July 9, 2001
At 9:53 AM on July 9, 2001, the Wildlife Research Institute (WRI) received a call that Blackheart, a 4-year-old female research bear, had just been struck by a pickup truck and had rolled under the truck and out the back.  She had managed to stagger into the woods.  The eyewitness, driving behind the pickup, doubted if she could survive.

Researcher Lynn Rogers hurried to the scene, tracked her a short distance into the woods, and called Ely Veterinarian Dr Chip Hanson on his cell phone.  The bear was lying immobile, not lifting her head and moving only her eyes.  Blackheart eventually lifted her head and tried to vomit.  Clotting blood covered a patch of fur on her back.  She managed to stand, showing that she had no spinal cord injury, but she could not put much weight on her left front leg.  She leaned against a tree trunk as if she felt weak.  She lay down and closed her eyes.  Her breathing was labored.  Dr Hanson evaluated the situation as it was described and advised that the best course was to give her food and water at the scene and let her rest and try to recuperate.  In her condition, Blackheart was not a candidate for anesthesia to perform a more thorough exam.

If she survives the first 8 hours and the first few days and it appears she has broken bones, it will then be possible to tranquilize her, x-ray the fracture(s), and decide the best course of action.  Rogers brought her food and water and will monitor her condition.

Four-year-old Blackheart is a very valuable research bear along with her independent yearlings Dot and Donna and her two-year-old half sister RC-all radio-collared.  They are providing fresh research information of value for public knowledge and bear management.  These bears are further valuable because they allow the public to learn right along with the researchers about bear behavior.  The Minnesota DNR is asking hunters to spare these and all radio-collared bears in the upcoming bear-hunting season, which begins August 22nd.

July 10, 2001
Last night, Blackheart still lay resting a hundred feet from Highway 169 where she had spent the day.  This morning at daybreak, Lynn Rogers stopped where skid marks told the story of what happened yesterday.  The driver had braked, swerved, and skidded 20 feet, but was unable to miss the bear.  Rogers entered the woods not knowing what he would find.  Great relief!  Blackheart was well enough to slip away without a glimpse or a rustle.  She apparently heard Rogers enter the woods, but could not discern his voice in the traffic and wind, so she exercised caution and slipped away.  Her radio-signal became weaker as she moved over a hill toward a lake.  Blackheart was entering a secluded patch of forest where she was not likely to be disturbed, so Rogers did not follow.  If the wind dies down so Blackheart can recognize his voice, Rogers will check on her later today to see how she is doing and if her left front leg is improving.

July 11, 2001
On the afternoon of July 10, WRI personnel visited Blackheart after the wind died down.  She recognized the voices and allowed a close approach.  Her bed was on a steep, dry hillside with the closest water 300-400 yards away.  The researchers returned with water and nuts and a TV cameraman who had arrived at the Northwoods Research Center in the interim.  Blackheart arose with difficulty but sat with weight on both front legs, indicating that the bones are not broken.  Her right rear leg had some hair loss and a healing cut about two inches long.

On the afternoon of July 11, Rogers brought more water and nuts and found that Blackheart had drunk about a gallon of the water from the day before but had not touched the nuts.  She got up stiffly and limped slowly a short distance.  Every movement appeared difficult as if there is extensive muscle damage but no broken legs.  At this point, we don't know whether any ribs are broken and whether she has any internal injuries.  The facts that she tried to vomit shortly after being hit and that she is not eating are concerns.  Every day that goes by with Blackheart still alive increases our hope that she will make a full recovery.

The researchers are estimating her weight at 225 pounds, based on her weight of 198 on June 24 and her probable growth since then.  She was with a male for the first week and a half of June, so she is probably pregnant.  Uninjured adult females that weigh over 176 pounds by fall are expected to give birth in January.  If Blackheart pulls through, the researchers will be inducing her to step onto a scale to see how much weight she loses during recovery and will be watching to see if she produces cubs.

