Rosie: Mother of Generations
So many of us fell in love with Rosie. She was a bad bear gone straight. She got her name because she sported two rose coloured ear tags. In Yellowstone N.P. bears that get into trouble by begging for food, entering campground or other inappropriate behaviour get tagged as the first step. (You can guess what the final step is.) I do not know when she was captured and tagged. However she became a very well behaved bear after that. Because she hung out around Tower Falls area she was very visible to passing visitors and photographers. She soon became a favourite with everyone. (See page 163 for main mention but see also images on 43, 46, 152 & 168,)
But wait there is more!
Rosie was a great mother and raised several sets of cubs. The first set in 2004 consisted of two cubs (pictured below). One black and one brown. Somebody started calling them Yogi and Boo Boo. (One died but the other survived.)
Rosie was killed after a battle with a male bear several years later. However many of her daughters and granddaughters still live in her old territory along the Tower Road. It is likely that if you see a sow there it is Rosie's great, great, great granddaughter. As far as I know they are all pretty well behaved bears. (Her sons, grandsons and so on do not share her former territory and travel far and wide looking for their own space.)
As I've worked on other books and videos I've noticed a trend whether it is with coyotes, bears, wolves or other species that have adapted to living with people. When animals learn to live with people successfully they pass those lessons on to their offspring. Deer that live in the Greater Riverwood Ecosystem, for example, tolerate people and do not flee when they encounter them.
Some terms to think about:
Wild: Avoid people where they can. Seeing a truly wild bear is difficult. Even a species we think as common and easy to see can behave completely different in the wilderness. Try photographing a robin the next time you are on a canoe trip up north.
Tolerant: Animals that are still wild and independent of human interactions (i.e. not fed). Generally wildlife that tolerate humans are well behaved (those that are not are usually removed from the population). Italy's brown bears are a great example. These bears live in the mountains, their range surrounded by people. They are tolerant of people and with one exception there have been no problems. There are many places where bears are well managed and have learned to tolerate and live with people (Whistler B.C., Yellowstone and Grand Tetons N.P. WY, Alligator National Wildlife Refuge, NC.). The book suggests several areas where Bear Aware-type programs have let to positive environments where bears and people co-exist.
Habituated: Animals that continue about their lives with very little concern about people or dogs. Squirrels are a good example along with Cooper's hawk (at least in Mississauga). Some feeding may impact this process. Habituated animals that expect to fed can become a problem. Bird feeding is not a major concern but feeding raccoons, coyotes, bears, deer and so on can lead to some serious conflicts. The old adage "A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear" can be applied to others: "A Fed Coyote is a Dead Coyote" for example.
Domesticated: Animals that rely on people and have their behaviour altered (dogs, cats, cattle, horses).
Slide show of Rosie, Yogi and Boo Boo.
So many of us fell in love with Rosie. She was a bad bear gone straight. She got her name because she sported two rose coloured ear tags. In Yellowstone N.P. bears that get into trouble by begging for food, entering campground or other inappropriate behaviour get tagged as the first step. (You can guess what the final step is.) I do not know when she was captured and tagged. However she became a very well behaved bear after that. Because she hung out around Tower Falls area she was very visible to passing visitors and photographers. She soon became a favourite with everyone. (See page 163 for main mention but see also images on 43, 46, 152 & 168,)
But wait there is more!
Rosie was a great mother and raised several sets of cubs. The first set in 2004 consisted of two cubs (pictured below). One black and one brown. Somebody started calling them Yogi and Boo Boo. (One died but the other survived.)
Rosie was killed after a battle with a male bear several years later. However many of her daughters and granddaughters still live in her old territory along the Tower Road. It is likely that if you see a sow there it is Rosie's great, great, great granddaughter. As far as I know they are all pretty well behaved bears. (Her sons, grandsons and so on do not share her former territory and travel far and wide looking for their own space.)
As I've worked on other books and videos I've noticed a trend whether it is with coyotes, bears, wolves or other species that have adapted to living with people. When animals learn to live with people successfully they pass those lessons on to their offspring. Deer that live in the Greater Riverwood Ecosystem, for example, tolerate people and do not flee when they encounter them.
Some terms to think about:
Wild: Avoid people where they can. Seeing a truly wild bear is difficult. Even a species we think as common and easy to see can behave completely different in the wilderness. Try photographing a robin the next time you are on a canoe trip up north.
Tolerant: Animals that are still wild and independent of human interactions (i.e. not fed). Generally wildlife that tolerate humans are well behaved (those that are not are usually removed from the population). Italy's brown bears are a great example. These bears live in the mountains, their range surrounded by people. They are tolerant of people and with one exception there have been no problems. There are many places where bears are well managed and have learned to tolerate and live with people (Whistler B.C., Yellowstone and Grand Tetons N.P. WY, Alligator National Wildlife Refuge, NC.). The book suggests several areas where Bear Aware-type programs have let to positive environments where bears and people co-exist.
Habituated: Animals that continue about their lives with very little concern about people or dogs. Squirrels are a good example along with Cooper's hawk (at least in Mississauga). Some feeding may impact this process. Habituated animals that expect to fed can become a problem. Bird feeding is not a major concern but feeding raccoons, coyotes, bears, deer and so on can lead to some serious conflicts. The old adage "A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear" can be applied to others: "A Fed Coyote is a Dead Coyote" for example.
Domesticated: Animals that rely on people and have their behaviour altered (dogs, cats, cattle, horses).
Slide show of Rosie, Yogi and Boo Boo.