7-year-old Jenny and her 2 cubs showed up a couple days ago, but yesterday at dawn, her cubs woke up high in a white pine with Jenny nowhere around. 
Star's cubsJenny has lived most of her life at a disadvantage. Her left front paw was permanently injured somehow when she was two. She ended up small and shy of other bears. She managed to have cubs but not until she was 5. Most other bears around here have them at 3 or 4 with the exception of Daisy who waited until 6 for reasons we cannot guess. So yesterday, we wondered where Jenny was. She showed up briefly at 2:45 PM and then didn’t return until 7:20 PM when I snapped the picture of the watchful family together at the base of a white pine. They were still together this morning but now this evening only one cub is here. We’re documenting how much cubs and mothers stick together. Without radio-collars, we can no longer document how far mothers stray, but I remember finding one 2 miles from her cubs back in the 1980’s.
We got a call that Jenny’s mother, Annie (12), was at a feeding station and still has all five of her cubs. I rushed over for a picture but had a long stop in a construction area and arrived as they all were leaving.
 Jenny and cubs |
 Vonnie and chipmunk |
 Star |
We talked a bit and then got to see Star and her 3 cubs arrive. I remember not being able to see Star out in the woods when she wore a radio-collar; but now at the feeding station, she is calm and trusting, which is a common pattern.
Tasha and HollyAlong the way, I couldn’t believe how brave a chipmunk was with one of Star’s 2-year-old daughters Vonnie. They were actually touching noses. The chipmunk completely trusted the bear.
At the Bear Center, Lucky was foraging for wild food as captured by a Lily Fan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL1BySbFRS4 . Tasha and Holly had some playtime.
An old set of about a dozen pictures popped up on the computer that I enjoyed looking at. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2009/oct/27/black-bears-of-the-northwoods
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center