Ted is doing what the wild bears undoubtedly are doing—raking the freshly fallen leaves into their dens.
Bear on scale 'Taught bybears' did a great job following his behavior with the camera. I might be able to take some credit for that because I let Mauro into the Bear Center early this morning so he could fix Ted’s camera. 'Taught bybears' caught the details as Ted reached into narrow places to rake leaves and then kept them all together in a big pile under him that he successfully raked up his ramp and into his chalet in this 6:20 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0S9jqd0h-Q. He’s up to 675 pounds now, 13 short of what he was last year at this time. Maybe he’ll eat more to catch up—or not. We don’t know when he will call it a year.
Then, during the 14-minute podcast Sharon gave an update on all four bears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b9m8_AlN9Q.
Here at the WRI, a couple adolescents continue to fatten. One is here on the scale now. There might be brown dirt near the end of his muzzle, which could mean he was digging a den.
Out the window, the pine marten ran by the window making me leap for the camera and bologna. Would he like bologna and want to come back for more? I tore open a package, stepped out and saw him over 30 feet away near the end of the deck. I sailed a piece toward him like a Frisbee. He came forward a bit but turned back. On my third try, the piece sailed low and fast, arching toward him, and landed close enough to make him jump. Then he saw it a foot away, grabbed it, and disappeared. No picture, but this might be the start of something big, as the song says. I’d love to see him or her come by through the winter.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center