Search Results

9b0ee37d-3803-4196-9554-d087b051f952 < Back Slide 66 of 83 < > The mothers seemed to know that the strong, rough bark on old white pines was the safest for cubs to climb.

July 22, 2022 Berry Bonanza It’s the best berry year in several years. Get out and take advantage. Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2022 6:38 pm Marshall Helmberger It appears that the area is experiencing one of the best blueberry crops in the past few years. Last year’s drought prompted many plants to kick seed production into overdrive and that means this year’s berry crop is looking plentiful. (photo by M. Helmberger) After back-to-back berry busts, it appears the summer of 2022 is headed for a berry bonanza, and that’s good news for bears and berry pickers alike. Credit last year’s drought. Just as last summer’s extreme dryness helped spark drifts of aspen fluff back in June, it also prompted many berry-producing plants— like juneberries, blueberries, and chokecherries— to kick their production into overdrive. The late spring likely helped as well, particularly with blueberries, which can often be damaged by early June frosts if they’ve flowered too soon. Cool springs help guard against that possibility by slowing the development of the plant’s flowers until the danger of hard frosts is past. This year’s juneberry crop appears to be exceptional, with many bushes practically drooping with the ripening fruit. While they may be known as juneberries, these plump, tasty berries typically don’t ripen in the North Country until July and they’re at peak ripeness right about now. Your best bet for finding a good haul of these berries is along some of the area biking and walking trails, roadsides, or field edges, where the bushes are able to get better sunlight. Ripe juneberries just waiting to be picked. (photo by M. Helmberger) Juneberries are a great picking option for folks who don’t like the bending and stooping required to pick the lowbush blueberries found in our region. You can pick juneberries standing up and I’ll often even use a ladder to get the berries that are otherwise beyond reach. Juneberries are a bit dryer than blueberries, so they’re a good addition to a blueberry pie, since they help make it a little firmer. If you’re holding out for blueberries, you can find plenty of ripe ones now, at least in the higher terrain. Blueberry bushes will grow in sun or shade, but if you want berries in any quantity, they need some sun. Around here, that means recent clearcuts (of black spruce or jack pine, especially) or rocky outcrops where trees are more scattered. Rocky outcrops can be good, when it rains. Last summer’s drought fried all the berries in the high terrain, but this year we’ve had just enough timely rain to make for nicely-plump berries. It is still a bit spotty on the outcrops this year, and I suspect that has to do with the intensity of last year’s drought. In areas with very shallow soil, which is typical of outcrops, the blueberry bushes were killed or damaged to the point where they’ll need to recover before producing any berries again. But where the berry bushes survived, this year’s production is well above average. I’ve yet to check some of my lowland blueberry spots, mostly because the berries there typically don’t ripen until late July or early August. And it’s still way too early to think about chokecherries, which I normally don’t pick until late August or September for wine making. From what I’ve seen, it looks like a bumper crop. Come mid-September, it’ll be time to check our cranberry locations. It’s been several years of lackluster production so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Picking juneberries in Soudan. (photo by M. Helmberger) The good berry year isn’t just a windfall for human pickers. According to Jessica Holmes, the new Tower DNR area wildlife manager, the number of nuisance bear complaints has fallen pretty dramatically in recent weeks. It appears the bears are finding that the living is easy when the berries are hanging plump and juicy.

Correct: Incorrect: Quiz 0 0 Putting his eggs in one basket proved fruitful for one Virginia man who purchased not one, but 20 winning lottery tickets with the same numbers. Alexandria resident Fekru Hirpo purchased 20 identical tickets, all with the four-digit combination of 2-5-2-7, from a gas station in Arlington, according to a Wednesday news release from the Virginia Lottery. The lucky winner told lottery officials he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go all in on the same ticket for the “Pick 4” game. Charles Smith won over $200,000 in the Virginia Lottery after joking to his wife about winning. He joked about winning the lottery. Then he won over $200,000 Hirpo said “he doesn’t usually play with so many tickets containing identical numbers, but something just told him to do it,” according to the news release. Each ticket won him a prize of $5,000 for a total of $100,000, according to the release. Hirpo has “no immediate plans” for his winnings, says the lottery. What bear vocalization sounds like a pulsating humming? Cubs nursing Distant pontoon boat motor 1 Wood frog singing null Unanswered Are trash containers accessible to wildlife? Yes No 2 Unanswered True False Question True False 2 null null Unanswered Is there an odor present? Yes No 2 Unanswered Are garbage receptacles always stored inside? Yes No 1 Unanswered Correct Answer will be 3 Option 1 Option 2 3 Option 3 Option 4 Unanswered If inside, in a garage for example, are the doors kept secured? Yes No 1 Unanswered If garbage is stored outside, is it in a secure building? Yes No 1 Unanswered Are the receptacles covered with strong, locking lids? Yes No 1 Unanswered Is garbage placed for pick-up the morning of service? If there is no pick-up service answer 'Yes' Yes No 1 Unanswered Are you using bear-resistant containers for all garbage and recycling? Yes No 1 Unanswered Is corn provided for deer? Yes No 2 Unanswered

