Lily and Hope - The Black Bear and Cub

Update October 12, 2010 – 8:09 PM CDT
by Lily the Black Bear on Wednesday, 13 October 2010 at 03:26
Swamped Again


Lily & Hope covered with tamarack needles - October 12 2010
Last night, Lily and Hope moved farther from their den—back to the swamp they spent so much time in a week or so ago, nearly 2 miles as the bear walks from the den Lily dug. Sue hiked in to see what they were doing. Why is that area so attractive? Sue did find a huge white pine nearby—and Hope ran to it when something started her. That could be part of the attraction. What were they doing? Nothing much. No dirt on their fur, but they were covered with tamarack needles that were falling like rain in the swamp.


Hope sitting pretty - October 12, 2010
If they are among of the last bears to den up, is Lily really pregnant? Assuming she is pregnant, is she walking off too much fat to maintain a pregnancy when all they are eating is maybe a few grubs and some mature leaves that are poorly digestible? We still believe Lily has enough fat for all this wandering and pregnancy. She was up to 234.5 pounds on August 28 and previous data showed that 176 pounds in fall is enough to carry a pregnancy through to produce healthy cubs.


Lily resting - October 12, 2010
Braveheart is wandering too, but she has oodles of fat. On September 7 she weighed 413.5. We have confidence in her ability to maintain her pregnancy, but the place she is hanging out is logistically impossible for a den cam due to its remoteness and steep terrain. If she really dens in that remote area, even getting to her to give her a smaller collar for the winter will be a challenge.

Pat and Donna Surface were at a talk Lynn gave in Ely today. They are the ones who created ‘Through The Lens – The Bear Man’ as a labor of love for the bears. Some of you have seen it on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5VXpSq1csI). Lynn told the audience about Lily fans and what they are doing for bears and the region and why the radio-collared bears must be protected. The audience was totally supportive. Afterward, Pat said how glad he was that so many people were working for bears because, “What would the woods be without bears? Unbearable.” It sounded clever at the time.

The Care2 school contest at http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/ still has Ely 1,893 votes in the lead, but 2nd and 3rd places are gaining on us slowly with exactly a month to go.

Thank you for all you do.

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



Lily resting


Hope

Bit of news on the documentary on this one! I cannot wait to see it! It'll certainly be emotional!!!

Update October 15, 2010 – 9:06 PM CDT
by Lily the Black Bear on Saturday, 16 October 2010 at 15:03
Something’s Happening


Hope's left hind foot - October 13, 2010
At 3:45 PM, Lily and Hope headed out from the area where they’ve spent the last several days. They moved 0.4 miles in the exact direction that would take them around the lakes and bogs to the den they made 1.9 miles away. They rested from 5 to 7 PM, and then moved another hundred yards and paused. Is this finally the beginning of their move to their den, or is it just another tantalizing movement like the others?

Braveheart might be in a den, but not the den she has been visiting periodically the last few weeks. The place she stopped last night very well could be an underground den. She stayed there overnight and through the day. There have been hours with no GPS signals when we suspect she is underground. We’ll check tomorrow.

With many bears denned up, practically no one in the study area sees bears. We did run into yearling male Ty (son of Bow) today. His heart rate was as high as ever. Two readings were 106 and 103. He was calm with Lynn, but while Lynn was taking his heart rate, Ty’s body would tense as he went on alert focusing on sounds in the darkness. He is the smallest yearling, which might be why he is still up. He weighs close to 200 pounds. For about a week—until about a week ago, he was hanging out with JJ, the yearling son of Shadow. Then JJ disappeared and most likely is at a den.

People are asking why bears hibernate and why they enter dens so early here. Hibernation is their way of surviving through the cold months of scarce food. The timing of hibernation is genetically programmed according to the regional norms of food availability. There are practically no fall foods in this region, so bears enter dens in September and October. In areas where there are acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, and other fall foods, bears are genetically programmed to hibernate later. Another regional difference is how black bears respond to warm spells in winter. Where there is virtually no chance of food being available in winter, like around here, bears remain in dens. Where there is a good chance melting snow could uncover nuts and acorns, bears often arouse, and some stay up somewhat active all winter. In Florida, most bears (except mothers giving birth in January) stay fairly active through winter.

