This was posted on the website April 1/11...
This is a preliminary sequence of last night’s events—pending a review of the archive footage:
8:23 PM – Lily became blustery—perhaps at Hope. She blew 3 times and then left the den. Hope followed. Faith and Jason soon fell asleep.
9:48 PM – Jason woke he began fussing.
9:53 PM – Jason left the den screaming at the top of his lungs, the woods echoing his cries.
9:56 PM – Lily and/or Hope came back to the den grunting concern. Jason’s voice quieted and then faded away.
10:16 PM – Lily stuck her head in the den and we briefly thought she was going to pull Faith out. But Hope barreled in and next thing we knew both Lily and Hope were in the den, Lily was nursing Faith, and Jason was outside.
10:18 PM – Jason screamed and Lily and Hope rushed out. Faith soon followed.
We listened closely and heard bear vocalizations. Everything quieted down and we imagined them bedded just outside the den on a warm night. But come morning they were nowhere to be seen.
This evening, as this was being written, Lily and Hope ventured back to the den a couple times. We heard branches breaking and imagined them foraging on catkins or buds. Will they return to the den? In 2007, June left her wet den with 3 cubs during an early melt, but returned a week or so later when the weather turned cold again.
