Hello everyone! It has been some time since my last post. Grinder and Coola have been sleeping well for the past months but are now showing signs of coming out of dormancy.
As the days grow longer and the temperatures warm up to above zero degrees Celcius, the activity level of the bears also increases. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the bears are active all winter long to some degree. This motion and movement keeps their muscles and bones strong for when they emerge in the spring.
Their increased activity includes eating snow, digging in the snow and spending longer periods of time outside of the den. The digging and eating behaviors indicate that they are seeing if there is any food to be found under the snow. Eating snow is also one of the first steps in helping their metabolism "re-activate" for normal digestion.
Very soon now, most likely in the next few days, we will begin to feed the bears leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce. In the wild an emerging bear's favourite foods are skunk cabbage leaves and grasses. The lettuce serves as a replicate for these spring time food sources. After a couple weeks of greens we will begin to introduce other foods, such as fruits and protein sources, back into their diet.
Be sure to watch here for more details as the end of hibernation approaches! I will provide regular updates.