Tonight, we viewed the rough cut of the BBC’s 1-hour film “Bearwalkers: From Fear to Hope.” It is a beautiful documentary of Lily and Hope’s lives from the time they left their den until the end of May. As expected, the BBC did a fantastic job of capturing the beauty of the area, the touching moments between Lily and Hope, and Gordon Buchanan’s journey from fear to fascination with these bears. Watching it, we re-lived the emotions of the break-up, the reunion, and more. The gripping story kept us quietly spell-bound and left us wanting more. If the next two documentaries are as good as this one, BBC has another winning series.

On another topic, we feel on edge all the time as tension mounts in the drive for legal protection for Lily, Hope, and the other radio-collared bears. Rumors to discredit us are flying. Officials are making veiled threats. Newspaper articles are being written in which writers try to balance the obvious good of this research and education with the worst rumors, the worst Facebook comments, and worst-case scenarios. They never have the space to tell details, so the public is often left with wrong impressions.

At the same time, Lily fans we meet in the North American Bear Center give us confidence that truth and justice will win in the end.

While things seem tense in some ways, we are also learning of important support. Also, we liked David Hoole’s story on Northland’s Newscenter 6 that aired a few days ago. He sent a new link to it today at http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/outdoors/Lily-and-Hope-Ready-for-Hibernation-104729424.html, but you may have already seen it.

The commanding lead you created in the contest to vote $20,000 for Ely’s Schools held up today with a score of 2,683 votes to 869. The third place school received no votes and remained at 650 votes with 27 days to go. To vote, go to http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/.

Thank you for all you do.

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

Hope's paw is todays picture, and what a cute little paw it is:

The end of the hunting season!! we can all breathe a sigh of relief, but so sad for the gorgeous bears that didn't make it!!

October 17, 2010 – 8:14 PM CDT
by Lily the Black Bear on Monday, 18 October 2010 at 03:55
Still learning


October Sunrise
As the bear hunting season winds to a close this evening, Lily and Hope still have us baffled. So does Bravheart.

Lily and Hope showed such a tight cluster of GPS locations that we wondered if they were at a den. We went to see but made the mistake of not saying “It’s me, bear” loud enough or often enough. Lily and Hope melted away into dense cover. We never got close enough to hear a twig or catch a glimpse. When we realized they were moving and that the habitat was too wet for a den, we left asking again, “When will they ever den up?”

Pregnant females usually are the first to enter dens. If Lily has cubs this winter, she will prove to be an exception to that rule.

Braveheart is another exception. She is typically among the last of the radio-collared females to den up whether she is pregnant or not. Two days ago, we thought she had denned. She arrived at the den we described as a castle. It was a fortress against any animal that might disturb her. She raked bedding into it. We thought she was there for the winter. The only thing we wondered about is how she backed her bulk 10-12 feet into the narrow den while raking bedding. Did she find it too confining like the den Jo abandoned? Today, she apparently decided against denning there. What our human minds judged to be a terrific den apparently didn’t measure up in her bear mind. About 10:30 AM, she left. She walked within 200 yards of the den she has visited periodically this past month and moved in a 6-mile arc that ended back where Sue walked through rough terrain to visit her a couple weeks ago. Her GPS batteries should last another week. We can only wait and see what she does. We have a lot to learn about the variability in bear behavior.


Loon in the mist
GPS technology is showing us so much more than we used to get from telemetry alone. In the old days, we’d be lucky to get one telemetry location every couple days, and we’d have no idea what the bears were doing in those locations. Now, seeing GPS locations on our computer every ten minutes and being able to go out and observe trusting bears that usually will ignore us is showing us so much more. Our GPS units that send locations in real time, rather than the usual GPS collars that store information throughout the year so biologists can download it at winter dens, opens the door to so much more learning opportunity.

This fall, bears are showing us that it is common for bears to size up and reject dens before selecting one for the winter. Some of these may be dens that fit them just fine earlier in the summer before they fattened for the winter. Seeing the details now available to us, we wonder how many of our old telemetry locations were from bears similarly sizing up dens.

Now that the summer is over, we thought it time to name RC’s 3 male cubs. We named them Doug, Bill, and Jim after members of the Den Cam team.

