A day with the bears

Folks, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. This new job, which I’m about to tell you more about, is kicking my butt. It’s not physically demanding, but mentally. And the very last thing I want to do when I get home from work, is sit at my computer blogging! My eyes hurt by 4:30 pm everyday.

I’ve been working on this entry for weeks. The writing (you’ll see) is lengthy, and the picture editing, and the revisions, and I had to get the OK’s from my bosses at work, has all taken a lot of time. I am now ready to share my day with the bears.

NYS Department

of Environmental Conservation

At the end of May I began an internship at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Wildlife in the Albany, NY main office. I am interning for Big Game Biologist Jeremy Hurst, and working on the 5th floor of the office building. It’s very different than anything I’ve done before, but very interesting work. Usually when people hear I’m interning for the DEC, they assume I’m either out in the field wrestling bears, trapping raccoons, or that I have something to do with law enforcement. I’m office-based and spend my day in front of a computer. I have to admit, this is not what I expected of a job when I began my quest for a degree in Wildlife Management. But, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I am enjoying it.

I’m primarily sorting through data that’s been taken regarding black bears in NYS. Currently I’m entering information into a database that has been collected from dog trainers. While it’s illegal to hunt black bears in NY with use of dogs, one can apply for a license to become a “bear houndsman” and train specific breeds to track black bears . It IS legal in other states to hunt black bear with the aid of dogs including but not limited to:

                -Maine
                -Virginia
                -Vermont
                -New Hampshire
                -Alaska

However, in NY, there is just a training season. For more information about bear-dog training and black bear hunting in NY, visit: http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/3928.html.

June 2013 cover of

The Conservationist

Another project I’ve been working on is organizing a digital archive of NY and black bear related published articles. There are articles published in the agency’s own magazine, The Conservationist, intra-agency articles written by DEC staff, and publications written by researchers and graduate students from across the state. Many of these papers are available on actual paper, but my boss would like them preserved digitally. So I’ve been skimming titles and scanning the actual articles. Some great work has been done by biologists and researchers in NY. It’s very interesting to read back on management and work being done with bears from recent years and all the way back to the 1950s!

So while all of that work is important and interesting, I can’t really call it “exciting”. In the beginning of June I was treated to a field trip to get out of the office and see some real, live, wild black bears. Some DEC staff from another part of the state were heading to yet another part of the state to retrieve 3 yearling bears from a wildlife rehabilitation facility. A yearling is a bear that was born not this recent winter, but the winter before. Most bears in NY are born in the month of January, so right now we could assume these triplets are 1 year 6 months old born in January 2012. Unfortunately these bears became orphans somehow. I don’t know their back-story, but the mother died or could not care for them. The cubs were brought to this rehabilitation center and were allowed to grow, eat, and remain safe, all with minimal human contact, until it was deemed that they could care for themselves in the wild. Since the staff going to pick up these bears was travelling through the Albany area, my boss hooked myself and his technician up with this opportunity to travel with them and assist in the pickup of the 3 yearlings.

I’ve worked with and assisted in handling live, wild black bears probably 6-8 times before this latest tripnow. I’ve been invited to “help” with several nuisance bears, and I’ve visited several dens with sows/cubs with DEC biologists in Region 8. I say help, because really I was just there observing and taking pictures. While I’m sure they all enjoyed my company, they could have successfully handled those bears without me. I consider those visits as gifts from regional DEC staff that I’ve volunteered with before, and they recognized my love of bears and my want to learn. THIS time though, I was joining the team to actually help.

This is the black bear culvert trap we brought with us that day.

Sometimes used to actually live-trap the animals, in this case it

was used for transportation.