July 12, 2001
Blackheart is improving!  In a surprise move today, she crossed the highway to a place of healing-a cedar swamp with a soft bed of sphagnum moss, deep shade, and pools of clear water.  As Rogers approached, Blackheart took a few difficult steps that showed full recovery is still a long way off.  Then she lay down and ate nuts that Rogers gave her--the first interest she showed in food since being hit on Monday.  An encouraging day!

Blackheart resting at the base of a cedar tree about 7:30 PM on Thursday, July 12, 2001.

July 13, 2001
Blackheart left her comfortable cedar swamp and moved almost a mile overnight.  Black bears typically go to sleep an hour or two after sunset and wake up a half hour before sunrise at this time of year.  We wonder if her nocturnal movement was an effort to avoid the danger of encountering other bears in her weakened state.  This was her longest movement since being hit.

July 14, 2001
Blackheart moved a half-mile farther west overnight to another cedar swamp where she spent the day resting.  She is now a mile and a half west of where she was hit.  Her movements are still slow, hesitant, and apparently painful.  The veterinarian says that her labored breathing, her attempts to vomit after being hit, and her hesitant walking are indications that she may have broken ribs and a broken pelvis.  Blackheart is prescribing for herself exactly what the doctor would order under those conditions-rest and minimal activity.  At least she is prescribing that by day.  We don't understand why she has moved the last two nights.  We will continue to bring her fruit and nuts.   Water is not a problem in the swampy habitats she is choosing. 

July 15, 2001
By 11:30 PM last night, Blackheart had moved south across the Highway again and had continued a half-mile south.  By this evening, she was a mile west and had a very erratic radio signal, as if she was foraging.  When a bear is moving about, the strength of the signal varies, depending upon whether the front, back, or side of the collar is toward the receiving antenna.  The strongest signal is from the side of the collar.  When a bear is walking, the signal strength that is heard varies in a regular pattern.  When a bear is foraging, the signal strength is erratic as with Blackheart this evening.  We were not able to see her, but her condition is obviously improving as evidenced by the movement.  We will continue to give her nuts and fruit whenever we can and will wait to see how things go, trusting God, Mother Nature, and Father Time, to quote one of the veterinarians advising us. 

July 16, 2001
Blackheart is continuing to improve after being hit by a pickup truck a week ago.  She may have broken ribs and a broken pelvis, according to a veterinarian's evaluation of my description of how she acts.  Both kinds of breaks can mend on their own with time but would take a month or two.  Blackheart is increasingly active and is now more than two miles from where she was hit.  The media and public are following the story in Minnesota and elsewhere.  The silver lining, if there can be one with something like this, is that the media coverage is alerting the public to the need to protect the radio-collared bears in the bear hunting season which begins August 22.  The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Wildlife Research Institute are seeking hunters' cooperation in sparing radio-collared bears.  Four bears are currently wearing radio-collars: Four-year-old Blackheart, her two independent yearlings Dot and Donna, and her two-year-old half sister RC (stands for Right Check for the spot on her chest).

July 17, 2001
Blackheart continues to improve.  Lynn Rogers and Roger Powell, a wildlife professor from North Carolina State University, visited her in mid-afternoon as she lay resting in another cedar swamp, seemingly her habitat of choice as she mends.  At first Blackheart arose and started away.  She has been cautious and distrustful this past week in her vulnerable state.  Rogers' familiar voice alone has not been enough to make her feel safe.  On this day, she moved off 50 feet as Rogers approached, talking to her.  But then she stopped, and Rogers sat down.  Powell, who was less familiar to her, stayed farther back.  After perhaps 15 minutes of testing the wind and hearing Rogers' voice, she returned and ate nuts from Rogers' hand.  She moved slowly but much more smoothly than in recent days, another indication of her improvement.  She slightly favored her left front leg but put nearly full weight on it.  Rogers could not smell any odor of infection.  The Wildlife Research Institute plans to continue supplementing her diet with nuts to minimize weight loss as she mends.  Blackheart seems to be miraculously headed for a complete recovery.

