Lily and Hope - The Black Bear and Cub

Thanks for all the updates Anne-Marie - and the gorgeous video clip.

Lai

Thanks AM.

It's great to see how this little bear is getting on with the day to day.

SM

Thnks AM for all the updates. Hope seems to be doing really well, and I think they are right to keep contact to a minimum, whilst it's important to know how she is surviving, and what she is eating, the most important thing is she lives her life as she's meant to. It's a tradegy about the number of Bears killed crossing the Road,but it just goes to show what might happen in the Serengeti if the road is built through it. Lets keep our fingers X, and do all we can to keep The Bear Centre in the top 5
WS

I found it quite upsetting reading about the road kills and they are just the ones they know about! It doesn't bear (no pun intended) thinking about. The same with the serengeti as you said WS! I just cannot see how that can go ahead!! Its so shocking.

I'm starting the update with a photo from yesterday:

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=6509939&id=263755115498

July 5, 2010 (2:36 PM CDT) After much searching, we found Hope shortly after noon. She looks great but was very bothered by the numerous biting deer flies in the area. She shook her head each time they landed on her ears

And a nice little status update from today that little bear cub is so adorable!! They got the month wrong!!

June 6, 2010 (9:02 AM CDT) Hope found ME this morning. I was homing in on her signal and knew she was very close. Suddenly she was behind me. Good start to the day -- her's and mine!

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=6518686&id=263755115498

I really enjoy the updates and seeing all the gorgeous photos of Hope - she just looks so adorable. I had no idea bears suffered so much with the heat, on reflection i had never really thought about it. Poor things it must be unbearable in the sunshine.

Thanks for posting Anne-Marie.

Lai

Need to catch up with Hope and Lily when I get in Anne-Marie, run out of time this morning.....how have I missed them?!!!

littlewid-x-

What a little star Hope is and what a survivor.

Its great the BBC is now in the Chase top 5. I voted!!!

Thanks for the updates AM.

SM

Update July 6, 2010 – 7:49 PM CDTShare
Today at 03:08
Hope, Lily, and Juliet


Hope with collar
Hope was in her usual area and easy to find this morning—phew! She got her helping of formula, mealworms, grapes, and pecans about 7 AM.

Late morning, we checked on Lily and found her as high as she could climb in a big red pine. We apparently scared her coming in. She soon came down and we took her heart rate (82), changed her GPS unit, checked her breasts (flat), and her estrus status. There is still some enlargement of the genitals but not like there was. Estrus is either over or waning. Her main attention was on the relentless deer flies and horse flies, batting at them, shaking her head, or trying to bite them out of the air. As we checked on her, we grabbed deer flies off her ears. When we showed them to her, they disappeared with a quick flick of her tongue.


One of Juliet's cubs - July 6, 2010
Next stop was Juliet and her 3 cubs. On this hot, humid, sunny day, we found them resting in a densely shaded cedar swamp. We compared Juliet’s cubs (left) to Hope (right), and they are doing about the same.

Again, we felt deep gratitude watching your efforts to keep the Bear Center in the top 5 in the face of stiff competition and your efforts to edge the Wildlife Research Institute upward.

For new readers, to vote for the North American Bear Center, go to www.bear.org and click on Support Us, or click on this link:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/411838192-north-american-bear-center

To vote for the Wildlife Research Institute, go to www.bearstudy.org and click on Support Us, or click on this link:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/237320150-wildlife-research-institute

You need to have a Facebook account and ‘Like’ Chase Community Giving to vote. If you don’t already have a Facebook account, please consider setting one up for the duration of this contest. Have a Facebook savvy friend help you if needed. Your vote will make a difference!

Thank you so much for all you are doing. This will make a big difference for bears.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

Hope
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6525160&op=1&view=all&subj=466777489477&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=466777489477&id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=6525160&op=1&view=all&subj=466777489477&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=466777489477&id=263755115498&fbid=442007060498

And one of Juliet's cubs
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6525160&op=1&view=all&subj=466777489477&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=466777489477&id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=6525127&op=1&view=all&subj=466777489477&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=466777489477&id=263755115498&fbid=442006640498

Isn't it just fantastic to read that they are doing just as well as each other!!