The first cub is named after Doug Hajicek of White Wolf Entertainment. Doug is the TV producer who put together last year’s team that brought Lily and Hope to the internet. You saw him on NBC Today twice in January and may know him as the producer of “The Man Who Walks With Bears” and of the Monster Quest series. He will be working his magic again this winter.

The second cub is named after Bill Rice of Ritron, Inc., and Bill Powers of PixController, Inc. Bill Rice is a master radio engineer who knows how to put things together and make them work. Bill Powers designed the Den Cam setup that brought Lily and Hope to the internet.

The third cub is named after Jim Stroner, a managing engineer at Digi International who, with Bill Rice, is finding ways to transmit den cam signals where there are no telephone lines or power lines.

All are volunteers.

One of the biggest criticisms we get is over our practice of naming the research bears. To some, naming them humanizes them, and some people think that is wrong. Why do we name them? Because we don’t want to give them numbered ear tags, as most research projects do. Ear-tagging them risks their lives by capturing and tranquilizing them and would destroy their trust. And names are easier to remember.
Congratulations to all who participated in the fund-raising efforts for the Wildlife Research Institute (www.bearstudy.org) during the bear hunting season. Today, you went over the $26,000 mark. Thank you!

And you voted Ely a bigger lead today in the contest to bring $20,000 to Ely’s Schools. The score is now 2,711 to 887 over the second place school. To vote, go to http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/.

To answer some of the questions about our methods and topics of study and whether our methods create nuisance bears and jeopardize public safety, go to
http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/papers/WRI-Response-to-DNR-April-2008-Part-I.pdf. The research we are doing differs from all other bear research in the world. By relying on trust, we obtain information that would be impossible to obtain without observing animals that trust and ignore their observers. If a person cannot see the animals they are studying, there is not much he or she can learn about behavior and ecology. Most research projects are designed to determine population size and reproductive rate in order to regulate bear populations through hunting. We have done that in the past but are now learning how bears live, what they are like, and how people and bears can better coexist. Our goal is to share the information as fast as we learn it. To the extent possible, we want to make it possible for people to learn directly from the bears, as we do.

Thank you for all you do.

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

Update October 18, 2010 – 9:42 PM CDT
by Lily the Black Bear on Tuesday, 19 October 2010 at 04:41
Introducing Dot

Lily tantalized us by making a move toward her den a few minutes ago. After spending the day in a small area, she lined out 0.2 miles on a bearing of 83 degrees. The den is another 1.6 miles on a bearing of 76 degrees. Should we be excited? After her other false starts, she is going to have to show us more than this to truly make us believe she’s making the big move. We’ll see tomorrow morning what she does.

And we are completely baffled about what Braveheart is up to. After her six mile walk yesterday, she just hunkered down today.


Dot at opening of den - October 18, 2010
So we visited 10-year-old Dot. She is from Blackheart’s first litter back in January 2000 and is the cub Lynn lifted from Blackheart’s den in “The Man Who Walks With Bears.” Dot is also the 6-pound cub sleeping on Lynn’s lap in that documentary.

As Dot grew up, she dominated her smaller littermate Donna, but Dot had a rough time with another relative as a yearling after family breakup. Grandma Shadow let Dot know her boundaries and is probably the bear that bit Dot in the right foreleg causing her to limp badly for a couple weeks. She couldn’t put weight on the swollen leg for over a week. That was in early July. About a month and a half later, Dot became one of the few bears in Lynn’s decades of study to vacate her mother’s territory. When Lynn returned from Alaska at the end of August that year (2001), he found Dot starting a new life 3-4 miles to the east. She never returned to her mother’s territory.

That eastern part of the study area is the responsibility of Research Associates Glenn and Nancy Krause. They have monitored Dot these last nine years. They change her radio-collars, attach GPS units, and keep detailed records.


Dot standing outside den - October 18, 2010
Dot never forgot Lynn, though, even though the two would go months or years without seeing each other. Their mutual trust was tested in late winter and spring 2003 when Dot was in a den with her first litter. The BBC had called asking if there was anyone at the Wildlife Research Institute who could help them make a TV program using new breakthrough technology. They had a tiny camera that could record normal video and thermal imaging video. They wanted someone to place the camera under a nursing wild mother black bear to record thermal images of the nursing cubs. They said the new camera could provide unprecedented images for science, that the Wildlife Research Institute could have copies of the film to study, and that the program could help people coexist with black bears. They asked in an oblique way whether anyone at the Wildlife Research Institute was dumb enough to intrude into a den with a non-tranquilized mother and place the camera under her. Lynn said to come ahead.

