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[johoward]

7:24 nice dog but not a very fast time.  I am still sleepy I guess.  GB Hope you all are well today. Nice spring day here near the lake.  Earl SS sounds like a good idea from where I sit. I took early and never regretted it. CUL GB

[calihoula]

hi joho so tired boo sleeping jim on twin mattress behind boo on his little mattress sister on the couch got her ss filed and birth certificate i was falling eariler when i get so tired toward end of day i do that jim said go to bed sister taking big cut on her ss going early but she also could not be here later on or me be gone just worry no health insurance at all i loved your little yorkie dog name and being a ratter goodnight joho gb you

[calihoula]

i miss spanky 

[calhound]

Daily Updates
A Big Mistake - UPDATE April 14, 2021
14 April 2021
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Spanky
Spanky came back

Spanky is back. The den cam is gone. I made a big mistake having the den cam removed yesterday. With false confidence, I made the decision yesterday after he had been gone for more than 2 days. We are missing information as a result. But thank goodness for trail cams. Spanky was back in the area by last evening and was in his den by 10:13 PM. Lynn's birthday cake
Lynn's birthday cake
Today, he still in the area at 5:06 PM and was in his den by 8:30 PM when I took this picture with a long lens and flash from well outside the den. I told him it was okay, and he said with his body language (his head resting on his paw with his eyes closed): “I know it’s okay. Don’t be offended if I don’t pay attention. I just want to sleep.” I got the hint and left. A trail cam will now record his comings and goings. I feel bad not only for the missed data but also for all the people who will miss him prematurely. As a teacher said, ” My science class will miss him”

As you can see, I am still learning. I wish I would have left the den cam running to learn even more.

Oh, on another note, Spanky inspired one of the watchers to send a late birthday cake with beautiful art of Spanky lying in his den with his feet up which the cake artist drew from one of the den cam screen captures.

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

[calhound]

hi you guys spanky came back too bad dr rogers took down the cam cause i sure did miss him too. he loved by many. at least we know he still goes home and is safe. dr rogers never count spanky out! the birthday cake is so cute. well gots ton to do

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/CD055D59D2AB?z=0

[ruesgram]

Hi Jewelies! Brrrrr, it's cold outside! High today 53! Scattered frost tonight! We mowed Robin's yard this morning wearing sweats and jackets! I wore gloves!  Weather guy says not to look for 70's to return until end of the month!

Cal, so is Polly retiring and moving to your house as soon as she gets her social security? That would be a great help to you if she was there all the time. It's a shame that Sparky's cam was taken down too soon but at least there's the trail cam. Sounds good that Boo is trying to get up! He must be getting stronger!

Jo, glad you found the Chili-0! I made my last pot of chili last week and don't expect to make any more till fall!

Bbl!

[johoward]

I added a can of mushroom pieces this time.  It is great with some corn too and extra onions.  So cold today the chili will hit the spot.  Rainy too all the more reason for chilli.  Gonna go get some right now LOL
 Oh I forgot time on puzzle, and I already closed it. Was not a great time.  All I remember is that someone had a quick 1.0 minute time for fastest.  Must have been a blur of action on that one.  LOL
 Doc is sorrier than any of us that he got fooled by Spanky.  Nice he was able to go back out and get a shot for us.
I hear that Holly and Tasha are butting heads a little this morning.  Tasha is said to be a little more assertive than last year.  Maybe a changing of the guard is in process. 
OK my stomach is grumbling so here I go.  CUL  GB

[calihoula]

hi rues! sitting with boo NO sister not moving here! NO happy she is going home today really she is some help and also a pain i told her you get kicked out of your place you will live in a motel one in richmond she totally ignores stuff we ask her to not do does stuff we dont like no she needs her own place she can sit outside and smoke and smoke she was leaving a big mess behind they got on her to clean up her smoking stuff. snow here monday  or tuesday cruddy rain tomorrow cold here i like the cold blacklist tomorrow its called i think annie that bird lady red really liked is back

hi joho i know doc felt bad spanky fooled him but spank is safe doc is the best for sure! be funny if tasha let holly know she is tired of being bullied! where does lucky play into all this? i hope tash and hol become friends how does someone do a puzzle that fast?

