My latest obsession is watching Lily the black bear. I believe she is the first black bear in the wild to have her own web cam this winter positioned nicely in her little den. She is a 3 year old black research bear from the North American Bear Center (NABC) The NABC is dedicated to educating the public about bears and preserving the beautiful natural habitat of bears around the world. Through a generous donation to the NABC of a $4000 web cam, we are lucky enough to be able to experience firsthand a wild bear in their winter den. What’s even more amazing is that she is most likely going to have cubs ANY day now!
It’s unbelievable how many people just like myself have totally fallen for this little lady. She has over 20,000 fans on Facebook todate! Every little movement she makes we all cheer her on in the chat room . There are two places to watch the web cam one is through bear.com and the other is at Wild Earth TV You can also follow along on Facebook “Lily the Black Bear” which is a fun way to interact with other fans.
Beware if you do start watching her you might not be able to stop! I’ve read some teachers are even letting their classrooms follow along. I’ve notice that around 9 am PST she seems to be really active. The Facebook page actually has more info about Lily specifically than the website. I was able to get a couple of screenshots of Lily. One is of her empty den as she had gotten out to do what we’re not sure. But it sounded like digging or branches kind of breaking.
Then she got back into the den and pulled a lot of debris in front of the camera! To which everybody in the chatroom groaned “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Lily!” LoL The last I looked it seemed as though she somehow managed to move a little of it so hurray for her we can still see. My assumption is that when those cubs are born it’s going to need to be blocked a little more because they are born tiny and naked. There is a LOT of snow in MN right now too. Brrrr Luckily their mama has a very warm fur coat.
If you are, or become a Lily fan please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from fellow Lily lovers. 😀
Julia
Yes i been watching Lily since day 1,i love her she makes me so happy.She is the last thing i see before bed and the first thing i see when i get up. I am so excited to be part of this beautiful event.Go Lily we love you baby girl! xoxo,kelly
Great Blog Julia! I am a Lily follower too..amd watching from Northern Wisc…
Thanks for sharing your photos etc!! 🙂 Wendy
Thanks Kelly and Wendy. I can’t wait until Lily has her cubs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be close to my computer when the big event happens. So wonderful to get to know other people who are as excited about Lily as I am.
i just started watching yesterday and i cant stop…i’ve fell in love with her… i am addicted to this beautiful wild creature…and the fact that i myself live in Minnesota makes me feel that much closer to her. what an awesome experience!
Oh Lisa how lucky are you to be so close! I just read on the bear.org website that they do photo excursions during some parts of the year and you can actually get a little closer to the bears. Although I think I would rather use a really good telephoto lens. 😉
It’s funny how this bear has captured our hearts and attention isn’t it. Almost instantly it has created this connection and affection toward bears in general I think too.
Too cool!! Hi Lisa! I am excited as I love nature and has always felt bears have been misrepresented!! I to am from Minnesota and grew up in the same town Lisa did! Nonetheless, we are frightened of bears because of thier size they are frightened of us maybe cuz we wield guns and we are from the unknown! Regardless, it’s too bad we can’t just shake hands and get along! Right?
Julie I’m so jealous of you and Lisa! Being so close to the North American Bear Center you guys could actually go visit! If you do, make sure you send me some photos. I’d love to post them. I don’t know about any shaking of hands (I’m not that brave. LoL) but I’m definitely in to appreciating them and am enjoying learning more about them.
i thinlk lilly is the coolest bear i have ever known so go lilly
I couldn’t agree more Nelson. Although she’s the first bear I’ve ever kind of known other than Smokey. 🙂 Isn’t her little sweet cub adorable. I LOVE to hear her cooing. Who would of known a baby bear makes that sound when it’s content. I’m learning so much from the North American Bear Center
Just a quick update but The NABC is doing a “Name Lily’s Cub” contest and the winner will not only be the lucky person to name the cub but will also get a $500 gift certificate from Cub Foods. We don’t have Cub Foods in CA but I suppose you could always donate it to a charity there that feeds the homeless or to a food bank etc.