Biologist Matt and Technician Christie picked us up in Albany early in the morning, and we made the several hour trek west to Kindred Kingdom Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Oswego County. Along the way we dragged a culvert trap on a trailer to transport the bears back in. The culvert trap is literally a large section of a culvert pipe. When trapping bears that are, for example, being a nuisance at a campground, there is a trigger inside the trap in the back that is baited. So the bear has to climb in, touch the bait, and trigger the mechanism which then releases a guillotine-style door that shuts behind it. They are contained and safe then, and DEC employees sustain no injuries trying to catch a bear on the loose. There are air holes throughout, and a little door that can be opened to check on the bears. The culvert is usually mounted on a trailer for easy transportation as well. It was interesting to watch other motorist’s faces as they passed us on the interstate as they read “Danger- bear trap. Stay back” on the side of the trap!

When we arrived at Kindred Kingdom, we were greeted by Jean and Len, owners and wildlife rehabilitators. I cannot express throughout these entries, how impressed I was by these people. I have very little experience with rehabilitators, but I always had the feeling that the wild animals were coddled by the 3 rehabbers I’ve come into contact with. Almost like they were pets. The goal, with ethical and successful rehabilitation, is to allow the animal to heal and/or fatten up to a healthy state, while keeping it as wild as possible. Of course not all animals can be released back into the wild because of imprinting or injuries that prevent them from leading normal lives. There are a variety of reasons an animal might find itself in the care of a rehabber, and I’m sure all of the rehabilitators have the very best of intentions when taking in animals. But Jean and Len do a really wonderful job at their facility of caring for wild animals and ensuring they’re still wild when released. They are almost exclusively a raptor (birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles and owls) and black bear facility. I believe that according to the DEC, and I agree, these types of animals require the most specific types of enclosures and are the most dangerous to rehabilitate. You must meet a certain standard to house these types of animals.

 

We met Jean and Len at the bear enclosures, which are set back from other buildings. Back there, the bears could truly take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest. That day we pulled up to the enclosures, Jean and Len had 13 bears that were at varying ages and stages of rehabilitation. It appeared to me that the most of them were at least at the 100 pound mark, likely yearlings. The bears were split between 3 enclosures. There were two huge “buildings” that had sections within them that separated bears. They also had a smaller shed-like enclosure for a pair of cubs that were very small. The buildings were constructed of 7-8 foot tall walls made of cinder blocks. Above that was chain link fencing that went up maybe another 10 feet, and then peaked at 25ish feet tall. There was no solid roof, just chain link. The bears were under shade of trees, so no direct sun was beating down on them. This fencing allowed the bears to experience true outdoor temperature and weather conditions. If it’s cold out at night, wild bears don’t get to come inside and curl up on a cushion! They did have man-made dens though (that kind of resembled cement bunkers to me) that they could go into. The tall cinder block walls were to prevent the bears from seeing people. Yes, they could climb the walls (which they readily demonstrated while I was there), but most of the time, when they were calm and not spooked, they’d mill around on the ground. The solid wall also prevented them from fixating on a point and pacing. Jean told me to think of zoo animals, and we’ve all seen that right? The tiger is bored and has worn a path into the ground by pacing. Captive animals that do this are burning more calories in a day than they can take in. That’s wasteful of their stored calories and expensive to keep feeding them at a high volume to maintain healthy weight. So to cut down on that incessant pacing, they had the walls built solid. This doesn’t mean though that the bears are sedentary and fat! They have a variety of “toys” to enrich their lives and provide entertainment. Bowling balls and basketballs were provided, there were ladders to climb, a hammock to lie in, and a nice pool of water to lie in and drink from. I know the cinder block walls may seem severe, why not wood? Bears are excellent diggers and biters. Wood or natural flooring would be destroyed quickly. And the cement was also very easy to hose down and clean.

The outside of one of the bear enclosures.

You can see a bear has climbed up the chain link on the inside.

The bears we were going to be picking up were in the back half of one of the enclosures. Jean and Len fondly referred to them as “The Jumbos”. All siblings, they were of the exact same age. Brother weighed in at 175#, Sister 1 weighed in at 115#, and Sister 2 weighed 110#. These were big, strong, young bears ready to head out into the wild!



