Drama in the Woods
Drama in the Woods
May 31, 2010 – 11:15 PM CDT
Lynn handed off the previous update to me just before I headed out to bring Hope her first formula made from the fresh goat’s milk. I wanted to get out to her before dark so I figured the update could wait. I located Lily and Hope at a large aspen tree where they were bedded.
I gave Lily a few nuts to keep her busy while I fed Hope. Hope loved the new formula! She also ate all of the cottage cheese—though I think she was really looking for more of the grapes I had mixed in it.
When Lily finished the nuts she roamed around a bit while Hope was finishing up. Then suddenly Lily came rushing back to the bed tree grunting in concern. Hope leapt for the tree and climbed high. Lily stood up against the tree grunting and looking off into the woods. We were not alone.
At first I wondered if there was a person walking along a nearby trail, and then I heard the grunting of another bear. We think of grunting as a friendly sound – but Lily seemed frightened. I could see another bear approaching in the growing darkness. It was a collared bear but I could not see well enough to identify it. I ran through a few frequencies on the telemetry receiver and found it was Lily’s mother June. Lily ran off huffing.
June followed Lily – still grunting. I could hear thrashing of brush and huffing. I monitored their signals as the strength of both decreased as the bears moved away.
I stayed near Hope’s tree, waiting for Lily to return. When I realized that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, I picked my way out of the woods in the dark and headed back to the field station.
As I write this (11:20 PM) Lily is resting nearly a mile away from the Hope’s tree. June is resting 0.35 miles from Lily and 0.63 miles from Hope. I am thankful for the GPS units that give me these locations.
Hope is alone once more. What does this all mean?
There are those reading this that will condemn me for not staying near Hope’s tree. Suffice it to say that I did what I thought best at the time. I can better monitor Lily and June from here. I feel Hope is safe as long as she stays in the tree. Hope is in an area this time that she is very familiar with – unlike last time when she was left in a totally unfamiliar area. Fortunately Hope had eaten quite a bit before Grandma June showed up.
The rollercoaster ride continues for us all. We could all use a break but it just doesn’t let up.
—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, North American Bear Center