Midge's tooth section - 2009Inquiring minds want to know. Lily Fans asked, “Could Midge be Shadow’s mother?” We had wondered the same thing. As part of the necropsy, we pulled a tooth and had it sectioned and stained. We needed to count the rings to determine her age and examine the spacing between the rings to see when she had cubs. We determined Midge was born in 1983 and was 26 when she died. She was 4 years older than Shadow who was born in 1987. If Midge had had her first set of cubs at age 4 she could have been Shadow’s mother. But the spacing of the rings told us that little Midge didn’t produce surviving cubs until she turned 10 years old in 1993.
Midge - July 1, 2004Midge is the only bear in our 44 years of study in northeastern Minnesota that waited until she was 10 to produce a surviving litter. We think her small body size was the reason. The only female we’ve heard of that waited longer was an 11-year-old studied by Dr. Martyn Obbard in northern Ontario. Contrast that with the rich woods of Pennsylvania where 29 of 34 females (85%) produced cubs by the time they turned 3 (Alt, Gary L. 1989. Reproductive biology of female black bears and early growth and development of cubs in northeastern Pennsylvania, Ph.D. dissertation, West Virginia University, Morgantown).
Midge's weight gain chart - 2004Midge was usually at her lowest weight when she arrived for her ‘every-other-year’ visits. She was pregnant and hungry. When eating wild clover, her head bobbed up and down in quick motions—reminding us of a sewing machine. She proved to be one of the biggest weight-gainers—more than doubling her weight by the time she left in September. One year, little Midge left weighing an even 400 pounds.
Midge turns away from Blackheart - July 1, 2004As we wrote in last night’s update, Midge made her presence known when she first arrived. She asserted herself and quickly gained respect from the other bears. Once her place was established, she relaxed. We caught Midge and Blackheart on video just as their confrontation on July 1, 2004 was ending. It is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evhJd-HXAAM. Notice how Blackheart checks for scents where Midge had been standing. Our old notes say:
4:27 PM – Blackheart charges Midge who runs a short ways then turns to face Blackheart. Midge finally turns and walks away, pauses on the front deck, stomps through the yard, and then heads for the beaver dam—straddling saplings as she goes.
And earlier that same day:
5:51 AM – Midge walks directly toward Blackheart and they stand staring at each other. Midge breaks it off by looking off to the side and stomping away.
Each bear has something to teach us—if we are open to the lesson.
The video of a blast at the Bear Center and the reactions of Ted and Honey has been posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HLtTNVcJLI.
Good folks are putting together a GiveMN campaign for the North American Bear Center. More information below.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
You can make a difference for bears. Help us build the Hope Learning Center.
On Give to the Max Day Thursday, November 15, 2012, thousands of Minnesota nonprofits will come together to raise millions of dollars in just 24 hours.
The Hope Learning Center—named for a research bear named Hope—will expand the North American Bear Center’s outreach to schools and the public—locally and worldwide. This educational facility will house a large multimedia room for visiting students and conferences, and a broadcast facility will telecast live lectures, videos, and video casts. There will be offices and storage for the education team. The Northwoods Ecology Exhibit will teach about bear habitat.
Hope’s name stands for the North American Bear Center’s goals...
HOPE for bear populations everywhere
OPPORTUNITY to learn what bears are really like
PROGRESS toward correcting misconceptions and changing attitudes
EDUCATING about bear life
The projected cost of the 8,000 square foot addition is $1 million. An anonymous family recently donated $400,000 to begin the construction, and Lily Fans generously contributed over $165,000 over the past year. In order to meet targeted completion by June 2013, all gifts, large and small, that will fulfill the remaining $435,000 shortfall toward the $1 million goal will be deeply appreciated.
If you can't get to a computer on November 15th, easily make your secure donation now through Give to the Max Day and your gift will be deducted on Nov. 15 at 12:01 a.m. Schedule your Nov. 15 gift at GiveMN here—then be sure to click on the blue hyperlink that says, "Schedule one for Give to the Max Day 2012."
You can help bears even more by telling your family and friends that you are donating to the North American Bear Center on Give to the Max Day—http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Bears—and share the link with them via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lily.the.black.bear so you can share in the excitement of the giving day!