Video footage at last!
April 7, 2010 – 5:41 PM CDT
We visited Lily and Hope this morning and tried out one of the new pocket video cameras you bought. Lily and Hope were bedded at the same big white pine they’ve used since April 2. Video footage shot with one of the new cameras can be seen at http://www.bear.org/website/lily-a-hope/den-cam-video-clips.html.
Like other mother bears in April, Lily is wise to remain in one place. There’s little to eat, so roaming would waste energy. Probably most importantly, staying in one place allows the mother to make a bed of vegetation for insulation from the cold ground. Today, we saw the fruits of Lily’s work over the last few days. She has raked up a large bed of dry grass from the bog nearby.
When Lily left the bed, Hope remained in it chewing on a white pine cone—and humming! Eventually, Hope joined her mother, and the two nosed around the area and played a bit before bedding down again. Hope nursed and quickly fell asleep. A chickadee caught Lily’s attention and she watched as it flitted from tree to tree before resting her head on her paw and closing her eyes.
One of Lily’s fans expressed concern about Lily and Hope being out of their warm den. Actually, the den is colder than outside at this time of year. All winter, the frost has crept deeper into the ground. It continues to creep deeper for some time after air temperatures start to warm. The warm air doesn’t immediately penetrate deeply, and the frost continues to spread deeper.
As outside temperatures warmed this spring and the ground surface dried out from the melting snow, Lily and Hope bedded outside the den for long periods. Eventually, Hope became mobile enough to travel, and Lily moved her to a secure white pine where they could settle and rake up an insulating bed.
Even in winter, dens are no warmer than outside if the entrance remains open like Lily’s did. Not a problem because bears have a thick winter coat. Some bears spend the winter on the surface and become covered with insulating snow during the coldest weather.
It was great to see how Hope is beginning to explore at this early date when other cubs are still in cold dens because they are not as mobile as Hope.
Thank you again for the pocket video cameras you bought. They are easy to use. The footage uploads to the web reasonably fast, and we all can watch Hope grow up together.
Thank you for your continuing support in so many ways.
—Sue Mansfield and Lynn Rogers, Biologists, North American Bear Center