Dr.
Lynn Rogers has studied black bears in Minnesota's northwoods
for most of his entire career. |
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To
locate the den where a study bear was hibernating, Dr. Rogers carried
an antenna that picked up signals from a radio collar worn by the
bear. Mewing of the cubs could be heard from outside the den! The
newborn cubs do not hibernate. |
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An
assistant holds the needle that will be put on a pole, stuck far
into the den, and used to inject the mother bear with a tranquilizer
to keep her asleep while she is pulled out of her den and studied.
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The
two cubs were removed from the den first. Students had the important
job of taking turns to keep the cub warm inside their clothing
while it is away from its mother. |
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Mama
bear sleeps on the snowy ground after being pulled from her den.
A volunteer from the group crawled into the den to grab the mother
bear. Then everyone formed a chain, grabbed his ankles, and TUGGED
to pull both the volunteer and the bear out of the den.
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The
tranquilized mama bear yawns. Her fur is very thick. If you stuck
your hand in it, the fur would bury your hand way past your wrist.
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Dr.
Rogers will study blood samples and milk samples taken from
the
mother bear. She is also weighed. Her weight was 128 pounds.
Most black bears lose between 15 and 30 percent of their
body weight
between early fall and late spring. Lactating mothers can lose
as much as 40 percent of their body weight. |
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Baby
bear will be suspended from this scale to be weighed. The cub
weighed 3/4 pound (about as much as 3 sticks of butter) when it
was born in January. It was blind and almost hairless. Now it
is March, and the cub weighs almost 4 pounds. |
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Five long claws on each paw will help the bear
grasp and dig into the bark of a tree as it climbs, and to dig
and rake food to eat from the ground. But for now, this cub
just
feeds on its mother's milk. It will weigh about 7 pounds when
the family leaves the den in spring.
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Sleeping
mama and her two cubs are stuffed back into their cozy den
until
it's time to come out in mid-April or May. They will hibernate
with her next winter, too--but perhaps in a different den.When
the cubs are one year old, they will be big enough to wear
their
own radio collars. Then Dr. Rogers will track and study them
after they leave their mother and strike out on their own
at the age
of one-and-a-half years.
Photos
Wayne Kryduba
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