June cools off - 04-28-2009The 1½-minute video clip of June from April 28, 2009, catches her bathing on a sunny day with the temperature around 48°F. She dips her paw and rubs water on her head, which we have seen other bears do when cooling off like this at this time of year. Black bear fur soaks up a lot of heat on sunny days, and when there are no leaves yet it’s hard to escape the sun. We wonder if there is more to these baths, though, considering that the bears have been in dens for months without a bath and a coat of dense underfur that undoubtedly catches any skin particles. http://youtu.be/96ndSjZsgNI
I don’t usually drink bathwater, but these little pools were what we drank in the old days when we’d walk with a bear for 24 hours and wouldn’t want to carry a lot of water. These pools are the cleanest, safest sources of water in the woods. If the bear we were following paused long enough, I’d quickly lie down and drink directly with my mouth in the water without stirring it up. The usual concern is giardia parasites that are bad for your digestive system. We never got that. Giardia sinks, so we’d drink from the surface. We wouldn’t drink from streams or the edges of lakes where moving water keeps them stirred up. It’s also okay to drink from the middle of lakes when canoeing. At least we did and never had a problem.
The Wildlife Bill we posted a couple nights ago was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Section 20 of that bill is the Bear Feeding Bill we want removed. The bill has more committees to go through including those in the House. We’re crossing our fingers but are worried that the power of the DNR could prevail.
Big northern lights are scheduled for tonight and the next couple days.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center