Lily did it right to have her cubs when it was 38 warm degrees F. Today on Faith and Jason’s birthday would have been chilly. The high was minus 14F and the low was minus 25F. Even so, Fern and Herbie braved the cold today to rouse Jewel up to nurse, baring her sparsely furred underside to the chill. Then Jewel slept for hours with her foot exposed in an unusual position tangled up with the yearlings. The foot looked like it still has the old footpad that it has not shed yet. We’ll see when that happens.
Another June walk from 2004 is included below.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
I set out to find June later than usual due to the chilly morning. Her pattern has been to stay bedded until about 11:00 AM and I didn’t want to get too chilled sitting while she slept. I found her resting at the edge of a cedar/black ash swamp in an area where there were several well-used bear beds. One bed had fresh moss and grass raked into it – though it was not the one she was resting in when I found her. She came for the nuts and refused the scat-marker laden marshmallows until the nuts were gone. She then drank deeply from a nearby pool before returning to her bed. It did not appear as though she had been bedded for long. 
June bedded in cedar swamp - Aug 13, 2004I did not see any scats around – though it is possible I missed one or more. She rested and slept until 3:39 PM – getting up to defecate 4 times. Each time I gathered up the scat right next to her without her paying any attention to me. When she finally got up, she sniffed the air and came directly to my pack. I grabbed the pack and put it on – not wanting her to get it and figuring we were headed out. She kept sniffing me and may have smelled the Gatorade in my hydropack. (I later found the hydropack was leaking)
She headed off and I figured she would begin foraging – but she merely moved to another well-used bed uphill in the balsam thicket. On the way there she hesitated and then back-tracked – coming right towards me. I was a little leery, but she merely glanced at me on her way by. By 3:48 PM she was bedded again where she remained until 5:55 PM – getting up once to defecate.
Of note:
- Just before she headed out to begin foraging she displayed the same curious ‘knitting’ behavior while urinating that I noted on August 5, 2004.
As she headed for the RR grade she passed through an area of heavy bear sign. She spent a good deal of time sniffing branches and trees in this area. I video-taped her back-rubbing a marking tree. She did a full back rub then spent a lot of time rubbing her rump which seemed to be more like scratching than marking. She ended up with another full back rub.
Given the hour I suspected she was headed for a feeding station. Fearing my presence would complicate the interactions between bears at the feeding station, I decided to turn my 24-hour walk with June into remote telemetry if she headed for a feeding station. She spent the next twenty minutes working her way east along the RR grade foraging on ant pupae among the stones along the edge. I videoed some of this foraging close-up to get her tongue licking up the pupae.
Of note:
- At one point she startled when I took a step behind her. Although I was very close I think she had forgotten I was there. I spoke softly to her from time to time after that to help her keep track of me.
June resting in balsam thicket - Aug 13, 2004She wandered into the woods and then back to the RR grade to forage more on ant pupae. I could hear ATVs coming through the woods from Trygg Road on the ATV trail – but I did not notice a reaction in June until the ATVs stopped and the riders started talking. I could hear voices but not make out words. June stopped what she was doing and stared intently in the direction of the voices for nearly 4 minutes (I later found out they were setting up a bear bait). She then wandered into the woods for a little ways before heading back to the RR grade. She glanced down the RR grade and then ran off into the woods. I looked down the RR grade and saw 2 people walking in our direction with a dog on a leash. I figured June would head to a feeding station so I headed back for my car. I met the walkers on the way. (I had videoed her 4 minutes of attention to the voices and as I reviewed the video I noticed she also kept looking down the RR grade. She suspect she saw or at least heard the walkers coming long before I did.)
Of note:
- She was accompanied by a person (i.e. me) yet displayed concern at other voices and ran from other people.
I drove to Peninsula Road and confirmed that her signal was coming from a feeding station at 7:08 PM. I headed home to grab a bite to eat and then came back to continue monitoring her signal.
It appears June became nocturnal in her pattern during this 24-hour period – sleeping through the day and spending the night ‘foraging’ at households that feed bears. Her nocturnal feeding time was broken by at least 2 rest periods.
A total of 6 scats were collected during the first 9 hours and 20 minutes of this period. I do not believe any scat markers were recovered.