At the Bear Center, Tasha is spending her first night out of her pen with Holly. Lucky and Ted are in their pens.
In Eagles Nest Community, we were told Lily and Ember were again spotted on a trail camera in the wee hours of this morning.
One-eyed Jack - July 9, 2016
Our beloved Jack was seen today 9 miles away, 9 days after we last saw him here. He is fine. This sighting is very unusual. It is the first we have heard of him in that area. We began seeing him in 2003 and named him One-eyed Jack because of his missing left eye. We eventually heard the story of his earlier being shot in the face with a .410 shotgun by an obviously fearful man who wanted to teach him a lesson for eating his neighbors dandelions and not running away. We eventually learned that a year or so before we saw him in 2003 he was already missing his eye. A family was feeding him at their secluded home deep in the woods. This family ended up selling their house to a man who wanted it as a hunting camp. We hoped Jack would never go back there. We don't know that he ever did, but he did occasionally visit a home that has long fed bears just a mile from there. We never heard of him at houses in between these feeding sites--until today. A friend who feeds bears over 9 miles from here recognized him. She said that when she went outside, Jack retreated into the woods but returned when she put food out and went inside--so different from his calm, trusting behavior here. The lady believes he was there the last 3 nights from food that disappeared overnight. This was her first sighting of him in daylight. We're hoping he settles into a den soon. He has to be well into his twenties. The picture of him is from July 9 of this year.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear
Center