One of Juliet's cubs peers out Holly and Lucky have both been lying quietly and peacefully in their dens. Lately, Holly has been more active. Her body is undoubtedly getting ready for emergence and temperatures are 60-70F warmer than some she experienced this past winter. Now she rests on top of the straw rather than burrowing into it.
Juliet and cubsLucky—still mostly out of sight behind the mound of snow near his entrance—is more active, too.
A Lily Fan video-marked footage of him looking through their peephole and Holly reacting. http://beta.wildearth.tv/videomark/lucky-peephole-mar-23-2014. 
Juliet and cubHolly looked at Lucky from a distance, then made a half-hearted pounce at him as bears do when they have conflicting drives—defensive but wanting to approach. She put her face to the hole the same as Lucky.
Juliet and cubIs this preparing them for amicable interactions when they emerge? We wonder how they will react when they finally see each other in full view through the wire fence between their holding pens? We hope the staff can catch that on video for all to see.
Cubs are getting big!We generally don’t recognize individuals in updates because so many people are doing so much that we cannot single out individuals without slighting others who quietly do great things. But we want to say a little about one such quiet individual who many of you know. 
Two of Juliet's cubsWhen word spread that Ray Bernard (RayCanoe) was not doing well, many tearful friends emerged. People who are normally stoic and objective could hardly talk about Ray.
When we spoke to him Friday, he told us about his love for the bears, the Bear Center, and the people he worked with there. 
Juliet and cubHe was there when the Bear Center opened and when Lucky arrived in 2007. He watched the Bear Center come to fruition during his many trips to Ely since the early 1990’s. He told us how he loved working with researchers and volunteers to greet hunters during hunting season. He put in hours each day as a Pond Chat mod—always taking the high road and being a voice of reason helping lead the mods. 
Juliet and cubHe and his wife Joyce cared enough about their fellow mods that they went to Ireland to see one of them. They both have done a great deal behind the scenes as volunteers. Ray told us how much he loved talking daily to visitors at the Bear Center, answering their questions and making friends in the process. We told him about the outpouring of love back toward him. We want to honor his years of work by naming a bear after him.
Ray is one example of the many volunteers who day after day put their hearts and souls into helping bears through research and education. Our hearts are with Ray and Joyce during this time.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center.