Busy foraging
July 14, 2010 – 9:20 PM CDT
The progression has been interesting.
The first day of Lily and Hope's reunion, Hope made sure they stayed together, but Lily seemed less caring. Lily actually seemed annoyed by Hope. We're assuming this was a day of shifting hormones for Lily.
The second day was marked by intense play (a form of bonding) and nursing (with milk already). Both Lily and Hope were observed initiating play and they seemed to be truly enjoying each other.
Yesterday, the third day, they settled down to serious foraging. Also yesterday, Sue photographed an abundance of ripe pincherries, a favorite food, along a forest road in their area.
Today, Lily and Hope apparently found those pincherries. According to Lily’s GPS readings, they spent over an hour in that very area. It's a good berry year, especially for pincherries and chokecherries, and the heavy rain today should make it even better.
We’re still reeling, thinking how a couple of you discovered that the Bear Center and the Wildlife Research Institute were in the Chase contest, how you let all of us know, and how you worked so hard for the boost you secured for each of the nonprofits. Thank you again for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center