Crow
This afternoon, Ted carefully placed his feet in his old tracks to walk over to a fence to look toward the Bear Center, lying down at times, as Taught caught in this nearly 7-minute music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enzoyWtmGZk. Although not shown in the video, I’m told that Ted also urinated. A common thing we hear about denning black bears is that they don’t eat, drink, urinate, or defecate, and maybe some don’t in captivity, but bears that spend winters in the outdoors here in snow country eat snow and urinate, as we’ve all seen. I believe much more can be learned about how black bears differ in different parts of North America.
Out the window, the flock of at least 39 crows (counted today) arrived a little before 7:30 AM and the flock of around 200 redpolls arrived right about 7:30. That’s when the air suddenly filled with them fluttering down to eat shoulder to shoulder. I’m told a similar number that are probably the same birds go to at least two other places within a mile of here. I suspect this gives an idea of where they go some of the time when they’re not here. Today they were gone for periods, with only a few here, giving me a chance to put more food out for them twice more without scaring them. Each time they arrived back it was the same exciting buzz of activity, with them flying off and raining in each time a crow comes too close. Keeps things lively.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center