Trygg Rd, Eagles Nest Township, MN Lily’s cubs are 5-weeks old today. It’s time to start looking for the glint of eyes opening a slit. They could be wide-eyed within a week! If the weather warms a bit we will likely see some more activity in Lily’s den. Perhaps she’ll rearrange and eliminate that new ‘wall’ she’s erected. We want to document when the eyes begin to open and how long it takes for them to open for each of the cubs. The dates will likely differ between the two. We remember how Herbie’s eyes opened before Fern’s last year.
Black-capped ChickadeeThis was a beautiful cold (minus 15 F at 8 AM) day with blue sky and sunshine to brighten the birds. A stream of chickadees landed on this branch on their way to the sunflower seed hearts on the railing outside the office window.
Sue’s low angle GoPro video last night (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=489hq5oW8G4) was spectacular, Lynn says. It shows the kind of insights possible with a trusting bear like June. Sue is part of the woodwork and hardly merits a glance as June forages and peruses the landscape with eyes, ears, and nostrils.
JewelIt’s not something we could do with Ted, Lucky, or Honey. They would be enjoying the human companionship and looking for treats and touching. June cares nothing about human companionship and neither did her yearlings Aster and Aspen. Sue is just there—not a friend and not an enemy—not a significant food-giver and not a competitor. She is there with a camera eye that comes close or stays back—nothing to be concerned about. Their goal is to assess their safety in bear/human country while finding the sparse grass shoots of that season.
Jewel and yearling share a tender momentThey are used to Sue and don’t recognize her as a danger, but if they’d see someone else coming, the whole group, including Sue, would run for cover together. Such a privilege. Such an opportunity to see how bears live. We want to maximize the opportunity and share it in the Hope Learning Center for perpetuity. This coming summer, we want to do better with this kind of video and let the students see it life size. June and Lily will both be accompanied by cubs.
With 1 day to go in the GiveMN Valentines for the Hope Learning Center, 131 of you have donated $11,405 for technical equipment and now chairs and tables for the Hope Learning Center! Thank you!
A video of Jewel and cubs on this sunny day is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qgblsstACQ.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All pictures were taken today unless otherwise noted.