Jewel, Ember, a Chickadee, and the Third Thing - UPDATE October 22, 2015
Jewel in her den
Jewel in her den
The big news is that 6-year-old Jewel is in a den. In August, we saw her with a wound in her side so deep we could see organs. We wondered if she would get an infection and die soon, or maybe overwinter. We didn?t hear of any sightings of her after August 25, although we are now asking around about that.
Today, checking old dens, Lorie and her son snapped this picture of her from a distance. The den is perfect for a Den Cam. Excellent visibility. Lorie and Shawn reported that she was lethargic, as expected, and looking fine! She looked up, tucked it down again, and ignored her. She knows Lorie and was unconcerned.
Bears are known for their ability to heal during hibernation. We want to watch Jewel with a Den Cam and see how she deals with the wound. We want to see her give birth and care for her third litter?along with Lily Fans. Jewel is a daughter of June, two years younger than Lily.
Ember is still coming and going from her den.
Chickadee
Chickadee
Out the window at the WRI, a chickadee was in good light and seemed worthy of a click of the camera that sits beside me. It had just compressed its feathers to fly, giving it a lean look.
Last night, when I deleted the third thing, I forgot to change the number to 2. I wanted to get more information before mentioning it. The third encouraging thing is a new 418-page book, The Bear Dude: Data versus Dogma by Allen Piche. Allen is the British Columbia man who was accused of growing marijuana?a charge that was dropped. Police saw bears on his property, and the media made up a story that he had guard-bears to protect his marijuana. From there, the story of his persecution by wildlife officials for feeding bears sounds very familiar. I couldn?t put the book down as I read how the bears exonerated him from every accusation the wildlife officials leveled at him. It is an easy read that draws you in with gripping insights into bear life and the myriad of misconceptions that form the basis for much of bear management. In a familiar train of events, the officials engaged unfounded accusations that would be believed by anyone who believes the usual fear-mongering about bears. The officials wrongly blamed Allen for any unwelcome bears, turning the community on him. Allen?s insights about the bears is education enough, but beginning on page 265 he brings in the thoughts of some of the top bear authorities in the world as confirmation of what Allen already had learned, for the most part, from the bears themselves. He obviously did a lot of homework and turned it into a heartfelt book that I hope is read by millions. It is encouraging to see a well written book that puts bears in the right light.
I wanted to see how available the book is to carry at the Bear Center and in the Web Store. It is available on Amazon for $19.95 in paperback and $9.99 as a Kindle download. The Beardude Story on Amazon Please sign up for AmazonSmile (
http://www.smile.amazon.com) with the North American Bear Center as your nonprofit of choice.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Author
Topic: Jewel and her cubs (Read 2475357 times)