Region 3 Technician Christie assists in

preparing the drugs for immobilization.

Then Matt and Christie readied a chemical cocktail to chemically immobilize the bears. There are a variety of drugs that are used to immobilize animals. To be honest, I can’t remember what specifically he used that day. How the drugs affect the bears though, are generally the same: unable to move, yet fully conscious. When they’re succumbing to the effects, they appear drunk: wobbly and clumsy. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to lure 3 young, independent bears into a trailer for transport, but we didn’t even attempt! Haha! For our safety and the bear’s, they were drugged one at a time so that we could process them and load them in the trailer safely.

The biologist and technician entered the enclosure, and the bears scattered immediately. They were afraid, which is a good thing! They did not approach or act friendly. The biologist approached one from beneath, as they had climbed up. He had the dart with the chemicals in it on a “jab pole” which is about 4 feet long. He was able to easily approach and stick the bear in the meaty part of the thigh/butt. Then he they stepped back and arranged a set of thick rock-climbing type pads beneath the bear. Within 10 minutes, the bear was woozy and slid off its perch onto the crash pad.

 

As soon as the door slid open, the 3 yearlings scattered.

It was amazing to see how nimble they are. They were perfectly capable to maneuver that metal pipe that was maybe 3-4″ wide.

The bear above had already been stuck once, but since the bear’s weight was estimated (and the drug strength is based on weight) he didn’t receive enough. Once he was groggy, Matt entered again and dosed again. You can also see the crash pads to the left in the picture.

The part that came next was the “processing” of the bears. There were measurements to be taken, the vital stats had to be monitored, tags to be put on their ears, and other tasks on the list. THAT will have be to another entry though, this one was long enough! I hope you enjoyed this first part of my day with the bears…I certainly enjoyed living it, and them remembering it while writing.

Black bear den season: part IV

This is my third and final installment of black bear den visits for the spring 2013 season. I had a good run with the NYS DEC Region 8 wildlife biologists and technicians. Their invitation allowed me a truly unique experience that many, including those "in the field", may not get to experience. I'm aware of that, and VERY grateful!

To catch up on my other black bear den experiences from this year and in the past, check out those entries here.

My first entry this season focused on the protocol of handling bear cubs, and what data is taken from them. My next entry was all about Mama Bear. Every piece of information that can be taken, seems to be written down. And why not? We have the time and the access to the bears while the mother is chemically immobilized. In this entry, I'll show you what this den actually looks like. Not all bear dens are created equal, keep that in mind.



The township of den visit #3 was in Cameron, NY.
Click to enlarge the image.

Often, when people think of a bear den, they think of a cozy, sheltered rock cave. This is rarely the case. I've not seen enough dens to know what the majority of black bear dens look like in New York. I've visited and seen with my very own eyes 5 black bear dens. All of them broke "convention", or what I made convention to be in my mind.

I think it's safe to say that all of them have some sort of protection from vegetation. In a couple of cases, it was thick, dense thorny branches. In one case, it was dead Christmas trees in a brush pile. In another, the den was underneath a blown-down dead tree. The bears seem to be way more exposed to the elements than is preconceived they would be.



Region 8 Wildlife Biologist Art Kirsch (left),
and Fish and Wildlife Technician Ron Newell (right).

The location of this den was in the township of Cameron, NY. This town seems to be in the middle of nowhere, and really to close to anything. Except maybe the Pennsylvania border!

We drove down a road (dirt, seasonal, 2-track) for a few miles and ended at a dead end which had one house at the end, and was surrounded by agricultural fields. The den was down a bit of a hill, and about 50 yards into the woods at the edge of the field. Standing at the edge of the field, I could see the den, once I knew what I was looking for, so it really wasn't far from the field.

