Looking out the window from my desk I’m seeing a beautiful mix of fall tree colors across the lake. Close-up, blue jays and other birds add other colors a few feet away.
Blue jay
A visit to an overlook just a mile away began with an uplifting tunnel of yellow in the driveway as an introduction to the overlook’s vista that was nearly all bright yellow.
 WRI driveway |
 Fall colors |
Most exciting was the record number of bears coming here and seven other places between here and Ely in this year when drought and forest fires dried up most of the berries. As an encore to the feeding routine was a flock of crows that came for leftovers on one side of the WRI and a flock of nearly a hundred mallards and wood ducks that waddled up from the lake for leftovers on the other side of the WRI.
Crows at leftovers
Along with groups providing food in the seven other locations, we’ve all made a big difference for bears in this year of scarcity. We all welcomed bears with substantial amounts of diversionary food that (1) kept the bears from traveling far and wide seeking food in residential areas where many bears have been shot as nuisances in other years of scarce natural food, (2) enabled pregnant mothers to maintain their pregnancies and retired to their dens at healthy weights in September, the month when pregnant females in this area normally retire to their dens, and (3) enabled mothers to make enough milk to let cubs achieve healthy weights for long survival.
 Mother w/3 cubs |
 Guy - male |
Old bears that have long given this area a reputation for longevity retired to dens at good weights. Two calm, trusting favorites in their mid to late twenties are Guy and RC who are showing their ages with brownish crowns and faces that have a lot of white hair. RC headed off over a week ago, and Guy made his last visit two days ago. Lily and her cubs are still making their visits to the group caring for her and her three cubs of this year. What could have been a very bad year is turning out amazingly well with the help of many of you.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center