New Mom in townA new mom is being seen in Eagles Nest Community. She has a distinctive blaze on her chest, two cubs, and a young look. But she showed her age when she opened her mouth for this photograph. The orange base of her left lower canine tooth is a cementum-enamel margin which gives a rough indication of age. The tooth protrudes a little farther beyond the gum each year, revealing a little more of the cememtum that covers the root, just as enamel covers the crown. The exposed cementum turns orange, letting a viewer get a rough idea of the bear’s age with only a glance, like in this picture.
Along that line, we remember lifting little Midge’s lip to see a canine tooth after we noticed her health was failing. We had thought she was young because of her small size. A glance at her orange-based tooth told us she was old—very old. After she died, we counted the rings in the cementum of a tooth and learned she was 26 ¾.
Yellowed teeth show ageThe mom in the picture is not that old, but no spring chicken. The tooth begins to show a little orange at 4-5 years old. The orange in the picture is enough for us to guess 8-12 years, possibly more.
She is not part of Shadow’s Clan and is evidently passing through with her cubs.
A big THANK YOU to Nadine Long for all she has done, the many conversations we have enjoyed, and the friendship we formed. Her brain never stopped, and the Bear Center was the lucky recipient of her ideas. She discovered and led the GiveMN campaign each year, worked to include the North American Bear Center in the Combined Federal Campaign, submitted grant proposals, and helped develop the volunteer program. Nadine was part of our growth toward sustainability. She worked tirelessly. Thank you, Nadine. You gave a lot. We accept your resignation with appreciation for all you’ve done these 4 years as a volunteer and then as Executive Director.
More project volunteers have arrived. If anyone gets hurt, we now have a nurse. If we need political help, we have a mayor. If we need help with computer programs, we have an Applications Analyst. If Lynn needs help writing the daily updates for the next few weeks, we have a professional writer.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.