LILY THE BLACK BEAR~2011 & 2012

eiguoc · **Posted:** Mon May 09, 2011 1:44 pm

May 8 Extra life experiences for Faith
Today was a match of yesterday as far as bear movements went. Most of Lily’s movement today was in the morning. This afternoon, they settled into an area only 145 yards in diameter, giving Faith a little break in trying to keep up. Lily’s scat today was full of green mush, which means she is scarfing down the very digestible early greens now sprouting. It also contained bone fragments but no smell of meat, so she likely found the skeleton of a winter-killed animal that ravens and other scavengers had long since picked clean.

The impressive thing with Faith is how her light little body gallops along and seems to be doing okay. Meanwhile, she is gaining life experiences. While June and Jo’s cubs are learning only a small area, Faith knows a large portion of Lily’s territory. And we know from last year that little cubs remember where they’ve been. As a tiny cub, Hope traveled two miles on her own to get back to a familiar area after Lily abandoned her in unfamiliar territory. Faith is the smallest cub we have studied in such detail. She is showing us what a wiry little cub can do.
For the pics
http://www.bearstudy.org/website/resear ... aith-.html

eiguoc · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 2:12 pm

Bears are moving. Hope is wild.
Hope went crazy with fun today. She got into a crazy bear mood we have seen with other bears and provided priceless video. Everyone was involved—Lily, Hope, and Faith. She even gave a nod to the camera Sue was holding. This may be the new video to go on the big-screen TV that people first see when they come into the North American Bear Center. Hope found a huge white pine log like we have never seen before. It had a rotten center; she hollowed it out and showed the same reaction to the wood chips that Lucky does when we put fresh cedar chips in the bear enclosure at the North American Bear Center. She was energetic, disappearing into the log and coming out and squirming on the rotten, crumbled wood she had pulled out. Then she’d run away and run back and crawl into the log again, exuberantly burning energy that she easily replenishes now that green-up is on. Then she spread the fun to raucous play with Lily and Faith. Faith would get roughed up and come back for more. Hope was relatively gentle with Faith. She let it all hang out with Lily, and vice versa. The log seemed to stimulate wild play.

Faith was a joy to watch. We don’t know where she gets her energy. She must be getting more milk than we think, even though Lily’s breasts are only a third to a half the size of June’s. She ran nimbly after Lily as Lily moved 1.7 miles today, and she climbed all the way to the top of a giant white pine over a hundred feet tall. So did Lily and Hope. Although Lily played with Hope and Faith, she was unusually up-tight today. She also was doing an unusual amount of scent-marking in an area we considered June’s territory. Is she usurping more of June’s territory? Was there another bear around? The future may answer these questions. Sue’s video of the family is some of the best.

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

Jason's necropsy report is in. Looks like they are considering that a coyote may have tried to drag him out the tree, hurting Jason's knee, and making a small bite in his head which led to several major infections strong enough to kill him in 4 days. Well, antibiotic shots may have saved him, maybe? And they posted that they surveyed or asked how Jason should be remembered and grief experts said by including Jason in the exhibit, explaining about life and death cycle. I get that. I just hope they mean to use a statue of Jason, and decide to bury his actual body. But they stated before they wanted his body in the exhibit so I am trying to be patient and await more info before my head explodes. p.s. I already edited this because when I first read it, my head DID explode. (I had to read it a second time.)

Here is the link to the update

http://www.bearstudy.org/website/resear ... -more.html

eiguoc · **Posted:** Mon May 16, 2011 11:54 am

Jason's necropsy report and more

The DNR Wildlife Veterinarian kindly sent Jason’s necropsy report. Jason died of a brain infection from a bite that made a pinpoint hole in his skull. How did it happen? Between the veterinary diagnostic report, video recorded at the den, and pictures taken after they moved from the den, the true story is unfolding, and it is not what we first thought.

Initially, DNR officials first implicated Hope in Jason’s death and we thought they might be right. We thought it possible that Jason was injured by rough play. We also thought he may have fallen behind on the 0.42 mile journey from the den to the big white pine. He had seemed slower to develop his motor skills, so we thought it likely that he fell behind and had to be carried. We wondered if Lily or Hope had carried him by the head and had bitten too hard.

When the necropsy report showed he had a swollen knee, we wondered if that could explain his slower motor skill development. We wondered when the injury to his knee had occurred. We asked the Den Watch Team to scour their notes for times when there was rough play. Lily fans also sent instances of rough play. We reviewed archived video for all those times. Yes, some of the play was rough, but we couldn’t conclusively find a point when Jason was injured.

Then we reviewed the video recorded on April 6—shortly before the 0.42 mile trip. It showed Jason to be walking fine and on a par with Faith. We know that not all cubs develop at the same rate and small differences don’t necessarily mean something is wrong.

