Inside a bear den with Lily, Hope and the newborn cubs

I wanted to give a quick post while I'm listening to the lovely motor hum of contented bear cubs in a winter den in Minnesota. In my last post I mentioned all the stuff we were doing and happened to mention how we are again using the live den cam with bears Lily & Hope in our studies this year.

Here's our story of watching bears in their den.
Last year this time we were told through other homeschoolers about this live webcam inside a bear's den in Minnesota. The bears name was Lily and she's part of a research study, which you can read about in much more detail on their website, Lily was going to give birth and it was a great educational opportunity to see what bear's did in the winter den while hibernating. In Lily's case she wasn't going to be getting a lot of sleep because she gave birth to one cub (later named Hope), our son got to see this very tiny (the size of a kitten) newborn cub and how Lily took care of her. My experience of watching Lily give birth was nerve-wracking to say the least but the end result was magical for both my son and myself and even Dad got in the mix once in awhile.

One of my all time favorite pictures of Lily and Hope last year after they left their den

So, we hibernated last winter with new mom Lily and Hope and this year Lily has just given birth to two more cubs and Hope is still there with her.
Our son was so excited yesterday when, while we were watching live, we got the chance (our live first one) to see the new cubs! Okay, mommy was too!

The researchers are learning so much and we are learning right along with them, you can't beat this kind of exposure to wild animals in their own habitat's without real interference from us. You can't beat seeing a mommy bear's love with her cubs and just how well she takes care of them in the freezing cold.
Once again this year we are studying bears in the wild while having a window open to a live camera and microphone into a bear's den, listening to newborn cubs nurse, scream and so on. Sometimes we have to turn the sound down or the neighbors might call the police....but we are loving it.
I love homeschooling! From New Jersey I can show our son the living wild world way out in Minnesota.
How cool is that?!

And.....you can too..........
Visit Lily, Hope and cubbies at:  http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html and while you are there take a look at all the website has to offer at North American Bear Center . You will find plenty of information, correct information, on bears in general and even more for teaching about them.
The story is amazing, the research is unbelievable. I warn you now that it is addictive and exciting. And Lily & Hope will capture your heart......so will the two darling new cubs. Our son has named them Rocko and Bruce....with a possible Susie if one is a girl like we think. Not sure which of the boys names will be given up just yet.


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