Today, we checked a trail cam by one of Lily’s old dens. There she was on May 28 and on June 6. Her 3-year-old daughter Kaiya who has also used that den also paid it a visit. The pictures also show two cubs. Whether she has more, we don’t know. A relief!!!
Lily's two cubs - June 6
This is a year of remarkably few bear sightings, thanks to the abundance of food in the woods. I’m not surprised that we saw her at that den. Not far away is an open area where the sun can reach ground level to make extra berries.
This year is so different from the last two years when drought and fire killed the berries and we saw more bears than ever before, including bears from elsewhere that we never saw before. We wondered if they would remember and return to the community diversionary feeding sites that mostly kept bears out of trouble in this area last year. They probably remember but are not returning to them. They are likely immersed in preferred wild foods that we can’t match. One scat we found today clearly indicated the bear had been eating a favorite food, juneberries as well as clover. Lily has not visited any of her usual diversionary feeding sites that anyone knows of, yet her cubs look big and healthy. What a difference a batch of berries can make.
A good day. I’ll end with a confession. I erred on Lincoln in last night’s update. He is not the son of RC. He is the son of Chloe, grandson of RC, and great grandson of Shadow. Knowledgeable Elyite friend Judy Hall caught the error and let me know. Thank you, Judy.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center