Bear Denning in Maine

During college in Maine, I assisted the ME Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) with "bear denning". Essentially, "bear denning" involves locating a sow bear and cubs during winter to outfit the sow with a radio collar/assess the condition of the sow and cubs. Morphometric measurements (various weights and lenths) are recorded after the sow is anesthetized with a jab pole or dart projector. Not sure why the first picture got distorted but this is me with the sow. The bandana by my knee is what we used as a blindfold to reduce stress and limit the amount of debris that might enter her eyes. She had a litter of 4 cubs. Talk about HEALTHY reproductive rate!

Bear Den - Some bears make a sort of "nest" out of branches on top of the ground like the one below by scraping the small limbs off of trees.