Both of the above images were taken at the same spot. The top picture was taken to my left, looking into the woods.
The red arrow shows approximately where the bear den was located.
The bottom image was taken to my right, looking out at the agricultural field.

The whole process went smoothly- the team went in a successfully and safely chemically immobilized the mother, and the rest of us came in to handle cubs and take data down from them.

There were triplets at this den, but I could only get my hands on 2 at a time!
Photo credit: Marty DeLong

Meanwhile, the mother was under the case of the veterinarian, Dr. Jeff Wyatt, and vet tech Robin English.

I was invited over to get my hands on the mother bear. It was a really neat experience...most of the group was off to the side with the cubs, obviously preoccupied. But Art, and the vet staff were working on the mother. I kind of meandered over, and they invited me to listen to her heart beat. I'm not a mother, so I haven't heard the first sounds of my child's heartbeat. But, listening to that bear's steady heart beating was awe-inspiring.
Photo credit: Art Kirsch

At this den visit, the FLCC students and faculty did not attend. They had to get back to the college for classes, but since I was there on my own, I stayed for the entire day (this was the second den visit we did that day). They asked if I would be OK with taking down some data for them, in their absence. Of course I said I would, but really it was for selfish reasons. HAVING to take down data only gave me more access to the fun stuff. And this time it was data off any of the bears, it was the characteristics of the bear den.

When I was a student at Finger Lakes Community College, during my first full time semester, John (my professor) tasked me with revamping the "den data sheet". It's not in my nature to turn something down, so I started working on it. Looking back, in the fall of 2010, I had never USED a data sheet and had actually never even seen one. I hadn't experienced a den visit, or met any of the biologists. I really had no idea what I was doing. I had the old, out of date data sheet to guide me, as well as a 3" binder stuffed full of journal articles related to bear dens. "Have at it" I was told.

I distinctly remember sitting at a computer in the Conservation Department equipment room at FLCC in tears because I had been asked to do this, and I didn't want to disappoint, but I was lost. It seems so trivial and silly now, since I've created that new data sheet, and used many, many of them since for various projects. But at the time, it was very overwhelming.

So, to be able to take "my baby" into a bear den, alone, and use the protocol I wrote and take down the measurements, and read my own phrasing...it was a "moment". Nothing too profound, but cool.

Here's the den!

Instead of a rock cave, this is more likened to Bird Bird's nest! In the middle of the den is a digital thermometer reading the in-den temperature. To the right of that is some one's camera that fell out of a pocket when they were removing the bear from the den.

This is the view from laying inside the den looking straight up. As you can see, there isn't a whole lot of cover.
Precipitation comes right in...

Don't judge me! I'm in a BEAR DEN, people! You'd take a picture like this too!

Below are a few snippets from the data sheet, so you can get an idea of what types of information FLCC students are interested in. A current student of the Black Bear Management class at FLCC, just presented the class's findings of bear dens in the Finger Lakes at a national conference. It was really well received, and very interesting to see all of the data collected!

And so, another fantastic experience was coming to a close. Envious classmates of mine, current and past, keep telling me how lucky I am. I am a lot of things: grateful, appreciative and fortunate mostly, but not lucky. Luck would have been if I woke up that morning snuggled in with the bears in the den! The opportunities I've been presented were made with forged relationships (with generous, patient people), and persistence on my part. It's been number one on my bucket list to visit a bear den and handle a cub. And by the time I was at the 3rd den, handling cubs was not old news by any means, but I was comfortable enough to meander around the scene, taking in different aspects of the science taking place, and enjoying the wonder on everyone's faces.

After everything was wrapped up, the cubs were placed back with their mother. There are 3 in there, although just one little guy, probably only 6-7 weeks old, peeked back at me.

I lingered JUST long enough to get this shot of this bear family.



Black bear den season: part III

It's been awhile since I've been able to write. I had a busy weekend in DC at a conference, and also my power cord for my laptop shorted out and stopped working. BUT I'm back from DC and I'm all powered up!

