Cub snuggled in Juliet's fur Thank you all for funding the enclosure and chalet for Honey plus providing enough beyond that to expand Ted’s enclosure. We will erect signage thanking Lily Fans for both.
Cub snuggled in Juliet's furHere’s what happened. When we announced we were getting Holly, donations came in to defray transport expenses (lodging, gas, etc.), with anything beyond that going toward the new enclosure and anything beyond that going to expand Ted’s enclosure. Lily Fans gave $5,140 through GiveMN. After GiveMN’s fee, those donations come to $4,888. Lily Fans gave an additional $2,650 through PayPal to bear.org ear-marked for the enclosures. After PayPal’s fee for those donations, we will still have over $7,400 total. The transport volunteers declined any money for delivering Holly (2,000 miles round trip). With that boost, we have enough for everything we mentioned—transport, the new enclosure and chalet, and expanding Ted’s enclosure. Mission accomplished! Thank you all!
Lake Superior frozen overLynn is back after the biggest Valentine’s date of his life. Lynn and Donna went to Duluth for a dinner and dance and took the scenic route back this morning, looking for wildlife. A great time. They saw a moose and saw Lake Superior frozen over (which is rare). It was a winter like this that wolves were able to walk 14+ miles across the ice to Isle Royale many years ago. With the wolf population on the island in decline, we hope more wolves will make the walk there this winter to add new genes to that possibly inbred population.
White pine and seedlingLynn and Donna were also glad to see that Lynn’s earlier efforts for white pines (Pinus strobes) is paying off. That effort gained statewide support and changed white pine management. Now, instead of cutting the last 2% of white pines remaining in Minnesota and replacing them with red pines, white spruce, and other trees, cutting of white pines is very limited and efforts are toward regenerating these ecologically important trees. The picture shows a white pine seedling near the base of an old white pine. The white paper stapled to its tip is to discourage white-tailed deer (Ococoileus virginianus) from killing the seedling by nipping off the terminal bud.
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.