We have to admit that we misidentified the bear in the trail cam picture from May 22 of “Lily” and two cubs. It is one of Lily’s look-alike daughters. Today, Mike and Lorie and the film team saw the bear in person. 
Woodchuck with grassShe didn’t have Lily’s white chest spot or personality. It is either Faith or Ellie. All three are lookalikes right down to the shape and color of their eyebrow patches. This bear has small mammaries and nipples as is typical of first-time moms. That, plus behavior, made the team lean toward Ellie even though they now learned that she has THREE cubs, which is somewhat unusual for a first litter. Ellie has been to that place a number of times, but I don’t know that Faith has ever been there, giving additional weight to it being Ellie. 
Woodchuck with grassWe’re waiting for Faith to show up with cubs to make the final decision. We suspect that Lily has ceded that area to her daughter and shifted her own territory elsewhere like June did for Lily as Lily grew. When we eventually see Faith, we’ll have more information. Radio-collars made it so much easier.
Today, the woodchuck we now know as the male was gathering mouthful after mouthful of grass for his burrow under the living room window. He is at home here. He hops up on the living room feeder and pays little attention to a person on the other side of the window. Earlier, we’d hoped he was a female and would have babies under that window. Then the larger female showed up, and her babies looked like they were having a good time at their burrow 80 feet from the males’. We don’t know why he is gathering grass for his burrow. We just record what we see.
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| Woodchuck in LR feeder | Woodchuck with babies | Woodchuck babies |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center