0:00:33 > 0:00:37'When I was little, everything I heard about black bears was scary.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44'Today, they're still one of the most feared animals in North America.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:49It's me, bear.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50It's me.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52'My name is Lynn Rogers.
0:00:52 > 0:00:58'I've studied black bears for over 40 years. And during that time,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'my view of bears has totally changed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:16'This might look dangerous, but I've developed a way of working with wild bears based on trust.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25'And this bear, June, is the most remarkable bear I've ever known.'
0:01:31 > 0:01:38With her yearling cubs, she's revealing more about bears than I ever dreamed possible.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43She's teaching me how black bears think.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45How they survive.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49And why we've misjudged them.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56The trouble is, she's not safe in these woods.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03Over the next 12 months I'll be walking with June through the Northwoods...
0:02:04 > 0:02:08..torn between the excitement of learning about her life
0:02:10 > 0:02:13and my fear of losing her.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35- I'm lucky to live in what- I- think is the most beautiful place in North America.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37The Northwoods of Minnesota.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43It's my favourite season, spring.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Bears all over the forest are coming out of their dens.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58June and her year-old cubs are already up and out.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05But her sister, Juliet, is still underground.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15And that's because she's given birth to new cubs.
0:03:17 > 0:03:25Like little monkeys, the first thing cubs do is practise climbing, their most important survival skill.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Everyone warns you never to go near a mother bear with cubs.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47So what I'm about to do, most people would consider crazy.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51It's me, bear. It's me, me...
0:04:00 > 0:04:02OK, it's a picture day.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08BEAR GROWLS
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Are you happy to see me?
0:04:23 > 0:04:29She's not a mean bear, she's just a nervous bear, but she'll calm down.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Juliet trusts me. She's just worried about the extra camera.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45She'll do that ritualised display and then settle down.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Like if I wanted to... here...
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Here she was slapping and looking really ferocious
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and then she'll just, gently with her tongue, take things from my hand.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00She understands the programme, I can pet her.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05But if...
0:05:05 > 0:05:12she doesn't understand what's going on then she gets nervous, then we see the slapping.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14So, she's more relaxed...
0:05:14 > 0:05:16she's laying her head on her paw...
0:05:16 > 0:05:19got her eyes closed.
0:05:19 > 0:05:26Kind of understands the situation so now she can settle down and do her regular stuff.
0:05:26 > 0:05:32Getting this close is the only way I can learn about bears as individuals.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38It's amazing the difference in personalities among bears and you can even see it as cubs.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44This one with the light face
0:05:44 > 0:05:47is braver, more adventuresome.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54We've named the cubs David, Mimi, and Tia the light-faced one.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00In this situation a grizzly bear mother might attack,
0:06:00 > 0:06:05but I don't know of anyone killed by a black bear defending cubs.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15And moments like this make me think other assumptions about black bears could be wrong.
0:06:19 > 0:06:25Like most people in North America, I grew up with scary images of bears.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26GROWLING
0:06:26 > 0:06:32The hunting magazines I saw as a kid showed black bears attacking humans.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41These pictures were drawn by artists who apparently knew little about bears.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43But they haunted me for years.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52Eventually, my fear turned to fascination and I became a bear biologist.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56When I started out in the late Sixties
0:06:56 > 0:07:00no-one believed we could observe natural behaviour.
0:07:02 > 0:07:09Like everyone else, my wife, Donna, and I thought our only option was to work with tranquilized bears.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18But except for these brief moments when we fit radio collars,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22we seldom saw the animals we supposedly were studying.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31After years, all we had were dots on maps.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38There had to be a better way.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53I've always loved nature.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59As a kid, I gained the trust of animals by feeding them.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It never occurred to me to do the same with bears.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10I'd always been told feeding bears would make them aggressive.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20But I felt that a little food could build trust and open a whole new world.
0:08:24 > 0:08:30I began to experiment, getting bears to associate my voice with food.
0:08:32 > 0:08:39At first I was nervous, but gradually some learned to trust me, and me them.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47And June has taken this trust further than I'd ever thought possible.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58I've known her since she was a year old.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Last year she had three cubs.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07This year I want to find out how those yearlings become independent.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It's April 21st.
0:09:15 > 0:09:22Sue Mansfield, my field researcher, and I, are homing in on June and her yearlings.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Boy, when they are moving it's really hard to pin 'em down.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Something interesting, that shadow is moving...
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Aha!
0:09:37 > 0:09:39And there's a bunch of shadows.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Yeah, here they are.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47It's me, bear.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Sue's going to help me do something that nobody else in the world will do.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58'We're going to put a radio collar on a wild bear, but we're not going to tranquilize it first.'
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Where's your little ones, huh?
0:10:06 > 0:10:07OK, Lily.
0:10:09 > 0:10:16Our scheme is to use trust and treats instead of tranquilizers.
0:10:16 > 0:10:24So the treat today will be many nuts, more nuts than they ever saw in their life.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27And we hope that they're distracted enough
0:10:27 > 0:10:31that she won't mind when I put the radio collar on her.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35I think that's good.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41It will take Lily a little while to get used to the collar
0:10:41 > 0:10:45but then it will be just like wearing a watch or something.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51The purpose of that radio collar on this yearling and this family is to see how she will relate to
0:10:51 > 0:10:55her mother after family break-up, which will happen in about a month.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Black bear mothers stay with their cubs for more than a year.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06And then the family splits up. But we've never seen how that happens.
0:11:09 > 0:11:17Not to act like a proud parent or anything, but this family of bears is providing more information
0:11:17 > 0:11:21about bear biology than any bear in the world ever has.
