14-year-old RC - July 1, 2013We bid farewell to the first group of Black Bear Field Study participants this morning. What a great group of folks! They arrived in the midst of our permit crisis and endured hours of listening to one-sided interviews as Lynn took calls from one reporter after another. The group took it all in stride and entertained each other (and Sue) with humorous skits. In order to get as much content into the course as possible, Lynn was still lecturing at 10:00 PM last night when Sue headed home.
This afternoon was much the same—hours of interviews. We received a message back from Governor Mark Dayton’s office saying the governor is looking forward to meeting with us. We’re now trying to find out how soon that can happen. Time is of the essence. We should know more on Friday.
RC grooming - July 1, 2013At the Bear Center this morning, Ted and Lucky showed loud tension through the fence of Ted’s small enclosure, making us cautious about letting them out together. We’ll continue to have them take turns being out. Honey is out all the time. On Tuesday evening, July 9, they all go into their holding pens for a few days as construction continues on the steps to the viewing balcony. We’re missing July 4th, but we hope to have the balcony accessible by the Lilypad Picnic.
PayPal locked the Legal Fund account last evening. The unusual flurry of activity on a brand new account flagged it as suspicious. We called today to clear things up and they removed the hold from the account. Thank you Lily Fans for the much needed help at this critical time. We look forward to meeting with Governor Dayton and hope for a productive meeting. We want to avoid legal tangles that would tie us up. We hope truth will win out in the end.
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.