Snowy forestThe contest to guess the date of hibernation for Ted, Lucky, and Honey stipulated that the official date was the date when the bear entered a den and remained there for at least 5 days. Honey passed that mark yesterday, making her official date of denning December 1. For Lucky it was October 24 and for Ted it was November 24. Pretty typical dates for these three.
When the snowy forest picture was taken this morning the temperature was -10F and rising. Now it’s -8F and falling.
The bidding for Joanne Livingston’s artist bear is now at $3,800! Duluth Channel 6 again covered the auction yesterday and posted a link to the bidding site to help. The story is at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200170435583027. Thank you Channel 6.
We’re learning that these meticulously crafted “Teddy Bears” that take months to make are called artist bears and go for as high as $10,000. Each is one of a kind. Manufacturers cannot spend the time needed to make such bears. Each bear is truly a work of art. We’re grateful Joanne Livingston is a Lily Fan who wanted to help our mission for bears.
Another talented Lily Fan is helping in a different way. Twenty years ago, he wrote one of the top Bear Biology Books of all time (Bears—Monarchs of the Wilderness, 1993). He has now become a top nature photographer. When Lynn sought his support in supplying polar bear pictures for the Bear Center, Wayne Lynch agreed to help—gratis. We’ll use some of his pictures to expand the polar bear exhibit next year as a start. When it comes to black bear pictures, though, our own Jim Stroner is hard to beat.
Coincidentally, Lynn got a Christmas card from a Lily Fan today that happened to have a quote from Wayne’s 1993 book. It said, “Bears keep me humble. They help me keep the world in perspective and understand where I fit on the spectrum of life. We need to preserve the wilderness and its monarchs for ourselves and for the dreams of children. We should fight for these things as if our life depended upon it, because it does.”
That’s the kind of people Lily Fans are.
The passing of Nelson Mandela cannot go without mention. He is/was an inspiration to us as well as the world. He took the worst his government could do to him for 27 years, but he had an unstoppable message of peace and coexistence to share. Given a chance, he took the high road and made a difference. We strive to follow his example.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All images taken today unless otherwise noted.