Shadow's cub Spanky - 2015
An exciting call this afternoon was not only that Spanky was seen but that he was seen where he had denned. In this area, information like that is very private. People don't want others to know where dens are for fear someone might disturb the bears. But this spotter was good to share that Spanky had spent the previous two winters in an empty shed that had no door and no owner present over winter. Not having heard whether Spanky was there this past winter, he took a little ride past the place and was lucky to see Spanky calmly standing just outside the open shed door on this sunny 30-degree day. Three winters in a row in the same 'den' is unusual, we'll see if he makes it four this coming year. Spanky is 11 years old. The picture of him as a cub is from 2015 when his mother Shadow became the oldest black bear ever known to give birth--at 28. The first picture is from April 29, 2023 when he was eight.
Bald Eagle
The bald eagle picture is from yesterday when it was giving me the eagle eye from across the yard. Today, it was an action show. I'd put out four chicken drumsticks to see what might happen and already 5 or 10 minutes later, the eagle took one. A short time later, it took another and ate it on a sunny branch across the lake starting at 4:33 PM. Two crows quickly landed 3-4 feet away and watched. At 4:39 PM the eagle finished eating then flew back and swooped, but didn't take the third drumstick. Instead it disappeared for seven minutes until it finally snatched the third drumstick at 4:46. That time it landed out of sight. Thirty or forty minutes later, it flew over but skipped the fourth drumstick and headed off in the direction of a nest a mile away that I want to check one of these days.
Deer nibble grass
With most of the snow melted from the yard, deer are nibbling little blades of grass in the yard, but when I stepped out the door onto the second floor deck with a scoop of corn in hand they came running. The sound of tossing it quickly brought two others out of the woods to join them, making five in the picture.
A nice day.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center