Aster - Sept 7, 2013Like yesterday, the 8 bears with GPS units are moving and okay, except for Aster, of course. At dawn, Aster moved a quarter mile and then remained within a 75-yard diameter area for the rest of the day. Her GPS readings indicate she may have spent time foraging.
Aster's move We see your good ideas for what should be done, but none can be done under the DNR restrictions. The DNR has taken full control of what we can do, and we can do little more than monitor her movements. If we violated the permit in any way, we have no doubt the DNR would circumvent the legal proceedings and pull our permit. Radio-collars would be removed and all the research bears would become vulnerable.
For a note of optimism, we know of 5 other bears that looked hopelessly injured but recovered. We’ve told some of these stories before so will keep them brief.
- Blackheart was hit by a pickup truck and rolled under it and out the back. She lay there unconscious, then finally crawled off the road and into the woods. Lynn brought her food and water daily. Some 6 weeks later she was getting around but with a limp. A few weeks later, she was walking fine. She had cubs that winter.
- Braveheart was hit so hard by a compact car that the car was totalled. Her collar was torn off by the impact. We thought we’d never see her again. We looked for vultures. Nearly 6 weeks later, she appeared, looking fine. Without a collar, we couldn’t learn where and how she recovered. She is fine today and has never missed having a litter every other year.
- In Vermont, an adolescent bear was hit and laid beside the road making no effort to get up. It remained limp when Lynn gently picked it up and laid it in the back of Steve Stringham’s pickup. It still lay limp but breathing well as Lynn carried it deep into the woods an hour later after getting permission from authorities. Steve brought the bear food and water every day but we can’t remember if the bear ate or drank any of it. On the third day, the bear was alert enough to express fear. The next day the bear was gone.
- A cub we eventually named No Bow had her back left leg so wrenched she couldn’t use it. The leg hung useless as she climbed trees using her other hind leg. If it were a foreleg that was dangling like Aster’s, No Bow couldn’t have climbed trees. A month later, the leg was fine.
- When we were doing a den check decades ago, we found a mature female that had the end of her lower jaw shot off in the hunt. She surprised us by finding a way to ingest food and gain enough weight to produce cubs the next winter.
Some think injured bears are dangerous, but we haven’t found that to be the case.
We’ll keep an eye on Aster and do what we can. We’re thankful for your support and the many prayers. We would expect her to den in 6 weeks or so. We’ll document her progress.
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.