Red and Yellow MaplesLucky knew the den he wanted, and now it looks like Holly wants the same den. She has spent two nights with Lucky there as she seemed to want last fall. But last fall, Holly wanted to play when Lucky wanted to rest, and he told her to leave. This year, it looks like a match. Could Holly give up her wonderful smooth sandy burrow to join Lucky for the winter? This 2-minute video shows them emerging together today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqdFKIusXas As soon as we know, we want to place a Den Cam in the hole we used to watch Holly her first winter here. Exciting.
Another exciting thing is seeing things come together for improvements. One is a nice entryway to make the Bear Center more inviting from the highway. Another is a small pavilion for people to sit and eat at picnic tables. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378Yxb6f4Wo Earlier this year, we made the Bear Center more visible with pictures and lights and waving banners.
Red Maple LeafInside, the Northwoods Ecology Hall is getting rave reviews even before we finish adding the educational words we are writing.
Also inside, a big change that is about to happen is eliminating the tall green carpeted exhibit panels and in their place build beautiful 5-foot tall wood platforms to display the exhibits at a more kid-friendly height. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hIXd7jjDK0 The new platforms will make the Bear Center more open and let people see the upper walls that will have captions and spot-lighted photos of bears we know. The new platforms are being built offsite, and I can hardly wait to see them in place. Meanwhile, we’re focusing toward the Hope Learning Center in anticipation of fiber optics that should come within a year.
A pond shimmered with an abstract medley of red maples in full color under a blue sky. Two red maples I’ve been watching turned the same red and yellow colors, respectively, that they turned last year. Maple leaves are falling, giving way to the yellows of birch and aspen.
Fall ReflectionsA brief breeze yesterday stripped thousands of clusters of brown needles from the white pines out the window. Clusters showered down by the hundreds with each gust.
At the WRI, 13-year-old Braveheart doesn’t seem that hungry, but Geneva, Stratton, and Porter still are, as is usual for family groups this time of year. We’ll see how long they can drag mom to the food before she leads them to a den. Bear hunting season ends on October 18.
Thank you for your food contributions.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.