Curator Sharon Herrell said that Tasha played in the area above the falls today and went into the pond at least four times after gaining confidence this past week. 
Fern's cub in tree - 9/1/16Sharon said it is rewarding to the staff to be able to announce to visitors that Tasha is claiming some of the two and a half acres as her play ground. What fun to watch and learn with this little female bear.
Meanwhile Ted walked down to the viewing area. Holly’s dug den is just 12 feet from his pen. Holly never learned anything about digging a den from her mother. She just knew.
Holly's dug denIn the hunt, two more bears have been taken by the guide’s hunters, according to his website. One looks enough like Summer’s 2-year-old son Sven that we are worried. If Sven doesn’t show up again this year, we’ll have to wait until spring. The guide is unwilling to share any information with us.
The picture of one of Fern’s cubs up a tree is from a couple days ago, but the word is that the family is still okay.
Regarding Shadow, we learned that the last she was seen was on August 25 acting lethargic. That makes us think she went off to hibernate early as she has done before in late August. We are optimistic we will see her next spring as a 30-year-old with cubs.
Tasha
Yearling Curtis, the motherless cub from last year, showed up at a community feeding site on the morning of opening day (September 1) with a bad, deep flesh wound maybe 10 inches long stretching from his chest to under his right arm. We saw him and took a picture of part of it today. A hunter who usually hunts nearby was using as his Facebook profile a picture of the hunter who speared a bear in Alberta. Did he attempt to imitate that? A sad time of year.
Residents protested in favor of a safe area around the community after bullets whizzed past some residents’ heads and hunters made them feel unwelcome and unsafe walking the usual community trails in this beautiful time of no bugs, beautiful weather, and soon-to-be colorful leaves that don’t stop bullets.
Female hummingbirdA female ruby-throated hummingbird glistened in the afternoon sun. We haven’t seen a mature male in a couple weeks.
With school starting, it’s time to mention the Black Bear Boxes for rent for the cost of shipping and handling.
The Education Outreach Curriculum group wrote: "The interest that began with bear ambassadors Lily and Hope in 2010, led a volunteer team to develop curriculum that meets state and Common Core Standards for distribution through the Educational Outreach Component of the North American Bear Center with the goal of replacing misconceptions with scientific facts to help people and bears to better co-exist. The target audience consists of school pupils and young people, but extends to the broader community worldwide. One major goal of the North American Bear Center’s Educational Outreach is to make the content of research generated by 
Curtis' woundbiologists associated with the Wildlife Research Institute more transparent, relevant and easier to understand for non-scientists and the general public. By answering key questions, students, at any level, develop an enduring understanding of the information presented. Teachers are often constrained by time, the need to teach other disciplines, and the need to meet mandated standards. Thus, the lessons and materials offered utilize a cross-curricular, integrated and hands-on approach to teaching about black bears. They are adaptable to a variety of grade levels and may be differentiated for students taking into account what standards of performance are required for a particular age level."
They also wrote, “Great minds, hearts, time, and talent from a lot of dedicated volunteers went into the creation of these outreach projects for the NABC. Classrooms, libraries, and various groups like Scouts and 4-H could benefit greatly from what they learn.
Black Bear BoxIt is important to remember that the Pre-K through 6th grade and 7th through 12th grade Boxes are designed so that multiple teachers can use them simultaneously, and the rent time was expanded to one month to help in that regard. With two or more teachers using the Bear Box, the rental cost will be lower.
Some of the many items in the Black Bear Boxes are books, DVD's, games, Black Bear (resin) skull, section of Black Bear hide, and Black Bear tracks and molds. There is also a teacher's manual for all grade levels that include lesson plans, interdisciplinary ideas, and other resources. For more information and to reserve a Black Bear Box see the EDUCATION tab at: http://www.bear.org/website/introduction-from-dr-lynn-rogers.html.”
I say “Thank You, team!”
We envision a day when we have an Endowment Fund whose annual interest income can be used to sponsor Black Bear Boxes to schools and to sponsor busloads of students to visit the Bear Center. Our goal is to teach. Your gifts through estate planning and planned giving will someday make possible much more than is possible now. Our hope is for a ten million dollar endowment fund to provide $500,000 dollars (5%) per year for education outreach.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center