First, the Den Cam. When Jim Stroner and Lynn trekked to the den today, Sue stayed back so Lily would have one less body to keep track of. As it turned out, snowfall overnight made back roads impassable for driving. Lynn and Jim weren’t dressed for miles of snowmobiling but had to continue. Waiting would make things harder with another snowfall in the forecast. Lynn hunkered down behind Jim on the snowmobile as Jim whizzed along in billowing snow in a beautiful but cold landscape. Three miles down the road, Jim’s eyelashes iced up so he couldn’t see. He thawed them out, and they continued. On an off road trail, branches drooped low under the heavy snow. Moving the branches slowed travel to a crawl and got the snowmobile stuck.
At the shed, they were doubly glad they came. Yesterday’s freezing rain and snow had covered the solar panels, making them useless. An hour of scraping got them going again.
Eventually, Jim and Lynn arrived at the den to find Lily much calmer than she was yesterday. She recognized Lynn’s voice and attire. She came out and sniffed his head for confirmation. Lynn gave her a handful of grapes so she would ignore him and Jim as Lynn adjusted the Den Cam and Jim attached the Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera to an ash tree 10-15 feet away. Engineers at PixController in Pennsylvania tried manipulating the PTZ camera remotely and realized a wire loosened during transport and needs to be re-attached before the camera can be controlled. Meanwhile, they will be building a low-power amplifier to supply “Phantom Power” to the microphone for louder sound. We hope the sound is full strength before the anticipated birth in a couple weeks.
Jim and Lynn said their usual thank you to Lily and left. Lily went back in her den and snuggled down by Hope. Back at the Research Center, we all could see the Den Cam needs further adjustment. Now that we can see how far back in the den the bears sleep, we can move it closer and slightly left during our next visit to the den.
Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield
Lily peeks out
