June was the bear of the day. She got her medicine and went right back to work making a living. She was in a clear-cut again, a different one, eating raspberries and ant pupae. The near record heat of a couple weeks ago must have really given the ants a boost.
Another reason that forest openings like clear-cuts hold a lot of ant colonies is that any rocks gather heat that holds into the night. Many ant colonies are under rocks, and it is easy to cleanly lick up the pupae that are exposed by tipping over rocks. The bears sniff for the telltale pheromones, including the defensive compound formic acid, and turn over the rock as in the picture. June was lucky that the flat rock she lifted stayed vertical while she went for the larvae and pupae, collectively called ant brood.
On the other hand, the anthills in the clear-cut were scarcely touched. It is about impossible to separate the ant pupae from the dirt, making anthills the worst place to feed on ant pupae—especially when rocks and rotting logs are better sources.
An outcrop in the clear-cut gave June’s family easy access to green mountain-ash berries. June pulled down branches to check them and the cubs sampled the green berries.
Bears don’t have to be taught what is good to eat. Their delicate noses sort out the smells and tell them what is good or bad. Contrary to the popular notion, mothers don’t do a lot of teaching. The cubs are ever curious, ranging out from mom and exploring on their own, looking to her mainly for milk and protection. Every cub is different. So many personalities.
June is producing lots of milk, as you can see from the size of the cubs and the residue on her chest after a nursing bout.
Lily, Hope, and Faith and the other GPSed bears are safe. We also saw little Sharon today who is just radio-collared, not GPSed.
To vote for Soudan Underground Mine State Park, go to http://m.livepositively.com/park_details.jsp?parkId=556 and vote over and over.
Last night we erroneously identified Baby Devil as the daughter of RC. She is actually the granddaughter of RC and the daughter of Keefer.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center