Whiteheart Den Cam 1999/2000We remember the excitement on September 19, 1999, when we discovered that 2-year-old Whiteheart had denned within 300 feet of a summer home with telephone and electricity. TV Producer Doug Hajicek was filming “The Man Who Walks With Bears.” Technology had come along to the point we wondered if a wild webcam was possible. We wondered if the homeowners would cooperate. Doug and I sat in the living room at the Wildlife Research Institute and brainstormed. Doug saw an Aqua-Vu underwater camera lying on the floor with the long cable coiled up and said, “That should be in a bear den.” Doug is an unusually creative man who somehow attracts talent. He works with many people around the world to produce TV series. He called Aqua-Vu owner and inventor Jeff Zernov and asked him if he could custom make an Aqua-Vu camera with the cable coming out the back so it would fit in a PVC pipe for protection. He asked if the cable could be made longer and perhaps upgraded to carry the image all the way to the house. He asked if the camera could be built with extra infra-red lights. Jeff said, “No problem.”
Lynn Rogers checking Den CamWe talked to the homeowners who turned out to be a doctor and an educator. They were immediately intrigued and said we could have a key to the house and use it as a research base for the winter. Doug called his friend Greg Frankenfield of Magenics, a technological firm in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. And he called Discovery Channel in Maryland to see if they would host it for free.
Whiteheart's Den CamThings came together. The media heard about it and wanted to spread the word that people could now learn about the least observed half of black bear life—watching undisturbed bears in dens for the first time ever. No one had ever observed a bear in a den without physically being there. However, the DNR had inserted a condition in our permit to prevent media coverage. No more than two people could accompany the principal investigators despite the fact that the DNR brings dozens of people to dens they study. How could we be fair to the many reporters who were asking to help? Lynn asked his friend Fred Thunhorst, the local DNR Wildlife Manager if he would monitor the event and make sure no one could say Lynn violated his permit. Fred, who retired in 2002, was always great both as a person and in his job.
Whiteheart chewing footpadsOn December 6, 1999, Doug, Fred, Lynn, and many reporters gathered, assembled the equipment, and set up a big monitor so the reporters could see what the Den Cam saw. Lynn started to Whiteheart’s den with the Den Cam connected by a long cable to the monitor in the house and to a small monitor carried by Doug Hajicek so he could tell Lynn by walkie-talkie how to position it. At the den, Whiteheart recognized “It’s me bear” as Lynn inserted the long white PVC pipe containing the 4-inch diameter Den Cam. To this day, Doug says that one of his favorite memories is watching the monitor as the camera approached the den, continued inside, and brightened up to reveal Whiteheart watching. “Right there!” Doug said, and Lynn secured the camera in position. The picture of Whiteheart watching announced the Den Cam on the front page story of the Duluth News Tribune the next morning.
The story was mostly local. The best that technology could do in those days was send a new picture to Discovery.com every 30 seconds. No sound. But in the house, we could watch video with sound and turn the sound up so high that we could hear Whiteheart’s heartbeat at times on quiet days. Click to see Whiteheart in her den, then click image to start video.
Whiteheart was barely old enough to have cubs. Our anticipation was high. Mid-January passed without a birth, but we saw vastly more activity in the den than we had anticipated. Whiteheart frequently changed position, rearranged bedding, and groomed. She removed her foot pads. In those days before social media, we and an unknown number of viewers learned that there is far more activity in a den than ever had been written.
Each year, we hoped for another den near electricity and telephone. We knew there was much to be learned. You know the rest of the story. More to follow.
—Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center