Donna's cubWhen life gets complicated, home, friends, and the beauty of nature become especially important. Last night, it felt great to be next to Donna in the kitchen shucking sweet peas from our garden. It felt good to know I have friends. This morning, the calm lakes reflected trees with every bit of their beautiful detail as if I were looking at trees upside down.
Then to top it off, I saw Ursula who recognized me and calmly came to me. I gave a couple strokes down her back and made sure she had her share of food. This 10-year-old has never been a problem for anyone and has survived this long in a heavily hunted area.
Donna's cub with a turtle shellBut last night, the neighborhood worried when there was a rifle shot nearby and two cubs showed up a half hour later with no mom. Lily and Faith were accounted for but not Ursula until this morning. We still don’t know who the mother of those cubs is. I haven’t seen them myself, but they were seen by others off and on today. It reminded me of when someone was over-anxious for a trophy and shot big Lumpy the day before the opening of bear season. We tracked his blood trail from the WRI cabin until we lost it in a swamp but now have his skeleton, thanks to a deer hunter who came across it a couple years ago. It leaves me wondering about the motherless (?) cubs.
A Lily Fan remembered my update of April 30th and asked who of the potential mothers I mentioned did or did not produce cubs this year. Here is what we know so far.
Trees reflected in lakeShadow (28)-1 male
Donna (15)-4 (2 males and 2 females, Hans, Parry, Britta, and Pixie)
Braveheart (13)-3 (2 males and a female)
Shannon (10)-3 (2 males and a female, Blaze, Banner, and Glory)
Ursula 10)-3
Bow (9)-3
Lily (8)-3 (a female and 2 males Geneva, Stratton, and Porter)
Star (6)-3 females (Veanna, Vixen, and Vonnie, all with V’s on their chests)
Aster (4)-unknown
Faith (4)-2 males (David and Allen)
Daisy (4)-0
Willow (4)-2 (1 female, 1 unknown) (The mother is said to be Willow but we’re looking for further confirmation. Willow is a daughter of Donna.)
Wendy (4)-2 daughter of Donna)
Buffy (4)-?
Fern (3)-none
Nita (3)-?
Shauney (3)-?
Vanna (3)-?
Sophie (3)-none
Sybil (3)-?
Jenny (5), daughter of Annie (not a clan bear), has 2 males and a female.
No one has seen Cookie since 2013 and no one has seen Juliet since we removed her radio-collar on June 28, 2014. We fear the worst for these two.
The cub count in the clan so far this year is 28 plus 3 cubs in the study area from a non-clan mother.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center