Signs of Spring Update: January 29, 2001 Today's Report Includes: A Bear Out of Its Lair Babies Awake! Challenge Question #1 And You Thought They Were Just Sleeping! Match That Bear Sound! Challenge Question #2 Did You Know? Legend and Lore Try This! Please Report "Signs of Spring" From Your Part of the World! A Bear Out of Its Lair Jane holds a cub inside her vest to keep it warm. It still looks a lot like winter in the snowy northwoods of Minnesota, but black bear cubs are being born right now in cozy dens where they hibernate all winter. You won't see a bear this time of year unless you have radar and know where to look. A few years ago, that's what Journey North's Jane Duden did. She joined world-famous bear expert Dr. Lynn Rogers and other students in northern Minnesota to locate a bear family in hibernation. Jane's photos and captions tell a surprising story about bears in winter. Led by Dr. Rogers and his radar antenna, the group located the den and removed the tranquilized, radio-collared Entrance to black bear den. mother and her two lively cubs. They collected data, took blood and milk samples, and tucked the family back into the den to wait for spring. Take a look! Then write down two or more facts that surprised you. A Bear Out of Its Lair Take a peek at Dr. Rogers and his study bears with this short clip from Animal Planet's March 24, 2001 cable TV documentary: "The Man Who Walks With Bears." It airs at 8 p.m. central time for a fascinating hour with Dr. Rogers and the black bears of the Minnesota northwoods. Babies Awake! Jane recalls, "As we gathered around the entrance to the den after a long snowshoe trek, I was astonished to actually hear the little cubs making mewing sounds from inside the den. That made me wonder how the cubs stay safe from predators such as wolves." Challenge Question #1: "What preparations do you think the mother must make so the wide-awake cubs can survive their mother's hibernation?" HINT: Think first about everything baby bears need to stay alive. Next, read carefully for facts about the mother's preparation for hibernation at the link below. You will be able to infer some answers. A Year in the Life of a Black Bear Then send us your response. (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) And You Thought They Were Just Sleeping! Dr. Rogers tells us more surprising things about bears in winter. A mother bear can give birth and tend to her cubs' needs during hibernation because her body temperature stays high enough for her to have good mental function and react when she needs to. Mothers that were fat enough to produce cubs keep their temperatures higher--usually around 96--than skinny bears that were unable to have cubs. Bears that are too skinny don't get pregnant for a good reason: During hibernation, they must drop their metabolism too low to maintain the high blood oxygen levels needed keep an unborn cub alive. Mother bear has lost 40 percent of her weight, living off her fat to produce milk for her babies. The mother bear in Jane's photos weighed in at 128 pounds, which was exactly Jane's weight--but the furry bear looked MUCH heavier! (What do you estimate the bear weighed at the start of her hibernation?) The babies are born much smaller than you'd expect from an animal the size of a bear. But on rich mother's milk that contains over 20 percent fat, the babies develop quickly. They will be able to follow their mother when she leaves the den as soon as 5-8 weeks after their birth. By then the babies weigh about seven pounds.(How much is seven pounds? Add items to a scale until the weight reaches 7 pounds.) Jane was surprised that the little cub she held was very clean, and certainly not stinky! Dr. Rogers explained why: the sleeping mother awakens just enough to eat the babies' feces. Black bears sleep for months without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating--and still remain in good condition. To do that requires changes in physiology, and some of these changes create conditions in bears that would cause problems in people. Match That Bear Sound! What do baby bears sound like when they nurse? What sound does a distressed cub make? How does a sow sound when concerned about her cubs? Can you recognize a bear growl? Thanks to recordings done by Dr. Rogers, you can hear each of these sounds. But WAIT! We've mixed up the sounds to see if you can tell which sound goes with each of these descriptions: (A) Nursing cubs (B) Cub distress call (C) Mother concerned about cubs (D) Growl Challenge Question #2: "What do you think these bear sounds mean? Listen to each sound. Match sound #1, Sound #2, Sound #3 and Sound #4 with the correct description (A, B, C, or D) above." What bear sound is this? What bear sound is this? What bear sound is this? What bear sound is this? Sound #1 Sound #2 Sound #3 Sound #4 (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Did You Know? Legend and Lore Members of the Winnebago Bear Clan called the first moon of January the bear moon because it is then that the cubs are born, and also when bears start licking their paws. The Winnebago version of why bears lick their paws in late winter and early spring says it's for sustenance in winter. The bears walked on berries all summer, crushing them into their paws so that in winter they could lick their paws and get the essence. Wildlife biologist Lynn Rogers explains it this way: Bears lick their paws because their calloused foot pads and toe pads flake off during hibernation, and the newly exposed skin is not yet toughened up. Try This! Read more about Dr. Rogers in BEARMAN by Laurence Pringle and Lynn Rogers. Visit the Web site North American Bear Center to learn more about black bears. Go to Journey North's Bear Facts page and find at least three myths about black bears. Make a two-column chart and list the myth and a fact that shows the myth is false. Share your findings about black bears with family and friends. Please Report "Signs of Spring" From Your Part of the World! Report your "Signs of Spring" sightings to Journey North. Remember to share your sightings of first frogs, earthworms, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, emerging leaves, flowing sap, melting ice and other spring events. Your observations will be incorporated into "Signs of Spring" updates according to the schedule above. Thanks for sharing! How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions: IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message. 1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org 2. IMPORTANT: In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 1 (or #2) 3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to the question above. The Next Signs of Spring Update Will be Posted on February 12, 2001 Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form