Well, what a surprising week of den work! After anticipating a low survivor rate for the cubs of last year, we were pleasantly surprised! I guess we underestimated the acorn crop. From the females that we handledthat had yearlings, all of them survived, and most were in pretty good shape too! The picture to the left, is of my hold a cub of the year, from one of the females that has been collared with the project since 2006. She had 3 cubs in total, all with eyes already open and weighing between 1.5-2.0 kg!!! Fat little guys! She weighed in at 180, although wasn't the biggest female of the week. That record was held by bear 642 who weighed 120 in the summer, weighed 210lbs in the den! Which, when you think of it is pretty incredible, as by the time we get to them at the end of February, they have already lost 40% of their body weight! Below is a picture of me with another cub of the year, notice the different in size from the one above. This little guy and his sister were surprise cubs. Their mother was suppose to have yearlings in the den this year, but obviously lost them some time early in the spring. The mother was in poor condition when we caught her in July, but she had gained some weight in the fall, she weighed close to 140lbs in the den. Hopefully I will see these cubs as yearlings next winter! We had lots of interesting people come out with us, including a film crew from Oasis HD. The series will be looking at Algonquin Provincial Park through the seasons and will be airing sometime in June. Keep your eyes peeled!
0 Comments
|
Blog by:
Sarah K. Poole
An enthusiastic, passionate scientist with a love for art and adventure Updates
September 2020
|