If you want to get caught up on my 2013 bear den experiences, check out this link: bear dens.



Site of Den #2. Click to enlargen.

On March 14 and 15, I was invited to hang out with some NYSDEC biologists and technicians while they did some bear den checks. In this entry I'll outline my experience at den #2!

Den #2 was interesting because it was located about 80 yards from the landowner's house. It was just about in plain sight from the back of the house, although it was shielded a little bit by the thick brush it was in.

If the home owner's were outside talking, or their dog barked, the bears I'm sure could easily hear them. But, the sow (or mother bear) apparently wasn't bothered, and chose that spot to have her triplets.


FLCC student Judi McDougall attempts to access the bear den to take measurements.

In the last entry I focused mostly on what happens with the cubs during a visit. This entry I'll focus on mom. She really is what the biologists are most interested in I think. How the bear team finds the den is from tracking down mom, who is wearing a collar. This collar does sometimes need maintenance, or a battery change, so while the bears are semi-stationary in the den is the perfect time to do it.

On our lunch break, Wildlife Biologist Art Kirsch prepares the chemicals (a mixture of Ketamine and Xylazine) for the next den visit. The chemicals are then put into a dart which is loaded into a low velocity pistol or a rifle powered by compressed air, a CO2 cartridge or a .22 blank. The biologists aim for the bear's hip, which has a

Accompanying us on these visits are Rochester, NY Seneca Park Zoo staff: a veterinarian Dr. Jeff Wyatt DVM, and veterinary technician Robin English. Both are there with the animal's health and safety as their first priority.

A select few members of "the bear team" approach the den first. Art, technicians, and the vets go first. It's a tense few moments as they're trying to chemically immobilize the adult bear. Bears do not truly hibernate (see this blog entry: The true NY hibernators), so if spooked, and so inclined, they can get up and run away. So the team has to move in stealth mode until he/she is darted, and they've given it time to set in. If all goes to plan, the whole process should take about 20 minutes. Then the clock starts ticking. There's approximately 1 hour of time to work while the animal is immobilized.



From left to right: Robin (with her back turned),
Dr. Wyatt, Jeb (a Fish and Wildife Technician), and Art.

Dr. Wyatt and Robin are responsible for watching the bear's vital signs. This includes heart rate, breathing rate, temperature, and maintaining good oxygen levels.

Meanwhile, the DEC team is busily checking the collar, tagging the bear (if it hasn't been already), extracting a tooth for aging (if it hasn't been already), tatooing an ID number on the gum (if it hasn't been already), and gathering other data points. If some or all of these things have been done already, as was the case this time, "processing" the adult moves fairly quickly.

You might notice that the bear is laying on a silver space blanket. This provides a buffer between the animal and the cold ground. While under "the drugs", it cannot thermoregulate, or maintain a constant internal temperature. An animal can quickly become hypthermic if this step isn't observed. Also, between Art's hands is a red and green piece of fabric. This is a fleece sleeve that they slide over the face to protect the eyes. One of the chemicals in the cocktail paralyzes all muscles, so the bear can't blink. So to keep the bright light and debris out of the eyes, they use this sleeve or sometimes I've seen them place large band-aids over the eyes too.

I once got to take the temperature of a large male bear. Not orally. :)

 

 

The little gadget see above, is a pulse oximeter. If you've spent anytime in the hospital, you may have had this thing clipped to your index finger. It measures the concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream, and this one also monitored the pulse. Without this tool, the vet must keep his fingers on an artery almost constantly to make sure the pulse is steady and strong. He also kept pressing on a mucous membrane (commonly the gums). If they're bright and pink, there's a healthy oxygen level in the blood. If the gums are ashy and gray, we've got problems. So, this pulse oximeter is not an "instead of" tool, but an "addition to" tool. It also beeps outloud in time with the pulse, so you can listen instead of totally concentrate while pressing on an artery through the skin. They've never used one before, and weren't sure if it would work. There was a strong enough pulse in the tongue though, and all were pleasantly surprised with how well it all worked out.

