I drove in slowly and quietly in the dark at 4:47 AM, just in time to see little Quill vacate the area as my headlights came into view about 250 feet from him. 
Ted at pond - Contest Photo
click here to voteI checked to see what he had left behind. The formula bowl was empty and all the walnuts were gone in the feeder and on the scale, so he was about done eating.
Apparently he was full because I didn't see him all day. His refilled formula bowl remained full.
I went down for a quick final look at 7:55 PM. The scale read 59.5 rather than 19.5, meaning there was something on it weighing 40 pounds. He popped his head up. Okay! I believe we caught him just arriving and lucked out that he got on the scale before going to his formula bowl. We can get an empty weight today--40 pounds. I waited. Eventually he moved off the scale to the feeder and his formula bowl. The scale read 18.5, meaning he had eaten a pound of walnuts. Could he squeeze a quart (2 pounds) or formula into his little belly? He looked warily around at a passing deer and at a fox that was eating sunflower seeds 30-40 feet away. With a lot of looking around between bouts of lapping up the formula, he finished about 8:40 PM. The bowl was empty and clean. There was another 3/4 pound of walnuts on the feeder, but he was done. Putting it all together his weight upon leaving was 43. I believe he was partially full already when we got the weight of 41 a couple days ago. He is still gaining weight. We'll see if the 3/4 pound of walnuts is gone by morning. To make sure it is only him partaking in the bonanza, we put up a trail cam today. More tomorrow.
A different kind of excitement is that a Lily Fan entered a photo of Ted at the pond taken by Judy Thon (with permission) in the Capture Minnesota contest. The winning entry receives a $500 GiveMN Giving Code (money to be given to a non-profit organization of the winner's choice). This is the first time we've had a voting contest opportunity in years. We'll see if we still have it in us to demolish the competition as we did in the days of yore. To vote for the photo of Ted at the Pond/Minnesota Naturally, voters must sign in/register then click on the "I Dig It" button. Voting ends November 12. Here is the link. http://www.captureminnesota.com/photos/2012548. We would use the money for bear food--Quill, Tasha, and the others. We hope Quill stays up for a couple more weeks. Tasha will likely be up another month or more from what we know of hibernation times in Kentucky where she's from. We'll see if the colder north influences her denning time. She's eating pretty well. Could she get fat enough to hibernate early? We'll see.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center