Trumpeter swans - Sept 10, 2011Sleepless nights and early mornings caught up to us today. Sue and Lynn both had to go home this afternoon and nap. Mentally fatigued, Lynn’s words did not come quickly to him in interviews, including one with National Public Radio that will air this coming week.
Trumpeter swans - Sept 10, 2011The morning started off beautifully. A pair of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) that Lynn has been hoping to photograph for an exhibit in the Northwoods Ecology Exhibit was visible from Highway 169 on the way to the Research Center shortly after dawn. It was too late, though, for the photo Lynn had hoped for of the parents with their young. Today, the last of the four signets was gone. Residents on the lake said the family had been besieged by otters and eagles among other predators. They said the last signet was not seen after a pre-dawn commotion on July 31.
Trumpeter swan family - July 8, 2013The trumpeter swan is the largest bird in North America weighing up to 30 pounds and having a wingspan up to 8 feet. It reappeared around Ely, MN, in the last few years after being absent the better part of a century. We’ve been watching them since 2011.
Jim Stroner helped keep the data stream going by visiting Juliet and changing her GPS batteries. Food continues to be so abundant in the woods that bears are seldom seen. At the Bear Center, Lucky is behaving a lot like the wild bears. He is seen far less than we’d like as he forages in the woods. Same as we have discovered in our diversionary feeding studies, the bears prefer wild foods over anything we can offer them.
Trumpeter swan - Oct 20, 2012This year, a great variety of preferred wild foods are virtually everywhere. The bears are out in the woods soundly refuting the old ideas that supplemental food makes bears lazy, dependent, and aggressive—that they forget how to forage naturally. So many of the beliefs about bears and food come from years when bears are desperately hungry and have no food to turn to in the woods. One of the values of long-term behavioral studies is that long-term studies give the opportunity to see how behavior changes with forest conditions.
We want to continue the research and continue sharing it with everyone who wants to learn. That includes wildlife officials, decision-makers, the public, and students. We see how you are helping in this time of crisis.
Thank you for all you are doing.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.