When staff saw Holly raking freshly fallen leaves into her den, they pitched in and helped. They raked up leaves from outside her enclosure and dumped them in. 
Sweet TashaHolly knew where she wanted them. She raked them exactly like we have seen wild bears do, backing up, raking them into a pile and into the den. Sometimes, with a big pile, their muzzle is right in it and they get the occasional leaf in their mouth, which they sometimes swallow. Here is a 2¼-minute video of it from the staff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdrmWCkoFdc&t=3s
Wolves in ElyOut a local resident’s window, the view was wolves. He said they fed as closely to bears as 4 feet with each ignoring the other. Bear-wolf interactions can vary, of course, as is shown in the bear-wolf interaction video in the Northwoods Ecology Hall at the Bear Center. In the resident’s photo, 3 of the wolves, part of a pack of 5, including a black one (not shown), are sharing the bears’ food. I am privileged to be part of a nature-loving community with so many who love living among wildlife of all kinds.
Out the window here, cautious blue jays are spending a lot of time sitting quietly on the lookout for sharp-shinned hawks. When they dare, they come for sunflower seeds until they again have to fly to a nearby balsam fir tree with many protective branches.
A nice letter from a dedicated Lily Fan let me know the NABC and WRI are both in her will. Thank you .
Here is bear news from Sharon Herrell, the Bear Curator.
Bear News - October 1, 2017
Ted at cedar tree
Welcome to October! It’s raining and cool--a typical October day in Ely.
As most of you know, Holly has not graced us with her presence down at the pond for several days but she has been out of the small bunker den. One of our Bear Educators, Kathy, took a nice picture of the inside of Holly's bunker den showing leaves, cedar, and small twigs. That tells me she wants bedding and she wants it now.
We gave her a large can of raked leaves from the walkway to incorporate into her den. We watched her diligently work to get each and every leaf raked into her pile and then she moved the pile into her bunker. Here is a video of her busy at work raking leaves and bringing them into the den.
I have been promised straw this next week so the dens will be prepared for the bears. An interesting note… we gave Ted straw in August to help make him comfortable and he moved it out of his way. Now he is looking for bedding. He got some yesterday while it was nice out. We actually saw the sun yesterday!
Ted has been exercising; he walks to the pond area, eats grass on the mound, and loves to stop at the cedar trees outside his den to add the aromatic cedar to his coat.
Lucky is becoming the all-time star of climbing the Pat tree to get treats off the feeder. I think we need a name for the pulley system feeder! He waits so patiently for his favorite Bear Educator, Bob, to put his treats on it. It’s fun to watch Lucky pivot his bottom and then launch up the tree. He is smiling in the attached picture.
Our little Tasha is not so little anymore! As her winter coat grows she gets fluffier and her coat makes her look a bit bigger than she really is. She is taller than Holly. I hope she never loses her sweet disposition. In the picture she was resting by the dug den.
I'd like to thank all our Bear Educators who work alongside of our Interns. The help and support they give us is irreplaceable. I’d also like to thank all of the Pond Chat Moderators who have operated the cam during our enrichment programs and are always there to help make our programs a great success.
Thank you from our bears also.
Sharon Herrell
Bear Curator
PS Remember to join us on Wednesday at 1PM for our LIVE broadcast.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center