Bull thistleWe didn’t start out to find Faith. It was Aster we were after. Someone notified us they had seen a collared bear and the radio-signal we found in the area was Aster’s. Her GPS batteries had died several days ago, so we attempted to connect with her to get her back on the map and generating data.
All we accomplished was getting soaked to the skin. She was moving away and we couldn’t catch up. We attempted to intercept her but we were miserably wet by then and the task seemed daunting so we gave up.
Grouse eggsHowever, no jaunt in the woods is for naught. The forest floor is bursting with vegetation—and the clear-cuts as well. We found many bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) rosettes in one clear-cut—the stems and roots of which are bear food at this stage. We stumbled onto a cold clutch of grouse eggs and even saw a moose! And I took the opportunity to show Lorie some of the logging roads she will need to use this summer. All good.
While we were exploring the logging roads, we listened for Faith’s radio signal because her last known location was in that area. We heard nothing. After coming back for dry clothes, Lorie headed out with hopes of finding Faith’s signal. Within moments she sent back a message that she was getting a signal. The signals she was getting were confusing, so I joined her to try to make sense of them. I was confused too! Faith was active and her signal was bouncing around. She seemed to be everywhere.
Faith approachesAfter much ado, we located a strong signal in an area we knew well—where Jewel had spent so much time with Herbie and Fern when they first left the den. But any thought that it was going to be easy from here on was soon dashed. We had a very strong signal, but she wasn’t trusting enough to come to us. We chose to get closer—which meant picking our way through a swamp.
White pine bed treeOn the other side was an outcrop and her signal was very strong so we climbed up. As we climbed up, she must have climbed down. Drat. It wasn’t looking good. She was avoiding us. Her signal moved away in the direction we came, but we had no desire to head back through the swamp. We called and called and called. Finally her signal moved closer but off to our side. Next thing we knew she was standing on the outcrop looking down at us.
Faith climbs steep outcropAfter sniffing the area where we had been, she made her way down to us. Success! We swapped out her GPS unit for a dry one with fresh batteries. Then we began to work on her collar to replace a piece of hardware. I removed the screw and she jumped away—the collar dropped to the ground. Our success was on the verge of becoming a failure. But patient persistence paid off and we got the collar back on with the correct hardware this time. Thank you bear!
Faith at bed treeWe skirted the swamp on the way out but walking at the base of the outcrop. I pointed out the double-topped white pine that Jewel had used as a bed tree for so long to Lorie. As I was taking a picture of it, Lorie noticed that Faith was approaching. We immediately thought she had followed us—but no, she ignored us and headed up the steep outcrop to the white pine!
Earlier in the day, I told Lorie that something I had learned from Lynn is that “It’s not all about you.” Our thinking that Faith was following us was a prime example. She paid us no mind. We were not on her agenda. She was simply heading to the bed tree. It was not about us.
Thank you for all you do.
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.