Fern paws at her radio-collarMelting is on pause today at 35F and cloudy. The ice on the lake outside the window is not revealing new fish trapped in the non-melting ice, so the bald eagles count was down from the 9 of yesterday to 3 today.
Back wall of Jewel's 2012 denWe caught up to Jewel’s family just 50 yards past the den Fern and Herbie were born in last winter. Tracks in the snow showed that the family had peered inside their old den to see the icy floor and the water-soaked back wall that had collapsed, giving a view outside. Jewel patiently let us remove her old GPS case and the pink BioThane® strip from her radio-collar. We bolted a new case complete with GPS unit to her collar. Jewel is ‘on the map.’
Fern getting used to her collarThen we tackled the task of giving Fern her first radio-collar. She is a calm, gentle little bear—with a sweet-tooth. A little sweetened condensed milk kept her busy while we fitted the collar. When it was on, we packed away the rest of the sweetened condensed milk and nuts. Then she turned her full attention to the radio-collar and began pulling and tugging at it.
Lorie retrieves GPS from Jewel's denHerbie surprised us by hanging back. We had scattered some nuts for the yearlings to keep them occupied while we worked on Jewel. He ate a few nuts then wandered off—coming back only when the collaring was over.
We stopped by Jewel’s den from this past winter to retrieve the GPS unit the yearlings removed from Jewel’s collar. With the help of Bear Educator/Research Assistant Lorie Kennedy, we retrieved the microphone and lost GPS unit from their empty den. The sandy floor of the den is damp but not flooded, which might explain why they stayed there so long with all the snow melting outside.
Juliet's wet denWe had hoped to catch up to Faith and Aster but both were hopelessly far from a road. We’ll wait for them to come within walking range. Juliet, Sam, Sophie, and Sybil were a mile and a half from their very wet culvert den. We checked their den to retrieve Juliet’s lost GPS unit but no one would crawl into the den to sort through the wet bedding today.
A video of Lily, Eli, and Ellie taken April 24—after they left the den—is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhiUoqCPVV4.
Ted checking out scentsAt the Bear Center, it was Lucky’s turn to roam and Ted’s turn to be in the chalet den pen. The photo of him investigating the scents of Lucky also shows the cedar tree (foreground) and quaking aspen tree that Lucky climbed in the last couple days—showing that he was recovering well. Lucky stopped by to see Ted through the fence, but the two were not as friendly to each other today. Ted blew when Lucky approached. Ted may be feeling possessive of his chalet den and pen. We’ll get a better view of their future relationship after a couple weeks when Lucky’s testosterone levels have lowered. A fun video of Lucky from today was posted by a viewer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPKzDD3gIk.
A question remains about all of that because one of the times they tangled was on September 24 last year when Lucky’s testosterone should have been low according to the paper on it at http://tinyurl.com/Testosterone-Black-Bear. We can only wait and hope.
Larry begins work on WRI brush pileTrish Kirk, leader of the Speakers Bureau, reported today that members are actively scheduling summer presentations all over the country. A speaker who is a graduate of the Black Bear Field Study Course at WRI will be giving multiple presentations at a nature center where people are afraid to walk the nature trails for fear of the many bears. Trish said, “This is exactly the kind of audience we need to target that so desperately needs to hear the truth about black bears.” She said “Folks should also enjoy learning about bear sign, as well.” Along that line, WRI is freely sharing its photos and descriptions of black bear sign with the State of Virginia, which is developing black bear educational material. Word is spreading.
Bear Educator Shelley Carmichael stayed to help out at the Bear Center today while her fellow Bear Educators Larry and Christine McCray and Becky Hollis came to the Research Center to help burn the big brush pile volunteers created last September.
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.