Thank you so much E-Bear, for answering all our questions...including mine. Unfortunately I coudn't stay with you any longer last night...but...I have been studying your interesting answers since I found them  this morning...lots of great stuff to read!

It makes me happy to be part of the friendly " bear family " and like Karen already mentioned, it's ever so kind of you to spend time with us all year long and keep us so well informed.

I wish you a wonderful time at the Grand Canyon and a very happy Xmas Season!

Bear Hugs,

Sylvia

Thanks LAP! It's great to have you in the Forum community!

E

Sorry Lin!

I missed that one. I am not aware of any studies going on currently that might begin to tell us that information about bear size, but I will check with some biologists when I get back to Homer. The impact of climate change on the polar bear's habitat is much more dramatic where the polar bear lives. There are so many physical changes going on in other habitats that we can't yet see the direct effects on wildlife yet. For instance, salmon streams on the lower Kenai Peninsula have been monitored for over five years and are just beginning to show a warming trend...how this might be affecting the salmon populations there can only be assumed until studies reveal data that indicates an effect.

 Lin...there is so much we still don't know and the problems just keep getting more complicated.

Didn't mean to ignore your question.

E

Thank you, EBear. It is wonderful work that you do.

This bear is still here!  I asked long time ago if it is known if the brown bears are getting smaller because of climate pressure or fish stocks like the Polar bears in Churchill.

 

Okay looks like all the lights have been turned off...have a great holiday  and learn lots! 

 

Alrighty then...all you bears sleep well and dream of big fat salmon!

E

Have all you bears signed off?

If not please let me know and I'll keep posting.

HI LAP!

I have only been working with bears since 2005, when Lake Clark National Park and Preserve opened a field office in the gateway community of Homer, Alaska. As the new kids in town the Park sought out partnerships with organizations whose goals were consistent with our National Park Service mission. The Pratt Museum's stewardship efforts dovetail wonderfully with ours and I was assigned to help interpret their bear cam project. That was one year before National Geographic got involved and helped bring you the WildCam Grizzlies.

I'm a teacher by training with a masters degree in environmental education. I consider myself a naturalist, as my interests and training are not limited to one thing in the natural world. So I am NOT a bear expert...I consider myself a student of bears and I am so glad that my job makes it neccessary for me to study them.

Thanks for asking LAP!

E

Sure, I'll be glad to help -- Ebear knows where to find me! 

Enjoy your shows (3) Rita...I'm envious.  Can't wait to hear about it tomorrow. 

Good night all....

Thank you Ebear...I'm so glad to have this time to talk to you today..I am now going to den up and watch the show..see you soon i hope and please post some Grand Canyon pics too...if Karen is still awake she can help with all that..Karen??!!

I wanted to Thank You for spending time with us all year long - we've become family.

Please have a wonderful time at the Grand Canyon and have a wonderful Holiday Season.

I'll be looking forward to your monthly updates.

Take care and stay warm!

Are "our" bears actually hibernating now or has it been too mild?  And, are they walking around in the dark..ie: do they see at night and are they active at that time. pre-hibernation?

Hard to say what our bears are doing. Here's what's been happening across Cook Inlet from them, where I live...the weekend before Thanksgiving (that would be17 Novermber for you Rox) we had two days of lovely snow that covered the ground about a foot at near sea level...the bears' dens are at a much higher elevation (tree line) and probably got more insulating snow...then...

...it rained and rained and rained and it's still raining...washing all that wonderful snow away down where I live, but it may still be snow where the bears are...that's why they go up high.

I don't know how well bears see at night, but they actively get into people's garbage at night so I assume they see well enough...and Lin, what's their primary sense anyway?...their nose...

Thanks Elizabeth, I found this site about a book Growing up Grizzly by Amy Shapira where Baylee the mother bear adopts a young 2 year old bear called Emmett, Is this very unusual behavior for a mother bear with cubs to adopt another young male bear or is this something that might not be known about bears behaviors ?

I know I have probably seen the answers somewhere but in a senior moment here I have forgotten. How long have you been working with the bears? Did you have any special education for this job? Thanks.

one last question then off to watch a polar bear marathon on tv...in this talk tonight I am thinking perhaps the females that are pregnant are more likely to den up and the males maybe more Awake during the winter months..surface dens opposed to dug in dens...is there any thinking of sub adults and how they might den?

