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[calhound]

Daily Updates
Happy Bears - UPDATE May 9, 2020
09 May 2020
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Sharon is back and it?s good to hear from her. I?m sure the bears are glad to see her, too, considering that she increased their caloric intake. I haven?t actually seen her myself because everyone is kind of in lockdown, but it?s good to see her words:

Happy Mother's Day!

Who was that mask man/woman? That?s if you're old enough to remember the Lone Ranger. Oh well, I'm so pleased to be back; we are practicing social distancing and are wearing masks to care for our bears.

I want to thank Spencer (our biologist) and Mary (Bear Educator Volunteer) for doing a great job with bear care in my absence.

Tasha
Tasha
Ted
Ted
 

The bears of course recognize voices, but a masked face is very different. The blue vests are helpful in maintaining their trust and care for them. Spencer and Mary were great!

The bears were cautious of me at first, especially Tasha. It was a long winter away from them. My Holly bear did a turn and seemed to immediately respond; she was a happy bear. Lucky was unsure at first but decided all was well. Our beautiful Ted made happy grunts; I?m not sure if it was because he was happy to see me, or just put my food down and back away!

As humans, at any other time in history, a masked person would be taken as a threat. Now, it?s a way of life. As we move into having to wear masks the bears will learn to associate mask voice and food. My hope is that they will listen also. In any event it?s going to be an interesting productive summer.

I wanted to talk about our one time a day feeding, which is our current schedule. I put it upon myself as Sr. Bearkeeper/ Curator to come up with a plan for our bears to receive the calories they would normally be getting if we were open. So, the bear?s food was increased this past week. Ted is getting 12,000 calories, Lucky 9,500 calories, Tasha and Holly 9,000+ calories in each feeding.

Holly
Holly
Lucky
Lucky
 

I have asked that fish oil be ordered and of course we have all the medications on hand if Ted should need anything. I hope you will all bear with us as we tread on new ground to comply with the rules and guidelines set up for bear care by the USDA.

My wish and hope for all is that you are safe and continue to follow your state guidelines as we endure the stay-at-home order. The year of 2020 will be one for the history books.

Stay safe and keep watching the bears at https://bear.org/watch-us-live/live-cams.

Thank you for all you do,
Sharon Herrell, Sr. Bearkeeper

 At the WRI, action is picking up with bears and other wildlife. More on that tomorrow.

Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

[calhound]

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms and us moms with our fur kids and our moms in heaven!

[calhound]

hi jewelies it is 40 here and 15 mph wind out of the north 4 raccoonies baby birds are good flew out onto pearls gate i had to get them to move and they flew up to the upper duct pipe. it is 57 in the barn griz is barking away bark bark happy moms day mom bark bark bark.

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/D516B786AA6?z=28

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/3B16BAAAFA5?z=0

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[lupinelady]

Good morning everyone- slept in this morn; ty cal for the greetings and the horse mom and baby is adorable. I always bought my Mom a big planter with annuals in them and then we put them out in her garden by her back porch where she could see them all summer.

Yesterday was a fun day; I found a postcard  of a Golden Eagle and  I sent it to a postcard friend. I needed a stamp so I decided to go to the post office. I also needed an envelope to send 2 books to a friend. As I was getting my shoes on to head to town the phone rang; hubby answered and talked for a few seconds then handed me the phone. It was my favorite baker's husband from in town. He asked me for a favor. I said sure- what do you need? He went on to explain that his wife did a special order of my favorite cinnamon rolls. She just wanted 6 but it was easier to make 12 at a time. Sooo-if he delivered them could we please take 2 cinnamon rolls off their hands. I hurriedly agreed and said I am getting ready to come to town and i'll pick them up.  What a treat! And they wouldn't let me pay for them- thanked me for supporting them.!!

Then in the evening after mowing I called my sil and ended up on the phone with her for about 25 minutes. Then the phone rang and it was a friend thati needed to write a note to. She's the one that I wanted to send the books to. Well, we talked for an hour and 45 minutes. Wow. I've never talked that long on the phone.
Windy and cloudy out today- may need to cover my bleeding heart to protect it from the wind today and freeze tonight.

