Only time will tell
March 30, 2010 – 10:47 PM CDT
We checked on Lily and Hope today after they left the den. This time they were a bit further from the den… and… <drum roll, please>… Hope has begun to climb trees! She’s not climbing very high yet – but her ‘up gene’ is fully functioning. Her screams brought Lily grunting in concern, but Hope figured out how to get down all by herself with a little encouragement from Lily. When we left them, they were about 20 feet from the den, and on this warm night (temp near 60F) it appears they have chosen to sleep outside tonight. At this time of year it is often warmer outside the den than in. Will they ever return to the den? Only time will tell.
Today we visited 2 other mothers with cubs. Juliet and her 3 cubs are still at their den. Juliet came out to greet us, but none of her cubs ventured out.
We hiked about 1.25 miles in to 5-year-old Cookies’ den in a remote area. Fortunately we were able to follow an ATV trail most of the way. We had located her den from the air last fall as we flew back from Canada from located Lily’s brother Cal. We could tell by Cookie’s signal today that she was out of the den and active when we first listened for her. However, she was tucked into a wonderful old dug den when we finally located her. We glimpsed 2 cubs but there may have been another tucked out of sight.
After seeing cubs from these 3 litters today, we feel Lily’s Hope is the most advanced of the bunch. And she certainly is the most adventuresome!
Tomorrow we‘ll check on Lily and Hope again. We also plan to locate June and Dot, and search the area around Donna’s den for scats that might hold clues to the mystery of why she has no cubs this year.
Lynn Rogers arrives back in Minnesota tomorrow night. We’ll all be glad to have him back!
Thank you for your continued support—and patience with my late updates!
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, North American Bear Center