Black Bears - Minnesota / Lily

[Kinderchick]

How very exciting! I have checked the Pond webcam from time to time throughout the spring and summer season, but have never seen anything more than the odd squirrel or bird. This afternoon, I have had the pleasure of watching a bear cub playing with a huge stick, swinging it back and forth, like a baseball bat. Very, very funny and cute, to boot! Not sure which bear it was, though.

[susha]

Ditto, absolutely!

[MayShowers]

Hunting another species for pleasure and profit is not in my vocabulary, so I can only find this story depressing.  I don't see how this is a sport, when one side is so obviously at a disadvantage.

I agree with you Elaine L.

[Elaine L]

Hunting another species for pleasure and profit is not in my vocabulary, so I can only find this story depressing.  I don't see how this is a sport, when one side is so obviously at a disadvantage.

[Kinderchick]

Yes, this contraversy has been going on for a long time. I was very sad when I heard several months ago that a hunter had started a Facebook page with a bounty out for Lily. I signed that petition, along with many other school teachers and other people from all over the world who have been following Lily & Hope. I did post the link to the petition earlier on this board for anyone to sign but I think the petition is closed for signing now. The NABC researchers have been working tirelessly, along with continuing their research, to convince the DNR to reconsider their decision regarding the protection of radio-collared bears. It is, indeed, a very difficult and complicated issue.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Just heard on the WCCO Minnesota TV news that there is a bounty on Lily the Bear.

No bears, collared or not, research bears or not, are protected under Minnesota law and while the Minnesota DNR does ask hunters not to hunt research (collared) bears (including DNR's own bears) they won't provide any protection.  Lily's researcher has collected 20,000 signatures on a petition asking for research bears to have some measure of protection.  A hunter however has started a face book page specifically targeting Lily.  Another hunter has started a petition asking the DNR not to reconsider protection for research bears.  What makes this interesting is that Lily's researcher doesn't not oppose bear hunting, just would like to see bear research provided with an exemption.  And many hunters agree with bear research if only to provide more information on the species and their habitat.  Including the hunter with the petition who doesn't agree with hunting research bears and wouldn't consider hunting one himself but he doesn't want the law to change since all the bears are "wild" and as such one shouldn't receive more protection than another.

Amazing that there is more in common between the researcher and the hunter with a petition than between the two hunters.  No wonder policies regarding wildlife management is so very very complicated and difficult enact/enforce.

Here's a neat blog entry from a hunting guide in Minnesota: http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/blogs/121945059.html

[Kinderchick]

Lots of people action on the NABC Pond webcam this afternoon. Looks as if they are cleaning up the yard. Alas, no black bears in site.

[Kinderchick]

Lily & Hope's Den Cam is closed for the season. They have moved on with their new little Faith, who is doing quite well. Lily has a radio collar so that the research scientists can continue to track her and her family during the summer months. But you can visit the NABC Pond Cam page, where you can watch Ted, Lucky & Honey around the pond at the NABC. Here is the link...

http://www.bear.org/website/live-cameras/live-cameras/nabc-webcam.html

[Kinderchick]

Anyone wishing to view a tribute to baby bear cub, Jason, who passed away on Wednesday, can go to the following link...

http://rainbowsbridge.com/residents/JASON002/Resident.htm

[Kinderchick]

Many of the previous blog updates often mentioned concerns about Jason and his health, Elaine. Perhaps Lily knew that he wasn't well and that he wasn't going to make it and that's why she left him alone. Apparently, he did try to keep up with the family's travels, although it was very difficult for him, poor little guy. There is some thought that perhaps he was undernourished since Lily was trying to nurse a mixed litter, with Hope from the previous year. I guess we will just have to wait for the results of the necropsy.

[Elaine L]

Oh, my gosh, I wonder what could have happened to the little tyke?  I certainly am anxious to read what the autopsy report says, and I am concerned that this should happen to him when he is with his mother.

[Kinderchick]

Sadly Jason, one  of Lily's cubs passed away yesterday....  

Oh my goodness, eagle, thanks for posting this news. I had not yet read the daily blog this afternoon. My Kinderchicklets will be very sad to hear this news, as am I. We had become quite attached to these little cubs.

[eagle63_1999]

Sadly Jason, one  of Lily's cubs passed away yesterday.  We will have to wait and find out what the report is before we know why he died.  They took a long hike, almost half a mile from where they were after they left the den in the swamp so they don't know if that is what did the little guy in or not. Faith on the other hand is alive and acting like a young bear.

[Elaine L]

As bad as things are for the camera, it would have been awful if Lily had swallowed it.  I am glad that this did not happen.  I was reading in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago about an alligator who swallowed a whole phone, and I am not talking cellphone here; it was an actual, fullsize telephone, I think it even had a fax machine attached to it.  The alligator was not feeling well at all after this, and the article said they were thinking they were going to have to operate.  I never saw anything again about this.  I wish I knew what happened to that poor alligator.

[Kinderchick]

It sounds as if the research biologists at the NABC are not too pleased with what Lily did to the webcam yesterday afternoon...

After spending the morning around their bed, Lily and Hope visited the den in early afternoon to drink from the pool of water forming outside it. Then things took a turn for the worse. At 1:25 PM CT, we saw the inside of Lily’s mouth as her jaws closed over the camera. The camera is encased in a clear plastic housing so it is safe, but we haven’t been able to manipulate it since. She may have tugged at a cable in the process and discombobulated something. It’s aimed at the den and can’t be moved.

Well, at least we know that Lily & Hope & family are still in the "neighbourhood", so to speak!