Those photos are just so cute - i wonder if the collar is really annoying for Hope?

Lovely to read the update and great that the Bear Centre is in the top 5

Lai

I think they are hoping if they come across each other they would re-unite and this would explain mixed aged litters. I guess its a case of keeping fingers crossed as I'm sure everyone would feel a lot more relaxed if Hope hibernated with Lily.

Just caught up AM those photos are Brill, and its good seems to have developed as much as Juliets Cubs that sounds good news, and would'nt it be fantastic if Lily, and Hope dened together for the winter.
Thanks for keeping us in touch AM
WS

I was determined to catch up with all the wekends and this weeks news before I went out Anne-Marie.

Like others I was saddened to hear about all the road kills, I so hope that Hope stays away from the road as she doesnt have Lily to teach her to be cautious, but then again Hope is very cautious now so hopefully she will be ok if she ventures near the road.

Gorgous pics and Videos of her, I love the one of her shinning down the tree and then laying at the bottom, so cute. She really is growing and as you say she has lost the light fur around her eyes now.

Juliets cub is beautiful, its so nice to hear about all the other bears as well and at least Lily seems fine as well and briliant news they are still in the top 5, lets hope they get to the top.....fingers crossed.

Thanks for all your hard work in putting up the updates Anne-Marie, it really is appreciated.

littlewid-x-

Thanks LW, its no problem at all. I know most of us read it all on FB anyway, but its always nice to have all info and pictures to hand :) I really enjoyed reading todays update. Little Hope responding to "its me, bear" but still not trusting until she was 100% sure herself! That must bode well for her future! And what a lovely bear Shylow sounds! If Lily does have a litter this year, I hope she stays with them and doesn't cause us this much stress!

Update July 7, 2010 – 7:15 PM CDTShare
Today at 04:51
Lily and Shylow?


8-year-old Shylow
Hope was an easy to find and feed today. She continues to do well. We could see her up a large aspen off in the distance. She responded to “It’s me, bear” by climbing down, but she didn’t come directly to us. She circled way around us until she was sure, then approached confidently.

Lily, however, has us scratching our heads. After reporting yesterday that her genital swell was receding, and after not seeing her with a male for days, we assumed that her attractiveness was over. Wrong. This morning, 423-pound Shylow was following little 172-pound Lily, who wasn’t sure it was a good thing. She ran in spurts, staying at least 30 feet ahead of him. Shylow showed signs of interest by intentionally brushing his scent on bushes and keeping his full attention on Lily. How long this will last, we cannot say. You’d think she would mate, go out of estrus, and stop attracting males, but this has gone on, off and on, for about a month. But, as we said before, after RC lost her cub, she was pursued, off and on, into August. We’re learning.

A little on Shylow, Braveheart’s brother. Shylow is 8 years old, burly, and one of the gentlest males. Not always, though. Somehow, he incurred some nasty facial scars in past mating seasons. The last weight recorded for him last year was 576 pounds on August 10. Now he reappeared after an absence of nearly 11 months with no clue as to where he’s been. We can’t radio-collar this very trusting bear because his neck is larger than his head. When we say 'trusting', we mean Shylow trusts anyone where he expects to see people, and he trusts researchers almost anywhere once he recognizes them.

As calm as he seems where he expects to see people, he is constantly on the lookout for anything unusual. We remember him being surrounded by 6 people who were loudly exclaiming what a beautiful, huge bear he was. Shylow was unfazed by the attention. Everything was as expected. People had always treated him kindly there. Then he spotted someone approaching a hundred yards away from an unexpected direction. He bolted. He wasn’t seen again for a week.

Today, he still had his winter coat, thick and lustrous, and a heart rate of 90 as he calmly sat 10 yards from Lily. When Lily resumed her travels, Shylow resumed his following.

