Busy bear
March 19, 2010 – 7:24 PM CDT
Today, it turned colder with a high less than 30 F rather than 50-60 F as it has been. Weather now is closer to normal except that all the snow has melted. In the past, a few bears have bit branches from conifers and dragged them into dens for bedding at this time of year, but this year, with the snow gone, Lily can rake ground litter as she has been doing today. She made three trips out, each time raking in birch leaves, cedar fronds, balsam fir boughs, and other ground litter. We don’t know if this is because of the change in weather. We don’t know if other bears are doing the same. We are learning with you. We didn’t want to visit the den today when she was showing so much behavior via cyberspace.
Some of you asked how Lily gathered the bedding. Bears gently rake bedding towards themselves—raking only the surface to avoid the dirt—as they back towards the den. They then back into the den and pull the bedding in behind them. As we can see from the den cam, Lily hasn’t exactly pulled it all in yet! We’re hoping she'll clear in front of the camera soon. (At left is a sign we came across in the study area!)
We also wonder why Lily is handling the cub more lately. We wonder if this is part of bonding. We noticed her pawing repeatedly at Hope's mouth and wonder if she wants to initiate mutual tongue-licking (like French kissing) that mothers initiate late in the denning period and may carry on into early summer. And what is the purpose of tongue-licking? Is it to transfer microorganisms helpful in digestion before they get out in the big world eating more than milk? Is it for bonding as evidenced by adult bears occasionally doing the same? Extending the tongue is a friendly greeting as can be seen in the video Ted and Lucky 'Making Friends' on www.bear.org.
Your comments following last night’s update show a preference for “I hibernated with Lily and Hope in 2010,” so we will at least use that one. We are providing the Hope ‘Humming’ Ringtone as a free download accessible from the 'Lily & Hope' menu on www.bear.org. Our thanks to Linda Gibson for creating the ringtone and providing the instructions.
Thank you for your contributions and support in so many ways. A large box containing multiple orders of nuts arrived today from Nuts Online—thank you!
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center