While the bear is "out", they allowed me to explore her a little bit. When else will I get to look so closely at a bear paw?

Because this mother bear was mom to triplets, I believe (all the visits are blending together!), she was engorged with milk. Bear nipples are set up a bit differently than our domestic pets. She only has 6 nipples. Two are down low on her abdomen, and the other 4 are up high on her chest.

Her claws were beautiful. Not made for slashing prey, but more for digging. Bears are also extremely dextrous with their digits, and can pluck berries from a vine with their paws and their lips.

Jeb (on left) is now a DEC Fish and Wildlife Technician, but he got his start at Finger Lakes Community College and SUNY Cobleskill, just as I am. Jeb is fitting the new collar with fresh batteries. The "old" collar is at right on the ground. The collar's band is leather, but does have a canvas tab on it. If for some reason, the bear team can't get their hands on this bear again in the next year to change it out, and the bear happens to be on the loose and growing, that canvas tab can be torn away and the collar removed. It's always a risk when putting a multi-thousand dollar piece of equipment on a wild animal.

Danika Van Niel (my professor's daughter) hands a bear cub to Fish and Wildife Technician Ron Newell to be placed back in the den with mom. Once all of the "work" is done, the cubs MUST go back, although we may not want them to!
Photo credit: John Van Niel

A parting shot of the happy family, back in the den.
Photo credit: John Van Niel 

Yet another FANSTASTIC experience in the field with these people. I can tell you that it doesn't get old, and I feel so very fortunate to be included. Making connections with the right people, and a little persistence certainly pays off. Stay tuned for at least one more bear entry to come!

Black bear den season: part II

In my previous post, I shared with blog readers that I was afforded a very unique opportunity. I was invited to attend 3 black bear den visits where biological information is taken, and live bears are handled. I am VERY fortunate and very happy to share what I learned.

I’ll begin by explaining WHY we want to visit black bear dens and handle the bears. I had a very outdoorsy and wildlife saavy friend write to me and say “Not trying to be a buzz kill but this is a wild animal. Why are we handling them like a child or a pet? makes no sense to me that they are exploited to human touch and then hunted, killed skinned and eaten!” I will admit that at first, I got hot. Here’s a man who sticks out in my mind as a conservationist, and a life-long hunter and trapper…and yet he can’t understand that what I’m participating in is important to conserving wildlife?


Den #1 was located within the township of Almond, NY

Click to enlargen

In Western, NY and specifically the Finger Lakes region, black bears are moving Northward from Pennsylvania. Over the past 10-12 years they’ve really made a comeback. A combination of factors have influenced this. Many farms are being abandoned, and land is reverting back to how it was historically wooded instead of wide open agricultural fields. This is allowing the bears, and other animals, more cover and suitable habitat. I also think that bears are particularly adaptable. They are similar in feeding and human interaction habits to raccoons. Many people have preconceived notions that bears are vicious. ALL wild animals have tendencies to be vicious. Deer mice can act vicious, cottontails, foxes, and yes bears can act vicious. But black bears don’t TEND to be vicious, unless they are sick, wounded, or given reason to be defensive. I liken them to raccoons because often the most they are to humans are annoying. There are a lot of summer homes and hunting camps in the Finger Lakes that are seasonally used. Bears looking for a place to hunker down may break into these camps. And they love bird feeders, grills, garbage, cars with coolers, and all sorts of other treats that people living in this newly reclaimed “bear country” forget to put away. They’re really just like a 200 pound raccoon. Of course bears are capable of greater damage, so they’re often feared more than ‘coons.

