Jewel Jewel has a dug den under a dead birch (Betula papyrifera) in the middle of a patch of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) so dense it’s difficult to see the den until you are upon it. Jewel was good enough to come out and let Jim and Sue remove her GPS unit and plastic strips, but she went back into the den before they could remove the ribbons. At least the bulky stuff is off her collar.
Jewel in denJim and Sue also checked the den where Cole and Ember were born. No sign a bear has been there this year. We really wish we had little cub radio-collars on those two cubs. This is a special research opportunity to fill in a gap where there is far too little data. They already surprised us by staying together and even exploring a den together for at least 4 days—the deep rock den where Lily and cubs displaced them at 8:22 PM on October 26.
Jewel's den under roots of
large birchWe wondered where they would go next, which is partly what spurred our investigation of their birth den today. They have undoubtedly settled somewhere by now, as have the other bears, but to learn whether they stuck together we’ll have to wait and see if they are still together when someone spots them next spring. We suspect they will revisit the community feeding site they used together as orphans this fall. We feel lucky we happened to have a trail cam at the very den they explored together.
As usual this time of year, we are waiting for spring to confirm the survival of other bears, too. Meanwhile, we write, fight, and work to make the new addition to the Bear Center the best it can be. Thank you for all you are doing toward those same ends.
Our biggest cheerleader, “MAX THE BEAR” will be blogging several times a day from the North American Bear Center thru November 14th. MAX is debonair, knowledgeable, and humorous. He will visit his friends Ted, Lucky, and Honey—the NABC ambassador bears—and report on the status of their hibernation. He will report on his visits to the North American Bear Center: viewing educational exhibits, videos, and documentaries; meeting visitors and staff. MAX will keep us up to date on the Give to the MAX campaign for donations, power hours, and matching grants to help the NABC place in the top nonprofits. He will be tracking the leaderboards all day every day. Put Max in your RSS feed to get automatic updates. Meet MAX at www.MaxTheBear.com.
You can schedule your donation on GiveMN any day and your donations won’t be processed until Give to the Max Day on November 14th. Your donations will be eligible for the Golden Ticket drawings and helping NABC compete on the leaderboards. Be sure to check the box “Make my donation count for Give to the Max Day 2013.” Click here to schedule your donation.
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.