Mother and cubs up the treeIt’s been a long day at the computer. Heading out to walk some well-used bear trails with a couple guys.
With the DNR up to some tricks behind the scenes, I remember back when Senator Satveer Chaudhary came for some visits, saw what we do, saw through the malarkey the DNR was saying, and went to bat for us. He was critically important in 2008 when the DNR was trying to shut us down.
I remember even farther back when Senator Steve Morse spent time with me and bears in the woods. He then was named the DNR’s Deputy Commissioner under Commissioner Allen Garber who went on to become interested in the malarkey he was hearing about me from State Bear Biologist Dave Garshelis who was asking him to deny a research permit for me in 1999. Garber and Assistant Commissioner Kim Bonde spent time with me and bears and with Garshelis and bears. He saw behind the scenes and came out squarely for me, backed by Deputy Commissioner Morse, putting my research on the path that led to the Bear Center and Ecology Hall.
With that in mind, I’m looking forward to a visit to the WRI by an astute legislator from the Twin Cities area this evening. A walk in nature will set the stage for that.
Now, hours later, back at the computer, I can say I had a great time with the legislator and the walk with the 2 friends yielded a piece of data. We came across a mother with cubs less than 60 yards from one of the community feeding sites. Did she come up to us for food as the DNR claims we are training the bears to do? No. We heard her huffing in fear, saw her run across a road to climb 40-50 feet up a big red pine, huffing in fear all the while. The way she was sitting, we couldn’t see identifying marks.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.