In Maine, it is easy to brag about our bear biologists. I did some quick math and with conservative estimates, Maine's bear biologist Randy Cross has spent more than 72,000 hours studying and working with our black bears. That blows Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule out of the water. I was lucky enough to tag along with Randy and his bear crew, including Lisa Bates, as they started running their trap lines to check the health of our bears. I met Randy and two of his team mates, Preacher and Roach, as they headed out on day 3 of the 2016 trapping season. Their goal during the six week season is to collar as many females as possible while also getting the stats (weight, length, canine tooth size etc)...
Remember this guy? I was fortunate enough to meet him last March when he was a brand new black bear. I knew that our awesome bear biologist were out checking dens and sent a message to one of them asking if they had gone to King's den yet and if the cubs were there with her. My timing could not have been more perfect; they were heading to her den the next day! Using the same technology as they did the year before, they found King under a network of cedar blowdowns. She weighed in at 156lbs - four pounds heavier than she was the year before, and looked totally healthy. Last year, King had given birth to a male and female cub. Only the male cub was in the den with her this year. While the female cub could have...
I shoveled bait from a 55 gallon drum into five gallon buckets and we loaded up the truck. Eight buckets of assorted types of bait, two buckets of disgusting beaver and some secret ingredients and we were off to check the bait sites for the 2015 bear hunting season! A truck full of bait ready to go Steve and Lorri had set up the two bait sites a few days before and we were eager to see if any bears had found the sites. The monsters from last year were not killed so we knew that there would be some big bears around. We hiked into Site 2 first and carried buckets and tools in. Steve led the way and we anxiously kept peaking around the corner to see if things has been moved. They had!! We dropped the supplies and did...