How different this calm encounter with big, wild Shylow was from what people often assume about big males. People who fear bears commonly assume that males are especially fearsome if they are big, are courting females, and have lost fear of people. We haven’t seen any of that and we don’t know any basis for such thought except that the odd predatory bear is more successful in killing people if it is a big male. But in our 44 years experience, the usual assumptions about danger from big males are just further examples of thoughts that make “common sense” but not bear sense.

Thank you again for all you are doing to keep the Bear Center in the running for Chase’s $100,000 and to elevate the Wildlife Research Institute to that level. The race is scary. Some of the lower ranked organizations are roaring up as you and we look for more votes and find it is taking more votes than anticipated to stay in the top 5. We see your votes pour in and think how hard many of you are working to encourage people to help. We can only say thank you. You have become a force that’s making a big difference.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

Another great update - it must be so interesting for them to be learning so much about these bears now.

Let's hope the voting continues - they need to stay in the top 5.

Lai

Shylow really does sound adorable but what is nice is that he trusts the people he knows but when someone appeared from out of the blue he bolted, good on Shylow, you can never be too sure. He really does sound like a fantastic mate for Lily, if only she would trust him, he sounds like a bug cuddly fellow doesnt he.

I'll let you into a secret Anne-Marie, I am a member on FB but I wait for your updates and pics to keep up to date on Hope and Lily

And yes to hear that Hope is responding to "it's me bear" is so fanstastic, Lynn and Sue have really turned my doubts from the beginning around.

littlewid-x-

Hope is such a hardy little bear. Great Photos. Carson

As i'm sure i've mentioned I've been at Silverstone this weekend so only been able to do the updates now. Sorry about that!

Update July 8, 2010 – 5:21 PM CDTShare
Friday at 02:10
Lily and Hope in same vicinity


Ant and ant pupae cases from Hope's poop - July 8, 2010
This morning, we radio-located Hope in a new area. Perhaps she had been there with Lily or when she was on her own prior to being collared, but we had never found her there. It was private property and we chose not to walk in to feed her there.


Ant still holding pupae case - July 8, 2010
Mid-afternoon, Lily caused a stir by going to Hope’s usual area, making us hopeful for a reunion. We checked for Hope’s signal and found she had returned to that area as well. We could tell from Lily’s GPS readings that she was bedded, so we walked in on Hope to give her the goat’s milk formula. We found Hope 0.2 miles (350 yards) from where Lily was resting. We lucked out and collected a fresh scat from Hope. Sue analyzed it and found it chock full of ant pupae of 2 distinct sizes (see pic left). One pupae case was still tightly in the grip of the worker ant which was carrying it when Hope licked it up (see pic right). Hope isn’t strong enough yet to rip apart logs to get at the ant colonies, but ants also form colonies near the surface of the ground and under moss—which is likely where Hope found these pupae.

As you can imagine, we would be very happy to have Lily and Hope back together. Lily has no milk, of course, but Hope could really use the peace of mind of being with Lily. Hope has had to behave like a yearling newly on its own. She could use a mother to snuggle with and rely on to sense danger while Hope falls into the deep sleep of an exhausted cub. Hope could also use a playmate at this age when play with siblings or mothers is so much a part of most cubs’ lives. Of course we’d keep an eye on Hope’s condition and supplement her diet if necessary, but she would probably cover more ground foraging with Lily than she would cover on her own. She would also have Lily to help rip open logs for ant pupae and pull branches of berries down within reach.

We’re waiting for the day when they actually meet. We hope to witness their interactions and possible reunion.

Just four days left in the Chase Community Giving program. Some of you have worked extremely hard to generate the votes we see. Today, you put the North American Bear Center over 10,000 votes and kept us in the top 5. You put the Wildlife Research Institute over 5,600 votes and kept us in the top 12. We hope enough votes can be found to hold onto those positions—especially the number 5 position.

Have you voted yet?

