Bear News – MID OCTOBER 2025

October News

Bear weights: Lucky 470, Tasha 375, Holly 315

Hibernation is upon us. Where will each of our bears end their season? Will Lucky hibernate with Holly? The

question that is always interesting is, where will Tasha den? These questions are fun for us to watch as each day

there is a new episode of “Bears of our Lives”. This past weekend I sent Macy a note saying, “Don’t be surprised if

Holly moves to Den 3”. A short time later she did just that,  while online viewers watched and became upset, and felt

bad for Tasha. Tasha has not yet settled. It is not unusual for Holly to change. This is typical behavior from the

matriarch. The bears have six nice dens to choose from. Let’s hope they each pick a nice one. There are actually

eight total dens but one is not usable. The den behind the falls is not usable due to water.

I mentioned Lucky might move in with Holly. With the exception of a squabble here and there over food. They have

been snuzzling each other. Lucky’s need to dominate over the food is again very normal for this time of year.

Why is he pressing himself to eat more now and not in August? What most people do not see is that the wild bears

are doing the same thing. Bears eat until it’s their hibernation time. Large overweight male bears head for dens

around late September. Females that may give birth go into the den at the beginning of September. Females with

first year cubs (COY) cubs of the year, along with yearlings and some sub-adults hold out until all food is gone and

the snow is falling. The females with cubs spend time napping while their well-rounded cubs continue to eat. This is

behavior I’ve seen many times.

At the bear center Lucky and Holly are both picky eaters. Both of these bears are busy all summer, playing,

swimming, climbing, spending forest time away from each other. They eat and forage as needed. Tasha is different,

she plays on the occasion that Holly is in the mood. Or her version of running for her life (haha). Tasha is not a picky

eater and prefers to be in an enclosure to receive her meals. All bears know that they get the prime good treats in

the viewing area. Tasha the cookie enrichment swing and the stand-up feeder. This is where all the Amazon Wishlist

treats go and also in their enrichment toys. We do not waste any type of enrichment food.

What is the difference in the titles we give to bears? Such as what and who is the matriarch? At the Bear Center

Holly is the matriarch. This means she owns the 2.5 acres and Lucky and Tasha are intruders that she tolerates.

Female bears hold territories while males have ranges. In Ely an adult female can exceed a home range of over six

square miles and a male has a range that may encompass five or more female territories https://bear.org/bear-facts/

quick-black-bear-facts/. Core Home Range Diameter: Typically: Yearlings: 1-2 miles. Adult females: 2-6 miles. Adult

males: 8-15 miles. Excursions to 126 miles recorded. Words used, COY-cub of the year, yearling-12-24 months,

sub-adult 2-3, adults 4 and over. An adult female is a bear over four years old. Females may be considered sexually

mature after the age of 4 but in some regions 6 to 8. Males are considered sexually mature at the ages of 3 – 4 but

usually do not mate until they are 8-10 years old.

It’s been a great season. The bears thank you for watching them on the cams, visiting at the center and donating

their favorite treats from our Amazon WishList. If you’d like to do something special for the bears, please visit the

wishlist as noted before. It’s a great present for them when they wake up from hibernation.

Thank you for all you do,

Sharon Herrell, Sr. Bear Keeper

Da bears, Lucky, Holly, Tasha