Lily and Hope fine as Lilypad Picnic draws near

Lily and Hope fine as Lilypad Picnic draws near

July 26, 2010 – 10:25 PM CDT

Lily and Hope are together and doing fine.  Hope is cute as ever running to keep up with Lily.  Today was a day of replacing Lily’s GPS unit, checking on June, taking heart rates of Juliet’s cubs (Boy’s was 140, and Sharon’s was 138), and, at dark, replacing the GPS unit in Braveheart’s collar.  Data continues to flow into the computers from the GPS units on 8 of the research bears.

The Lilypad Picnic, which once seemed far in the future, is nearly upon us.  Folks are beginning to arrive in town and excitement is building.  We have been too busy to think much about the picnic, but we’re beginning to get caught up in the excitement too.  We look forward to meeting many of the Lily and Hope fans this weekend.  Fans unable to attend the picnic are busy planning regional celebrations and an online picnic on the Lily the Black Bear Facebook page.  The creativity among the Lily and Hope fans is impressive!

Thank you to the donor of the new stethoscope (for taking heart rates) and for the many contributions that came in today.  Thank you also for your enthusiastic response to the classroom education project, including curricula for field trips and outdoor learning centers.  There is so much talent out there in Lily Land, and you are harnessing it to help bears.  We thank you on behalf of the bears and feel humbled and overwhelmed by what your passion for bears is accomplishing.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center