Ok, so all that being said, since bears are moving back into “our” territory, the biologists of the Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Division strive to learn as much about their habits and movements as possible. The easiet and least invasive way of doing this, is to place a collar of sorts on certain bears. In Region 8, for example (which is where I visited dens), the biologists are monitoring approximately a total of 7-15 adult bears. Also, with some of those adults are cubs or yearlings…but those are not individually monitored. There are a lot of human-bear interactions, and also there is an interest in hunting black bears in New York State. They are considered “big game” , and to help control the population, there are hunting seasons, which you can view here: Deer and Bear Hunting Seasons.

To address a word that my friend used…”exploiting” the bears. I do not look at handling these bears and cubs as exploiting. Yes, we take pictures with them. But for them, it’s a moment in time. As Art Kirsch, Senior Region 8 Wildlife Biologist, told me that “the science obtained from monitoring these bears, far outweighs the inconvenience they experience”, which is very true. The adults are always immobilized with a cocktail of drugs. There is no safe way to handle the adults without them being immoblized. The cubs though this time of year are quite small and easy to handle. There is no reason to impose unnecessary risk (there's always risk with use of chemical immobilizers- bear, dog, cat, human) by immobilizing the cubs. The largest cub I think I handled was just around 6 pounds, and the smallest was 3.2 pounds. If any memories of these interactions with the bear biologists are remembered, it’s not of terror and panic. The animals are treated with respect, voices are kept low, and the adult bear’s eyes are covered to further keep it calm. Cubs are kept in fleece bags to keep them warm and secure.

A question I’ve been asked since I shared that I handled bear cubs is “Won’t the mother reject them with your scent on them?”…no! Please keep in mind that the protocol for these visits has the bear's health and safety as the first priority. The mother is handled the same as the cubs, her den is entered by biologists when she’s removed, and so everything and the whole bear family have human scent. Everyone is required to wear gloves, and “nuzzling” is prohibited. The team does not want the other people at the den visits, to "Disney-fy" the bears. Really there is nothing cuter than a 2 month old bear cub, but these are wild animals who are returning to the wild. They are not pets or cartoons. We do not name them, or kiss them, and hugging is ONLY allowed to keep them warm.We are handling these cubs to obtain data from them, as well as keep them warm while mom is being processed. They've never been out of then den before, and have never been away from mom's side. If for some reason the mother can not be handled (she runs off, for example), the cubs are not handled. It’s all of them or none of them. That way, everyone smells the same.

The whole experience takes less than 1 hour, as that is how long we have for the drugs to keep a hold on the adult. This is not a process that drags on for several hours, but is done efficiently and safely for all involved.

Now I know if you clicked on this post, you don’t REALLY care about all that I’ve written. You came for the pictures. I will describe my experience of den #1 through the captions. Also, all people mentioned by name are from Finger Lakes Community College (unless otherwise noted) where there is a Black Bear Management course offered. John Van Niel is the professor of that course.

 

In this massive brush pile of dead Christmas trees and other debris, a mother bear and 3 cubs are in a cozy den. Region 8 Wildlife technician Jeb McConnell along with Region 8 Wildlife Biologist Art Kirsch and Region 9 Wildlife Biologist Tim Spierto are searching for an access point to shoot the chemical immobilizer into the mother bear. Once the drugs are administered, they must wait 15-20 minutes for it to take effect.

After the sow was stabilized, I was invited to climb up on top of the brush pile (10-12 feet off the ground) to see the entrance of the den.

The veterinarian on hand, Dr. Jeff Wyatt DVM, of the Seneca Park Zoo, went 8 feet down into the den to watch the sow's vitals. She maintained a strong and steady heartbeat, and was breathing normally through out. She was not removed from the den, due to how precarious the brush pile was to maneuver. Jeff mentioned to me while I was taking this picture that he was almost 'hot' down in the den. Lucky, we were freezing out on top!



Art Kirsch, Senior Wildlife Biologist, has the second best seat in the house. Art held his post just outside the den monitoring all that was going on, and recording data from the sow still in the den.



