On Sunday, May 13, I got word that a mature female bear had been shot. 
Cub up birchThe neighborhood is still piecing together what happened. I’m waiting for answers from DNR officials and may file a FOIA request. Neighbors are upset. Then, on Tuesday, May 22, three cubs showed up as orphans 0.4 mile from where the mother was shot. When I arrived, one ran up a birch but then followed the other two to a big white pine and climbed to the top. They looked healthy and normal for their age—about 4 months old. They are too young to survive without their mother, but they may have eaten some of the tender leaves that are now erupting from the forest floor during the 11 days they were on their own.
Cub up white pine
I called the DNR and ended up talking with Captain Tom Provost, head of DNR enforcement for northern Minnesota. He did the right thing by looking for a way to capture the orphans and place them in a rehabilitation facility. The neighbors and I spread hazelnuts and sunflower seed hearts around the base of the tree. The neighbors added a bowl of water and cans of sweetened condensed milk. The cubs eventually came down and ate.
The next day, the cubs were 200 yards away up another white pine. 
Stone with cubCaptain Provost was successful in finding competent help licensed to transport cubs. Stone Boulanger of Stone River Wildlife Control competently and humanely captured the cubs with the help of his son Tyler and neighbors. 
Stone with CubHe looped a cable loosely around the neck or neck and shoulder of each cub to carry them down from the tree with very little squawking. They put them together in a hav-a-heart cage for transportation. Stone, Tyler, and an associate Heather Flikke drove them to Duluth for a vet check with plans to then drive them to the rehabilitation facility.
From what I heard around the neighborhood, the killing was unnecessary. I am still obtaining information.
Captain Provost sent a picture of the mother. Without being able to see some of the identifying details, I suspect it is either 9-year-old Jewel (daughter of June) or more likely 9-year-old Samantha (daughter of 16-year-old Braveheart).
On a happier note, out the window, a female hooded merganser is using the duck nest box again, and a woodchuck is mowing the lawn a few blades of grass at a time. The grass is tall enough that the woodchuck cannot see much when it is down nipping the grass off at the base, so it stands up to look around while it ingests the length of the grass.
 Neighborhood Wolf |
 Hooded merganser female |
 Woodchuck |
A neighbor got a good picture of a visiting wolf.
I hope the cubs are doing okay. I’m sure they are getting good care, but the best a person can do is not what a mother can do as the cubs learn the wild ways of the woods. A sad situation.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center