December 5, 2005

  Today the DNR sent two wildlife specialists to transport our two young bears to a place where they'll be released back into the wild.  Dave and Pam arrived bright and early with everything needed to get the job done.  There are quite a few things to be done before the young bears are ready to go.  First they have to be tranquilized so that neither they nor the DNR people get hurt.  Here's Dave with a needle attached to the end of a stick.  He'll jab the needle into the hind quarter of the bear which injects the sedative.  Don't be fooled by the apparent small size of the bear.  As you'll see later, it's bigger than it looks in this picture and it has some very long sharp claws.

  After the drug takes effect, it's time to measure and weigh the bear.  Pam started the measuring while Dave was getting the second one ready.

  We want to make sure that the bears are healthy before they're released so Dave draws a blood sample from each and also gives them vaccinations. 

The last thing that is done before they are loaded on the truck and transported to the release area is to put a radio tracking collar on them.  That way, the bears can be tracked using ground vehicles, airplanes, or even satellites if necessary.   We wish these two youngsters well in their new life.

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