It's Donna's birthday (67), so it's an early update to spend time with Donna. Actually I did spend time with her this morning--I thought for breakfast, 
Tedbut she preferred to go to the dump. In a way, that's extra special, a tradition, because we began by spending our honeymoon at dumps. Unforgettable, actually. But tonight, we'll do something different.
Holly and LuckyAs you remember, Quill emptied his bowl last evening while I was still here, so I refilled it (6 cups) in hopes he would return. He was back from 12:12 to 12:26 AM and again at 12:41 to 12:54 AM to empty the 6 cups. When he was off camera between 12:12 and 12:26 AM, he may have been on the scale eating walnuts because a pound of them disappeared.
I arrived at 3:05 AM and refilled the bowl (7 cups) before going back home to supposedly take Donna to breakfast when it got light out. After our dump trip, I stopped by the Bear Center where Scott and John were putting
Tasha Manny the Mannequin in a more visible spot. I actually had stopped to get a picture of Tasha in her den, but when we got up there, she was outside it. I peeked in on Holly and Lucky and was happy to see them looking content together. 
Scott and John with MannyHolly gave a little pounce of uncertainty toward me, probably wondering who the strange form was in front of her doing unfamiliar things without Sharon. Ted was his sweet old self. Lethargic as he is, he was nice to come and sniff my hand while making his friendly sounds. I hope he lives forever. I liked the quick snap shot. It shows his friendly eyes, although it also shows a little bed head from where he was lying.
QuillBack at WRI, Quill was apparently satisfied with 3 quarts of formula overnight--the most ever. He hasn't been back. Squirrels and blue jays got the remaining pound of walnuts through the day, so it's almost time to put more nuts on the scale now that Quill's competitors are calling it a day.
At this point all 7 cups of formula from this morning are waiting for Quill to return to in a few hours.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center