Lucky, Holly, BBC - UPDATE January 3, 2016
Terry raking leaves into den - October 11, 1989
Terry raking leaves into den - October 11, 1989
Play continues. A Lily Fan captured this video of little Holly on top of big Lucky as they enjoyed a good session of gentle play bites last evening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ5sA6cQtEs.
Then today, Holly showed us behavior we haven?t seen to this extent before and might never have seen without a Den Cam. Holly was raking, then at 2:14 minutes into the video she went into spasms of what I believe was sneezing. If it weren?t winter, my first thought would have been that she was stung by a bee. At about 2:29 into the video, Lucky gently reaches out to touch her, making a person wonder how much feeling was behind that touch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV-nVfcnbgs.
With My Bear Family and Me playing in countries around the world, a Lily Fan found a link that lets a person watch all three 1-hour episodes (Spring, Summer, Autumn)?an unusual opportunity.
http://bbcbentomatics.lunchbox.pbs.org/the-bear-family-and-me.
In going through old and new images to enlarge for the upper walls of the Bear Center, I found some that stirred old memories. This picture from October 11, 1989 is a treasured moment. Reading my diary from the month leading up to that day made me doubly appreciate the Lily Fan who typed my hand-written notes so I could use word-search to answer questions. The bear is 4-year-old Terri. Inside the den are her two cubs Gerry and Mary. For the past several years, my research team and I had been walking with bears for 24 or 48-hour periods and recording every action on a waterproof field-computer. Terri gave me my first chance to watch a bear prepare a den. She had moved to this den less than a day before. A film team from Italy was filming a documentary about these bears for PBS Nature. I did the unpopular thing of suspending filming so I could do a 24-hour watch and get the kind of data that would be unlikely with company. She ignored my presence when I joined her at 1:08 PM. I was old hat. She continued lethargically raking leaves into the den for bedding. I lay down and began recording data. At times, Terri walked by within 3 feet paying no attention to me. I had no food and was inconsequential to her. Gerry emerged from the den, came over, and snuggled against me for a nap. We had a special bond. She licked my hand and closed her eyes. As she dropped into a slumber, I put my finger on her femoral artery and felt it drop to as low as 22 beats per minute?so different from summer activity rates I had measured at well over a hundred. Cub heart rates are generally much higher than adult heart rates, so I was surprised to find Gerry?s heart beating even slower than the 36/minute I had measured for Terri as she slept a few days earlier. I could only imagine how low Terri?s heart had fallen by this day.
All three bears, all females, had dry urinary hairs. They were done scent-marking for the year. Both cubs attempted to nurse, but Terri got up and walked away each time like I had seen other mothers do in fall. I thought Terri was done suckling for the year but know better now, thanks in large part to the Den Cams.
About 4 PM, Terri and Mary entered the den for the night. Gerry followed. They were smart to be inside. It rained off and on during the night. About 7 AM (October 12), I heard whining, which was probably the cubs attempting to nurse again.
I tried calling the film team by walkie-talkie, which we used back then. I couldn?t reach them, but they were good to let me complete my 24-hour watch. They showed up mid-afternoon and filmed until dark.
On October 14, I heard the hum of suckling as I arrived. It was supposed to be a family day, so I had brought 7-year-old Colleen with me. The bear family knew her. Eventually the family emerged to do more raking. Gerry?s heart rate was 46 standing and 36 sitting. Colleen wanted to be a veterinarian and take care of animals, so I showed her how to take Gerry?s heart rate, which she did. I felt inside Gerry?s mouth. One of her baby canines was gone with the adult canine protruding beyond the gum.
On October 15, it was getting dark as I arrived at the den. All was quiet. Eyes glowed from the den entrance. Temperatures were dropping. Intermittent rain turned to snow overnight. I didn?t hear a peep from the den the entire 14 ? hours I was there. That was my last visit of the year.
On March 10, 1990, Donna and I stopped by and saw that the bears had not been out yet. No tracks in the snow. We stayed back 30 feet or so and talked quietly, but we couldn?t fool Gerry. She whined in recognition as we left.
Gerry, who turns 27 this month, is just 2 years younger than Shadow the matriarch of the clan we have studied since 1996. Recalling what it took to glean bits of data in decades past makes me very much want to take advantage of the advances in technology we have today.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
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