Mountain-ash berries - Sept 7, 2013We checked further on two-year-old Aster today and then more closely examined the pictures from yesterday in the light of what we saw. Her left front leg dangles when she tries to walk, suggesting a shoulder wound. Examining Jim Stroner’s photos from yesterday, we now see drainage from that shoulder. What we see is characteristic of a bullet wound.
We had wanted to believe the wound was from something other than a hunter shooting this radio-collared bear with long, gaudy ribbons and reflective plastic strips. We had wanted to believe the injury was from another cause even though it was obvious she was at a bait site immediately before her wide-ranging behavior changed to lying still for over half a day at a time.
We’ve seen bears recover from gruesome injuries, and they can heal during hibernation. Aster won’t be able to dig a den now, but she may already have dug one. If not, she undoubtedly knows of a suitable shelter within her territory she could use as a den. She knows what she needs and she will figure it out. We will watch and document. Mostly we will leave her alone to rest. We’re thankful Jim and Lorie changed Aster’s batteries yesterday so we can track her movements during this time.
Whether to shoot or not shoot a radio-collared bear is a personal decision for each hunter. We failed in our attempt to make it illegal. We had hoped the number of hunters who would shoot a radio-collared bear is low enough that no radio-collared bear would encounter one of them.
Other than Aster, the radio-collared bears with GPS units all seem to be okay.
A food source in the woods now is mountain-ash berries. They are already showing up in scats, and—though not plentiful in inland areas like here—are loaded this year.
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.