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Eli, NABC Woodchucks, Liberation, and More - UPDATE May 3, 2020

Ever since last night, the WRI team has been checking pictures to identify the big mystery bear of last evening. Bear that visited on 5-2We are pretty sure it is Eli, one of Lily’s Beary-Go-Round cubs of 2013. Now at 7, he has grown like a weed, and is a handsome devil (although I don’t know of anything he’s done to qualify him as a devil). Good to see him!

Pond Chatters are capturing stunning screen shots of the woodchuck. I don’t know how he or she got in there, but I hope he or she stays. I’m told the burrows are not far from the rock den. One of the pictures makes me suspect she is a female getting ready to have babies. I’d love to see screen shots in such detail as the picture here as they emerge from a burrow down the line. I don’t know what we can get for food to make sure she finds enough in the enclosure, but if it was in front of the camera, I’d look forward to her and maybe the babies all sharing. I believe they eat a lot like a bear—grasses, clover, dandelions, and the same fruit and vegetables we eat, including broccoli that is so popular with woodchucks here at the WRI. I don’t want us to be known as the North American Woodchuck Center, but a little variety is always nice.

Woodchuck new male Woodchuck
 Woodchuck at the NABC
Woodchuck new male Woodchuck



Tasha has been the lucky one this spring with freedom to roam the enclosure as she feels, but I suspect that Holly and Lucky and Ted are becoming tired of self isolation and want equal treatment. Now that Sharon is back and has satisfied her quarantine, plans are to get Holly and Lucky and Ted out of lockdown even before the governor’s order tentatively ends May 18. Tuesday, May 5 at 10 AM is the date and time set for liberating the bears by Director Scott and Bear Curator Sharon. Maintaining animal welfare is an essential job, and we are doing it.

Tuesday is a big day. It is the 13th anniversary of the opening of the North American Bear Center, the day of liberation of Holly and Lucky from a long winter, and re-opening of the Bear Center web store online.

NABC message

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


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