Have a great day jewelies!

[johoward]

hi ev1,
Joan sleeping for now. We have felt fairly good the last two days.  No runs anyway.  Not much joy or energy though.  Because of dreary, cold, winter like weather and isolation.  Did a little flowerbed cleaning, but could hardly stand up after just a short time at work.  No fun.
Debbie will be over to do some food shopping today at 2 or 3 pm, and bring Joan's card.
 I usually like colder weather, but even I am fed up with Spring being so late coming. Enough already.
Very nice to see the bears and eagles though.  Thank God for nature and animals.
  I have been watching the Algonquin Park Trail cam videos the last few days.  What a wealth of wildlife they see.
Well GTG now, but want to wish all mothers, natural and foster and adapoted, a HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY.
God Bless us one and all.

[calihoula]

hi joho yes i say it every morning afternoon evening thank god for nature and animals. counting on heaven being that riding my horse with mom and susie whoever wants to ride we got lots of good horses up there dogs follow us. i dont mind the cold will mow maybe tomorrow. we went thru taco bell drive thru i got a spicy bean tostato lady ask what kind of sauce we only got fiery hot or diablo take fiery hot drove over to sonic jim got large chocolate malt tots i got onion rings ate some of those tostato i will eat in a bit. i tried that sauce its fiery hot!

hi lupe i always took my mom to lowes let her pick out her flowers then to backyard burger she got blt and that bacon better be burnt too then over to metcalf south old mall they use to have huge library book sale then on down the road our family cemetery

hi ra now im watching rerun of hometown so funny where ben took that old kitchen counter made a puppet theatre where the hole is two socks on his hands erin got their little baby helen on the phone she could see the puppet show her dad doing two voices erin said to ben your story is weak he said for goodness sake i just built the theater! lol  i watched blacklist rues did you? i do not like the direction it is going. i dont like that katarina and liz is gripping me now redd better not be sick i dont know about finale being a cartoon its the finale i like seeing redd loved it when redd is sitting waiting for the bad person. bam 

[calhound]

Daily Updates
Savage Competition - UPDATE May 10, 2020
10 May 2020
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A couple days ago, I put a pile of beef fat out in the yard. Gulls were already here and were the first to take advantage. Crow flying off with fat
Crow flying off with fat
Crows discovered it and darted in grabbing small pieces and flew off with them. Crows weigh about a pound and can probably carry about a third of a their weight in their beak if they are comparable to gray jays. Birds that can transfer weights to the feet (closer to the center of lift) instead of carrying it in the beak can carry twice as much as they can carry in their bill, as I wrote in a 2005 paper Turkey Vulture swooping in
Turkey vulture swooping in
https://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/Publications/Rogers_2005_Weight-carrying_capacity_and_caching_behavior_of_Gray_Jays.pdf. Pretty soon, the small pieces were gone. The remaining pieces were bigger than a gull can swallow or a crow could carry off. More competition was soon to arrive?turkey vultures. Four of them swooped in with their 6-foot wingspans and big feet and little heads, weighing about 4 pounds (all weights according to Sibley Birds [2014]). These vultures are strong enough to pull big pieces of fat apart to swallow. All was peaceful. The turkey vultures had each gotten their pieces of fat with little strife and were pulling them apart. More competition arrived?ravens. Turkey vulture and raven tug of war
Turkey vulture and raven tug of war
The ravens were cautious at first. A pair up in a tree seemed relaxed, nicely touching their bills together as mates.

Then the ravens, which weigh only about 2.6 pounds, went into action. They are little more than half the weight of a turkey vulture but have bigger heads and bills. Turkey vultures have small, narrow heads with no feathers; which I?m guessing is so they can poke their heads into small openings into the abdomens of carrion to eat internal organs. I?m guessing that because the common belief about polar bears having narrow heads and long necks is so they can dive into seal air holes in the ice to catch them.Raven attacking turkey vulture over fat
Raven attacking turkey vulture over fat

A turkey vulture was pulling a piece of fat apart when a raven approached. The raven watched from a foot or two away for several seconds and then dove in and got its beak on the fat and was in for a tug-of-war. The vulture valiantly kept a toe over the fat to gain an advantage, but then the fat pulled apart and each had a share.