The first attempt at placing the camera under Dot was in a blizzard. Lynn approached the den, saying “It’s me, bear.” Dot was calm. Lynn had to move away for a few minutes. When he returned, his green fleece jacket was covered with snow. He didn’t think to speak. Dot lunged out the den entrance in defense. Lynn spoke and held out his hand. Dot sniffed it and calmed down. She backed down onto her cubs, with Lynn following her into the den. When Lynn tried to work the camera under her, she lifted a leg to accommodate. The camera worked, and the scene, narrated by David Attenborough, is part of the Hibernation Exhibit in the North American Bear Center. See ‘Heat Loss in Dens.’


Dot's den - October 18, 2010
Today, Lynn wore the same jacket he wore on that visit 7 ½ years ago. He had not seen Dot for nearly two years. After a three quarter mile hike, we found Dot in the cushiest den we’ve ever seen. Dot had lined her den with deep moss for her cubs to snuggle into when they are born in January. And she might not be done yet. Mounds of moss lay by the den entrance. Lynn wasn’t sure Dot would recognize his voice and let him check her radio-collar after all this time. He wished Glenn and Nancy were along. Dot would certainly trust them to work on her.

Dot heard Lynn’s voice and came out showing no anxiety, but she balked when Lynn tried to twist her collar straight. The collar was plenty loose, but it didn’t twist easily for some reason. It was evident she didn’t appreciate the twisting, although she never said a bad word. What a sweetheart.

We went back to the Research Cabin to check when her GPS collar had showed her to be in this remote area. Dot arrived in the vicinity on September 8 and spent several days resting here and there like Lily is still doing today. On the last day before Dot’s batteries expired on September 12, she was within a tenth of a mile of her location today. From the large area that Dot has raked for moss, she has been at this remote den for weeks.

Dot is another bear whose loss would be a major blow to the study. Each year of data makes the research bears more valuable. Protection is needed. We’ve seen your well written letters. Now, following the good article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that came out on Saturday, would be a good time for a round of letters to your legislators, the governor, and newspapers—especially the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Thank you for all you have done and are doing. Together, we will gain protection for the study bears and continue their contributions to science, education, and Minnesota.

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

Dot:

Same here AM thats alot to read, to take it all in properly. I will take my time catching up, but just looking at the photos, they are brilliant Work does get in the way does'nt it
Thanks WS

Thank heavens its the end of the hunting season and Lily, and Hope are safe. Those two are really giving us the run around as to where they will den, but it's great they are both back together for the winter. Thanks for keeping us upto date AM
WS

Fingers Crossed we will get a Den Cam this year for Lily and Hope.

Do you think Lily is pregnant?

SM

Thanks for the wonderful update Anne-Marie. I too am so glad the hunting season is over and that Lily and Hope are ok but it's very sad for the bears who didn't make it, its a great loss.

There have been talk that Lily is pregnant in some of the earlier posts and I hope she is. It will be brilliant if there is another den cam, I know they said they would like to set another one up all being well and depending on where Lily dens as they need access to electricity. Fingers crossed too that it happens, we need to keep an eye on this.

littlewid-x-

Gorgeous clip of Lily and Hope - thanks for posting SM

Lai

That is such a lovely clip of Lily and Hope SM. It's so nice to see them bith looking so fit and well and i'm really hoping we see them den together and hopefully Lily is pregnant as they expected earlier and we see the birth of another Lily cub.

littlewid-x-

Thanks for the update SM. I will catch up later, and see how our two favourite Girls are doing
WS

Another adorable clip - thanks for posting SM :cheers:

Brilliant SM just watched the clip. Lily made me laugh when she fell over backwards eating the leaves off the branch
WS

They are wonderful to watch and its nice to see them as Hope has changed so much from that ball of fluff.

LW I hope that den together too!

SM

Sorry for being so slack with these updates. Where on earth has October gone. And into the 2nd week in November already!!! Crazy. Anyway I'll update what I can now, and will finish them off tomorrow

Update October 19, 2010 – 5:54 PM CDT
by Lily the Black Bear on Wednesday, 20 October 2010 at 00:47
A possible den for Lily and Hope?