Jason was more tired than Faith after the 0.42 mile trip, as was evident in the video and pictures we took late in the afternoon on Friday April 8. We thought he would rest up over the next day or two and be fine. When we saw him failing on the afternoon of April 11, we thought he had been too worn out to nurse. In fact, his digestive tract turned out to be empty. But that wasn’t why he was sick.

Our photos from Friday April 8 and Monday April 11 provided major information. On April 8, Jason was certainly tired after the trip to the white pine, but he had no unusual marks on his head—no blood, no pus, no matted fur, no lines suggestive of a pair of teeth raking along the side of his head. When we returned on the afternoon of April 11 and saw him failing, all those marks were present. Something had happened over the weekend. We had seen coyote tracks in the vicinity but thought nothing about it at the time.

The Lab Report described the infection, saying, “cerebellum, meningoencephalitis, ventriculitis and periventriculitis, suppurative, acute, focally extensive, with marked fibrinoid vascular necrosis.”

The necropsy report indicated a puncture wound to the skull was the likely entry point for the infection. A tiny puncture wound was found during the examination of the skull. Are Hope’s teeth small enough, or might it be a predator? If the latter, what is the likely scenario that occurred after we left the evening of April 8? We saw how tired Jason was that evening. He was too tired to climb very far. We saw Lily and Hope foraging away from the tree, depending on the tree for refuge for Faith and Jason. It is not a stretch to imagine Jason crying out for Lily and Hope, attracting a predator, and being slow to climb. We can imagine a predator grabbing Jason off the tree trunk by a hind leg, injuring his knee. His scream of pain would bring Lily and Hope on a run. We can imagine the predator biting Jason’s head about the time Lily arrived to save him.

We asked the lead veterinarian if 4 days was long enough for the infection to develop and kill Jason. He said yes.

There is no solid evidence that Hope was the culprit. We further doubt she was responsible after seeing how Faith responds to Hope. Rough play does not put Faith off. She follows Hope. She initiates play with Hope. We see how Hope looks out for Faith. We see how peacefully they nurse together as in last night’s video. Could it have been that different for Jason?

We wondered how to remember Jason. We sought counsel from the most respected grief experts in Minnesota. Their unanimous opinion was that Jason be remembered and identified in a display at the Bear Center. One of the counselors wrote, “This is an opportunity for the Bear Center to reinforce and educate about the circle of life and death. The public would be more distressed to have Jason become a non-entity than to acknowledge his brief life and death.” Another wrote that addressing his death openly and honestly is what would be expected of a research and education organization. Another wrote, “The family tree is especially important, because it says no matter when one dies, that person is still part of the family. This is a natural opportunity to help children begin to comprehend death.” Our deep thank you for expert advice at this difficult time.

On to a happier topic. Video of a touching grooming session in Lily's family has been posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whmHrhWBCBw.

All seems particularly well in the bear world. After foraging in small areas for a couple days, Lily moved 2.05 miles today between 9:41AM and 2:03PM. It’s almost time for another check on what she is doing. June and her 2 cubs moved only 225 yards all day today. Jo moved 0.58 miles and is well away from any towns. Juliet kept moving past Soudan last night and continued another 4.9 miles and is still on the move. Accelerated movement often comes after family break-up, so we want to take the first opportunity to see if yearlings Shirley, Sharon, and Boy Named Sue are still with her. A problem is that they are far out in a roadless area.

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

Wow. Just watched the video of Faith digging into the tree stump. She has had an advantage over Hope, by having an older female sibling to copy and learn from. She is something like 15 or 16 wks old this week. If I recall, we did not see Hope trying to dig up a stump until she was reunited with Lily, I think, for the 2nd time. That was probably when she was 6 or 8 wks older than Faith. Little Faith she was focused on that stump too! I watched the news video re Lily and her family, the DNR, the hunters who put a "bounty" on Lily, even to track her GPS! and the children in the school watching the family. Re the DNR, the commissioner stated that they have been dealing with or issuing permits to Dr Rogers the same way as they did in 1992, nothing has changed. DUH! :tearhair

That was almost 20 years ago, and things DO CHANGE! He will get flack for that comment, anyone taking a proactive and positive approach to things, sees that comment as a negative one, and it shows an "old timer" type mentality. The world has moved on since 1992 along with theories and philosophies and approaches. Where has he been? To me, THAT is the problem here, another state agency STUCK in 1992, and from his comments, PROUD of it. Is he in an appointed position? or did he get voted into that job? or just hired? HE NEEDS TO GO! That is really backward thinking on his part. MN is such a beautiful state, they have bears, eagles, loons, wolves, and so many other beautiful creatures. If I was a MN resident, and saw the newscast, I would be organizing a protest in front of his office :lol2:

