Pine marten - Jan 13, 2013Black bear cubs are born mid-winter when temperatures can be far below zero. Last night as temperatures dropped to below zero, Lily hunkered down over her newborn cubs with her head tucked under her chest breathing on them. For the present, the cubs will stay mostly tucked underneath her and we will judge their activities from their vocalizations. A video featuring their vocalizations is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BRMgG7boRE.
Tail-less pine marten - Jan 13, 2013It’s a hard life for Den-Watchers, too. We’re all hoping Lily will remove the wood chips from in front of the camera as she has done in previous dens when she temporarily erected walls of bedding. We tried to brighten the Den Cam picture so we could see into the darkness of the den, but the bright wood chips in the foreground told the camera to close the iris too much. On Monday, we hope to learn how to override the automatic iris and manually regulate the light.
In the field, Jim Stroner and Ted Parvu of the Technical Team replaced some of the equipment, including the batteries, at Lily’s den in an attempt to stabilize the image. The new technology this year is unknown territory for everyone concerned. They’re all trying hard to provide the best data stream and images.
Tracks where deer slipped on ice - Jan 13, 2013Elsewhere today, we were happy to see the tail-less pine marten we had pictured in an update nearly a year ago on February 12, 2012. We know the big tail of the arboreal pine marten helps it maintain balance on branches and perhaps cover up major heat loss parts of the body in extreme cold temps, but this pine marten seems to be managing. The wound we reported on his left hip is no longer visible.
On the slippery road near where the road grader slid off, we saw tracks where a deer lost its balance on the ice.
Tracks of red fox dragging trap - Jan 13, 2013Sadly, a red fox is dragging around a leg-hold trap on a front foot. It’s been spotted repeatedly in an area 1.7 miles in diameter. We followed its tracks for over a mile today. Although it’s moving about, it’s obviously unable to pounce on the small rodents foxes depend on. Residents are attempting to live-capture the fox to remove the trap.
With the virtual baby shower today, you boosted the Hope Learning Center building fund another notch to over $640,000. That’s up $5,000 since January 6. Thank you to all who helped!
Some folks have complained about offensive ads on the Den Cam feed. If you notice an ad with offensive content, you can help us by clicking on the ad, copying the URL address of the web page that opens, and emailing it to
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center