20210902 Woodchuck greeting momThe only two bears we know of being taken in this vicinity were the two taken by the shots we heard last evening—a young bear, probably a yearling, and one that we have no information on maybe a mile away.
Most of the pregnant females have disappeared from the area and we suspect they are beginning to den. We still see Lily on a trail cam and are wondering when she will move to a den. She was at her den of 2013 by the end of August 2012 to begin the longest denning period we ever recorded. She didn’t leave it until April 23, 7.7 months (235 days) later. However, in another year when she was pregnant, she remained active until the end of September.
At the Bear Center, a woodchuck gave better views than I’ve ever seen of a woodchuck gathering bedding for its burrow. "Taught" caught it on this video (3 minutes and 39 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NHo91XHn0 I hope baby woodchucks appear there by the rock den next summer so we can see them interact. The picture is from a rare opportunity to see that back in June 1981.
Thank you for your support at this time.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center