Lily feeds on aspen budsLily ate her first meal in months—not counting cub scat. Actually, it was more like a snack or taste. She discovered tiny buds starting to show on aspen (Populus tremuloides) saplings that surround her den. She pulled a sapling to her and nibbled the buds. 
Lily feeds on aspen budsShe ran her mouth along the branch, perhaps using her tongue and/or lips to sense what was edible. She wasn’t ready to walk in the wet snow to get them, though. She was very careful to stand on logs and the Den Cam tube but slipped off as she reached for another sapling. Then they all went into the den to nurse. The cubs played on top of the den again, showing the friskiness that says they are being well fed by Lily. Inside the dripping den, Lily licked drops from them and vice versa.
Ellie checks what Eli is doing...It’s 
...it's okay, he's only licking watergreat to be able to toggle back and forth between the outside and inside cameras. Once a person gets two tabs going, say WildEarth and the PTZ tab, and has listened to the ad on each, you can toggle back and forth as the bears go in and out.
Monkey cubWe’d been watching Lily sniff the air when she was outside. Now we wonder if she was smelling the beginnings of the tiny buds that got big enough to catch her eye today. 
Practice makes perfectShe is in the middle of a big clear-cut full of these saplings. We suspect the growing buds will soon give Lily incentive to step into the snow. The fact that she paid attention to these tiny buds shows how much bears like these fresh greens. It’s the same story for tiny snow fleas. When will the smells of spring lure her away from the den? 
Eli and EllieWill she stay another 2 days to make it an even 7 months?
At Jewel’s den, mischief was afoot. A yearling removed Jewel’s GPS unit from her collar and began chewing on it. We gasped in mock horror! This late in the denning season it may possibly survive their attentions. Time will tell. 
Eli chews on a stickThis evening, Jewel toppled a standing birch snag and proceeded to drag it to her den. With the help of a yearling, she managed to get the whole thing into their cramped den where she shredded the well-rotted wood for bedding. The last few days in the den and she opts for some bedding material. Go figure.
Future flowers for the Bear Center
Flowers for the Bear CenterAt Lynn’s house, a sign of spring is Donna taking over the house with flowerpots and little greenhouses to get flowers started for outside the Bear Center.
At the Bear Center, 70 sixth-graders from St. Paul came today. Honey had spent the night in the wooden window den that is open to the viewing windows, but she disappeared mid-morning, like yesterday, and they didn’t see her.
The staff went up to see if Ted would like to come down. For the first time, they found him standing by his gate ready to go. 
TedHe 
St. Paul 6th gradersslowly and carefully walked down to the viewing area for a bit of romaine lettuce and a couple carrots and then headed back up to his den. Before letting Ted out, the staff locked Lucky in briefly. Heidi distracted Lucky with lettuce while Judy Thon went in and locked his door for a couple hours.
A link to a 3-minute Skype interview for the TV program Right This Minute is at http://www.rightthisminute.com/video/real-world-bears. The program gives background about popular YouTube videos, which, of course, were about Lily, Jewel, and family, in this case. 
Deer eating sunflower seedsThe Skype connection could have been better, but the panel of interviewers made it fun.
At the Research Center, a deer shared the birds’ sunflower seeds.
A video of Lily eating aspen sapling buds is at http://youtu.be/NVwrzHdNrvE, and a video of Lily and her cubs outside their den yesterday is posted at http://youtu.be/jUvVAwJhhlE.
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.