At 1:14 AM, 8-year-old Spanky, son of Shadow, arrived and was immediately recognized by our volunteer assistant bookkeeper "Eyes of the Night" Peggy Stubbs. She was doing her bookkeeping where she could also watch for bears—and there he was. The video team documented that he was here at the WRI from 1:14 AM to 3:05 AM. "Eyes" hoped he would go on the scale, but Spanky had other ideas. "Eyes" went with the flow, snapping pictures that showed his uniquely identifying, steeply slanted, somewhat bulbous forehead and that showed a new feature that will identify him at least temporarily—a bare bear butt. Areas of bare skin after hibernation are usually from mange on the muzzle and forehead—areas that are kept warm and moist by exhaled air when bears hibernate with their heads tucked under their chests. I can’t explain Spanky’s situation. Areas laid bare by mange grow new fur in spring and summer. We’ll see if that holds for Spanky. It was good to see him and remember what he taught us in 2021 when he denned under the porch of a North American Bear Center Founding Member who did everything possible to make the den cam a success.
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| Spanky the bear | ||
This afternoon, Spanky did what "Eyes" hoped he would do last night. He got on the scale and showed that he weighed 263, down 25% from his 349 pounds of September 10 last year.
From the North American Bear Center we have this 4 minutes and 40 seconds musical and photographic memorial to 20-year-old Honey who died on April 27, 2016. Many thanks to those who created this memorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VtL1TLp6EY
On a different note, "Taught" caught Tasha giving a peek into her mind as she goes into her rock den and totally cleans out every bit of evidence of Holly who usurped it from her last fall after Tasha had raked in bedding and had it ready for the winter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y5Sfy_4EYA
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center