Lily and Hope's den proves to be a tight fit

ELY - On Thursday Hope, the famous black bear cub in Ely, turned three months old.  FOX 21 went with Bear Biologist Lynn Rogers earlier in the week to check on Hope and her mother, Lily.  Rogers also took FOX 21 to the den seen around the world via the internet when Lily gave birth to Hope in January.

"Oh boy, you're close," said Rogers, waving a tracking device in his hand.  It was Monday afternoon in Ely and Rogers went to check on Lily and Hope, using the device to locate Lily's radio-collar.

"I see you," said Rogers, catching a glimpse of Lily through the dense woods.

The bears have been out of their den since March 30th, two months after Lily gave birth to Hope in front of thousands of people watching online.

"I will give you a treat if you let me take your heart rate," said Rogers to Lily.  He had a hand full of nuts which interested Lily.  "This bear completely trusts me," Rogers said.  He put a radio–collar on Lily to track her and learn from her. She and Hope are now a few miles away from their den, living near white pine trees.  He explained such trees are easy for Hope to climb, if she feels threatened.  On this day, Hope is no where to be found, but Lily came to Rogers, tolerating his stethoscope examination.  He found Lily's heartrate was 68 beats per minute, which indicates she's a very calm bear.  Rogers says Lily has been foraging after losing 40–percent of her body weight during the winter, nursing her newborn cub.

The branches and leaves crackle under Rogers steps through the woods to Lily and Hope's former den.  Fox 21 followed him to capture video of the place 90,000 people watched every day to see the bears during their hibernation.  He said the two will likely never return to it.  Lily didn't build it, she found it.  Rogers said other bears may use it in the future.  He removed the web–camera Sunday, after gaining priceless information.

As for the den itself, it's relatively small, measuring four feet by four feet, maybe two feet deep.  It was a tight fit for Lily when she went in.  "She was probably two and a quarter [pounds], maybe a little more going in," said Rogers.  "Coming out, she's probably oh 140 or so."  Rogers said Hope weighed only about one pound.  And its those kind of details that a BBC crew is hoping will sell their three–part documentary on Rogers and the bears of Ely.

"He's done with black bears what Jane Goodall did with chimps and Diane Fossee did with gorillas," said Ted Oakes, producer for the series.  It's entitled "Bearwalkers".  It's set to air in the U.S. next spring.  "We've been following the bears' story for three years," said Oakes.  "What we're seeing is behavior from the bears and insights into the bears' lives that no one has ever seen before and been able to film.  Minnesota is pioneering ways to live alongside some of these big animals."

Online fans of Lily catapulted Ely to the top of the list in a contest searching out the "Coolest Small Town in America".  (www.budgettravel.com)  Ely leads the other towns by 40,000 votes.  Ely is expecting up to 400 people for a weekend celebration in Lily's honor July 30th through August 1st.