eiguoc · **Posted:** Mon May 23, 2011 12:23 pm

Drama in the Northwoods
In a scenario reminiscent of the separation last year, June tracked down ‘Lily the Interloper’ deep inside June’s territory. June was good enough to give up part of her old territory for Lily, and she can only do so much. Sue saw the confrontation developing as the two bears’ GPS locations were approaching each other. She grabbed her video camera, drove 5 miles and walked 1.6 miles in the woods to Lily. By then June and her cubs had moved nearly a mile toward Lily. Lily’s family was tearing apart birch logs for grubs. Suddenly, Lily began earnestly grunting and ran for a big white pine. Hope and Faith ran too. Faith climbed out of sight but Lily and Hope stood alert at the base staring intently into the distance. Lily wandered in that direction a ways, stood up, glimpsed June’s dark shape, and ran for a big white pine. This time Hope climbed and Lily followed (picture left). June came onto the scene ready to rule her territory. She was blustery up the tree toward Lily and family and she pounced toward Sue (picture right). June was not happy. She turned to scent-marking the area by rubbing on trees, walking over bushes, and stomp-walking.

June coming onto the scene of Lily and a cub was reminiscent of last year on May 31 when June appeared, Hope climbed, and Lily left. This time, she stayed, and it was June that eventually left with her cubs after about a half hour of scent-marking. Video of the encounter between Lily and June will be posted later tonight at http://www.youtube.com/user/bearstudy#g/u.

Elsewhere in the forest, Jo and her cub moved a mile, again brushing close to a town but safely staying at least 160 yards in the woods.

RC is still with her yearlings Bill, Jim, and Doug, named after the Den Cam Team.

kittenface · **Posted:** Tue May 24, 2011 10:48 pm

I got this from RRP forum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone please help with this cause ,we need a lot of people to like this page and sign and make a comment to protect the radio collared bears in Minnesota ,here is the link

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect- ... 1730697185

Help Protect Research Bears in Minnesota .Here's a new site which is dedicated to protecting Minnesota's research bears. Please check it out! These bears need all the support they can get. Thank you.
A page devoted to accepting petitions and signatures to present to the Mnnesota Legislature and the DNR Commissioner, supporting an initiative to protect radio collared bears in the State of Minnesota. After you have "liked" T.R.'s petition page, please write a comment, telling him where you are from (state or country if not US).Please tell him what the bears mean to you.

PLEASE people, from anywhere in the world - if you want to help protect Dr. Lynn Rogers' bears --- Please comment on the above page and Bear Advocate Mr T R Michels will present the list of e-mails and comments to the Minnesota Legislature and the DNR Commissioner..You can make a difference, but I need hundreds of e-mails. If you represent a class room of children, tell me how many children you represent and what school you are from. And tell me how Dr. Rogers' research,and his webcams haves impacted you or your students. Share this link with everyone you know Thank you

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect- ... 1730697185

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64381

Thanks KF...I think I 've already done that, but I'd better double check!!!

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64381

Its Nail biting time....Bear Hunting season...as of this evening, all bears are accounted for...they still can't get a radio collar to stay on Hope, the little devil...Prayers that all the bears will stay safe!!!

mwplay · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:15 am **Posts:** 10250

Yes...prayers. I've been following the daily updates. I just don't know if I can continue to read during the hunting season. I'll be heartbroken if anything happens to any of the bears we've been introduced to.

Beth · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:52 am

Hunting season -First thing I check each am ~The Bear update...

:biggrin:

Ely weather on Sunday

-54 high
-32 low

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64381

Good News...Hope has been "collared"...and has kept it on for at least an hour...according to the update, she's trying every trick to take it off...The reason its good news (other than the obvious), is that they have done a lot of education about NOT shooting collared bears during the hunting season...so, once again, fingers crossed...

Cristine · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:19 pm

:ohyes: on getting that collar on Hope! Now let's see how long this one stays on :teehee:

Also saying LOTS of prayers for each and every bear!!!!!

Also, hello to all of MY BCAW family and have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!!!!!

Beth · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:28 pm

Hi Cristine!

Hope/Sweetie! ({ Yay })

Cristine · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:48 pm

THANK YOU Beth; YOU are a dear-heart :girlluv:

~Cristine~

mwplay · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:15 am **Posts:** 10250

Hope slipped her collar...yet again....

Great update on how they got her collared and how long she kept it on. Also, story about June & her cubs.

Beth · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:02 am

Thanks mwplay = as Doc and Sue said ~ Darn. Double darn! ~

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 64381

There's quite a bit of worry...Hope is missing...and a close call with Cookie...

Saying tons of prayers tonight...

mwplay · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:15 am **Posts:** 10250

Hope is missing...

Still hunting season...

:girlsad3:

Nail biting time...

catwoman · **Posted:** Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:54 pm

I was really nervous about Hope when she successfully got her collar off. Prayers going out from me for her safety, too...

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LILY THE BLACK BEAR~2011 & 2012

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