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Lily and Cubs - UPDATE June 28, 2017

The day started with a phone call. Lily and her cubs were seen. I hurried to the location and pulled in the driveway. Lily approachesLily approachesLily heard my van. She approached until she saw I had no food. Then she had better things to do. She is a wonderful, attentive mother. She is constantly checking on the cubs as a priority over eating. The male cub with the big horseshoe on his chest is the calmest, stays closest to Lily, and poses for the most pictures. The male with half a horseshoe is next most trusting. The sex of the third cub is still a mystery because it remains high in a tree.

Lilys cubLily's cubBoth males had an interest in chipmunks and red squirrels, half-heartedly chasing them. This is their age of discovery. They’re learning their world—what to fear, ignore, or embrace. The look on the cub when a squirrel came around a tree trunk toward him is quietly expressive.

Lily was her old self, trusting and ignoring me. She puts her full attention on the needs of her cubs and eats when everything is okay for them. Occasionally, she makes forays away, as if she is leaving, but she is just checking.

The talk among several of the bear feeders is that many of the regulars have not shown yet. I heard the same from people in a nearby town. It reminds me of 1996 when there were worries that bears had died overwinter in the record-breaking cold (minus 60°F). Bears that were regularly seen at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary near Orr or at the home of Jack and Patti Becklund near Grand Marais didn’t show up until late in the summer. Jack’s book “Six Summers With the Bears” ends with a favorite bear not showing up and the tears they shed when they realized she likely wouldn’t show up. But she did too,late to be included in the book. Same at the Sanctuary. By summer’s end, all had shown up. It was the biggest bumper crop of bear food I can remember. The bears preferred the wild food and didn’t show up at supplemental feeding locations until the wild foods were waning.

Lilys cub   Lilys cub
 Lilys cub Lilys cub 
Lily's cubs explore and learn

 

People in the region are worried, but the phenomenon is too widespread to be due to localized skullduggery. I believe that the rain is promoting growth of plants and keeping them succulent. We’ll see what happens next.

Lily’s appearance took priority over tales of yore today. We’ll get back to that when there is less exciting news to report.

Thank you for all you do.

Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center


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