Raven attacking turkey vulture
Raven attacking turkey vulture
Elsewhere, another raven approached a turkey vulture, paused, and attacked; going for the turkey vulture?s head as the vulture kept a foot on the fat but turning its head away from the raven?s bigger bill. The raven suddenly then was in front of the vulture again going for the vulture?s head. The vulture always turned away to avoid the raven?s bill and never did anything aggressive with its bill. It finally took its foot off the fat, turned, and retreated. The raven got the fat?the whole piece.

Eagle defending against mob
Eagle defending against mob
But competition wasn?t over. Three eagles arrived, each weighing over three times as much as a raven. The ravens left the fat to mob the eagles. Both of the eagles flew in and landed in trees. An adult eagle sat quietly but warily in a big red pine, looking at a raven on a branch when another dove from out of sight and hit the back of the eagle. The eagle then hopped from branch to branch, futilely chasing the ravens with its beak open. The ravens just hopped tauntingly away while others mobbed the eagle. The ravens had strength in numbers and seemed to work as a team. All three eagles flew off. The ravens had no real competition as they finished off the fat, being the efficient scavengers they are. Quiet returned.

I had never seen anything like that before.

Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

[calhound]

hi jewelies it is 34 here 52 in the barn 2 raccoonies. baby birds are okay. i did not know scout and them would eat beef fat not that i have any but upsetting to read about that mob picking on first turkey vultures and then eagles. and drove off the eagles i was shocked by that shocked by tv too really but eagles course mob had numbers.

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/1716F33781B?z=0

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/F716FB0240A?z=28

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[lupinelady]

Good morning everyone- cal- I agree with your comment about the ravens in the update. Guess no one taught them to share.
It's 40 here and cloudy and according to the weather person we have 2 more days of coolish weather then rain from the south which signals a warmer trend for us. That doesn't happen until late Wednesday though. I'll water my transplantiings today in both gardens and pick asparagus. We (I've) been enjoying it. This year I've been stir frying it and putting it in my salads. Really yummy way to dress up a salad.

johoward- I hope Debbie got over to see you guys. I agree with you about watching cams- nature and animals are a good escape. Was interesting to see that Sharon had to increase Ted's food allotment because with no people visiting he doesn't get peanuts any more. when we visited and did the behind the scenes tour(twice for me) the person kept feeding Ted while the guide talked. I wondered if those peanuts were figured into his daily rations. I try to watch around 10 AM every day to see the feedings.

I plan a trip to the post office today but not much else.

Have a great day jewelies!

[ra]

Hi Jewelies!  Beautiful weather here, but spending all my time waiting for one thing or another it seems.  Almost a week without a fridge... I talked to a manager at Lowe's yesterday, and today they brought a loaner.  I'm waiting for it to cool down, so I can bring my food back home.  It's been a really big mess!  I talked to the warranty company today and told them they need to get rid of that repairman... he's going to ruin their reputation if they don't.  The lady I talked to today said she couldn't believe I have been without a fridge for so long.  Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper these days.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!  My daughter brought Mexican food for supper last night.  I told her that if they want something cold to drink, they needed to bring their own.   

Good to get a message from joho! 

Hi to all!

[ruesgram]

Hi Jewelies! One more night of freeze warnings and then I think spring will be back! By Thursday summer will be here...80's thru the weekend! Weird weather. Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day! We got take out from Olive Garden. It was so good. Robin got me this cupcake bouquet from a local baker...



It's too pretty to eat but we ate 2 of them anyway! Lol!  We use to celebrate Mother's Day at my mom's with a cookout on her charcoal grill. We always had hot dogs, hamburgers, her homemade potato salad, baked beans, watermelon and whatever dessert she had baked. After eating we would all play lawn darts, her favorite yard game. Each of us would get her a hanging flower basket for her porch. I miss her and all those fun times. :'(

Cal, that was hard reading about the tv, eagles and the ravens. I didn't know ravens were so bold. I'm not liking Liz at all on Blacklist. One minute I think she cares for Red and then the next minute she is conspiring with Katarina! Has Jim been enjoying his time off? More places are opening up this week and even more next week. Funny thing the governor said...all drive in theaters can open this week! Apparently there are 3 in the entire state! I didn't know there were any at all! lol! Thank you for the pretty Mother's Day card!

