Today was another day of thanking volunteers at the Bear Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRlYHaGNGxo. 
Red fox faceNot to be left out, I am also thankful for the many volunteers who do such a variety of things to further our mission for bears. Some I know well. Others I have never met but appreciate greatly. If any volunteers see me at the Bear Center, please introduce yourselves.
If any volunteers (or anyone) can come to the Mystic Lake Casino Spring Gathering on Saturday, April 28, from noon to 5, it would be great to meet you. Along that line, a volunteer offered to pay for 3 people (it’s $30 each). To take advantage of that, go to https://www.facebook.com/sarah.rose.771, see the big pink flower picture, and click on message in the lower right hand corner of it and let Sarah know you want to come. Beyond the 3, it’s $30 each.
Lucky and Holly each got a bag of food today, and someone snapped a nice picture of each in action.
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Out the window here at the WRI, a woodchuck sampled the date tray and stood up like a squirrel to hold it in its paws and take bites. Skyward, herring gulls are dropping out of the blue. 
WoodchuckLast night, a red fox that was lit by the second floor deck light looked at me in the window snapping a picture of him. I like its eyes and am considering putting it or Peggy’s good shot on the upper wall of the Northwoods Ecology Hall to show the difference between a red fox and a gray fox. After looking in the window, the red fox ignored me and scanned the area with particular attention to the two gray foxes that were tracking and being tracked by each other. I think it’s mating season for them.
A Question: You were talking about climbing trees when the wind is high. Is this instinct brought about by ancestors fearing predators of the bears? or Is this taught from one mother to her cubs and then those cubs grow up still doing the same thing? Do all bears moms teach their cubs to do this? Who do adult bears fear, now?
Answer: Back in the Ice Age, black bears were up against giant short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats, American lions, and more. Black bears wouldn’t have had a chance against any of these. But the black bear was the only one of them that could climb trees. 
Herring gullI believe they develop more the mind of a prey animal than that of a predator and had the attitude of ‘run first, ask questions later’ and stayed near trees. Escaping up trees is part of them. Their mothers don’t have to teach them or tell them to climb trees in time of danger. Once they are out of the den, animals they haven’t learned to accept are feared. Cubs go up trees without a word from mom. In fact, mom might be off foraging, having left the cubs at the base of a big white pine in some 90% of the cases around here. Their ears are their first line of defense. They can hear in all directions. Smell only works downwind. Rustling sounds are sounds of possible danger. They go on alert and are ready to run or climb. On windy days, there is rustling all around, making bears of all ages alert and nervous, wanting to feel safe—and that’s up a tree. What do adult bears fear? Mostly the unknown, which can include other bears (until they identify them and recognize them as not being a danger), or it can be a moose outside a den, wolves, or big cats. Or, under some circumstances, they are amazingly calm around these stimuli. We’re still learning the mind of the bear.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center