Jewel and yearlings at den It was interesting to see how Lily improvised a bed from a rotten snag near the tree where the family settled yesterday. It didn’t look that great to us, though, and maybe she agreed. She moved. After dark last night at 9:30 PM, she led the cubs way beyond range of where we could extend the PTZ Cam. They spent today over a quarter mile from the den.
Jewel groomingWhat drives their movements? Is it hunger? Lily is a bear who knows where the feeding stations are in the nearby community that has been feeding bears for over 50 years. Mobile as her cubs are, she could easily have found an easy handout. Many people would predict that she would be ravenously hungry after 7 ¼ months in a den and making milk for the last half of that period; and because she’s used to people she would make a beeline for people and the feeding stations. 
Jewel mauls the PTZ cameraInstead, Lily moved the other way. We have to say again: What makes human sense often doesn’t make bear sense. They have their wild instincts and agendas, and we are still all learning together. We’ll see how it plays out.
My...what big teeth she has!At Jewel’s den, the family spent a lot of time playing and resting outside the den on this day of melting snow (42F). They heard a sound. All looked the same direction. If they are hungry, shouldn’t these habituated bears approach the people for food? They all scurried to the den and inside. Bird feeders are 70 yards away. Many more are 200-300 yards away. Why are they hiding in their den? Mother knows best.
My...what a big nose she has!At Juliet’s den, she and her yearlings Sam, Sophie, and Sybil spent last night outside the den. But this morning about 8:30 AM we noticed her GPS locations move back towards the den—with the last reading at the den entrance. Then the readings stopped. She likely crawled back into the den for the day. Still no readings at 10:25 PM CDT. Hard to say whether her yearlings were with her. They could have been out and about without us knowing.
Jewel - April 24, 2013But the snow is not holding all the bears back. Visits to Faith and Aster’s dens today revealed that both are long gone from their dens. We suspect they left during the dripping thaw that got Lily and cubs so wet a couple weeks ago before the big recent snowstorm. While looking for them today, Jim and Sue came upon tracks of a bear on the move. They started to backtrack the bear but it had come from too far to persist.
Yearling eating buds - April 24 2013For newcomers, the family tree is at http://www.bear.org/website/images/stories/education-outreach/resources/shadows_clan_2012.pdf.
Family break-up should be happening in 2 to 6 weeks if the snow doesn’t push things later, which we don’t think will happen. Many people across the country have bears they recognize in their neighborhoods and on their land. It would help us to know (for scientific publication) how the timing of black bear family break-up varies across North America. Any observations could help put the puzzle together. 
Yearlings nursing - April 24, 2013The best data would be the date a mother and yearlings are together, followed by the date they were seen apart. Of additional interest would be the date when the mother was then seen with a male in tow. If Lily Fans and friends of Lily Fans in all parts of the black bear range of North American could send in data, can you imagine what a data set that would be? The power of Lily Fans for science. We know some people wouldn’t want their names involved and will follow each person’s wishes on that although we need contact information for follow-up questions from us.
Jewel and yearlings - April 24 ,2013Another thing needed: taxidermy for the new addition of the North American Bear Center. Soon we’ll have a place to store taxidermy, and a lot is needed for the big Northwoods Ecology Exhibit. We’re looking for Northwoods Wildlife—both mammals and birds. Nothing ferocious looking. Just normal expressions. This will be a place where people can learn, not be scared by sensationalism.
Jewel and yearlings - April 24, 2013We’re looking for the animals bears interact with, compete with, see, and hear. We already have a wolf and probably a mountain lion. We very much want a beautiful bull moose, and, to illustrate the history of the area, a woodland caribou. We are having a great gray owl and a great horned owl mounted (in flight to suspend from the ceiling) at this moment. 
Yearling - April 24. 2013Animals we need are many more birds and mammals, including red fox, gray fox, coyote, fisher, pine marten, short-tailed weasel, otter, skunk, bobcat, lynx, plus the many birds. We want to get a much of this donated as possible and are entirely willing to put plaques by each mount crediting the donors.
Videos of Jewel, Herbie, and Fern from yesterday are Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVV8xnt2D1w, and Part II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWRpqWILm1Y.
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.