LilyToday is a totally different day than yesterday. Strong winds blowing snow squalls through and temperatures 25 degrees colder than yesterday have Lily and cubs back in the den with dry fur. We didn’t see it, but we bet the first thing Lily did outside the den was give a good shake. The wind has her looking toward the entrance a lot. Temperatures today are just below freezing.
Lily and cubsYesterday was such an exciting and busy day for Lily and her cubs that we have 3 videos of them inside the den and 3 outside the den.
Ellie in mid-stepOutside: 
Ellie and EliJewel, Fern, and Herbie are in their den today as well. Their microphone is crackly—likely from water seeping into the mic or cable. We hate to go there and stir them up, though.
EllieTed was half out enjoying the weather yesterday but is back in his den today.
Ellie and LilyWe noticed this newspaper article about a bear that evidently emerged from a Duluth, MN drainage culvert yesterday (perhaps because it was draining meltwater in the warm weather) and sat there unperturbed by a crowd and an air horn (http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/262902/).
Lily's cubs sleep well after hard playIf bears show a similar lack of concern about people around here, our research is routinely blamed. The truth is that bears everywhere become less concerned about people wherever bears get used to seeing them, and those bears are no more dangerous than any other bear.
Katmai National Park, AK - June 2006The same is true for grizzly/brown bears that see a lot of people in places like Katmai National Park, Alaska. The bears walk by photographers without concern. Mother grizzlies there often nurse their cubs near viewers to avoid male grizzlies that don’t dare come that close.
Katmai National Park, AK - June 2006The technical term for lack of concern is “habituated” which simply means a waning response to a neutral stimulus. When it comes to people, if bears see a lot of people that don’t mean pain (a negative stimulus) or food (a positive stimulus), they begin to ignore them. That’s the principal behind our walking with bears. They trust us not to inflict pain. They know the food is gone after the meet and greet handful. So they ignore us and go about their business as the videos at the Bear Center show. If they even look at us, we wonder why.
Happy Easter! It’s a family day.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.