June feeds on wild calla - 2004Inquiring minds want to know… what is a scat marker?
A scat marker is something that, when fed to an animal, will pass through and be visible in their droppings. Primarily markers are used to determine passage rates—the time it takes food to pass through the digestive tract. I used small pieces of colorful balloons as scat markers when I walked with June in 2004 – 2005. I stuffed the pieces inside marshmallows to get her to eat them. Everyone knows bears like marshmallows, right? Nope. They really are not a favorite food, as you can see by some of my walk notes. I used various tricks to get her to eat them. When she had cubs in 2005, the challenge was to make sure she got them and not the cubs!
I collected all the droppings I could while walking with June. During one particularly long walk, I stashed a duffle bag full of scat next to a road we crossed because my backack was getting way too heavy. A few of the scats were analyzed right away, but most were carefully weighed, labeled, and frozen—and frozen they remain until someone can dedicate the time needed to analyze them.
Thank you for all you do.
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
I found June resting in a stand of small balsams just north of the RR Grade west of Trygg Road at 8:00 AM. She came to me and I fed her a few nuts and the scat-marker. She went back to her bed where she rested and slept for one hour and 55 minutes before getting up to defecate. She then moved to another bed where she again rested and slept for another hour. The day had started off foggy with temperatures in the 60’s. It rained lightly during this rest period.
Ant still gripping pupa case - found in bear scat!June actively foraged for the next 1 hour and 48 minutes. She initially began working the RR grade looking for ant pupae. At one point she kept glancing east down the RR grade as she sat on the north side. I looked as well but did not see anything. She suddenly bolted down into a gnarly swamp with me struggling to catch up. I heard 2 ATVs go by – likely the reason for the glances down the RR grade and for her bolting. While in the swamp she stopped to paw the moss at the base of a tree. I held back fearing she was uncovering a yellow-jacket nest. When I heard a ‘crunch’ I moved closer in time to see a brown furry critter wiggle. I believe June uncovered a nest of small mammals and munched them. She seemed to spend more time than usual sniffing the bases of other trees nearby – perhaps in hopes of more munchies. She stood alert at the sound of voices coming from the east on the RR grade.
We ended up in a clear-cut where she spent time searching (mostly unsuccessfully) for ant pupae. She then spent a good deal of time feeding on blueberries and occasionally raspberries. At one point she became very alert and cautious as we moved through the clear-cut. As we crested a rise we came across a salt-lick at the end of an ATV trail. She fed on blueberries nearby – ignoring the salt-lick. She then proceeded down into a swamp where she fed heavily on wild calla leaves and stems. When we came to the RR grade again she fed on rose galls then on rose hips from the same bushes.
She crossed the RR grade and soon raked up a bed in a cedar swamp on the south side. I was surprised she bedded so soon – I was still raring to go. She remained bedded – getting up twice to defecate – for the next 4 hours and 40 minutes. When she defecated the second time I thought for sure we would soon be off so I collected that scat as she laid there watching me and worked my way around behind her to collect the earlier one. She never even turned to check on me as I collected the scat perhaps 5 feet from where she was resting. She seems to have accepted the fact that plastic bags do not all contain food and no longer comes to me each time I get one out.
Of note:
- Early in her rest period she raised her head and stared intently in the direction of the RR grade when a vehicle passed. Later she did not seem to take note of 3 separate vehicles. A very loud boat or floatplane also did not receive attention.
When June awoke she went back to the RR grade where she foraged heavily on ant pupae among the small stones at the side of the RR grade. At one point she disturbed a brown snake, but paid no attention to it as it slithered away. She worked her way east along the grade – finding ant pupae on both the north and the south side of the grade. When she came upon my car parked next to the RR grade she cautiously approached and inspected it while I videoed her. When she appeared ready to chew on the hatch I yelled ‘Hey!’ and pepper-sprayed her. She ran a short distance and stopped to rub her eyes. Even though I had sprayed her she did not seem to mind my following her as she headed for a feeding station. I lost her in the woods near the feeding station so I circled around to the front of the house to talk to the owner. The walk ended at 6:26 PM.
A total of 8 scats were collected during this walk.