Jewel rests head on foreleg while yearlings nurse - Jan 18, 2013 Today was consumed with meetings, lengthy phone calls, and more writing. With temperatures in the high teens, Jewel uncurled and was more relaxed in the den—resting with her face exposed. She went to the den entrance to eat snow and then and then rearranged bedding before settling back in.
Notes from another 2004 walk with June are posted below.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
I located June in a swamp near Peninsula Road between Trygg Road and the RR grade at 9:23 AM. She came to me and I fed her a few nuts and the scat-marker. She then fed on wild calla leaves and stems as well as wild parsnip before bedding down in the swamp at 9:34 AM.
Of note:
- June paid no attention to vehicles passing on Trygg Road – but was alert to vehicles passing on the RR grade and voices coming from Trygg Road.
- Twigs snapping off in the swamp got immediate attention. A bear passing (out of my sight) got vigilant attention until it began grunting – then June relaxed.
Jewel backs into den after eating snow - Jan 18, 2013At 11:24 AM June began wandering directly toward Trygg Road. She paused at the edge of the woods and watched as a man walked by. She then crossed the road to head towards a feeding station. At the feeding station she fed on sunflower seeds for only a couple of minutes before heading to another feeding station to check out their offerings. She did not seem interested in the food in their feeders and headed back to the first feeding station where she fed briefly before going to the lake to drink. She then crossed Trygg Road and began foraging heavily on wild sarsaparilla as she traveled west. She seemed to be taking only the ripest berries and leaving the rest. She fed on cattails in the power corridor by biting near the base and pulling them up. She appeared to feed on the stem and the root.
Of note:
- While she worked her way west along Trygg Road we attracted the attention of passers-by. Twice vehicles stopped and backed up to take pictures. Both times June did not seem overly concerned – this was in stark contrast to her reaction (running) to the person walking along the RR grade on June 19.
- While June checked out homes on the Peninsula Road that actively feed bears she did not go to any other homes – but foraged on wild foods instead.
Jewel scratches her cheek with a hind paw - Jan 18, 2013By 1:15 PM June was in ant-search mode – searching out and feeding mainly on ant pupae. She also seemed to be investigating potential den sites. She actively dug out 3 sites. The day was heating up (80s) and she was doing a lot of panting – yet working to dig out dens all the same.
As we were walking through the woods she stopped briefly to sniff a skeet – and I noticed several others around. I thought it odd but soon forgot about it – until we came to a skeet firing range. June walked directly to a wooden tower and I thought she was going to rub on it – but instead she quickly climbed the ladder and explored the wobbly tower. I was able to catch some of this on video. She descended by backing down the ladder. She spent time exploring this area before continuing her foraging on ant pupae.
At 2:56 PM she switched back to mainly feeding on wild sarsaparilla for the next 20 minutes then more ant pupae for another 25 minutes. At one point she sat panting. I was tired and she looked tired too. She suddenly lunged at me. I spoke sternly to her and told her ‘Maybe you need a nap!’ I don’t think for a moment she really understood me – but within 2 minutes she was resting under some balsams. She was panting heavily much of the time she rested. Her breathing slowed as she finally fell asleep. She rested for an hour and 15 minutes before beginning to forage again on a mix of wild sarsaparilla and ant pupae. At one point she focused her attention on a spot on the ground and began digging. I could see hornets clinging to her ears so I moved away and rejoined her when she moved away from that area.
Of note:
- While she did occasionally feed on blueberries during the day, she often reached past blueberries to feed on wild sarsaparilla.
- There were raspberries in the areas she was feeding but she only nipped a couple of berries.
- She completely ignored the clintonia, red baneberry, and bunchberry she passed.
Our walk ended at 7:02 PM when she ran off. This was shortly after she had vigorously back-rubbed a balsam sapling marking tree. She lunged at me directly after her marking session (I was videoing) and then headed off into the woods. As I started to follow she ran off – stopped to look back briefly – than ran off again. The woods were very open and I could see her run for quite a ways. I chose to end the bear walk and begin the long walk back to my car.
A total of 12 scats were collected during this walk – though one (#3) fell out of my backpack somewhere along the way.