[calhound]

Daily Updates
Walking Hibernation - UPDATE April 15, 2021
15 April 2021
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Black-capped Chickadee (WRI file photo)
Black-capped Chickadee (WRI file photo)

Spanky showed us something about how a male ends hibernation that we didn’t see with females. Without cubs to slow him down, he is able to transition between hibernation and full metabolism by being active and then sleeping far longer than bears do at full metabolism which begins with green-up in May and ends when food disappears in fall. The annual cycle of activity of bears varies across North America and is genetically set to fit the annual cycle of plant growth and fruiting. In parts of North America where there is the possibility of food in winter, bears have the flexibility to take advantage of winter food. In this part of North America, bears do not respond to winter food. Where they are fed, their annual cycle of activity is not swayed. They hibernate on schedule and are swayed at most by a couple weeks.

A person who has watched bears that hibernated under buildings at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary has seen males behave like Spanky is doing. When conditions were right, the males left their dens for several hours or for up to 3 days like Spanky did and then came back to catch up on their rest.

We’ll be learning from the trail cams what Spanky does over the next days or weeks. I think of the second week of May as the beginning of spring green-up when food suddenly sprouts from the forest floor and is available everywhere. Meanwhile, we and the den cam watchers will be poring over the video for patterns to publish. Whenever something new is examined in detail, we learn something new but this time I goofed up and made things more difficult by prematurely pulling the den cam when he was gone for a couple days. I acted too soon. We’ll get the basics from the trail cams, wishing all the time that we still had the den cam going so everyone could learn along with us.

I’m thankful for what we did accomplish and for the den cam watchers that stepped forward from many corners of the world to make and continue to make this a success. I'm also thankful that they are working so hard on making sure all the archives have been recorded.

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

 

[calhound]

hi you guys its i think like 45 here rain in the city coming but not here yet rain tomorrow too  spanky sure taught everyone stuff so fun watching him on his cam.  news saying probably will need a third covid shot probably like the flu shot every year i figured that. i am not worried about getting that J and J shot one and done gave 7 million 6 or 7 women get sick i think let people decide if they want it. homeless man said he would not come back and get a second one they canceled the j j on them. i gotta go

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/D4055D5AFD5A?z=0

[johoward]

5:58 on blue fish.
 Not too nice here today.  Cold and grey. 
Deb and I had a great steak dinner with too much appetizers and sides.  I even brought some home.  This is the first time for that. It will be my lunch today.
  We celebrated Joan's birthday without her for the first time.  We were at Texas Roadhouse which Joan liked a lot.  Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Mary and Matt were celebrating Joan's birthday at Cracker Barrel, which Joan also loved.  It was her sanctuary during cancer treatment and for some time after.
 It was sad, but it was something.  I was not comfortable.  The place was too crowded. There were some masks on the help, but it was packed just like the old days precovid.  No wonder cases of covid keep going up.  I will not be eating in again for a while.
Well got up early again, and starting to think of lunch.  So I will say so long for now.  Thanks for being here and GB

[lupinelady]

Morning everyone- johoward- so glad for your update and celebrating Joan's birthday. She sure was a special person. Too bad your experience in the restaurants wasn't comfortable. I met a friend for lunch on wednesday - hadn't seen her in over a year. We ate in a Mexican restaurant at noon and had a great experience. All servers and employees had masks on and they didn't seat people too closely. Good food too.

