Ted and the new waterfallsAt the Bear Center, the sunlight on 670-pound Ted and the new waterfalls gave a hint of things to come. Imagine the dirt covered with white clover and flowers, including flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. We want the banks and surroundings of the pond to be beautiful and edible!
bedding in Lily's den - Oct 26, 2011For the last 2 days, Lily and Faith gave a few hours of GPS locations at midday, showing they were outside their rock den—presumably raking. Today, when the first GPS location appeared on the computer, we went out to document their activities with video. They indeed had been raking the last couple days. Over 400 square feet of the forest floor were raked, and a lot of bedding is in the den. The rock den that June (Lily’s mother) twice rejected will be more comfy than we first thought. The bed will be 6-8 feet below the surface. That would usually put it a few feet below the frost line, but the open entrance above will make it about as cold as the ambient temperature. The den is an excellent shelter from the wind, so their dense fur will be plenty of insulation. However, they may be able to get back under rocks out of sight, making a Den Cam difficult.
Shirley's den - Oct 26, 2011Today we tracked Shirley to an impressive rock den. Her telemetry signal came from a strange outcrop that stood like a pinnacle on top of a hill. She had found a way to wiggle around a corner into a hidden crevice under the pinnacle. There was no way we could see her. On October 12, we tracked her radio signals as she began heading toward the pinnacle, and she has been there or near there since October 14. The pinnacle adds another rock den to our list to check in future years. Unlike Lily’s den, the entrance to Shirley’s den is likely to get clogged with snow making it a warm den. When the entrance is closed, den temperatures approximate soil temperatures rather than outside air temperatures, so when outside temperatures drop to 30 below, temperatures in closed dens are up around freezing—60 degrees warmer than outside.
Sharon's den - Oct 26, 2011Shirley’s sister Sharon is also in a den that should end up with a closed entrance. We tracked Sharon down today and found her in an old den in the side of a pit. There was no new dirt dug out but a lot of grass and leaves pulled in as bedding. The picture shows a couple piles of leaves just outside the entrance. She arrived in this area between October 9 and 16.
Between 5 AM and 8 PM today, Jo made another 2-mile move. When will she and Victoria ever settle?
Lily, Shirley, Sharon, and Jo are all granddaughters of Shadow, the 24-year-old clan matriarch.
A video of Jo and Victoria playing will be posted later tonight at http://www.youtube.com/user/bearstudy#g/u.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center