Lily - Jan 3, 2013 Was Hope that different? She played. Faith played. We haven’t seen any play yet from Fern and Herbie. Or is it a difference between Lily and Jewel? Or will play come later? Comparisons like this are one reason we don’t rush to publish until we’re confident we know what we’re seeing and can make some comparisons. Den-Watchers are recording data again to make comparisons possible.
Jewel and cub - Jan 3, 2013Remember when we wanted to put a Den Cam in 9-year-old Juliet’s den last year because she was an experienced mother? We had hoped to compare her behavior with Lily’s in regard to cub care. Three-year-old Jewel was our second choice. We held off putting a Den Cam in Jewel’s den hoping to get permission for one in Juliet’s. We didn’t reveal the landowner because it was the DNR and we didn’t want them to get any letters. Juliet was denned in the new Vermillion State Park. We were criticized by some for “harassing the landowner”, but we were merely negotiating the use of public land for research and education.
Jewel leans out to eat snow - Jan 3, 2013Eventually, the DNR did grant permission for us to install a Den Cam, but they prohibited us from broadcasting footage until after the bears left the den. By the time permission came, it was too late to consider disturbing a bear about to give birth. We had already gone ahead with the Den Cam in Jewel’s den while we still had time. As it turned out, young Jewel did give birth and gave us good views, and we continue her story this winter with more good views.
Jewel's cub peeks at camera before defecating - Jan 3, 2013 Today, one of Jewel’s cubs backed up to the den entrance to defecate and urinate. We were surprised to see a defecation this early. We haven’t fed them. Fern ate snow yesterday, which could explain the urine—if indeed it was Fern today. 
Jewel's cub sniffs urine - Jan 3, 2013We know the usual statement about denning bears is that they don’t eat, drink, urinate, or defecate. It’s probably true, more or less, for some. But eating snow is something we commonly have seen, so one would think that would be followed by urination. The studies that led to the statement about not eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating came from captive bears. At least some of the studies were indoors where the bears had no access to snow. Today, Jewel leaned out to lick snow.
Jewel rakes - Jan 3, 2013We saw only a little raking around Jewel’s den this past fall, just like last fall. Consequently, she has very little bedding in the den, just like last winter. Shortly before giving birth last year, she emerged and bit branches off conifers and took them in for additional bedding. Today, we watched as she raked meager pieces of stray bedding into her bed. We wonder if she will collect more bedding this year too.
Jewel paws at ribbons - Jan 3, 2013We wish we'd been able to remove the GPS unit and ribbons from Jewel's collar last fall. She seems bothered by the ribbons in the den. We put them on for hunting season to make her collar visible. Once she had settled into her den last fall, she wouldn't come out so we could remove them. We doubt she will come out for us until spring. We don't want to go overboard luring her out with food when we want to see natural urination and defecation patterns.
Lily rakes wood chips - Jan 3, 2013Lily gathered more wood chips for bedding from within her big brush pile today. She raked no bedding in from outside last fall, which was a surprise. We continue to learn how behavior differs between years and between circumstances. She raked a lot of bedding into her previous dens—as is typical.
Thank you for checking www.bear.org/website/volunteer.html and sending a flurry of volunteer applications after last night’s update.
Thank you for your continued response to the Calendar bonus for memberships and/or donations shown at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center