Lily’s brother Cal, star of the day
May 17, 2010 – 7:40 PM CDT
A quick rundown of the local gossip from the bear world. Researchers put a radio-collar and GPS unit on Lily’s 10-year-old cousin Dot. One-eyed Jack is still with Braveheart after an evening of mating. Little yearling Ty (see picture), another cousin of Lily’s, is still spending time up the white pine for security, but last night he had a joyful break from the monotony. An older (2 or 3 yr old) male that Ty apparently knows showed up, and Ty had a great time playing with him. The larger male let little Ty push him onto his back and seemed to enjoy Ty climbing on him and playfully biting his neck. A person might think that larger males would be Ty’s worst nightmare, but sometimes the way people look at things is not the way bears do.
Today, while Lily and Hope continued to spend the day in a very small area centered around yet another white pine, Cal continued to do the opposite. He added another 9 miles to his 100+ mile journey from his den in Canada to his present location near Cotton, MN. At mid-day he settled down to rest less than a half mile from big divided Highway 53. With his GPS unit about to run out of battery, we wondered if he would let us approach him to change it in a strange area.
We drove an hour to begin what turned out to be ‘an adventure.’ We began our trek in bright sun, but ended up wading through swamps in a rainstorm. We wondered if Cal would believe “It’s me, bear” so far outside his usual area. He was skeptical. After we got close enough that he could hear us, it was another hour before we saw him watching us through the brush. Despite being a strong 240-pound bear, he was a bundle of timid nerves. Another 15 minutes, and he came a couple steps closer. We moved, and he snorted and bolted through the brush like a cannon ball. Actually, the whole time we watched him, any move on our part and he was ready to leave.
Finally, he decided it was okay. Kind of. He lunged forward, slammed his feet down, and blew explosively. We said, “Yes, we know little guy, you’re apprehensive. You’ve got conflicting drives here.” He looked at our faces. He came closer. Another couple steps and we could give him a stroke down the back. Touch is the universal language of peace. He lay down. We slipped the old GPS out and the new one in. Mission accomplished. With a sigh of relief we headed back to our vehicle.
Soaking wet, we congratulated ourselves for not being quitters. We talked about how bears lead us through habitats we would never enter otherwise. We talked about what a nice bear Cal is. We talked about the fresh cuts on his face and how he had left soon after big One-eyed Jack showed up and stole Cal’s girlfriend Bow. We talked about how far these young males travel before settling into a mating range that has females, food, and not too many big males. The new GPS technology has opened up a new level of detailed data on the lives of young males on the move.
Then we kicked ourselves! We were so focused on re-establishing the trust needed to change Cal’s GPS unit that we forgot to take a picture of him. Every moment was so tense with him eyeing any unexpected move and being ready to leave that we never gave it a thought.
A big thank you to all who sent the filberts that made today a success with Cal. And thank you all again for your continued support of our research and educational efforts.
No new video posted today. Hopefully tomorrow.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center