one Lucky and Honey shared several years ago. Ted threw dirt amazing distances as he dug—as you can see in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDqrSgVD1-8.
Honey carries blanket to her den - Oct 30, 2012Today, though, Ted was in the big bunker den that Lucky and Honey shared last winter. Bear Curator Donna Andrews snapped the picture of John Leonard putting straw outside the den for Ted to rake in. To the right in that picture is Lucky’s similar den. A picture shows Lucky raking fresh straw into that den.
Honey rests in den - Oct 30, 2012Is it pampering the bears too much when the staff gives Ted, Honey, and Lucky each a blanket? Ted brought his inside. The picture shows Honey resting with her blanket by her face.
Other signs of winter today included our first sightings this fall of pine grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator) and tree sparrows (Spizella arborea) and an increase in snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis).
Pine GrosbeakToday, we had a nice talk with a Lily Fan about how education changes attitudes and saves bear lives. Our proudest moments are when people tell us they saw a bear, remembered what they learned from us, and chose not to shoot it. Education saves more bears than any action we know. With that in mind, we spent much of today working on presentations for the Speakers Bureau, Hope Learning Center, and bear.org.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center