Jewel and Herbie - March 9, 2012The charge controller Ted Parvu installed in Jewel's den shed yesterday solved part of the problem—it eliminated the annoying buzz when the solar panels overcharge the batteries on sunny days. But it didn't solve the interference we see in the video feed. Once again, we had to run out to the den shed to turn off one of the solar panels to improve the video. The sun that feels so good this time of year is just too much of a good thing! Not sure where we go from here, but we'll keep trying.
Jewel and Herbie - March 9, 2012Today we saw what seemed to be the beginnings of play between Jewel and Herbie. Well... at least as much as a jerky uncoordinated clumsy cub can play. Jewel does seem to enjoy her cubs.
No video tonight, but below there are 2 June walks from 2005. The first seemed too short to post alone and the contrast between the 2 walks is interesting.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Date: August 23, 2005
Today’s walk was more of a ‘sit’ than a ‘walk’. Wild foods have waned and June is primarily feeding at the cabins in the area. The cubs certainly kept her from getting much sleep but the majority of her time was spent resting. Her demeanor reminded me of our end-of-the-summer walks last year – lots of sitting, standing, and resting. This is a change from the constant motion of our mid-summer walks when the wild foods were abundant.
I was with the family from 9:43 AM until 6:26 PM. During this time June did no foraging but the cubs fed briefly on horsetail. June nursed the cubs twice. One of the older scats near the bed she used contained a ‘scat-marker’ likely from our walk last week. Though I feed her scat markers at the start of our walks I do not believe I recover many in the scats I collect.
Date: August 30, 2005
June sitting on a log - Aug 30, 2005Because June was pretty inactive during our walk a week ago I expected more of the same today—but she surprised me. She did little foraging on wild foods but spent considerable time wandering and investigating throw-mounds. This was the first day I felt she was really looking for possible den sites. She spent four minutes under one throw-mound biting and breaking roots. This is in sharp contrast to last summer when she never passed up an opportunity to check out a throw-mound and dug several dens over the course of the summer.
Pete hassling June as she tries to sleep - Aug 30, 2005While June seems to have noticeably slowed down, her attempts to rest are often thwarted by her cubs. Pete is ruthless in his attempts to rouse her—walking on her and repeatedly biting the back of her neck. He seems to think if he is awake the others should be too. June repeatedly moved during rest breaks to avoid her cubs—only to be followed and continually harassed by playful cubs. Once she stood up to dislodge a cub standing on her back.
Pete and George Playing - Aug 30, 2005I tied survey tape to June’s collar today to make it more visible to hunters—but Pete and George made short work of my efforts. Interestingly, George was making comfort sounds while chewing on the survey tape. Both cubs consumed much of the survey tape they bit off—creating their own scat markers.
June eating round-leaf dogwood - Aug 30, 2005
Mountain ash is not real common in her territory but June seemed to recognize the leaves and selected the correct trunk from among the surrounding saplings. She broke it down to check for berries but found none. This was the second time I have seen her break down a mountain ash that was not fruiting.
I continue to be surprised by the looseness of the family ties. I hadn’t expected the cubs to display such independence during their first year. June and her cubs were often separated today. It almost seemed like they were playing hide-and-seek—with June finding her cubs and then bolting away from them only to relocate them later on.
On her way in to feed at one of the homes in the area late in the afternoon she and her cubs fed on roundleaf dogwood.