Judy Thon feeds LuckyUplifting is the word for today.
It was uplifting to see Lucky up and fine today. It was also uplifting to see the dedication of the staff—especially Judy Thon. She stayed late last night to check on Lucky at 8:45 PM and was up after a sleepless night checking on him at 4:30 AM. She was still with Lucky when Lynn made his check at 6:15 AM. Seeing the effects of tranquilizers on a bear and feeling the anxiety of possible death from tranquilizers made Lynn doubly glad he found a way to learn about bears using trust rather than tranquilizers.
That trust was important today in checking on Jewel and Juliet, another uplifting feeling after the long winter. Jewel, Fern, and Herbie left their den last evening (April 27) at 8:19 PM CDT.
Jewel and yearlings at bed treeJewel had moved her family a quarter mile to a big white pine where the big melt yesterday (70’sF) opened up an area where they could bed. Jewel and yearlings were hyper alert as Lynn approached without talking. Because they were at a refuge tree, they were ready to climb rather than run away. As Lynn came into view, the yearlings climbed but Jewel seemed to recognize Lynn without his voice and lay down. Lynn then spoke, identifying the meeting as a feeding situation, and the bears responded. The yearlings came down. Jewel got up. Lynn checked Jewel’s empty GPS case to see if it was still in good enough condition to hold another GPS unit. Questionable. The vets were with Lynn but watched from a distance.
Fern, Jewel, and HerbieOn to Juliet to find out why she isn’t sending GPS locations. We found their tracks a half-mile from the den. As we followed the tracks, we saw where the bears began running. Juliet's telemetry signal faded. It was obvious we couldn’t catch up to them. We back-tracked to see what they had been doing. Juliet had scent-marked a telephone pole and had led the cubs to several potential bedding sites, only to find them still snow-covered. The crust was gone. Juliet was sinking up to 18 inches into the snow. Lynn was sinking up to 28 inches, although some areas were now devoid of snow.
We headed back to our vehicle so the vets could catch an airplane. We were about to pass by the bears’ den again when Juliet, Sam, Sophie, and Sybil appeared. Obviously scared after their near-contact a half-mile away with humans who didn’t say “It’s me, bear,” they had hurried back to the security of their den. This time, with Lynn saying the right words, they held but wouldn’t let Lynn come near.
Each approach resulted in Juliet leading the cubs quickly away. The 3 vets stayed back. Lynn said the right words and approached close enough to throw a few nuts. Juliet and a yearling recognized it as a feeding situation, but then hurried away to the security of a big aspen tree. It was obvious Juliet’s attention was on the 3 vets who had held back and had not been introduced as being with Lynn and okay. Lynn had them join him.
Lynn then approached Juliet alone, and she held. Still filled with pent up nervousness, she lunged, slapped the ground, and blew. Lynn offered a handful of nuts, behaved appropriately, and all was normal. Lynn saw the problem with Juliet’s GPS unit—it was gone! The crafty yearlings must have managed to get the case open—likely in the culvert den. Lynn called Sue, and she wondered who was small enough to crawl into the culvert den to retrieve it.
Bear Educators and staffThe next uplifting thing was meeting the Bear Educators that Judy Thon and Sharon Herrell were teaching today. What a great, dedicated, and enthusiastic group. Half the group had taken the Black Bear Field Study course and had developed a passion for bears. This Bear Educator group is truly all about the bears. We want them all to get experience with the Bear Center bears and wild bears to be the best representatives for bears they can be. It will be a joy to spend time with them and bears in the woods and at the Bear Center. They won’t be able to touch the wild bears, but they will experience a lot.
Tannin stains on lake iceSigns of spring today included the first robins, osprey, thrush, red-winged blackbird, yellow-rumped warbler, phoebe, and herring gull. Birds are riding north on the warm southern breezes. Eastern chipmunks are everywhere. Aspen catkins are bursting and red maple flower buds are swelling—both are bear foods. We also noticed yellow snow on a couple shallow lakes that are always among the first to open up. Some say, “Don’t EAT yellow snow.” We say “Don’t WALK on yellow snow.” Lakes with a lot of tannins in the water turn the snow on top of the ice yellow when cracks form and water wells up.
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.