Lily Steals the Show
May 16, 2010 – 9:25 PM CDT
With so much going on with the bears, it’s a close call, but in our minds Lily stole the show. She kept us glued to the computer watching what she would do next. But Lily had competition. Braveheart finally let One-eyed Jack mate with her. Repeatedly. Around sunset.
Lily’s brother Cal is heading back north from near the town of Cotton. He is currently 72 miles from where he denned this past winter. Two events preceded his trip. He rested all day for several days, and One-eyed Jack showed up and stole Cal’s girlfriend Bow. Cal moved 48 miles south from the spot where he had been resting. He was headed directly toward the Duluth airport but stopped 23 miles short of it, out in the boonies 8 miles east of the town of Cotton. Now he seems to be working his way north. Only time will tell if he returns to the study area.
Little yearling Ty had another day of anxiety, with a little relief coming as the wind died down.
June continued her trek, moving farther south than we have ever found her before, but we don’t think she has attracted a male yet. Perhaps she is looking for Big Harry, her mate from 2 years ago.
But today Lily stole the show. She had a brush with June. In June’s travels, she passed near Lily. The GPS locations showed that both immediately moved in opposite directions. Lily retreated a mile to a patch of forest with a lot of big white pines for refuge. The patch is surrounded by residences. One of the things we are studying is how bears live so peaceably in and around this scattered rural community. Part of that study is determining what classifies a bear as a “nuisance” and why so few complaints come from this populated area year after year.
Two things go into making a bear a nuisance: what the bear does and how people feel about it.
We called the landowners where Lily took refuge. We reached 2 of the 3. We told them that Lily has been on their property before and apparently feels safe there and after having a brush with June immediately retreated to that safe area. From the GPS locations, we could tell exactly where Lily was—right down to the big white pine where she bedded at the base. The first landowner immediately said, “Lily is safe here.” He took a look and confirmed that Lily was indeed at the white pine we said. He didn’t see Hope who was probably high in the branches. The second landowner had not yet met Lily, but said, “Lily is welcome here anytime.” We offered to introduce her to Lily. She accepted and was very happy to meet her and see the contrast between Lily and how the media portrays bears. Lily was sitting peacefully, as usual, at the base of a bedding tree. Lily made a new friend.
We posted yet another video from May 12 at http://www.bear.org/website/lily-a-hope/den-cam-video-clips.html — this one of Hope eating blueberry blossoms.
Thank you again for your contributions.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center