For wild black and brown bears, the likelihood of bears denning has to do with environmental and physiological conditions...scientists can't pin down the exact triggers, but they HAVE observed this sequence of timing of onset of denning; pregnant females>family groups (mothers with cubs)>sub-adults>adult males...there could be a couple of months between when the pregnant female dens and when the last adult male dens.

As to the type of den...I think it depends more on the environment the bear is in, not the sex of the bear.

Sub-adults, especially first year sub-adult siblings may den together.

How long will they hibernate...if by 'they' you mean black and brown bears...they can hibernate anywhere from 4-6 months (1/3 to ½ of their lives) the length varies with climate and food availability.

if by 'they' you mean polar bears...hibernation for them is a 'reproductive' strategy and only the pregnant females den from about November to January

and how much weight will they lose...

may lose ¼ to `1/3 of their body weight during hibernation...so let's say Luther was 1200 lbs. when he went into the den...he may come out weighing 800-900lbs., but I think he was more in the 1400lb range...they are living off their fat reserves, which is why it's so important they get to those fatty salmon...

 

 

Watching the dominate bears at the falls have top pick of the best fishing spots, do you think that a dominate bear might steal another bears den by chasing him out and taking it for himself ? thanks

 

I think it's safe to assume that bears compete for the choice denning areas as well as everything else...thanks Bear.

one last question then off to watch a polar bear marathon on tv...in this talk tonight I am thinking perhaps the females that are pregnant are more likely to den up and the males maybe more Awake during the winter months..surface dens opposed to dug in dens...is there any thinking of sub adults and how they might den?

How long is the flight from Homer over to McNeil? 1 hour

How far is the hike inland to the viewing platform? < 2 miles, you start out slow from camp, ease onto the salt marsh, cross Mikfik Creek (that is why you need hip boots), it's fairly level, with a short 'climb' up onto a plateau, then on a narrow board walk through the tundra.

I know you probably can't address this, but I'd sure like to know of a way to help support the McNeil Sanctuary crew for being there every season. Can you tell us something about them?

Two ways to support the McNeil Sanctuary staff: apply for a permit to visit the Sanctuary, donate to the Alaska Conservation Fund (I think that's the name) they have a fund for McNeil.

The Sanctuary is run on a shoestring. As far as I know, its budget is based on fees collected from permit applicants and successful lottery winners.

There is a VERY dedicated staff of three out there all summer. One guides the lucky ten viewers, one stays in camp to keep up radio communications with pilots, clean the camp, and watch for bears entering camp, cut and split driftwood to keep everybody warm and the third person in the rotation has a day off...but they often choose to accompany the viewers in support of the lead.

Maybe next summer we can get a letter writing campaing going to let them know how much you appreciate them...they are often the ones who trouble shoot issues with the camera before we can get techies out there...they put in MANY extra hours supporting the WildCam project.

E

E

hi Elizabeth, How long will they hibernate and how much weight will they lose. Watching the dominate bears at the falls have top pick of the best fishing spots, do you think that a dominate bear might steal another bears den by chasing him out and taking it for himself ? thanks

Oh I'm sorry you haven't seen the the website of the orphan bears.but I have read some info on research bears...seems even the polar bears get collared..man always steps on the free animals...need I say more

Thanks for knowing where everything is!

E

Are "our" bears actually hibernating now or has it been too mild?  And, are they walking around in the dark..ie: do they see at night and are they active at that time. pre-hibernation?

 

Grouse Mountain is not too far from Vancouver, B.C, 

How long is the flight from Homer over to McNeil?

How far is the hike inland to the viewing platform?

I know you probably can't address this, but I'd sure like to know of a way to help support the McNeil Sanctuary crew for being there every season. Can you tell us something about them?

Rita,

 I don't know where Grouse Mountain is in the world or what it is. If it is a place where the bears are fed and it's in an area that doesn't have harsh winters the bears would have no need to hibernate and would then stay active.

Hibernation is an energy conservation strategy employed by black bears and brown bears where weather and food availibility make make it not 'economically' viable to stay active when the sources of energy are not available.

I get a lot of questions about collaring bears...think about what it takes to collar a bear...first you have to shoot the bear with a tranquilizer...put the collar on...and in some cases I think they give the bear a second drug to wake them up...it is very invasive and only done if neccessary for the goals of the research. Some bears were eartagged in the early days of the McNeil River Sanctuary, but no bears have been tagged or collared in the Sanctuary since.

E