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Oliana, Cubs, and Gray Faces - UPDATE August 27, 2019

Oliana has been a mystery. Born in 2011, she disappeared long enough as a yearling for me to mistakenly radio-collar a look-alike and then realize my mistake when she reappeared.Cub in white pineCub in white pine Then she disappeared or was not recognized until 2016 and 2018 when she showed up without cubs at the ages of 5 and 7 years old—sweet as ever. Now this year she reappeared and joined the 4-cub club that has reached its highest prevalence this year with Donna, Ursula, Lily, Samantha, and now Oliana as 2019 members. Her 4 male cubs, have no easily distinguishable markings and will probably provide further mystery. The five litters of four this year are more than we’ve seen in the clan (four) in this entire study.

With so many cubs this year, we commonly see them resting in trees as their mothers forage, and sometimes see families intermingling.

Yesterday, 32-year-old Shadow looked round enough to den soon. But that won’t be early enough to beat her old record a few years ago when she was already in a den by this time. She holds the record for early denning in this study.

ShadowShadow Cub in white pineCub in white pine Wilsons warblerWilsons Warbler


The older males are getting more gray hairs. I haven’t seen Guy for a year or two, and I have never seen him with so much gray as when I saw his gentle self a couple days ago.

One-eyed Jack has a lot of gray hairs on his face too, and has the grayest paws I’ve ever seen.

One-eyed JackOne-eyed Jack One-eyed Jack's pawsOne-eyed Jack's paws GuyGuy

 
With the fall migration in progress, we got to see a Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) stop by long enough for a click on its way from Canada to Central America. The small amount of black on the crown shows it to be a female or juvenile. Adult males have a black cap.

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


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