Pre-breakfast paddle on Woods Lake - Aug 21, 2012 Our goal for today was to put gaudy ribbons and plastic on Sharon, Aster, and Ursula so hunters could identify them as radio-collared bears. We like to get them on before the season starts (Sept 1) so any hunters who may have trail cams at their bait sites can see that a radio-collared bear is visiting and be especially careful come September 1.
The day got a beautiful start. Before breakfast, course participants canoed along the beautiful shore of Woods Lake snapping pictures of wildlife.
Sharon - Aug 21, 2012Gentle Sharon’s GPS locations showed she was reasonably accessible, so we tackled ‘decorating’ her right after breakfast. The picture shows the result.
Faith's lost collar - Aug 21, 2012Then we discovered Faith had lost her collar. Getting Faith re-collared became the priority. We found the lost collar in a black ash (Fraxinus nigra) swamp where the bright plastic stood out against the black mud as well as it stands out against her black coat. Faith was still in the area, and we were able to get it back on her before the end of the day. Phew!
Faith re-collared! - Aug 21, 2012
Watching her later, she joined one of her buddies and initiated play. Faith’s time with Hope might have been what has made her a great bear. She grew up with so much touching from Lily, Hope, and (for awhile) Jason, that she has become a naturally tolerant bear.
Woods Lake wildlife - Aug 21, 2012Faith is especially playful with her fellow bears, carrying on the same attitude she showed with very playful Hope. She’s been hanging out with two young males. Both are larger than she is, but that doesn’t scare Faith because she grew up with a larger playmate. Faith has no qualms about approaching either of them, nudging them in the side with her nose, getting a playful response, and initiating more play.
Faith is also interesting in that she doesn’t always run from Lily anymore. When she encounters Lily, she might get chased, or Lily might just leave. We’ll see where that leads.
Ursula - Aug 21, 2012As Lynn was about to leave the Research Center tonight, Ursula wandered into the yard and we seized the opportunity to 'decorate' her collar. She's often in nearly inaccessible areas, so we were glad she made the task an easy one for us!
We didn't make it to Aster, but we felt good about the whole day.
At the North American Bear Center, Lucky went wild playing with a rubber tub. Was it the cooler weather? Somehow, play was in the air. http://www.youtube.com/user/WatchNBears?feature=watch.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center