Burntside River - January 8 At 7:04 PM, a vole passed through Holly’s den. A Lily Fan captured this super picture of Holly on total alert, looking and listening. We look forward to getting to know this little bear and seeing her develop relationships with Ted, Lucky, and Honey in spring.
Holly hears a voleWe wait for word from the DNR on our posting daily highlight videos of Juliet. The idea of daily highlight videos is exciting. Juliet’s den is especially good for viewing, and the picture from her den is the most detailed we’ve had so far. This could be the year with the best video of the labor and delivery process. Aside from what we have seen these past 4 years (and recently submitted for peer review), we know of no other description in the bear literature of the birth process in wild bears. Until recently, the common belief was that black and grizzly bears give birth in their sleep and wake in spring surprised to see cubs. We look forward to putting highlight videos together and disseminating them to Lily Fans, scientists, wildlife agencies, teachers, etc. We also are excited about following and recording the birthing process (and many other things) in better detail that has been possible so far.
Winter sun - Jan 8Meanwhile, a Lily Fan sent a link to a good (but brief) article on Diversionary Feeding. We read it and then scrolled down and noticed the 17-minute presentation “Can Food Lead Bears Out of Trouble?” we presented at the 20th International Conference on Bear Research and Management in Ottawa, Ontario during July 17-23, 2011. It’s narrated, so if anyone pushes the arrow button, they can sit back, see the pictures, and hear the words at http://www.bearsmart.com/bear-management/diversionary-feeding.
A Lily Fan also sent a short report about bear-viewing in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest bringing in 12 times more money than bear hunting http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bear-watching-more-profitable-than-bear-hunting-says-study-1.2488311=. We didn’t realize there was such a difference.
A Lily Fan who watched Herbie and Fern suckling daily last winter asked, “Would Holly not need feeding like Herbie & Fern last winter?” If Holly were with her mother, we believe she would be suckling like all the yearlings we have watched so far. But we didn’t see evidence that any of them except Hope got milk. The mammaries were non-swollen, and we never saw a milk moustache. Nevertheless, we’re gong to keep an eye on Holly and give her food if she seems hungry despite her northern genes.
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.