Aster hobblingAster was in a more familiar spot today with less wind, so Lynn attempted another visit to change her GPS batteries and learn what he could. Like yesterday, she recognized, but today she was calm and receptive.
The picture shows her hobbling toward Lynn as he sat quietly with nuts at the ready. When Aster reached Lynn, they made the trade—nuts in exchange for access to her radio-collar. The battery change went smoothly, and Aster even let Lynn feel her wound. The bullet entry wound is no longer visible. The scab is still on the wound, and Aster didn’t wince when Lynn touched it.
Then Lynn felt for the exit wound on the inside of the leg (left front) a few inches down from her armpit. Lynn withdrew his hand covered with fluid—saliva. As Lynn saw yesterday, Aster spends a lot of time licking the exit wound. Presumably, bear saliva has antibacterial properties similar to dog saliva, which is known to be bactericidal against Escherichia coli and other bacteria.
Aster rests her left paw—sometimes the top and sometimes the bottom—on the ground when she pauses in her hobbling through the forest. She has enough control of the injured leg to lift it up off the ground when hobbling along. It’s been nearly 3 weeks now since the shooting.
Lynn next tried to use the stethoscope to get a heart rate to see if she is slowing down for hibernation, but Aster isn’t used to that procedure and always moved away—no heart rate. We wonder what Aster will do for hibernation given that she can’t dig and can’t rake bedding into a den. She would also have a hard time climbing out of the ready-made deep rock den that Lily and Faith used two winter’s ago a couple miles away from where Aster was today.
Aster is gentle in her actions and expressions. Lynn felt honored that she trusted him in her condition.
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.