Last night Lily and Hope did not continue on to the den they dug in September. They turned south to a place they had bedded for several days last week. We’d already checked out that location and found only a bed—not a den. We would have waited and watched the GPS locations on the computer to see what they do next, but Lily’s GPS signals stopped coming at 5:42 this morning. It was early for the batteries to expire. Had they entered a rock den that blocked the signal? We had to check.


Hope, Lily, and Sue - October 19, 2010
We homed in on Lily’s telemetry signal. Lynn was saying “It’s me, bear” frequently so they wouldn’t melt away into the forest like last time. They did anyway. We followed. Sue added her strong voice and we went more slowly so as not to be so noisy. Soon we saw them. They had identified us but still took several minutes to check other directions and sniff the air. Eventually, satisfied that our crashing through the woods didn’t represent danger, they came. Neither bear had dirt from digging. The swamp where they had bedded was too wet for a reasonable den. They probably were just bedding and not making a den there. We found Lily’s GPS batteries had expired early, so we changed them.

But something told us to re-check the bedding area, so we headed back to locate it.


Lily and Hope's bed with raking in foreground - October 19, 2010
The bed showed two depressions, one large and one small. Lily and Hope had raked clubmoss into it as bedding. There was no other raking in the area. The area was too wet for a den. They were obviously just bedding there.

But Sue the Nature Sleuth wasn’t satisfied. She kept looking. Twenty feet away, the bears had crawled under the roots of a windfall. From the amount of sign, the ‘den’ had been entered repeatedly. Could Lily be lured into denning there because the swamp is drier than usual this year? Even now, the den floor is damp and only inches about the water table (see water in foreground of picture). But no bedding was raked into it after all the days they have spent there. Maybe they are not committed to this ‘den.’ The den cavity is a bit small for the 2 of them. Maybe little Hope was just exploring while her lethargic mother was resting.


Could this be Lily and Hope's den? - October 19, 2010
Denning there would be a disaster for any cubs born. A little rain would soak the floor and chill the cubs. Meltwater in spring would flood it. We remember a similar situation with Donna the bear. Meltwater flooded her den and killed a cub while the sibling took refuge on Donna’s back at a time of year when cubs are usually snuggled under mom like we saw with Lily and Hope. We remember looking into the den and seeing the surviving cub on Donna’s back with up to 6 inches of water in the den. Donna was in a shallower area, but probably losing heat at a high rate. To exit, they would have to wade through the deepest part of the den. A day later, they were outside the den soaking up the sun, but that was the last time we saw the cub. Both Donna and the cub were gone the next day. Donna mated again that spring and produced a surviving litter the following year in a better den.

We hope Lily knows better than to den in that swamp. We are still hoping she will suddenly head 1.6 miles to the high and dry den they dug about 4 weeks ago.

Braveheart is still in the same remote spot she was yesterday.

There are only 12 days left in October. We practically never have a bear wait until November to den up.

Meanwhile, you have been working!

You have been working for protection. We just learned that the governor’s office received 679 letters (304) and emails (375) favoring protection and only 6 against. That is a tremendous effort. Thank you so much. You don’t know how much protection will mean to us. We worry all year about losing radio-collared bears during hunting season. Please keep the letters coming to newspaper editors, Governor Pawlenty, MN DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten, and your Minnesota State Legislators—especially those on the state senate and state house committees on Environment and Natural Resources and committees on Environment and Natural Resources Finance. It is best to write letters polite and to ask questions that require answers.

We also see that you raised $26,396 for the research in fundraisers during the bear hunting season. Thank you to the people who put all this together and those of you who bid on auction items and made donations to help us continue. We are trying to create an endowment fund to continue the research into the future through Sue Mansfield, graduate students, and interns. Along the line, we hope to build living quarters for the grad students and interns. The funds you raised will go toward that.

We also see that the NABC debt reduction fund you created is at $394,624. That means we are a little over $5,000 away from reducing the Bear Center debt by $400,000. Amazing. What a difference this will make as we move forward.

You also are keeping Ely Schools in a comfortable lead for the $20,000 prize by voting at http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/2704/054/.

Thank you for all you are doing.

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