Donna After politely walking away from mildly aggressive Burt last evening, Jack said enough this morning. Jack asserted his dominance and ran the younger 9-year-old off. Jack is generally mild mannered, which might be a reason he is so popular in mating season, but this time he had enough. Burt, who seemed rather confident last night when Jack was walking away, put up no resistance this morning. He just ran away. To us, it made the world the way it is supposed to be again.
Group on hikeThis rainy morning was a morning of learning. The fact that the Black Bear Field Study is called a ‘course’ means people have to learn something, so they got both lectures while it rained.
Group walking in woodsThen the sun came out, and we were surprised by a visit from Donna who seldom ever comes to the field station. She seems to have an injured left eye. The feeding station she normally visits is 4 ½ miles away. She cautiously explored the scents at first but was immediately comfortable with Lynn whose lap she slept on as a cub over 14 years ago. They have hardly seen each other in the last decade, but Donna and her mother Blackheart and sister Dot frequented the WRI cabin in 2000-2001. Dot had not visited WRI since then. Despite her history, Donna is hard to approach in the woods.
Jewel's cubsNext was a visit to one of Lily’s dens, but while driving there on a narrow dirt road we saw Jewel running through the forest. Unusual. We stopped. Jewel came to Lynn’s voice, and we saw two of her growing cubs up a red pine. She’s supposed to have 3, so we’ll be on the lookout to verify they are all okay.
Mystery maleA mystery male 3 to 4 years of age showed up at the WRI. He is unusual in having a very dark face with no light sides on his muzzle and no brown eyebrow patches. He obviously knew us, so we’ll be matching his picture up with litters from 2010-2011.
A super day with participants meeting many bears. The Bear Course beginning July 27 has 2 openings. If you are interested in the experience of a lifetime, check http://www.bearstudy.org/website/field-study-courses.html.
A USA Today article about America’s expanding black bear population with quotes by Lynn is at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/14/black-bear-sightings/12620235/.
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.