13-year-old DotLynn is back from the world of summer vegetation 400 miles to the south. Donna Rogers drove to her nephew’s high school graduation. Lynn flew down for the opportunity to drive back with her and bird-watch at hot spots on the way. The timing was perfect, the warbler migration as at its peak. They logged 77 species of birds and had a rejuvenating time doing it.
DotBut it was also good to get back to the familiar, safe woods where they have never seen a deer tick and don’t worry about Lyme disease. And it was good to see bear foods sprouting from the forest floor here. Checking on 13-year-old Dot and 11-year-old Braveheart on a beautiful day made coming home special. No wonder Lynn seldom travels.
Lorie changes her GPS unitLynn, Sue, and Lorie found Dot alone and changed her GPS unit without incident. Dot recognized Lynn’s voice and held, but her yearlings don’t know us and stayed out of sight. Dot grunted, showing that she was still with them. Later, a resident called Lynn to report seeing the family traveling together. We feel lucky to have the support of so many helping to keep track of the bears beyond what we can do. It seems like everything we do is a team effort of sorts. You all know how much Lily Fans do.
Braveheart approachesNext, Braveheart’s GPS signals showed she was within walking distance of a road and was holding tight. She was likely resting at a big white pine and hopefully would remain there long enough for us to get there before she moved off. As we approached the spot, we heard expressive Braveheart blowing, showing her discomfort with humans. We had already spotted 2 cubs up a big white pine—the same number of cubs we counted up the last white pine. We’re starting to accept that for the first time she only had 2 cubs.
Interrupted fernsLynn and Sue called out their familiar greeting. Braveheart didn’t blow again. She calmly came. We gave her a handful of nuts, straightened her collar, and removed 2 engorged but harmless dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) from Braveheart’s back. We offered them to Braveheart to recycle the blood. With nuts as the alternative, she ignored them this time.
This evening we watched as Faith and Aster converged on the infamous ‘contested clover patch’ from opposite directions —the same patch their mothers have contested for the last 2 years. The following updates refer to this patch: May 24, 2011; May 28, 2011; May 29, 2011; June 1, 2011; May 27, 2012; and June 7, 2012. Their mothers (Lily and June) had shown this patch to Faith and Aster when they were cubs. The patch is certainly big enough for both, but it appears Aster chose to move on. It will be interesting to observe how this next generation deals with this resource.
Construction continuesAt the Bear Center, construction was proceeding, and Judy Thon has introduced a new perk for visitors—free WiFi. The idea is that teenagers who come in with their smartphones and iPads can now call up bear.org for much more information and additional videos as they look at exhibits in the Bear Center. New minds are making the Bear Center a better and more exciting place as we gear up toward the big advance coming soon—the opening of the Hope Learning Center. The happy staff—all working together—steps up to make a professional difference each day.
Free Wi-Fi at the NABC!Something that made us very thankful today was learning that a long-time Lily Fan and her husband set up a trust fund to give the Hope Learning Center a boost sometime down the road. Every little bit of help like that makes us rest a little easier about the long-term effectiveness of the Bear Center’s education outreach. We didn’t think to ask whether we could use their names, so we are opting to respect their privacy.
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.