Lucky mouths Lynn - Aug 4, 2009Lucky continued to play with Ted through 2010, but I can’t recall any play session between Lucky and a human after 2008. He mouthed my head a little in September 2009, but made no attempt of any rowdy down and dirty play after 2008.
Lucky after a swim - April 24, 2012It seemed he traded playfulness for a worse trait. Whenever possible, Lucky closely and intensely sniffs anyone, male or female, in an embarrassing way. It’s a major reason we seldom go out among the bears during open hours or in front of the pond cam. When I go among the bears with a microphone, I do most of my talking on the run, making circles around big Ted to avoid Lucky. When that fails, I step over the electric fence into the embarrassment-free zone in front of the viewing windows.
Lucky the bear - Nov 1, 2011Another behavior that ended in 2008 was Lucky mobbing caretakers for food. Similarly in the wild, grabbing for food doesn’t persist much beyond family breakup.
Wild bears have almost never played with us. If they have siblings and mothers, they play with them. Gerri played with me because of her early captivity. Hope attempted to play with us while she was on her own, but we walked away, fearing she’d try that with someone else and get herself killed. I now doubt that it would have been a problem and wish we’d played with her to create a stronger bond and a better chance of properly fitting her with a radio-collar. Noliana tried to play, tipping us off that she was a released captive bear and not the real Oliana. Braveheart played a little with me as a cub and yearling but never after family breakup at 17 months.
Lucky with cedar chips - Aug 2, 2011
Individuals vary. Captivity may heighten the need to play to make up for a lack of other stimulating activities. We were surprised by Ted’s playful nature at age 10 when he initiated play with Lucky.
Data show that play between caretakers and cubs facilitates bonding but generally does not create a lifelong pattern of rowdy play with humans. In his 2006 book “Orphan Bear Cubs: Rehabilitation and Release Guidelines,” Dr. John Beecham wrote that “Occasionally, single cubs interact with their caretakers through their first year, but that behavior usually diminishes after they have hibernated.” I asked a top bear rehabber if she agreed. She did, adding, “Even the most dependent cubs could care less about me after they were weaned from the bottle. While they would greet me as "mom", they would then ignore me to go play and wrestle with the other cubs.”
Lynn with Gerry - Oct 15, 1993Individuals vary, though, and I can’t forget Gerri, who played with me longer than usual. After officials placed her in captivity at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina in June 1992 at the age of 3, I visited her. She recognized me on October 15, 1993, (photo - left) and wrestled with me as a 5-year-old on April 16, 1994. Three years later (June 15, 1997), I thought at first she’d forgotten me. She paid no attention to me as I sat down beside her while people gave her food. After a few minutes, 8-year-old Gerri looked my way, smelled my breath, and jumped on me like she was an adolescent. We rolled around like we had in the wild. I didn’t get back to her again until July 29, 2003, when she was 14. I hadn’t seen her for 6 years. I might not have recognized her if a keeper hadn’t pointed her out in a group of bears foraging on a hill. I was supposed to stay quiet and out of sight until the keeper led Gerri to cameras waiting to record our reunion. Not thinking, I yelled, “Hey Gerri” like I did in the old days. Gerri was the only bear that whirled around to look. The keeper quickly distracted her with a bucket of favorite foods and led her to the cameras. Gerri kept eating from the bucket as I sat down beside her. When she finished, I said “Hi Gerry” and put my arm around her. 
Close-up of Lucky's eye - Oct 20, 2012I felt her relax. She let me move her head to look at one camera and another. People who knew Gerri there were surprised. They had kept their distance from her for years after she bit a keeper who tried to stop her from digging out of the enclosure. Gerri was no longer playful at 14, she was just relaxed and comfortable with me as Hugh Morton’s picture shows on the Cook Book that Lily Fans created this past year seen here.
Lucky in Tub with Ring - June 3, 2012Back to Lucky. On June 3, 2011, his relationship with Ted changed, probably forever, when Lucky challenged him and emerged as the dominant bear despite being smaller. They were rivals. Four years of play had ended. Lucky still played with objects and playfully rolled in the cedar chip pile, but his carefree play-fighting was over.
Lucky in Cedar - May 28, 2011Ted became wary of Lucky. Ted now sat with his paws on his log facing the forest, keeping an eye out for Lucky rather than facing the visitors and the PondCam. He took his naps in the protection of his wooden window den.
The most ferocious exchange any of us saw was videotaped from the balcony by Susan Standish on September 24, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmgxPSojWrs 365-pound Lucky rushed in on 660-pound Ted, vocalizing loudly and knocking him on his back. He stood over Ted biting at his throat in a 
Lucky swimming with duck family - Aug 8, 2012blur of motion. Then he let Ted up. They faced each other defensively as Ted urinated and backed off, edging toward his window den. As he backed into the den, his huffing sounds showed he was getting over a big scare.
After each encounter, we have looked closely at each. We watched them walk and sometimes stroked areas where injuries might be expected. We have found nothing. By contrast, when wild bears fight, the injuries are plain, as you’ve seen in photos in the updates—big males who emerged from mating battles with gashes, tooth punctures, missing parts of ears, and limping on swollen legs. Could Lucky and Ted’s years of bonding through play have created a measure of restraint? We’re not sure. 
Lucky swimming - Aug 23, 2012
To increase their safety, we are getting price estimates to add a forested isolation area to the enclosure. We have 990 feet of fencing and 56 fence posts on hand, which are enough to make the addition. We are checking into labor costs. The addition will open up new possibilities for isolating Ted or Lucky, if needed, or giving Honey privacy if she has cubs. As an alternative, the new area may eventually be used to rehabilitate orphaned cubs or injured adults back to the wild. Video cameras could broadcast activities of these bears until they are released.
Lucky and Glenn Houle - Oct 21, 2011Despite his ferocious but (so far) harmless outbursts toward Ted, Lucky is a sweetheart who loves people. If someone puts his or her face up to the fence, he gathers their smell, digests it for a few seconds, and then shows his feelings with delicate kisses. His breath is always fresh. His kissing technique differs from Ted’s. Lucky uses his lips more and extends his tongue only a little, while Ted may extend his tongue 6 inches or more to reach people who shyly hold back. Ted’s tongue extension can be seen in the October 3, 2007, video of “Ted and Lucky Making Friends” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o44Hvt6wJ0U.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Welcome! Be sure to visit the NABC website as well.