Hope is spunkier than we thought
June 9, 2010 - 9:08 PM
Yesterday, while Sue was standing in the rain all day, I assumed Hope was staying safe in a tree. That’s what we often see yearlings doing after they separate from their mothers, especially on days when rain and wind sound like danger rustling all around and it is hard to hear real danger approaching. As it turns out, Hope was spunkier and more independent than that. She was actively foraging a mile and a quarter away from the feeding site. While she could have been eating formula, grapes, blueberries, mealworms, and nuts, she was off tearing at logs. Mark Larson happened to spot her far down a river and snap a picture with his cell phone. Probably a black bear’s favorite foods are the various kinds of insect larvae—especially ant brood. Those are foods we cannot obtain to feed her, although we tried to come close with mealworms. If Hope wants ant brood, she has to find those herself, and apparently she is, rain or shine. She knows good food when she smells it or tastes it. She doesn’t have to learn. She knows what is good—same as we know what we like no matter how parents try to tell us what is good for us.
The formula, etc., is giving her strength, and her drive to be a bear is utilizing that strength to get what she likes best.
Like the other bears we know, she is using her keen color vision (bears can see better than most people think) to forage by day and visits the feeding site mostly at dusk and dawn and during the night as most bears do at feeding stations. We thought she would be more dependent than that. We’re learning. A person can’t do any better than to learn from the bears themselves.
It is interesting that the place she was foraging was in the same patch of forest where she was reunited with Lily. Did she just happen to roam there or was she there for a reason?
Lily is still off in the nether regions. Lynn made a mistake yesterday, so we don’t know where she is. He forgot to turn on the new GPS unit he inserted into her collar—the beginnings of dementia? So Lily is not sending GPS signals to our computers. We have tried several times to find her by telemetry, but she is so far off somewhere that we are not getting signals in her usual area.
June made a trip 17 miles east from her territory today. She bumped into the Ely airport, veered away, and then bumped into big Birch Lake and veered away again. She avoided people all the way even though she has supposedly lost her fear of them. It was the same with Cal on his trip to the outback north of Duluth. He roamed the woods avoiding people even though he supposedly has lost his fear of them. How do bears think? We are slowly learning. And most of what the bears show is opposite of what most people would think.
Today, we took a break from the field and office for a little 31st anniversary celebration for Lynn and Donna. You all helped make that special with the cards, words, donations, and food you sent. Thank you so much! Then a call came for Lynn and Donna to wave at the video camera. They put together a plate of cake (with real strawberry filling), ham, chicken, cheese, and a strawberry for a taste test. Which food would the bears eat first? Which one would they ignore? Ted was the only test bear present. He saw Lynn and made his sweet grunting sounds that are a lot like the sounds Lily made to Hope. Lynn offered him the plate. He chose Lynn. He wanted only to lick Lynn’s face and ignore the whole plate. All of you online saw for yourselves. Ted is a peach.
At this moment (7:18 PM), Sue is out bonding with Hope at the feeding site. Lynn is about to take Donna to the Ely Steak House for dinner and to enjoy reading your cards together. Thank you so much!
Thank you for your many contributions!
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center