Update on Smokey- otherwise known as the upstairs cat. We had an appointment for him with the vet on wednesday. Feline leukemia test first- it turned out negative so we okayed a neuter and vaccinations. They called to tell us he had one testes that didn't descend into the scrotum so the surgery would be more complicated because they had to search for it in the abdominal cavity. So ir would be $200 more that just a neuter. Sigh!! We okayed that too. We didn't pick him up until late in the afternoon. My vet came out to the car to tell me about the surgery- not only was the testes not developed so it was very small- but it was way up by the kidney. He said it went into overtime for him. I told him he probably just needed a challenge for the day!! He laughed.  The bill was $431. Yeesh!!
Sooooo- i had planned on releasing him back outside today but since he had major abdominal surgery and he is on antibiotics for 14 days- his residency upstairs is extended. Hubby and i did get his pill down him yesterday. Checking his incision isn't easy either since he really, really doesn't like to be picked up. We persevered.
He didn't eat at all on wednesday nor thrusday morning. Very worried. But in the afternoon i put an open can of hills a/d food next to him then left him alone. Later that afternoon i checked and he ate about half the can. So very happy.  Now we are scrambling to make sure we have clean light colored bedding for him. That way we'd see  bleeding or weepage from his incision since he isn't likely to let us see his belly.
Oh and one other thing. They had on an E collar when he came home. We left it on that night and he seemed okay with it. We took it off thursday- he doesn't seem to be messing with the incision. Cross your fingers that continues.
Been a stressful week but things are looking up!!
cul

[calhound]

no update its 37 here

http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/41055D50FA09?z=0

[johoward]

&.09 Slaty-tailed Trogon WHAT!!! That's new.
Thanks Cal for posting.
Cold and grey here again, but dry at least.  Mary and Matt are coming for lunch today.  Will be nice to see them. I think they both have had their shots, and Matt works from home.  He has not gone out much all winter.
So gonna vacuum before their visit.
Have not heard anything about Boss from Debbie.  Last I heard she did nto have much grass left in her back yard, and was thinking of putting it all in river gravel.  Not sure her HOA will allow it.
 CUL GB

[calhound]

Daily Updates
RC and Four Yearlings - UPDATE April 17, 2021
17 April 2021
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20210417 RC and her yearlings banner
RC and her yearlings

The big moment today was suddenly seeing RC and her four yearlings about 7 PM.

RC and her yearlings are all at good weights (RC over 220 pounds), but a yearling that is sticking closer to mom than the others has had a bad experience. I have never seen a bear with such damage to its nose and eye. It had to be an encounter with a powerful animal, maybe a male bear. The yearling’s left eye is badly messed up, and the end of its muzzle is missing.

RC on alert
RC on alert
RC and injured yearling
Injured yearling
 

The family was calm until RC put her nose in the air and hurried off as if to check out the scent. The yearlings sensed her urgency and fell in line behind her as she hurried down a fallen log on a mission. Her nose led her to a big white pine that got her full attention. I suspect a high testosterone male had been rubbing on it. RC sniffed most intensely at the height (about 5-6 feet) that males rub their crown and the back of the neck, which carry the strongest male scent.

As RC checked out the scent, the yearlings began foraging on nearby tender young blades of grass. Shortly, though, RC led them to a clump of big white pines that they all climbed. White pines are the favorite refuge tree because they have the kind of bark cubs can climb most easily, and they have thick branches to rest on. On hot, sunny days, shade from the needles can prevent over-heating.

RC yearling
Yearling
RC sniffing white pine
RC sniffing white pine
 

It was good to see this family—probably earlier in the year than I’ve ever seen them. The injured yearling looks lucky to be alive. I hope it can do okay.

Spanky came out of his den on April 15 at 1:31 AM and quickly found our trail cam on a tree trunk 33 feet from his den entrance. Somehow, he managed to open it and leave it open but still working. He went off on one of his forays and didn’t return until 6:39 that evening. He left again at 2:16 AM on the 16th and apparently had not come back by noon today (the 17th) when I switched SD cards to learn his story.

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