Juliet's cub Ray After getting stuck on a snowy road on this May 3, we made it to Juliet late this afternoon. She recognized our voices, was calm, and let us give her a GPS unit. We never dreamed a cub would descend from their big white pine. In the den, Charlie and Bernard stuck together while Ray was more of a mama’s boy. True to form, Ray was the one who came down to be with Juliet while the other 2 rested on branches less than a foot apart.
Juliet and RayWhen the GPS work was done, Juliet mostly ignored us. She raked more bedding for the bed at the base of the white pine, repeatedly walked off and stood looking and listening in the same direction, and then returned to the tree grunting to the cubs. When she walked off, Ray stayed near the white pine or followed Juliet. We’d guess him at maybe 6 pounds, which is an excellent weight for a litter of 3 cubs. Juliet lost a lot of weight overwinter to produce that much milk. Her collar was very loose, but we hope not loose enough that she will remove it. She’s pretty good about keeping her collars on.
Chalet for HoneyThis was a hard winter for Den-watchers with all the technical problems, but they all hung in there for the unusually long duration. Much appreciated!
The staff and volunteers put in another good day of construction on Honey’s pen and her little chalet in the woods. It looks beautiful.
Lucky spent hours at Holly’s pen. He was totally fascinated with her and vice versa. Holly kept pacing back and forth in front of Lucky. It might be almost time for them to meet without the fence. We’d like to give Ted a chance to meet her more through the fence first, though.
We have the weights for the 3 big bears.
| April 5, 2013 | 544 lbs |
| Oct 13, 2013 | 696 lbs |
| May 1, 2014 | 554 lbs |
Juliet alert – Ray climbs% weight lost from Oct 13, 2013 to May 1, 2014 was 20.41%| April 1, 2013 | 389 lbs |
| Oct 8, 2013 | 486 lbs |
| May 1, 2014 | 399 lbs |
| April 1, 2013 | 364 lbs |
| Sept 13, 2013 | 430 lbs |
| May 1, 2014 | 348 lbs |
Snowshoe hare in Juliet's den% weight lost from Sept 13, 2013 to May 1, 2014 was 19.07%Holly and Lucky are getting acquainted through the fence. We're all anxious for them to meet face-to-face! See some of their interaction at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjWSEI5evrk.
Snowshoe hareJuliet may have left her den, but other critters are checking it out. Today, a snowshoe hare visited!Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.