Faith arrived with cubs - 8/10/15After not seeing 4-year-old Faith for nearly 2 years, I felt privileged to be remembered like it was yesterday. She showed us her first litter—2 males. We remember how playful Faith was as a cub and yearling—trained by Hope. No longer. She is the concerned mother, watching over her cubs and ingesting food to make milk and fat. Constantly looking for danger, she goes after intruding bears and chases them off into the woods. But even after her long absence, her behavior around people is as trusting as ever. She looks so much like Lily that I at first assumed it was her. Then I noticed her strong comfort level with me. As a cub, Faith and I bonded when she was in the critical socialization period at her natal den. Apparently the bond went deep. I would love to have a Den Cam in her den this winter.
Faith's two male cubs - 8/10/15The bonds I’ve seen with bears like 10-year-old Ursula, 10-year-old Burt, and now 4-year-old Faith show the lasting power of what they learn during the socialization period. It made me wonder how many cubs have bonded with individuals when DNR biologists take groups of people to dens during the socialization period (6-12 weeks of age) in March and early April and pass cubs around to them while the mother is tranquilized. It would be interesting to see how the cubs would respond to those people if they could reconnect a couple years later.
National Public Radio called today for comments about the mother grizzly killing a person in Yellowstone http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/08/11/euthanizing-grizzly-bear.
Faith - 8/10/15For Faith’s two males, I like the names Allen and David, for what they represent.
Allen is after Allen Garber, the DNR commissioner who set our research on the road to the North American Bear Center and the Northwoods Ecology Hall. Allen and his Assistant Commissioner Kim Bonde attended one of my lectures and later spent time in the woods with the bears and me when I was struggling against DNR restrictions on my research back in the spring of 2000. He ignored internal DNR politics, gathered the facts, and gave me the freedom to do proper research.
Faith's cub - 8/10/15David is after Dr. L. David Mech who is still conducting the most detailed and longest term wolf research ever done—as is featured in the International Wolf Center and www.wolf.org.
David is also after Representative David Dill who knew the many values of our research. When he first ran for Representative, his campaign manager Bill Arthur had an office and special phone line at the WRI. David stopped by frequently. When the DNR falsified bear complaints, David went to bat for a community resident after the DNR filed a complaint in his name without his knowledge or words. When the resident asked the Commissioner for an explanation, he got the runaround. David stepped in. The DNR sent the resident an apology and said they would remove the so-called complaint. That was back in 2008. In 2014, we discovered that the DNR still had the complaint on file and tried to use it in the hearing to allege public safety issues. David Dill’s final opportunity to help was this past spring. When the DNR tried to harm our research with a bill to prohibit bear-feeding, David killed it. Thank you, Dave.
Donna's cubThe Bear Course ended perfectly this evening. Donna brought in her four cubs. Shortly, the talking and laughter quieted for nearly an hour as the group became absorbed in the family. I heard someone say, “My head is going to explode with cuteness.” No sooner had Donna and her family left when we got a call inviting the group to meet Lily and her cubs.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.