Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Bear 188

Hi All,

We spent the morning watching and assisting with the processing of the bear trapped last night. 

It was a careful, laborious process as the staff:

Estimated the bear weight

Determined the appropriate dosage of drug to immobilize the bear

Administer the drug with a long handle syringe and waited 15 minutes for the drug to take effect

Remove the bear from the trap

Lubricate the eyes and cover the face

Weigh the bear (216#) and determine it was a male

Attach ear tags (Bear #188)

Tattoo the bear's upper lip

Fit the tracking collar

Measure the body and paws

Take blood, hair and tissue samples

Throughout this process, we monitored vital signs every ten minutes. Sandy recorded all of this data.

We then hoisted the bear back into the trap. After the drug wears off, the bear will be transported and released about 100 miles into the back country. Hopefully, he will stay away from developed areas or behave better if he comes back.

Carl took photos of the process but they cannot be shared with the public. We do have this photo of the bear on a picnic table taken last Monday.

A fascinating experience that left us feeling sad for the bear.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

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