and a strong cup of coffee

Yearlings run.  That was the caution that Randy Cross told Staci ( MyMainelyGirlAdventures ) and me as we met with the Maine bear crew to prepare to head into the woods.  This particular den that we were going to had a 16 year old sow, who had had four cubs with her last year when they checked her den.  There was the potential for four yearlings plus Mama in the den.  I was a little giddy with the idea of so many bears! It is easy to brag about the bear crew. Aside from their decades of experience working with Maine’s bear population, they are a study in how team should work.  They know their strengths and weaknesses and support one another to ensure that they have a plan and back up plans for every den visit.  Staci and I tried not to nerd out as we watched Randy Cross, Lisa Feener, Jake Feener and Ethan Lamb plan for our decent into the woods. We loaded up the snowmobiles and began to look for an access point into the woods.  Jake took the l...

The only other Mainer on the trip, the bride's brother and I were walking down the wooden pathway to see how far we could go to not have a bunch of fishermen in the water. The answer was; not possible.  We hit the stopping point and started backtracking to find our group.  We hadn't gone too far when we heard a women yell something.  I turned to Ben, "Did she just yell bear?" The friends that we were fishing with us had warned us about bears coming down and taking fish (which is why you must always keep you fish inches away from you at all times.)  I wanted to see a bear. I was so excited and pictured this fantastic brown bear emerging from the trees as I dropped my fishing pole and got my camera out.  The fishermen in the water were slowing backing away from the opposite bank.  This was it! I was going to see my first brown bear! Then, a black bear waddled down to the water.  I was disappointed.  Happy that I was watching a bear, but I can se...

Remember this guy?  I was fortunate enough to meet him last March when he was a brand new black bear. I knew that our awesome bear biologist were out checking dens and sent a message to one of them asking if they had gone to King's den yet and if the cubs were there with her.  My timing could not have been more perfect; they were heading to her den the next day! Using the same technology as they did the year before, they found King under a network of cedar blowdowns.  She weighed in at 156lbs - four pounds heavier than she was the year before, and looked totally healthy. Last year, King had given birth to a male and female cub.  Only the male cub was in the den with her this year. While the female cub could have denned up near by, odds are that it died from an illness, maybe it got hit by a vehicle, another bear could have killed it... there is no way to know. The male cub broke (to date) the 2016 yearling weight scale by coming in at 67 pounds!   The ...