Chokecherry blossoms Veronica smelledThe good news today was a phone call letting me know that HF846 and a companion bill passed both houses of the legislature without any bear-feeding language. We’re safe for now but uneasy. The DNR pushed hard to ban hand-feeding of bears and are likely to try again next year from everything I hear.
If the judges decide according to the evidence, we will win the appeal. If that would happen, the DNR would need the ban on feeding to negate any research benefit from our winning the appeal. We’ll see what happens next year.
Ravens huddling togetherFor now, if we win the appeal, I will apply for a permit to resume Den Cams. When asked about the Den Cams, the DNR said that I hadn’t applied for a special permit to do them. We’ll apply and see what they do. There is no public safety issue they can claim as a reason to deny a permit to shed more light on the least studied half of black bear life. There also will have no reasonable justification for prohibiting public broadcast of it.
A highlight today out the window was a pair of ravens that were as affectionate as any human couple I’ve seen in public. While one raven preened, the other sidled closer on the branch. With their shoulders almost touching, they repeatedly touched each other gently with their bills. To get a better picture, I opened the door a crack, but they immediately flew to avoid the paparazzi.
Chokecherry Veronica pulled downLast evening, 81-pound Veronica pulled down this chokecherry tree to smell the flowers. She is the second bear we saw do that exact thing with that tree.
To celebrate the reprieve from the proposed legislation, we have a super video clip from October 16, 2009. June looks magnificent as she emerges from the den that was used more often than any den in my 48 years of bear study. It’s the den June used 4 out of 5 years in a row. On this day, June and her cubs Jewel and Jordan retreated into it during an early fall snowstorm. The fact that they entered a den to escape a snowstorm is new information in itself. Jewel and Jordan were born in this den and will spend that coming winter in it. June emerged to let us remove her GPS unit for the winter. Jordan cautiously emerged to follow June. Jewel then followed with no hesitation. https://youtu.be/fGRRe3-UJDY.
Thank you for how you helped on the legislation. Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.