Ra, can't believe you've been without your fridge this long! Glad Lowes gave you a loaner! I will probably go there Thursday and finally buy plants! I'm kind of excited about going!

Lupe, I've noticed that my younger sis has been calling me a lot lately! We normally talk at least once a week but since ykw came around she calls me a couple to 3 times a week. And we talk over an hour each time! I hope we keep this up after ykw is long gone.

Jo, glad that you and Joan are doing better. Hope Joan had a nice Mother's Day! I'm a little fed up with these below normal temperatures and a stupid polar vortex in May! There was actually snow in the mountains!

Have a nice evening! Stay safe!

[calhound]

Daily Updates
Jack Brings Joy - UPDATE May 11, 2020
11 May 2020
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An action packed day, but Jack trumps all. One-eyed Jack
One-eyed Jack
Just before 9 PM came the call we wait for every spring. Jack was spotted and photographed. The world seems right. But still waiting for many others. Writing this too late so keeping it short.Chloe
Chloe

Chloe stopped by and I like her pretty face so much that I had to click the camera.

More soon.

Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

[calhound]

hi jewelies i dont know what the temp is here but 56 in the barn 5 raccoonies and i heading back out and no more cookies one raccoonie followed me to the door stood up please cookies but i did have a twinkie took me forever to get that wrapper open but then the raccoonie was so happy a twinkie. love one jack is back and chloe too!

hi ra! going without a fridge for week i hope we never have to do that! what a pain you got a loaner that is good but then will have to move everything again but did you hear anything on your fridge? where is that circuit board and at least that manager at lowes kept his word to you.

hi rues! oh that is so pretty what robin got you! be hard to eat them but i see you guys forced yourself to do it! you know your boo loves his mom very much too. we are suppose to have an 80 day not sure when i know liz is making me mad one minute for red then for that kararina and i dont like her anyway she did this stuff before to red. out for liz like she is an angel. i googled blacklist james spader will be back for season 8 they said looks like everyone will be back for season 8. no blacklist without red i would still like it watch it without liz or katarina. your moms dad with your mom sounds like mine when we was kids my grandparents would come for a bbq us kids go find sticks for the grill and we played croquet or soft ball.  old folks day i gotta get be at walmart at 6 am

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[calhound]

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/F417073F34F?z=0


http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/F417073F34F?z=28

[lupinelady]

Good morning everyone- 35 here and supposedly the last cool day this week.

It was so good to hear from you all. Rues- that gift from Robin was fantastic. as much as I love flowers a cut bouquet just doesn't last long enough so a food gift is perfect and made to look like a bouquet of flowers- outstanding!
ra- you have way more patience than me. I've been missing our Mexican food- don't know if they are open or not.
 rues- our governor opened our drive in movies too- we have four in our state. Have no clue as to their location.

I spent yesterday outside- had just planned on watering but I took the shovel and my gardening tools and the wheelbarrow along. While the hose watered I trimmed back surprise liiles then I started digging up clumps that were crowding other things. Before I was done I had a wheelbarrow full. Got that done and bulbs distributed and then... I decided to cut my own hair. I got the dog clippers out that were on their way to Goodwill. It doesn't look too bad. All uneven and the left side looks okay but I couldn't figure out how to do with my right hand. I'm left handed. Pretty funny but at least now it isn't hanging in my face.

The other cool news yesterday is that Goodwill is now open to take donations. Stores aren't open yet. Now I can get the stuff out of my trunk that's been in there for 2 months. Our governor said yesterday that she will announce more openings today- probably she'll say hair salons will be open. lol  I will be a challenge for my stylist for sure. Been going to her for 30 years- my neighbor.

Have a great day jewelies!