Today, Margaret Fitzpatrick took the best picture I’ve seen of 1 ½ -year-old Snowball. To do that, Margaret brought her cell phone here from New Zealand as a black bear field course participant and took this picture that dwarfs the pictures I’ve ever taken of Snowball with long Nikon lenses. Way to go Margaret!
 Jewel |
 Jewel's cub |
As Margaret took the picture, Snowball’s 15-year-old grandmother Jewel rested nearby on the forest floor while her two female cubs Journey and Judy rested high in a white pine.
Colleen
Yesterday, I got a call that Colleen was at a feeding site with her four female cubs. I rushed over. There she was with her distinctive notch in her right ear. 21-year-old Colleen is 24-year-old Donna’s first daughter born back in 2003. I didn’t take ID pictures of her cubs, though, because other cubs were in the same tree. Amazingly, Colleen and her family were one of 8 families present with a total of 23 cubs—the most families I’ve ever seen in one area. Instead I took ID pictures of an unknown mom to send to other feeders who might be able to identify her.
Unknown Mom
 Cub of unknown mom |
 Cub of unknown mom |
Good times and now with the bear course in progress, good sharing of unforgettable moments. The wild sarsaparilla crop is very poor, extending the lack of wild foods, and making me thankful that people in this nature-loving community are feeding the bears to keep them out of trouble. The ages of these bears is a testimony to the effectiveness of diversionary feeding in years like this.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center