Second Bear Capture! Sunday, 1 July
We decided that the ox wasn't in the mire, but a bear may be in the trap, so we stayed one extra day in hopes of catching another bear. It was well worth the wait. Besides, by Sunday we had quite a crowd of people out there: another former grad student and friend from NM, Hal's wife, daughter, and daughter's boss.
The bear looked like another small one, so Hal dosed it for 100 lbs.
Once again, when it was pulled from the trap, we realized it was bigger than anticipated. We gave it an additional dose of drugs to keep it asleep. We were happy to find out it was a female, large enough to be fitted with a radio collar.
Here are Josh and Larisa weighing the bear--she was 140 pounds, rather skinny. Hopefully she will put on a lot more weight in the fall.
Front feet
The bear looked like another small one, so Hal dosed it for 100 lbs.
Once again, when it was pulled from the trap, we realized it was bigger than anticipated. We gave it an additional dose of drugs to keep it asleep. We were happy to find out it was a female, large enough to be fitted with a radio collar.
This bear got everything: a radio collar, ear tags, measurements taken, a tooth pulled for aging, and a hair dye job (as requested by other BYU researchers who are analyzing bear diet through hair analysis).
She had previously broken a canine. We extracted a small premolar to send to Matson's Lab for age determination. Bear teeth have rings on them (like trees) and a cross section of a tooth reveals how old a bear is.
Here are Josh and Larisa weighing the bear--she was 140 pounds, rather skinny. Hopefully she will put on a lot more weight in the fall.
We shaved an area of fur, dyed it, and then dyed the long hair next to it to see if growth rate of hair can be determined. This bear will be visited in her den in early November when the growth will be measured.
Front feet
Hal named the bear "Linda" after Linda who is pictured here in the pink shirt. They shared the same hair color.
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