Quiet water A beautiful day with no wind and unrippled water. Bears are also calmer when the wind is calm. We don’t know if that’s the reason, but Holly decided to explore the big enclosure today and chose to leave her pen at 8:55 AM. She’s been out all day. She took refuge up her deadfall when Honey showed up, but she has come out into the open behind the pond several times. Of course, she stands up and scans for bears periodically, but she’s coming along.
Honey is allowing still more contact from Ted. Today, he nibbled her neck and Honey followed him when he walked away.
LilyAt 7:52 AM, Lily visited WRI again. Lily is about as nice as a bear can be. She is calm, trusting, and trustworthy. And she is independent. If a person wants a bear to be affectionate and demonstrative, that would have to be a hand-raised captive bear. Lily is wild with wild purposes on her mind. Her response upon seeing Lynn was the usual—give a glance, recognize him, and ignore him. She stood facing away with ears perked toward the woods. Then she walked off into the woods to check whatever was important to her. She strolled back, walking past Lynn who fell in maybe 2 feet behind her. She wasn’t ready for him yet. She was still checking the scene. That attitude is what makes her so valuable in the woods. She completely trusts researchers. To her, we are not friends or enemies, not competitors or significant food givers. We’re just there—inconsequential in her full life. She eventually got on the scale—182.5 pounds. That’s down 4 ½ pound from 3 days ago—probably an empty stomach today.
Red squirrelWhat a difference between Lily and ultra-wary Samantha who reacts nervously to any human movement she doesn’t understand. Any pictures of her cubs have to be with a long lens at this point, but if Samantha stays in the neighborhood and visits community feeding sites, she and the cubs should calm down.
Raven in ElyThe female red squirrel in the picture is more like Lily than Samantha. She lets people walk by when she is eating and doesn’t run if they just act normal. She remained in place on the side of the tree for a picture from maybe 6 feet away. The same with ravens that scavenge dinner rolls in Ely, but any unusual behavior and they fly away.
Reading about moose mothers abandoning their calves after Minnesota DNR researchers radio-collared the calves (http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25908863/moose-moms-abandon-research-calves-threatening-minnesota-study), reminded us of the abandonments that plagued earlier studies of denning black bears. That’s what made bears like Lily and Jewel and Juliet so valuable. They would remain calm enough for researchers to install Den Cams and finally learn what happens in the least studied half of black bear life.
Swallowtail butterflyThe video of the Russian trainer and his brown bear expands our view of what bears can learn and how they can bond with a person who raises them (http://www.flixxy.com/russian-
Swallowtail butterflies, one of our prettiest, are making their annual early summer appearance. We see them most commonly on wolf scat, but this one was gathering nectar from dandelions.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center