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Tasha, RC Family Breakup, Lucy Returns - UPDATE May 25, 2019

At the Bear Center, someone was alert to catch a cute picture of Tasha. TashaTasha

At the WRI, sometime between 8:45 PM on May 22 and 10:10 AM today, RC and her cubs Chloe, Casey, and Carter broke up. This morning, we saw RC here alone. This evening at 8 PM her smaller male Carter arrived alone, suggesting that the three yearlings also have split up as is usual. No bears came yesterday. If RC and her yearlings broke up yesterday, I suspect the yearlings were up white pines feeling insecure with the wind making scary rustling noises with no mother around. I feel especially sorry for the female, Chloe, who stuck particularly close to RC. RC herself might have spent the day laying down scent trails for males to find. She might have been doing that today, too, because she was here very briefly as if on a mission. Males are undoubtedly out cruising, looking for scent trails to follow and hoping no other male is beating him to her with possible violence awaiting.Herring gull at windowHerring gull at window

Then there was a welcome sight. Sweet Lucy showed up. She is one of Samantha’s four (Lucy, Ethel, Ricky, and Fred) from 2016, now 3, but without cubs. At first I didn’t recognize her. She was skittish but mainly alert for possible other bears. She retreated to the security of a big white pine and sat at the base on alert. Eventually she returned and showed she knew routines and locations. Then she came to me, sat down, and I saw the 2-inch long vertical white line on the right side of her chest—Lucy! We were back like it was yesterday. The high point of the day.Rose-breasted grosbeak pairRose-breasted grosbeak pair

Out the window, a male and female rose-breasted grosbeak pair were close enough together to get both in the same picture, showing how different they look.

Looking into the window was a herring gull that is distinctive with black dots on the ends of the upper and lower mandibles. He or she was first here as a juvenile in May of 2017 and is now a skilled catcher of thrown bologna. We have two window peckers, a half dozen catchers, and others that have their own way of getting my attention for bologna. One repeatedly flies back and forth between the window and the usual feeding spot.

Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center


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