Big HarryEach year we wait for the few big males to reappear. These are the males that will join the females we walk with in mating season and let us learn about courtship and mating. Big Harry is June’s favorite. Each summer, these males disappear around the beginning of hunting season (September 1) and make us wonder if they just had better things to do or if we’ll ever see them again. Today we learned that Big Harry survived another year. We are guessing his age at 15-18 plus or minus a few.
The picture shows Harry’s light-colored muzzle, which is probably where Lily’s light muzzle came from.
Big Harry is a bear that people never see, as far as we know. It took this skittish bear many years to build a little trust in a very limited set of circumstances and locations. Yet, when he very much wanted to be near June, he came to her even though a person was sitting beside her, as can be seen in a video at the Bear Center. Each event like that reveals a little more about the minds of bears.
We feel so fortunate to have spent so much time with bears. We both have had an intense lifelong interest in nature. Being able to stick with bears so long and get to know so many individuals in so many situations is a privilege beyond what anyone has had, as far as we know. There is so much more to learn and write and do. We have no choice but to fight on. We have the facts. We have a great legal team to lay the facts out in an effective manner for court processes.
Thank you for all you are doing to help.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.