COVERLY THE BEAR When Dave Coverly at Speedbump.com gave us permission to display some of his cartoons on our website in the spring of 2022, we knew we needed to repay his generosity. In the summer of 2022, one of our favorite bears showed up with three cubs in tow: two males and one female. One of the male cubs had the most distinctive chest blaze we had ever seen. We named him Coverly. Coverly continues to visit from time to time so we know he is doing well. August 21, 2022 - Coverly on the left with his siblings Carex (male) and Calla (female) August 21, 2022 - Close up of Coverly’s distinctive chest blaze May 5, 2024 – Coverly with bare face due to winter mange. He is 2 years 4 months old. October 16, 2025 – Handsome young bear almost 4 years old

435335ed-0a21-4269-8304-f04261546bb4 < Back Slide 47 of 83 < > On each piece of ground where they remain, the seed trees that are scattered across northern Minnesota represent our last hope for keeping native stock that is adapted to Minnesota conditions and for maintaining a significant presence of white pines across their native range.

2560967e-f56d-4905-bfa4-a3574bb585b1 < Back Slide 18 of 83 < > What happened was in the 1800's, good, sincere people were supplying lumber to a growing America and clearing the land for agriculture. No one knew yet that most of the land they were clearing in Minnesota was not good for agriculture. They were working hard to earning livings for their families and build a better America, and it seemed more logical to cut every tree they could rather than leave seed trees for the future.

ebf25ac9-4a3a-4581-a28e-e3b1c2637f88 BLACK BEAR DIET Interrupted Fern Osmunda claytoniana May Spring A large vase shaped fern that grows in shade to part shade in open moist woods and swamp edges. In spring, as fern fronds are erupting out of the ground, black bears bite off the fronds low, eat the stem, and drop the fiddlehead. Later, when the frond is mature, bears sometimes strip the fronds sideways through their mouth.

EAST OF EDEN "THE EDGE OF EDEN: LIVING WITH GRIZZLIES" 2007, Drama, 1h 29m Filmmakers Jeff and Sue Turner profile a Canadian named Charlie Russell, who raises orphaned bear cubs in the Russian wilderness.

e3efe49f-d284-4385-8809-17530c4fa43d < Back Slide 28 of 83 < > People began to realize the white pines that had provided a living for so long would not come back without help, so forestry agencies were created to protect and restore the forests.

27f3bfda-ae67-4f50-ab3d-5b3e36e291d7 < Back Slide 63 of 83 < > Wildlife Research Institute researchers who LIVED with wild bears observed that mother bears seemed to know every old white pine in their territories, and the mothers arranged their activities around those trees.

9d548b81-abb9-4bac-b968-c4c5598de5da The Great Bear Almanac The bears of the world are among the most studied, and most loved, of all wild creatures. From the polar bear of the Arctic to the grizzlies of Yellowstone and the black bears that roam our woodlands, bears never fail to delight the amateur naturalist or fascinate the scientific observer. Here, in a single volume, THE GREAT BEAR ALMANAC collects what is known about the world's bears, presenting in words, pictures, maps, and charts a complete factual compendium of bear knowledge. Virtually everything known about bears is touched upon in this remarkably entertaining book. Part I, "Bears in Their World," discusses where bears are found throughout the world, with notes on population estimates and detailed maps. A full section on anatomy and physiology discusses distinguishing features among bear species, details on the skull, teeth, claws and other bear parts, how well bears hear and see, and much more. Another section investigates hibernation, intelligence, feeding, play, and other behavioral traits. Part II, "Bears in the Human World," examines the wide range of ways in which bears and human beings intersect: bears in myth and religion, in art, literature, and film, and above all, in real life - bear attacks, human encroachment on bear habitat, governmental regulations on bears, trafficking in bear parts by poachers, a summary of current bear research, and much more. A concluding chapter looks at future prospects for the bears of the world, and offers guidelines for how all those who admire bears can help protect these great and majestic creatures. Gary Brown July 1, 1993 330 Pages:

5f072201-6131-46b8-8dd6-3bffefb68b8b AMERICAN BLACK BEAR Back General Description: This medium-sized bear is usually black with a brown muzzle, lacks a shoulder hump, and often has a white patch on the chest. Distribution: American black bears can be found on most of the North American continent Habitat: Forests of coniferous and deciduous trees, as well as open alpine habitats where there are no brown bears Diet: Black bears are omnivorous with 85% of its diet from vegetation Population: 750,000 Length: 4.5 to 6 feet Height: 3 feet Weight: Males: 130 to 660 pounds, Females: 90 to 175 pounds Geographic Range