Hope, Lily, June, and Juliet’s Cubs
June 27, 2010 – 6:50 PM CDT
Hope had us running this morning. At 7:00 AM, Lynn was heading out to see if a GPS could be replaced in 2-year-old Jo’s collar when he got an excited call from Sue that “the trail cam showed Hope at the feeding station just 2 minutes ago.” He switched course, called the BBC, and they all converged on the red pine feeding site at 6:27 AM. No Hope. They looked up trees all around. Miss Independent had moved on, probably for other foraging. They all decided to try radio-collaring her again in the evening. If she would send an image from the feeding site again before then, they’d all scramble again.
Next stop, Lily, who had moved 8 miles back into her territory overnight. Sue changed her GPS unit while an unidentified male was barely visible in the bushes. Lily moved off and disappeared.
Lynn wondered who the male might be and, with a BBC cameraman, tried to connect with her. In the process, Lily stepped out onto the railroad grade from the north and walked 108 steps per minute (a saunter), stopping here and there to dig out ant colonies. She was alone. Lily noticed Lynn and his van down the railroad grade. Lynn said, “It’s me, bear.” She relaxed and continued her work and walk toward him. Lynn offered her nuts to keep her in sight a little longer to see if a male might materialize. Lily paused but had her own ideas. After a few bites, she walked a quarter mile farther down the railroad grade investigating ant colonies and scent on low hanging branches. Then she headed south into the forest. Lynn and the cameraman drove on, turned around, and watched the grade for a few more minutes. No male. Puzzling.
Lily’s mother June began sending odd messages without coordinates from her GPS unit. She had been swimming, so water leakage was probably the problem. Sue tracked her down, changed her GPS unit, and brought the old one back to dry out. Sue made the change just before June headed into a roadless area and became inaccessible. June resumed sending GPS locations.
Next on the agenda: Juliet’s cubs. Ted the BBC producer called and said he wanted names for Juliet’s cubs so the story could progress before Gordon, who is featured in this documentary, headed back to England. Lynn asked Sue what she thought. “Anything but Sue,” she said, adding “It’s up to you.” Lynn, who prides himself in not being creative, made some calls for suggestions. He didn’t take any of them.
In a rare moment of decisiveness, he picked the name Sharon to honor Sharon Herrell and Sharon Johnson, two members of the Bear Center’s Miracle Team who have given a huge amount of work to make the Bear Center what it is. He thought of the name Donna to honor his wife Donna Rogers and to honor Bear Center Manager and Curator Donna Andrews. The same could be said for both of them, but 10-year-old Donna bear already has that name.
The second name he picked is Shirley for a woman who has worked mostly anonymously behind the scenes to make a huge difference for the Bear Center.
A third name was needed. All three of the cubs are females as identified in BBC footage we viewed forwards and backwards yesterday afternoon. With two of the names starting with “S,” Lynn thought the third name should be the same to help his old brain remember which bears are from which litters. Over Sue’s protest, he chose the name Sue. She does so much that people don’t even know about. Sue said Jamie (Donna Andrews’ middle name) would be more fitting, since Juliet is Donna Andrews’ favorite wild bear. But Lynn stuck with Sue to keep things simple. Juliet’s cubs are named.
Meanwhile, the BBC crew filmed Gordon Buchanan and his beautiful family at the Bear Center—great for the Bear Center. The documentary should come out early in 2011.
This evening, Lynn and Gordon will make another attempt to radio-collar little Hope. Lynn hopes that Hope will not hold it against him for grabbing her off a tree and stuffing her in a pet carrier to reunite her with Lily a month and a day ago. That seems so long ago. Lynn hopes it seems a long time ago to Hope, too. If he is successful in radio-collaring Hope tonight, it will be a testimony to the forgiving nature of black bears and a step toward solving the mystery of where and how Hope spends her days.
Thank you for your support for our research and education.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center