Honey’s Foot Pads - UPDATE January 24, 2016

Pileated WoodpeckerWe were glad to see Honey working on her foot pads in the 2½-minute video a Lily Fan captured last night when the infra-red light brightened Honey’s winter quarters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcW-H8RghSk

She was working on her right front paw. I hope we see her work on the other three, too. In the spring, I hope they are all removed and that Honey is walking easily. Incomplete removal might be why Honey and Ted walk gingerly at times.

For newcomers, the story of foot pad removal, including folklore associated with that process, is at Shedding of foot pads by black bears during denning. To see research papers on other topics, go to http://www.bearstudy.org/website/publications/published-papers.html. Click on any highlighted titles that look interesting and see the papers in their entirety.

A big thank you goes to the several people who included the North American Bear Center in their estate planning the last few years. This is hugely needed for long-term sustainability in teaching future generations the true nature of bears. For more information, don’t hesitate to call me at 218-365-4480 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Another need is for Bear Educator Volunteers and Bear Educator Interns for this year. Director of Education Judy Thon is accepting applications for each through February 15. Additional information is at http://www.bear.org/website/volunteer.html , or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Interns and volunteers are needed to take care of the bears and other animals, lead behind-the-scenes tours, do podcasts, answer visitors’ questions, etc. Volunteers and interns become very knowledgeable about bears, learning from the exhibits and the bears themselves—both from the ambassador bears and wild bears. The reward for us is having people stop us on the street and tell us how wonderful and knowledgeable the volunteers and interns were at the Bear Center. Interns get a thousand dollars each to help with expenses. Last year, the interns got a list of rental houses from the Chamber of Commerce and shared the cost of one.

The temperature reached 26°F today and might have made the suet softer and easier to eat for the first pileated woodpecker we’ve seen in quite a while.

Thank you for all you do.

Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

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