When cubs are first removed, the are placed into a fleece sack as seen here. This helps contain them (they are wiggly) and keep them warm. Weights are taken for each cub, as seen here. Alicia Walker is reading the scale, as John Van Niel holds it. Ben Williams and Julia Lampman record data in the background.

Here John Van Niel removes the cub from the bag for a moment so that the cub can be sexed. I think in this case, it's a girl! Grasping the cub by the scruff of the neck is not painful, this is something the mother, like many other mother animals, do to move their babies when they are too young to move on their own.



Here, I am holding the cub as Alicia continues to take measurements. There is a hair length (from the top of the head) to ear length ratio that can be plugged into an equation, which can give a fairly accurate date of birth. Jon Muller and Kevin Skryzinski watch on, while Ben records the data.

Here John is readying me for the insertion of the Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag. This is very similar to a 'micro chip' you may have put in your cat or dog. It is not an active means of tracking the animal, but if the animal is handled again in the future, a receiver can be waved over the location of insertion (between shoulder blades under skin), and the unique ID

number can be read.



Cubs are born with blue eyes, as many mammals seem to be. I do not know why this is, but with age the eyes will likely darken to brown.

Once all data was collected from cubs and the mother bear, we formed a bit of a 'bucket brigade' from the ground up and over the brush pile to get the cubs back into the den. It was easier and safer than trying to hold your balance and keep your footing while holding onto a squirming cub. Photo credit: Julia Lampman

 

 

In total, the experience was around an hour and a half. That includes walking time from the road to the den, and the time it took the team to immobilize mom, wait for the drugs to kick in, and then for all of the data collection. It was one of those experiences that I could not WAIT to partake in, and then in a blink, it was over. BUT, fortunately I had 2 more dens to look forward to. I will be blogging about those experiences soon. Hope you enjoyed!

Black bear den season, part I

We all have bucket lists, right? Maybe some people actually right them out and check them off as amazing things are accomplished and experienced. Some of us might just daydream about “what if I got to…”, and if it happens, that’s awesome! And if it doesn’t, then oh well. Well I have a specific bucket list in order, but just filed away in my head. I’ve had this DREAM of holding a black bear cub for more than half my life. Summer vacations spent in the Adirondacks, always hoping for a chance sighting of a bear, started my love for bears. As I entered into college at Finger Lakes Community College, I learned of a course offered called Black Bear Management. This class is exclusively about black bears IN New York State. What could be better?


On Thursday, March 14th, my #1 bucket list item was mentally checked off.

Holding my first black bear cub.

Almond, NY - Photo credit: Alicia Walker

I held a bear cub.

Actually, over the past 2 days, I’ve held probably 7 or 8 cubs, and handled 2 Mama Bears.

Let me take a moment to explain how I got here.

When I took BBM in 2010-2011, during “bear season” which is Feb-March-April (depends on the year), I did not get to handle a bear cub. Working with wild animals guarantees no absolute results, except that they are unpredictable.

Bears do not truly hibernate (please refer to these posts for clarification on NY hibernators), so if spooked at the den site, they can get up and run.

And that’s what happened to the two dens I visited in the spring of 2011. Over the past 2 years, I’ve kept in touch with Art Kirsch, Region 8 Senior Wildlife Biologist for the NYSDEC. We’ve emailed, bumped into eachother here and there, and now we’re Facebook friends too, so we keep in touch often. I don’t know why Art invited me, but he did. He did not have to invite another person to these visits, especially since I had my chance, and we had naughty bears when it WAS my chance. It can be hectic at the visits with all that needs to get done, and the spectators that are there. BUT I made myself useful by carrying things, and lending a hand, and keeping cubs warm!

Through the rest of this post, and over the next few days, I’ll explain all that goes on at the den visits and why. For now, I’ll leave you with a few pictures and I hope that you’ll check back soon for more!

Black bear cub

Adult female black bear paw



Pure happiness.