Newsletter

Spring 2001: Notes from Great Lakes

Going on a Bear Hunt . . . !
By Rolf Bouma

Going on a bear hunt … through a cedar swamp … in the middle of January … following a radio signal! That was the experience of the twenty-six students in the January 2001 Winter Ecology and Environmental Ethics classes and their professors, Chris Newhouse and Rolf Bouma. Led by wildlife biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and two local conservation officers, we trekked via snowshoes to a bear den where a five year-old female and her two yearlings hibernated for the winter.

The field trip was arranged by Larry Visser, DNR wildlife biologist and father of Environmental Ethics student Joel Visser of Calvin College. The DNR is in the last year of a long-term study of black bear in Michigan. As bears extend their range further south in Michigan, the DNR study gathers scientific data for effective management.

One radio-collared bear conveniently wintered her family in a cedar swamp less than fifteen minutes from the Au Sable campus. Rendezvousing in the early morning light, the students and wildlife workers located the nearest road access to the cedar swamp. Picking our way over fallen logs and around balsam fir and red cedar, the Au Sable contingent walked a short ways into the swamp, then waited while DNR officials went ahead to locate the den and tranquilize the bears.

The popular perception of ursine hibernation imagines a winter-long, deep sleep. Bears actually spend the majority of wintertime awake, albeit in a metabolically-slowed state. In this instance, the mother bear was conscious, but sufficiently lethargic that she allowed herself to be tranquilized along with her cubs. On signal that all was ready, the students then moved ahead and were able to glimpse the three bears huddled in their den beneath a fallen cedar tree. The DNR biologists then removed the bears from the den, placing them on mats prior to taking measurements. The two yearlings weighed 60-65 lbs., and the mother 170 lbs.

The DNR was uncertain how many bears they would find wintering in the den. Last summer they had attempted to join an orphaned cub to this particular family group, but the absence of a third yearling meant that the blended-family experiment had failed. Whatever tragedy had claimed the cub's mother -- most likely collision with an automobile -- ultimately claimed the cub as well.

For students from the Winter Biology course, the excursion provided field confirmation of biological techniques for surviving the winter cold. Larry Visser also explained the variety of territorial behaviors found in Michigan black bears. While this particular family group ranges widely, other bears have a narrower range, staying within a few square miles year after year.

For students from the Environmental Ethics course, the venture afforded an opportunity to reflect on the character of Christian environmental stewardship. Management of wildlife is unavoidable, but the goals of management are shaped by our convictions. Christians embrace the responsibility to keep the human presence on the landscape a blessing by maintaining suitable habitat and allowing sufficient space so that others of God's creatures may flourish.

Rolf Bouma is a professor of Environmental Ethics and Ecological Issues in Science and Religion at Au Sable-Great Lakes. He is currently pastor of Hope Church in Framingham, MA, and is completing his doctoral dissertation at Boston University on the topic of Biotechnology and Natural Law in a Theology of Nature.

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