and a strong cup of coffee

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 ...

So we made it to King's den .  Now the fun starts. Once King was sedated and out, Jake and Mitch got ready to pull the cubs out.  We stood closer to where they were in a semi-circle and watched.  Lisa explained what was happening and the fact that this was more than likely, the first time the cubs had ever seen day light. Mitch taking the first cub out of the den. Mitch put the first cub against his chest and let go.  The cub stuck to the wool jacket with it's claws, like Velcro.  Jake handed him the second cub  and Lisa stepped in to help.  As Jake got King ready to come out of the den, Mitch tagged the cubs in each ear, weighed and measured them and described them for Lisa to write down. Lisa and Mitch holding the cubs. Mitch weighing the cub as Jake begins to get King out of the den. Cub tagged 501: male, 5 1/2lbs, white blaze on chest Cub tagged 502: female, 5 lbs, small white patches on chest, larger patch on right side. Onc...

Mount Katahdin from Route 11 in Maine. I had been awake for five hours when we pulled into the IFW office in Ashland at 8am.  It was deceivingly beautiful out with the bright sun and deep blue sky but the wind kept the temperatures close to single digits.  Still, we knew once we were in the woods, we wouldn't be thinking about the temps. Our group was fortunate enough to be going out with bear biologists Mitch Jackman, Jake Feener and one of the most well known biologists, Lisa Bates.  It was a 17 mile truck ride into the woods from the office followed by a two mile bushwacking snowmobile ride to the den.  This particular den had been marked in January when the biologists had shown up expecting to see mom and two yearlings.  Instead, they heard cub cries and immediately left to come back in March.  The bear, named King, is seven years old.  Her mom BB (for Bartlett Bear) had been denning in this same area until she was harvested during the hunt...