UrsulaFern is on her own and scared. A windy day didn’t help. Our daily check of Jewel and family revealed that Jewel and Fern were 1.4 miles apart. Fern was at nearly the same spot where Gordon and Lynn found her at midday yesterday. Jewel and Fern were back together by 6:30 PM last night. Jewel was alone today, so it is unlikely a male triggered the break-up.
Changing Ursula's batteriesFern was 40 feet up a big white pine at 12:20 PM (Lynn forgot his camera). She’d been up there a long time from the way she stretched and yawned when she finally decided to stir and come down. On the ground, she had a hard time leaving the base of the tree. She looked nervously in all directions. It would have been a great video of how yearlings behave when newly on their own. Lynn was maybe 50 feet from her. Once she made it about 8 feet before something caused her run back to the tree and look off in the distance from the safety of having her front feet on the trunk ready to climb. Lynn asked if she would feel better if he came to her so she could stay near the trunk. Lynn came to within 10 feet and let Fern come that far. He set down his antenna and receiver. When she came close, the antenna tipped over and Fern ran 10 feet up the tree, blowing and clacking her teeth in fear. Lynn came near. Shortly, Fern got back into the routine, but still looking around nervously.
Ursula's cedar bed treeOn the way back to the Research Center, Lynn got a call from a resident who had spotted Jewel alone at 7:30 AM 1.2 miles from where Fern was later found up the white pine. We still need to check the last night’s GPS locations for a more precise estimate of time, but it’s evident that Jewel and Fern split sometime between 6:30 PM last evening and 7:30 AM this morning. We’ll continue to check, but we believe this is the real break-up.
Samantha and her 3 cubs are still together.
Ursula sniffs treeSue and Lorie set out to change the batteries in Ursula’s GPS unit. It was day 13 on her old ones and we had begun to get ‘low battery’ status reports. Ursula has consistently been in a pretty inaccessible location, but we couldn’t wait any longer for her to move closer to a road. The hike in was long (2.5 miles) but most of it was on a snowmobile trail, so at least it was doable.
They found her sitting calmly under the largest cedar tree either of them had ever seen. Lorie handled the battery change alone and did fine. It’s easier with two people, but we often can’t spare two people for the task. Sue was there to jump in if Lorie needed her. Next time, we’ll send Lorie out alone. Much needed help!
Ursula and cubs in tree... somewhere!Just before Lynn left for home this evening, he was treated to Juliet’s first visit this year to the Research Center. She has separated from her yearlings Sam, Sybil, and Sophie that we saw so much of in the 24/7 program series last year. This often-nervous bear was extra calm as Lynn removed her GPS unit, checked it, and put it back into the pouch on her collar. Juliet gets better every year. We’re glad we have a radio-collar on her. Next, we want to see the male she joins up with.
Ursula climbs downWe haven’t seen any big males other than Loppy in this area yet this year. A big male we hoped to see around here was big beautiful Victor who was spotted just 4 miles away on June 1, but today we saw him still nearly that far away as he crossed the highway. He paused long enough for us to see his distinctive white chest blaze and then notice his familiar scarred-up face. He looked like he was on a mission. We’re not sure which female he was tracking. 13-year-old Dot, who has split from her yearlings, was 2 miles away. We hope to learn more from observers in that area.
A Lily Fan sent an interesting article about a captive bear research project in the State of Washington http://nrs.wsu.edu/research/bear-center/doc/ADN%20Bear%20Story.pdf.
Wild sarsaparilla buddedWe got several calls today about a bear attack that again involved a dog attacking a bear family (mother and yearlings) and resulted in the dog’s owner getting bitten on a leg. The dog ran after the yearlings. When the woman yelled for the dog, the bear swatted her and retreated. The bear returned and bit her arm and leg before running to her yearlings. When conservation officers later approached the keyed-up bear, she “charged.” The officers shot her.
Interrupted fernWe weren’t there so don’t know exactly what happened. In our experience, most such “charges” are a single ritualized pounce, slamming the front feet down and blowing. It looks explosive and ferocious, but simply means the bear is nervous and will not attack. Full-out charges are very rare—but even then, contact is rarely made.
Blueberry blossomsWe have offered to do a seminar for Minnesota officers like we have done for officers in other states, sharing video and discussion of bear body language and vocalizations so they can better understand bears and better assess risks—both risks of the moment and the risk of the repeating the behavior. In this case, it was a bear family that came to the landowner’s bird feeder and was attacked by her dog. The incident was over a hundred miles away from here. http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Bear-Attacks-Woman-in-Aitkin-County-Shot-by-Conservation-Officer-210270521.html.
Ostrich fernAn interesting side note is that incidents like that are unheard of in this community that has fed bears for over 50 years. We are studying how the feeding affects the bears and bear-human relations. One thing that feeding does not do is increase the likelihood of attacks, house break-ins, or other serious types of bear incidents.
A great phone call we got today was from a couple in Georgia who started a bear education organization back in 2004, saying it was our work that made them want to do that. It always feels good to know that here and there, our message makes a difference. It’s the same thing that many Lily Fans are doing.
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.