Back together
July 18, 2010 – 10:21 PM CDT
During last night, little Hope moved to an area Lily had spent time in yesterday. Hope spent the night up a tree there—scared. When she came down at 7 AM, she constantly scanned off in the woods as she hesitantly descended. She showed all the signs of fear--huffing, snorting, snapping her jaws, moaning, blowing, and slapping the tree trunk. These are the signs of fear that many people misinterpret as threats and shoot the bear as an aggressive bear.
Hope spent the next 9 hours searching for Lily except when she ran into the scent of other bears. Then she climbed trees. Hope ran into the scent of a mother with 2 cubs and immediately climbed. She did the same when she ran into another mother with 3 cubs. Actually, the mother with 2 cubs had a missing third cub that was bawling for her at 8:30 AM. By 3:30 PM, that cub had tracked her down and rejoined her a half mile away. We wonder how common temporary separations are between mothers and cubs.
Hope didn’t find Lily until 4 PM. At first, Lily ran away from Hope, who followed bawling. A quarter mile on, Lily turned aggressive toward Hope, chasing and treeing her 3 times.
Hope was persistent. Lily relented, and by 5:15 PM, they were playing and nursing. After a play session, Hope wanted to nurse. Lily readily rolled over to let Hope climb onto her chest as the picture shows. Hope relaxed and nursed while her mother scanned the surrounding woods for possible danger.
At 9 PM, they were bedded down together for the night.
Observing Hope through the day, it was amazing what a different cub Hope is without her mother. Alone, Hope is hyper-vigilant and fearful. With Lily, Hope is confidant and much more relaxed.
Thank you for your continuing support of our research and education.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center