July 18, 2001
We didn't see Blackheart yesterday due to a multi-agency organizational meeting about creation of the North American Bear Center and the Boundary Waters Ecology Center in Ely, MN.  We are so encouraged by Blackheart's progress we have decided to discontinue the daily updates and will provide periodic updates as developments merit. 

July 19, 2001
Blackheart moved almost two and a half miles east since we last visited her two days ago.  She spent the morning resting in a dense thicket of balsam fir saplings at the edge of a black ash swamp.   This habitat is similar to the cedar swamps she has been favoring.  Both habitats offer dense shade, pools of water, and soft beds of sphagnum moss.  At noon, Lynn Rogers and a veterinarian visited her there.  Both were encouraged by her progress, although her deliberate walking indicates there is a lot of healing to go yet.  A dropping next to her bed showed that she has been foraging on a variety of foods.  The main component was unidentified succulent vegetation.  Other items in the dropping were raspberries, wild sarsaparilla berries, dogwood berries, peavine leaves, red clover leaves, and ants.   Blackheart remained cautious but did come to Rogers when he crawled into her thicket and dumped a pile of mixed nuts and sunflower seeds (without shells) in an attempt to minimize Blackheart's weight loss while she heals.   

July 22, 2001
Blackheart continues to improve, which seems a miracle after learning more about her being hit by the pickup truck on Highway 169 on July 9th.  About 9:35 AM that day, a pickup came around a curve as Blackheart began crossing the road to the left.  The driver hit the brakes and swerved left to miss her.  The pickup struck her on her left side with such force that the bumper and fender on the passenger side were pushed almost to the tire.  The man driving behind them also was braking and swerving but could see clearly what happened next.  Blackheart went under the pickup and was struck by the front axel and rolled over as the pickup passed over her.  Blackheart lay motionless on the pavement, apparently unconscious.  After about five minutes, she moved a paw, eventually lifted her head.   She tried twice to get up twice and fell.   Then she half dragged and half hobbled off the road and into the forest.  The drivers didn't have cell phones, so they stopped several cars until they found one who did, and they called Lynn Rogers at the Northwoods Research Center.  Rogers arrived shortly and found Blackheart lying 50-100 feet into the forest, moving only her eyes. 

Twelve days later, at 8 AM on July 21, Blackheart surprised everyone by appearing at the Research Center walking fairly smoothly.  However, when she walked on an even surface, it was evident that she was limping on both left legs, especially when she tried to hurry.  Nevertheless, she had moved two and a quarter miles from the swamp where she had rested two days earlier.  At that location, Rogers had crawled into the thicket where she had secluded herself and gave her a couple pounds of nuts.  A dropping next to her bed showed that she had been trying to forage.  It contained vegetation, wild sarsaparilla berries, dogwood berries, raspberries, and ants.  Wildlife Research Institute personnel will continue to supplement her diet with nuts to minimize weight loss during this time of recovery.  

July 30, 2001
Blackheart continues to improve!  She has reclaimed her place in the social hierarchy.  Visits by various bears at the Northwoods Research Center re-enforce this observation.   RC, Blackheart's 2-year-old half sister, was at the Research Center acting nervous and watchful, sniffing the air.  Blackheart's radio signal showed she was close.  Blackheart appeared, and RC ran away.  Dot and Donna are respectful of their mother and keep their distance, and Blackheart, in turn, is respectful of her mother (Shadow), who has cubs and keeps all the bears at a distance.  There are times, though, when Blackheart feels she has to enforce her dominance over RC, Dot, and Donna.  A few days ago, she ran Donna up a tree and climbed about 15 feet behind her.  She limped afterward as if she had re-injured a healing muscle.  She also limped after sprinting after RC the next day.  Any chasing or climbing in pursuit of intruding bears is strictly against doctor's orders, but Blackheart continues to improve.  The chases are getting longer with less limping afterward.  Yesterday, Blackheart chased RC a hundred yards on a forest road and then in a big circle into the woods to a lakeshore and back out onto the road and around a curve out of sight.  When Blackheart reappeared an hour later, she was walking almost normal, apparently on her way to a full recovery.