Faith - Aug 6, 2012The Black Bear Field Course information says we may do some bushwacking. We carried that to the max today in cedar swamps that made progress very slow. Cedar logs, puddles, and dense alders gave us a work out, bending and twisting just to make a few feet of progress. The rewards were seeing Lily, Juliet (and cubs), Braveheart, Aster, and Faith. A big day.
Braveheart - Aug 6, 2012Each bear was a different experience. Juliet’s usual bluster made hearts pound. Braveheart’s and Lily’s calm demeanor won hearts. So did Juliet and her cubs. The most-heard word when visiting Aster and Faith was “beautiful.” Braveheart and Lily showed their common heart rates of 74 and 82 beats per minute.
Near Aster’s bed in a cedar swamp were old cattail leaves dragged in from a nearby marsh. Several scats there contained many raspberry seeds (Rubus sp.), a few ants, and the first of the ripening round-leafed dogwood (Cornus rugosa) berry seeds.
Sue drove to Grand Rapids (~100 miles each way) to retrieve Noliana’s body and radio-collar.
Big progress with Ted, Lucky, and Honey. The only one with a trace of runny nose is Ted and the staff reported no coughing with any of the three. The nasal swab from Lucky showed no bacteria. The veterinarian will check them later this week. We’re still waiting for results of the scat and urine tests, but whatever ailment they had seems to have passed, or nearly so. We’ll see if they cough when they get up tomorrow morning.
We are trying to catch up on videos. Today we posted one of Jewel and cubs from June 17 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgTzc7c7Q0&;feature=youtu.be.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center