Lily, the Black bear Cam

[Kris G.]

I love how cute Hope is with the cubs!  Lily sure has her paws full!!

[MAK]

So precious, how do those little cubs not get smooshed under the bigger bears? Nature is incredible! 

[Kris G.]

So precious, how do those little cubs not get smooshed under the bigger bears? Nature is incredible! 

Sure is, MAK!  I've wondered the same thing.

[Kris G.]

We’re getting pretty brave making pronouncements about the sexes when these cubs are so young—especially starting a week ago when they were only a day old.  We first got an inkling that the dark cub was a female when a brief reflection of what we thought was urine shined from the right spot.  Today, at 11:22:16 the same cub flashed a vulva, which most people would confuse as being a scrotum, but the scrotum is not yet developed in male cubs. We really think we have a male and a female.  This is great because it means there is another female to carry on the trusting tradition of June and Lily.  The male cub will likely leave the study area at 1 or 2 years of age while the female remains.  It starts us thinking more seriously about names.

Another question is about coat colors.  The male is a lot lighter than the female.  At first, we wondered if it was just the light, but it’s consistent.  Could he be our first brown-colored cub?  Some black cubs have brownish fur until the first molt at mid-summer when they turn black, but this one looks lighter than that in this light.  Could Lily have mated with beautiful rich brown Crackle?  We didn’t see her with him, but she roamed far and wide during mating season and was too deep in the forest to join for days at a time.  Anything is possible.

[Kris G.]

cub hanging on Hopes face Feb 5 2011 at 11 55am004.avi

[Donna]

Yikes, poor Hope, she was angry! That was so cute. Thanks!

[Kris G.]

With temperatures 55-60 degrees warmer than the minus 20 weather not long ago, the cubs were content to be exposed.  Hope took full advantage of the situation, sometimes having both cubs by her rather than by Lily.  Hope played gently.  Even when she took a cub’s head in her mouth, the cub did not protest.   What appeared to be a bit rough to us obviously was not a concern to the cub.  It reminded us of Lily playing with Hope last winter.  It is hard for us humans to realize those clumsy-looking paws and claws can be so gentle.  It was hard to choose just which bits to include in this 10-mins video February 15, 2011 - Hope's Buddy

 
The light-colored male with the light face spent the most time with Hope. When Lily checked on him in Hope’s arms, Hope pawed her away.  Not to be deterred, Lily shortly began pulling the cub back to her while Hope hung onto one of the forelegs.  Lily won the tug-of-war without a squawk from the cub, and the cub ended up back with her.

 
Hope wasn’t done with her little playmate.  She reached between Lily’s legs and licked and pawed the cub.  A couple minutes later, Lily had enough.  She made a quick lunge, a throaty sound, and hit Hope with her teeth.  It wasn’t a bite.  Hope didn’t squawk but immediately yawned, probably to dissipate tension.   Within a half minute, Hope bawled and began to nurse.  The video clip ends with all three nursing together with “their motors running.â€�

 
This is all so fascinating for us to watch.  We’re aware that this truly is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  There will be other den cams, but the chance of another den cam on a mixed-age litter is nil.

 Another video.  It’s pretty conclusive.  The dark-faced cub is a female, and the light-faced one is a male.  Here is a quick shot of the female February 14, 2011 - Second cub gender confirmation!  .  With gender nearly 100% certain, we soon can stop calling the cubs by their colors.  It’s time to name them.  Team Bear will begin the Official Cub Naming Contest at 11 AM EST on Thursday, February 17 for ALL of Lily’s online fans.  Stay tuned for Team Bear's details of the Contest.


Thank you for all you do.

 â€”Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

[Bobbie Ireland]

Always so thrilled to get these reports.

[Donna]

OMG, Hope really wants to take care of them. Lily say's "Back off". Hope gets annoyed. This is a great video. Thank you Kris!

[Kris G.]

I'm really glad that Hope is being good with them as reports from this summer was that she was very mean to her mother.  This is quite extraordinary to have a mixed group like this-very rare they say.  I can't believe how big the cubs are getting!! Glad you enjoyed!

[Donna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc5UioHbYts# Hope loves her siblings....maybe a bit too much! So cute.

[Donna]

The cubs have been named:

                                                               
FAITH & JASON 
 

The winner that has had the honor of naming the cubs has asked to remain anonymous and we will honor her request. She sent the following description, the insightful thoughts given to her by her seven year old grandson, for her choices. "Faith is the faith that the learning and love of the bears will go on and on and since you can't name a boy Love, Jason is the next best thing because he shows love in all he does." We extend our warmest thanks and congratulations to our winner. Thank you to all who submitted names and made it a true and wonderful experience for Lily's online family!

I sent in Meadow & Briar.

 

[Kris G.]

Love the names!  I submitted Faith and Freddy in the naming contest.

[Donna]

Love the names!  I submitted Faith and Freddy in the naming contest.

Yahoo, your good! 

[Kris G.]

Love the names!  I submitted Faith and Freddy in the naming contest.

Yahoo, your good! 

Not good, just lucky.  I figured with Hope-either Faith or Charity would be good choices to go with.  I guess Jason is the guy who does a lot for the bears and cam so they honored him.