Jo outside her den - Oct 29, 2011
Last night about 9 PM, Jo and Victoria moved to a den. We grew suspicious when they stopped sending GPS locations last night and then sent a lone reading from the exact same location at 8:44 AM today. We checked and found them at a den with some bedding already raked in. With all the potential dens she has checked out in the last week, this is the first one she has raked bedding into. We think she’s committed.
Braveheart's den - Oct 29, 2011Braveheart has been in the same location for nearly 2 weeks. Today we hiked in and found her denned in the root mound of a big cedar that fell against a cliff. Leaning trees pull up the roots and soil—creating a hollow that makes a common type of den. All the bears have to do is rake in bedding. Braveheart and her 3 cubs did that big time. A large area of the forest had been raked.
It was nearly dark when we got there, so we took a flash picture to see better. The entrance is nearly closed with bedding, and all that is visible of the bears is black fur protruding above the bedding. We anticipated getting a heart rate from Braveheart, but there was not a stir or peep from inside the den. They had heard our voices as we approached and chose to stay bedded.
We’re hoping for good weather with a high enough ceiling to fly and listen for Colleen’s telemetry signal tomorrow at noon. Today began with fog that made the forest look mysterious, but by noon we had a beautiful blue-sky day.
Another video from our walk with Jo on Oct 24 has been posted at http://www.youtube.com/user/bearstudy#p/u/0/w4jhO1bclDQ.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center