Vote for the North American Bear Center at: https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/411838192-north-american-bear-center

Vote for the Wildlife Research Institute at: https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/237320150-wildlife-research-institute

Thank you again for all you are doing at this critical time.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center

Update July 10, 2010 – 9:31 PM CDTShare
Yesterday at 04:19
A visit from Grandma?


Hope trying to catch a deer fly - July 10, 2010
This afternoon we quickly drove out to Hope’s area because Grandma June was there and we wondered what might happen. Of course, we talked about how cool it would be if Grandma adopted little Hope, but we knew that was highly unlikely. June’s GPS locations showed her to be foraging slowly along a gravel road lined with raspberries. Driving down the road, we didn’t see her and assumed she retreated into cover as we have seen other bears do. Hope was 75 yards into the forest. We wanted to record whatever happened. False alarm. Over the next hour, June drifted directly away from Hope.

We then checked on Hope. By the time we crashed through dense underbrush saying “It’s me, bear,” she was a short way up a tree a few feet from a freshly opened log. The log was soft and very rotted. When she came down, we put a few nuts in crevices in the log to see if she indeed could tear it apart. She did. She hooked her claws into it and threw her weight back. She tore off pieces and dug into the softer interior wood, using her teeth as needed like big bears do. As we watched in amazement, we also noticed again how black she is becoming. More and more black guard hairs are protruding through her brownish cub fur, which will soon be shed.

Speaking of “shed,” the shed you sponsored is done and ready to be painted. A staff member said, “It looks good, too. It will be so good to get the bear food out of the office and into the shed!” The staff will quickly take advantage of the office space to make room for the two summer interns and the Professor of Education who is here on sabbatical for a year.

On another note of thank you, the nuts you’ve been sending have been a godsend. We’ve never had such fresh pecans and hazelnuts to coax bears into letting us adjust their radio-collars and change their GPS batteries (which we have to do every 10 days). The bears strongly prefer your nuts over anything else we can offer. You’ve made our job easier than ever, and little Hope loves them.

Thank you for how you are stepping up to the plate with the voting. With 2 days to go, the suspense is almost over in the Chase Community Giving contest. You have put the Bear Center solidly in the top 5 with 13,025 votes as of this minute. That’s 4,012 votes ahead of 6th place. The way you are finding votes, we believe you will keep us in the top 5 to win $100,000.

At the same time, you have moved the Wildlife Research Institute up to 11th place with 6,911 votes, only 5,071 votes out of the top 5. That sounds like an impossible number of votes to find in only 2 days, but if there were some way to notify all 105,376 Lily fans, it could happen. None of us know how to do that.

Everything seems to be going well.

To vote for the North American Bear Center and keep it in the top 5 the next two days, click here: https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/411838192-north-american-bear-center

To vote for the Wildlife Research Institute and try to move it into the top 5 in the next two days, click here: https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/237320150-wildlife-research-institute

For your spare votes (you can vote for up to 20 organizations), here are some bear organizations.

Endangered Asian Bears:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/943102570-the-international-association-for-bear-research-and-management

Andean Bear Foundation:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/810664911-andean-bear-foundation

Black Bear Conservation Committee:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/721243466-black-bear-conservation-committee

Idaho Black Bear Rehab Inc:
https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/841395354-idaho-black-bear-rehab-inc

In addition, some of the people who have voted for the NABC and the WRI have organizations in the running.

Thank you for all you are doing at this critical time.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

And picture hehe! She's so cute
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=238152&id=263755115498&ref=mf#!/photo.php?pid=6559516&op=1&view=all&subj=468540559477&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=468540559477&id=263755115498

Album with gorgeous photo's in of Hope and Lily
https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=6542052&id=263755115498&fbid=442743825498

Photo's of Hope
https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=6560458&id=263755115498&fbid=443526190498

This album is called Lily but lots of photo's of her and Hope together, as well as just Hope! Some fantastic shots in here
https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=4990357&id=263755115498&fbid=263821740498

The other research bears
https://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=263755115498#!/photo.php?pid=6540961&id=263755115498&fbid=442683880498