Pileated woodpecker maleThe talk in the bear world is the win for bears that thousands of people led by capable, dedicated leaders helped make happen. It stopped the spring bear hunt that has been an annual event for the last 20 years. The win prevented perhaps a hundred cubs from slowly starving to death or being eaten by predators. This is another example of shifting public values toward bears and predators that was the cover story on the November/December 2021 issue of Wildlife Professional Magazine, published by The Wildlife Society, which is also the publisher of the Journal of Wildlife Management. 
Pileated woodpecker maleThe article ‘Crisis of Change: How Should Wildlifers Respond to Shifting Public Values?’ is about the new public view toward animals that have long been feared. The cover picture showed a crowd looking at a bear on a road with cameras and interest rather than guns and fear. I remember when we quelled talk of a spring hunt in Minnesota some years back.The idea of a spring hunt is a throwback to the disrespect that people had for bears during the bounty and varmint days. Bears are the only large mammals hunted at a time of year when their young are totally dependent on their mothers’ milk. It gives me a good feeling to be able to help with something like this and to see how many people are pitching in as helpers and as dedicated, capable leaders.
Herring gullOut the window, the first gull of the year celebrated the first day of spring by landing outside the window and posing for a picture as he ingested his first piece of bologna of the year. I haven’t figured out which one he is yet, but he definitely knows the program.
Another treat today was seeing the pileated woodpecker attacking the suet with his crest in normal position and then raising his crest as he warily watched the flock of some 30-plus crows before heading to a tree.
The approximately 200 redpolls that went absent on the 18th became the 17 or so that were here before the big flocks arrived and today jumped to 33. We’ll see how long they stay. They include the male with the extra red breast that was among the early 17 or so.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center