The Neonatals (Part 3) - And Then They Were Gone

Three weeks had passed since Lina was placed with her foster mom in the Big South Fork. Though it was a treat to care for her siblings, Caro and Newbern, fears began to arise as to what we would do with the cubs if no foster mothers could be found. Habituation is a slow death sentence for a wild bear and life in a cage or behind a fence would be no life at all. I shuddered to think about those options. A mom had to be found.

Our hopes resided in Dr. Pelton, a renowned black bear researcher based out of the University of Tennessee. He had, at the time, the longest ongoing black bear research project in the nation. What this equated to was radio collared bears. They were out there, they just needed to be found.

Finding a bear in a den would not be

possible without a tracking collar.

Finding a collared bear is very much an art form in itself. Though one can be taught the intricacies of the method, the more you do it the better you become. Working the equipment, reading maps and terrain, putting boots to the ground, and having a deep understanding of bear behavior are the beginning bare essentials for radio-tracking a black bear. Thankfully Dr. Pelton employed a cadre of grad students who earned their keep doing such tasks.

How are collared bears located?

Finding a radio collar is sometimes as much art as it is science.

***Warning - Teaching Moment!***
The collar sends out a "ping" that corresponds to the frequency of that particular collar. The tracking equipment itself consists of a receiver and an antenna. Think of it simply as a listening device. That device provides you with two key pieces of information, distance and direction. This is where the "art" of tracking comes into play for there is no direct measure. Rather the distance is gauged by the strength of the signal coming out of the receiver, or how loud the ping sounds. The closer one gets to the collar obviously the louder it pings. The direction, on the other hand, is provided by the antenna. The strength of the signal is dependent upon the orientation of the antenna, or which way it's pointing. Picture yourself on the peak of a mountain and you hear a faint ping with the antenna facing east. You turn the antenna southward and the ping disappears, northward and it disappears again. The antenna just revealed the signal is coming due east.

Now there's a bunch of other neat little tricks (such as triangulation or using an airplane!) but for the most part, with the right equipment, you're able to "hone-in" on the collars. Sounds easy?

Okay...now go find the collar. Oh and by the way, it's liable to be somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee or North Carolina.

Now you can see why we wait with bated breath to find a suitable mom.

And it doesn't stop there, once you find the bear tucked snuggly away in their winters den, we need to make sure she is healthy and has cubs of her own.

It is a mighty tall order to fill… Thankfully we had one of the best in the world working on it.

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The call came and the waiting game was finally over.

Bitter sweetness.

Two viable females had been found and their dens had been marked. Though they were miles apart they were inextricably linked, or at least they would be soon.

University of TN researchers"working up" a female.

Working up a bear at the den site is an exhaustive effort, it takes manpower. Usually the female is extracted from the den to make data collection easier. This is of course provided the den is on the ground. Should the den be located high up in a hollowed-out tree then one lucky researcher climbs the tree while the others assist, mostly with manning ropes and equipment. This task is usually reserved for the smallest and lightest (and least fearful of heights!) of the group. I am still undecided if I should have damned or thanked those wonderful childhood Snickers, for I was undoubtedly ruled out. In retrospect, a part of me sought the thrill of sticking my head into the crevice of a dark and hollowed tree while peering down upon a slumbering bear. Then again, the other part of me says, "Thank God I didn't have to stick my head into the crevice of a dark crevice of a dark and hollowed tree while peering down upon a slumbering bear!"

But I sure did love watching others do it! (Hehe)

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for us, both dens were on the ground and fairly simple to access. The plan, therefore, was to foster Newbern the first day followed by Caro the next. 

Very much like Lina's release day, Newbern's and Caro's releases went off without a hitch. As one could imagine, the weekend in which the two cubs were released went by way too fast and all that lingers are memories and a few scant pics.

Caro's last bottle ever...and then the squawling began!

The one vivid memory I have from Caro's release was the fact that Caro was quite unhappy about being fed only once that morning. This caused her to bawl for a good part of the hike. I had slipped her inside the front pocket of my jacket and would occasionally provide her my finger to suckle, much like a pacifier, in an attempt to keep her quiet. It rarely lasted long. She was one unhappy cub.

While we were ascending the ridge to where her foster mom awaited, our lead researcher, Jay, became a little disoriented since he had approached the den from the opposite side of the mountain a few days prior. In other words, he was having trouble locating the den. In the meantime, I had finally managed to soothe Caro into a momentary hiatus from squalling. This was when Jay grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear...

"Keep the cub quiet..."

"...the bear den is right behind you."

At that exact point in time my mind immediately began painting a picture of six guys standing in a rough circle playing "hot potato" with a distressed bear cub.

If this scenario does not make much sense, try this...picture standing a few feet away from a mama bear with a bevy of cubs, suddenly one of her cubs begins bawling inconsolably while you stand but a mere few feet away.... "holding it".

My buttocks finally unclenched when I had eased my way back down out of immediate earshot of the den.

From that point on, everything went smoothly and Caro had a new mom.

Looking back, reflection on these once-in-a-lifetime experiences continues to humble and amaze me. They also provide me with great joy. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that few reading this story have ever experienced something similar. If only you could see through my minds eye what I have seen I would gladly share those experiences for they are much to priceless to horde.

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As you can tell I can not help but stray in my writings as I try to educate whenever possible. Not all stories and life lessons are meant to end with an incredible triumph or a heart breaking loss. They ALL, however, inform... whether its new or reinforced information. Hopefully my writings make the acquisition of knowledge a wee bit more fun.