RC's cubAmong the mix of bears seen today were RC and her cubs fairly close-up, giving us face shots of two of her cubs for the catalog. Both still have bluish eyes. Then we watched them disappear down a road—standing to check on ripening cherries along the way.
Taking Braveheart's heart rateWhen Braveheart stepped on the scale, an alert Bear Course participant checked the weight. Braveheart had just arrived and we wondered how much she would eat. As she ate, we took her heart rate (82, 86, and 80 beats/minute) until she stepped off 5 pounds heavier. She looked great with nearly all her old fur gone and sleek new fur in place.
Green FrogOn our nature walk to a den, frogs and mushrooms fascinated. We were surprised to see a green frog so far from water. A lady with distinctive and very appropriate fingernails held the frog for a picture.
Spring PeeperThen spring peepers took center stage, fascinating because of their small size, great jumping ability. It was a treat to get good views of this frog that is so loud in spring yet seldom seen the rest of the year.
One of RC's cubsMushrooms are coming into their season of abundance, beautiful in their bright colors. They always remind Lynn of his years of walking with deer. The only thing that ever made a deer attack Lynn was when he followed one over a subterranean mushroom and had the deer get a whiff of it just as Lynn was standing on it. 
RC and 3 cubs head offTo get at this favorite food, the deer whirled around and lashed out with its hooves before Lynn could step back. All Lynn had time to do was raise his foot to chest height—which was easy to do back in the 1970’s—and place it against the deer’s chest to keep the hooves out of range. When the deer settled down onto all four legs, Lynn could step back and watch it unearth the mushrooms—something unknown before that.
Checking out the cherriesHighlights of the day were seeing bears interact and vocalize in ways few people get to see. Course participants will take home with them knowledge they learned directly from the bears themselves.
An exciting day in good company all the way.
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.