Lily plays with her cubs A nice message to begin our day was this one from a teacher with students enthusiastic about bears. She wrote, “This would have NEVER been possible except for HOPE. If I hadn't fallen in love with that little bear, learned the truth from you two about black bears, none of this would have been possible. You have opened my eyes to my passion not just for bears but for all animals. It must be overwhelming for you to see the "ripples in the water" that our dear Hope continues to create.”
Male cub makes a break for itThose thoughts are why we put Hope’s name on the Hope Learning Center. Those thoughts are what fan our enthusiasm. And those thoughts are from a teacher who used to fear bears and teach that fear to her students.
Lily catches himToday, after much effort, Jewel succeeded in removing the final 4-layer duct tape ribbon from her collar. No more dangling ribbons to tickle her or the yearlings. The only ‘marker’ remaining is the BioThane® plastic one bolted to her collar.
Female comes up for air (notice curve)Activity in Lily’s den was much like yesterday—Lily reaching out to eat snow and ice and the cubs being cute exploring the big den. But today, Lily did a bit of remodeling to the ceiling of the den. We couldn’t quite see her work, but we heard the crunch of wood and saw chips falling into the bed.
Someone always wrecks the picture (notice V)Another cub ID lesson: Look for the spot on their forehead where the dark fur meets the lighter fur. It you see a sharp V, it is the male. If you see a gentle curve, it is the female. It’s helpful to have multiple ways of telling the difference between them because they don’t often hold one position for long!
You can practice your cub identification on these videos: Part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jllj5js2S3w and Part II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0UI81nNzOA.
Mom and cub play
Mom and cubs playLily Fans helped make Jim Stroner a resounding winner in the ScienceFriday photo contest with his picture of Lily’s nice eyes looking out from her den entrance. Comments repeatedly said that they voted for that picture because of the way it drew a person in. We echo that. Pictures of wildlife without captivating eyes just don’t touch a person like Jim’s pictures do. He captures eyes. The great picture of Jewel that first comes up when you go to Jewel’s Den Cam is another gripping photo. Anyone who has a Shadow’s Clan calendar has seen that, too. Photos without eyes seldom made the cut for the calendars.
Cubs explore the denJim well deserved the victory and receiving 58% of all votes cast. He wishes to express his gratitude to all those who voted! You can hear his ScienceFriday interview at http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/03/15/2013/and-the-award-for-best-picture-goes-to.html, just click on Listen Now.
We echo that by saying thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center