Juliet - May 3Lily continued the move we mentioned in last night’s update. She started around noon yesterday, moved a mile by last evening when we wrote the update, and moved another 4 miles by midnight. The destination—as we guessed—was one of the main feeding stations she grew up using with her mother June. But the homeowner is still feeding deer (up to 20 at a time) and had only corn in his feeders—not a favorite bear food. Lily moved on to another feeding station but that homeowner passed away last fall. From there, she went to a third, but those summer residents were not back yet. By then, it was time to call it a night. She and Eli and Ellie went off in the woods and settled down by 2:17 AM. This morning, they became active about 10:06 AM and moved to an aspen stand where they likely climbed quaking aspen trees for catkins.
Ray coming down - May 3Aster also was on the move, although not to the extent Lily and family were. She left the clover patch about 8:11 PM and moved a third of a mile to an aspen stand. We don’t know if the gunshot injury to her triceps muscle prevents climbing. She settled down for the night by 9:49 PM. In walking with bears over the years, we saw that they typically called it a day an hour or two after sunset. Sunset last night was 8:28 PM. By 8:11 AM, Aster was up and moving on to another aspen stand a mile away where she arrived at 11:10 AM.
Ray on white pine - May 3Juliet is also visiting aspen stands. She remained with her cubs at the white pine until 10:25 AM. We aren’t sure she took the cubs with her, but the slow speed she is moving (0.2 mile in 40 minutes, 0. 3 MPH) suggests they are with her. We’ll know for sure if she settles somewhere else tonight. She has now moved a total of 0.37 mile from the white pine to a stand of aspens that includes a white pine.
At the Bear Center, our plans to let Holly roam and continue the story of Holly and the Three Bears were foiled by medical reasons. In reviewing Holly’s history of rubbing last fall, seeing some exudate under the fur when we examined her on April 10, and now seeing her scratching during a non-scratching time of year, our veterinarians believe we should treat her for sarcoptic mange. We’ll add the prescribed medicine to her bottle starting tomorrow. Mange can spread to other bears, so we must keep her in seclusion for up to 3 weeks or until advised by the veterinarians. The veterinarians are prescribing a course of treatment that is minimally invasive.
Ray climbing - May 3Holly will get tired of confinement, we’re sure. Confinement in small pens is not what we’re about, which is why we built one of the largest, most natural bear enclosures anywhere. We hope the other bears will take advantage of the situation by getting to know Holly through the fence. We also are viewing it as an opportunity for any staff and Bear Educators willing to go in the pen with Holly to get to know her, and vice versa.
On another note, Chatter numbers are growing and we have openings for volunteer Pond Chat Moderators, particularly daily 12-2 PM CT and 7-8 PM CT. On weekends 2-4 PM CT. The job description is at http://www.bear.org/website/open-volunteer-positions/786-pond-chat-room-moderator.html, but in short, it’s getting to know new Lily Fans from around the world and educating them about our ambassador bears and about black bears in general. You also get to drive the PTZ camera. If you’re already registered as a volunteer, just email
Black Bear Selfie # 3As we watched little Ray climb down the white pine a few days ago, I thought what a tragedy it was that we couldn’t broadcast the beginnings of these bears to all who wanted to watch them grow. I also thought again how the Den-watchers hung in there right into May, watching in black and white, and how necessary it was to get some detailed, color pictures of what the cubs are turning into.
When we located Juliet that day, the cubs were all high in the white pine. We thought good pictures would be hard to get. The picture in the white pine is our first real look at Ray. Bernard and Charlie were just glimpses of fur through the high branches. Maybe a half hour later, Ray started down. Juliet heard his claws and saw him moving. She came quickly to the tree, grunting. He came lower, sat and stood on a branch for a few minutes, and then continued down. Ray kept a good eye on us, as most of the pictures show. We’ll follow the family by GPS and in person throughout the year and hopefully we’ll all watch them and other bears in their dens next winter.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center