Fern chews on Jewel's ribbons - Feb 10, 2013 With the big snowstorm already dumping inch after inch on the study area, the Bear Facts and Fun (BFF) Team share the perfect piece from bear.org—“Will Snow Accumulate on a Bear’s Back?” http://tinyurl.com/Snow-on-Bear-Back.
Snow on Dot's back - March 16, 2003Actually, Jewel and Lily won’t have to worry. Both have dens well protected from snow. But the picture of 3-year-old Dot covered with snow protecting her new cubs Cinder and Trueheart back in 2003 shows how well insulated black bears are in winter.
Jewel and Fern are all eyes - Feb 10, 2013At 1:25 PM today, Jewel, Fern, and Herbie went on alert. Den viewers have learned the usual bear behaviors and quickly picked up on the atypical behavior. Viewers with sensitive sound systems could hear voices near the den. No problem. Jewel’s human neighbors were enjoying the wintery weather. The bear family realized there was no threat and snuggled back down.
Jewel's cub wakes up - Feb 10, 2013It showed how alert black bears can be in mid-winter. Part of that is because they were fat and healthy going into the den. Skinny bears have to drop into a deeper hibernation to conserve energy as we’ve mentioned in past updates. It also clearly demonstrated how impossible it is to sneak up on the den of a well-fed bear and observe normal behavior—and how fortunate we are to be able to do so via the Den Cam.
Fern chews footpads - Feb 10, 2013The action in Jewel's den today was footpad-chewing and we caught it on video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rrqh7KVyvg.
Fern checks out a big root - Feb 10, 2013Part of today was spent working with programmer/GIS/GPS experts who have simplified our weight data files for analysis and are helping pull together the mass of GPS data points from the radio-collared bears. We are unbelievably lucky to have the help of these Lily Fans who otherwise are part of the prestigious National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) and Sandia National Laboratories—corporations involved in evaluating national preparedness and security issues under Homeland Security. They’re helping us by using the same talents that let them predict the consequences of natural or manmade disasters and how the government can be out in front of problems. They quickly come up with amazing shortcuts to quickly work with the data.
Fern chews on small root hanging from ceiling of den - Feb 10, 2013We are also amazingly lucky for the Den-Watchers who gather the minute-by-minute data from the Den Cams. We are currently losing a lot of data from Lily’s den as the Technology Team struggles to get that system working again. Jim Stroner arrived this evening. We’ll see what can be accomplished tomorrow.
With 4 days to go in the GiveMN Valentines for the Hope Learning Center drive to buy technical equipment to make bears come alive for students in the Multi-Media Classroom, you have us over 80% of the way to the needed $10,000 at http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Valentines-For-The-Hope-Learning-Center.
Thank you!
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists. Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center