Lucky and Holly are finally settled in their dens! The official denning dates, by Bear Center rules of the game, are the first day when a bear stays in its den continuously for 7 days.
Lucky has not been seen out of his bunker den since November 4th, so his first official day of hibernation is November 5th. Last year, he denned on October 24th, but he didn’t have playful little Holly keeping him up . No wonder he finally told Holly to stop bothering him this fall.
Holly was last out when we visited her on November 6th, so her first official day of hibernation is November 7th. We look forward to giving her a den cam but didn’t get out to see her today. The tentative plan is to put the den cam in a long piece of PVC pipe and anchor the end closest to her den with a bungie cord attached to a couple cement blocks. We would then have the PVC pipe long enough to reach the nearest trees to anchor the far end. 
WRI van odometerWe’ll hope she doesn’t try too hard to disrupt it or lick the lens very often. The near end will have to be slightly under the overhanging rock on the right side of her den entrance. That’s away from her main bed but in out of the snow that will pile up outside the den this winter. The entire entrance could get snowed in, which would be great for insulation from subzero wind. If so, she should have a better winter than last year when she was in the bunker with the door open and her fur was in such bad shape. This year her fur problems are fixed, she has a beautiful deep and dense coat. When I was stroking her on November 6th, I never got down deep enough to feel her body. As I pushed slightly harder, I just felt more and denser fur. Her undercoat must be awesome. She has come a long way these past 11 months or so.
We last saw Ted out of his den on November 13th so we can't declare his official date yet. November 20th will be his 7th day. Last year, his official denning date was November 24th.
Honey was last seen out of her den on Saturday, November 15th. She is usually the last of the NABC bears to den. Last year it was December 1st.
Lucky’s last recorded weight was 461 on October 9th, which is 31 pounds heavier than he was on that date last year.
Holly’s weight, also recorded on October 9th, was 153, which is 69 pounds heavier than when she arrived here on December 27th, 2013.
A mini-milestone today was the old reliable WRI van odometer turning over to 230,000 miles, going for 300,000 thanks to its good care from Scott Edgett. Speaking of helping, thank you also for the donations to WRI. We didn’t mention the WRI on GiveMN day because we wanted to focus on the new addition, but we were very thankful for the donations to WRI, too.
A Lily Fan sent a news video of a black bear up a tree in Yellowstone http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/gps-bear-tracking-keeps-tourists-safe-yellowstone-n249726 The reporter said the bear was "clearly agitated". To me, that suggested the bear could become dangerous. In the video the bear spoke for himself. He said “I’m just scared. That’s why I’m up this tree.” He said that first with his mellow moan of fear and later by clacking his jaws. Our well informed Lily Fans could have easily interpreted for the reporter.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.