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A possible den for Lily and Hope?
October 19, 2010 – 5:54 PM CDT
Last night Lily and Hope did not continue on to the den they dug in September. They turned south to a place they had bedded for several days last week. We’d already checked out that location and found only a bed—not a den. We would have waited and watched the GPS locations on the computer to see what they do next, but Lily’s GPS signals stopped coming at 5:42 this morning. It was early for the batteries to expire. Had they entered a rock den that blocked the signal? We had to check.
We homed in on Lily’s telemetry signal. Lynn was saying “It’s me, bear” frequently so they wouldn’t melt away into the forest like last time. They did anyway. We followed. Sue added her strong voice and we went more slowly so as not to be so noisy. Soon we saw them. They had identified us but still took several minutes to check other directions and sniff the air. Eventually, satisfied that our crashing through the woods didn’t represent danger, they came. Neither bear had dirt from digging. The swamp where they had bedded was too wet for a reasonable den. They probably were just bedding and not making a den there. We found Lily’s GPS batteries had expired early, so we changed them.
But something told us to re-check the bedding area, so we headed back to locate it.
The bed showed two depressions, one large and one small. Lily and Hope had raked clubmoss into it as bedding. There was no other raking in the area. The area was too wet for a den. They were obviously just bedding there.
But Sue the Nature Sleuth wasn’t satisfied. She kept looking. Twenty feet away, the bears had crawled under the roots of a windfall. From the amount of sign, the ‘den’ had been entered repeatedly. Could Lily be lured into denning there because the swamp is drier than usual this year? Even now, the den floor is damp and only inches about the water table (see water in foreground of picture). But no bedding was raked into it after all the days they have spent there. Maybe they are not committed to this ‘den.’ The den cavity is a bit small for the 2 of them. Maybe little Hope was just exploring while her lethargic mother was resting.
Denning there would be a disaster for any cubs born. A little rain would soak the floor and chill the cubs. Meltwater in spring would flood it. We remember a similar situation with Donna the bear. Meltwater flooded her den and killed a cub while the sibling took refuge on Donna’s back at a time of year when cubs are usually snuggled under mom like we saw with Lily and Hope. We remember looking into the den and seeing the surviving cub on Donna’s back with up to 6 inches of water in the den. Donna was in a shallower area, but probably losing heat at a high rate. To exit, they would have to wade through the deepest part of the den. A day later, they were outside the den soaking up the sun, but that was the last time we saw the cub. Both Donna and the cub were gone the next day. Donna mated again that spring and produced a surviving litter the following year in a better den.
We hope Lily knows better than to den in that swamp. We are still hoping she will suddenly head 1.6 miles to the high and dry den they dug about 4 weeks ago.
Braveheart is still in the same remote spot she was yesterday.
There are only 12 days left in October. We practically never have a bear wait until November to den up.
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memory challenged photographer owned by cats
Pat
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Excellent news Carly, thank you!!
