Lily and Hope have a den!
October 22, 2010 – 8:00 PM CDT
And it’s a dry den. We should have given them more credit. Here’s what we know.
Last evening, Lily and Hope were near the wet den. Somehow, Lily’s collar got twisted, interrupting the stream of GPS locations at 5:44 PM.
Wondering what had happened, we visited them this afternoon at 3:55. We both called out to them as their telemetry signals grew louder and louder on our receiver. When we finally spotted them, both were calmly watching our approach. Then we saw they were next to the root mound of a fallen cedar tree and we both thought “This is it.”
The spot is 373 yards ENE of the wet den we worried about. It’s surrounded by so much grass and sedge that they were able to rake plenty of bedding into the den in a short time. By the time we got there, they had already spent hours in it, judging from how packed down the bed already was. Their being in the den further explains the lack of GPS locations.
Sue grumbled and said she wished she hadn’t waited for Lynn to finish his other work and had just gone alone and video-taped today’s action.
We twisted Lily’s collar so it would resume sending GPS locations. We took Lily’s heart rate (51) but couldn’t get one from ‘The Untouchable One’.
Then they settled down near the den entrance while we waited to see if they would resume raking. We wondered if Hope would help or if she’d take advantage of it being her 9-month birthday. Lily nuzzled Hope as they sat snuggled together. They looked so good together. When it looked even more like they were going to rest rather than rake, we left about 5 PM.
Our wait is over with them. All pictures here were taken today at their den.
Braveheart is still a question mark. Does she have a den in the remote place she has been staying? The walk is so far through rock outcrops and forest that we dread to make it, but we have to check soon. We’ve received no GPS readings from Braveheart’s collar since 4:55 PM yesterday.
Glenn and Nancy Krause are coming up this weekend to check on their research bears Donna, Colleen, and Cookie. Each bear has her own story.
You followed part of 10-year-old Donna’s story last winter when she failed to produce cubs, counter to expectations. She should produce cubs as an 11-year-old this January, as should Colleen. Colleen will turn 8 in January and will likely produce her third litter.
5-year-old Cookie is the naughty mama who separated from her lone cub in August a couple years ago. We radio-tracked the cub (Lonestar) to his den that winter and learned that he survived. The separation was after the mating season. Cookie took up with yearling male Tanner (Colleen’s son), but they behaved more like playmates than mates, and Cookie didn’t produce cubs that winter. We don’t know if she had shown signs of estrus like Lily did. She produced 2 males cubs (Benji and Brody) in January 2010, and those cubs will be with her in the den this winter. She turned out to be a very good mother in 2010.
As we write this, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is discussing whether or not to make it illegal to shoot radio-collared bears, as you can see at http://outdoornews.com/minnesota/news/article_3e366c0c-dc64-11df-ab5b-001cc4c002e0.html. If they decide in favor of protection, it can save us all a lot of letter writing.
Meanwhile, you stretched the lead in the contest to win $20,000 for Ely’s Schools and show the value of radio-collared bears to the area. You added 90 votes while the 2nd place school added 50 votes. The voting now stands at 2,853 to 1,161 with 21 days to go.
You have been good to us. Today, a package with many healthy treats arrived along with two boxes of beautiful candied apples for the staff. Thank you for that!
And you have formed committees that are working on a number of things behind the scenes. Again, we are humbled by the talent in this group and how working committees spring up, fundraising efforts continue, and your desire to share knowledge about bears remains strong.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center