Not so Quiet in Ted and Lucky’s Den

Lily’s den seems ever more harmonious.  We love hearing the cubs nurse, sometimes with Hope begging for access and sometimes with her joining the nursing cubs.  It seems to us there is less screaming from the cubs, but we’ll know that for sure when we see the data being gathered by the Den-watch Team.  There has never before been an opportunity like this.

We like the story of the people finding the bear in the barn and letting it stay, but, from the look of the fur in the picture, we are wondering how well anyone saw it and if it really was a bear up on the second floor down in that part of the state where raccoons are far more common than bears.  Did we post that story too quickly?  Whatever it was, we still like the idea that people thought it was a bear and wanted to let it stay.

Another story we like is Lucky snuggling up to Ted in their den (den cam at http://www.bear.org/livecams/ted-lucky-cam.html).  We don’t know what triggered it, but Ted made a fast movement and a short, throaty sound as if he was startled.  Lucky jumped and made a loud, high-pitched moan of fear.  Their voices resonate loudly in their cement den. Then they both settled down, licking nervously.  Lucky cautiously eased back into his snuggled position with his head by Ted’s neck and chin.  Video of this interaction can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5drHPKBvhPk (the audio has been reduced to save your speakers!). This isn’t a position Ted would tolerate for long, though, because it leaves his muzzle out in the cold.   Now they’re back to sleeping separately.

We wonder how many people would be interested in watching Ted and Lucky to record observational data for an hour a day so we have a basis for comparing their activity with that of Lily et al.  Janet Dalton, who currently coordinates volunteers for the Lily Den-watch Team, is willing to help guide someone else in coordinating volunteers for the Ted-Lucky Den-watch Team.  We’re working on an Excel spread sheet with activity codes for recording the data in a way that can be easily analyzed. If you are interested in assisting with the data collection please respond to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The picture is of a student in Helen Schwarz’s kindergarten class measuring a bear paw replica in standard and non-standard units.  Many teachers are using the Den Cam in their classes.  We look forward to having more Black Bear Boxes to pilot-test eventually.  To help fill them, Susan Brouse found a possible grant source and is working with the Program Development Team in preparing a grant proposal.  It helps to have so many eyes and minds out there on the alert for opportunities.

Today, you registered a whopping 13,000 votes to put Ely in the top 40 in the Reader’s Digest race to help Ely’s school.  We believe your efforts to help the home town of Lily and Hope did not go unnoticed on this last day of the contest.  To register final votes, 10 per person per day, go to http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN .

Thank you for all you do.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center