0:11:23 > 0:11:30It's just amazing, the relationship that Sue and I have with this family
0:11:30 > 0:11:33opens the door to stuff we didn't believe was possible.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Our study site borders Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00It's the largest wilderness in the Eastern United States.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07So it's a great place to study natural behaviour of bears.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13But in these vast forests it's hard to find them.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Even with a radio collar, it can take hours to find a bear.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Through the trees I'm lucky to pick up a bear's signal from two miles away.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39But from a hill, it's more like five.
0:12:43 > 0:12:49Sometimes a bear like June can roam up to fifty miles.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53When that happens the only way to find her is to fly.
0:13:06 > 0:13:14But for most of the year she lives in a small territory, which she knows like the back of her paw.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22Once we catch up with her on the ground we greet her with a handful of nuts.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Then she'll ignore us and allow us to follow her family for the rest of the day.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Bears only have five months to fatten up for hibernation.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41From the time "green-up" begins in May, they're obsessed with food.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47New shoots are packed with easily digested nutrients.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52When it's warmer they can hit their favourite food - ant larvae.
0:13:54 > 0:14:02Like anteaters, they have long sticky tongues, powerful claws and great strength.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Not to tear people limb from limb,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08but to rip open logs and turn over rocks.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15It's May 15th.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21June and her family are wandering along the western edge of their territory.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24They're curious about a hunting stand.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35The irony is, today it's a playground.
0:14:36 > 0:14:42Come September, when it's bear hunting season, this could be a deadly place.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59By late May it's getting warmer.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02June and her family are shedding their winter coats.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09And they spend a lot of time trying to get rid of their underfur.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40One thing we've discovered is how much bears play.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44For an animal that is stuck underground for seven months,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46play must be a fun way to get strong again.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Not only does it show how intelligent they are, it's great to watch.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03I try not to get involved.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36Having three energetic yearlings has got to be a handful for June.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43And I have to keep up with them because I want to
0:16:43 > 0:16:46see how June's relationship with her yearlings will end.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04This is mother and daughter.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07June is seven.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Lily is almost one and a half.
0:17:12 > 0:17:19And close as these bears are today, tomorrow she could be chasing them away and saying,
0:17:19 > 0:17:20"Don't come near me."
0:17:22 > 0:17:26While they're together it seems to be a very deep bond.
0:17:33 > 0:17:41We put a collar on Lily so we could see how she relates to June after they split.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Lily is a special bear too, but
0:17:43 > 0:17:47it's hard to say at this point if she'll match June.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54Whoa, see some sound, not ours, but some other sound really alerts them.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56That was just Bud coming back.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Hi, Bud.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01They sniff, they greet,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04identify each other, everything's calm.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11I've watched bears in the woods for thousands of hours now.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I never get bored of it.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19The trouble is I'm learning enough that it's harder to answer questions.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26I thought I knew a lot, but as I see all the variability I realise how little I know.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29I'm just scratching the surface...
0:18:29 > 0:18:30and that's after 41 years.
0:18:33 > 0:18:41For the first time we're seeing the detail of their language and social relationships.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44These yearlings will soon be independent,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48but they're still nursing and behaving like little cubs.
0:18:48 > 0:18:54It's interesting that they're nursing shortly before family break-up.
0:18:55 > 0:19:02Bears make this strange, kinda cute motor-like sound when they suckle.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04It means they're content.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08CUBS CONTINUE TO PURR
0:19:21 > 0:19:25We're making new discoveries all the time.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31We've found that family members groom each other for parasites, like primates do.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Right now, June and her yearlings still seem very close,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43so we've got a moment to check up on her sister, Juliet.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49And when we catch up with her, we find things aren't going too well.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54It's June 7th.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Juliet's smallest cub, Tia, has disappeared.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Mothers will pine for days over a cub.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10But Juliet has to move on and provide for the surviving two...
0:20:10 > 0:20:12David and Mimi.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19They seem small for their age, especially Mimi.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29When Mimi first emerged from the den she was full of beans.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Now she seems sluggish
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and I'm worried about her.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04I'm not sure how things will pan out for this family.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I'll need to check up on them again soon.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27But right now I have to get back to June because this
0:21:27 > 0:21:32is the time of year when females with yearlings are ready to mate.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38And they're leaving scent all over the forest.
0:21:40 > 0:21:46So the bears come out of the woods here, where they come down right through here, faint trail,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51leading to that big tree down there, that big red pine, which is a marking tree.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56But as they come along here they're sliding their feet.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58It's a way of scent marking.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And now we're seeing the trail getting wider.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09That means they're spreading their hind legs farther out, what we call
0:22:09 > 0:22:14cowboy walking, sliding the feet and urinating at the same time.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22And then they stand up with their back against the tree
0:22:22 > 0:22:28and start rubbing, especially their crown, the back of their neck...
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Then they might turn around and bite...
0:22:39 > 0:22:43..and then they get down and they leave.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50And they walk over this tree,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54probably dribbling urine as they go.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57And then they walk over this tree...
0:23:00 > 0:23:03..and out along this trail,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07and into the woods.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11They have many ways of leaving scent wherever they go.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15To read these signs I need to think like a bear.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Sometimes people say I've taken on the persona of a bear.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Bears are the one of the most intelligent of the North American mammals.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26I don't mind being compared with a bear.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32BEAR SNIFFS
0:23:43 > 0:23:49Today is June 8th and we've found Lily and June again.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58Lily has no idea that these are her very last moments with her mother.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04June's scent has attracted one of the largest males in the area...
0:24:04 > 0:24:05Big Harry.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13He's over 200 kilograms.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Male bears can kill youngsters.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23So Lily retreats up a tree with one of her brothers.
0:24:28 > 0:24:35June is torn between her attraction to Big Harry and her concern for her yearlings.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45CLICKING
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Big Harry clicks his tongue.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51He's showing his friendly intensions toward June.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56If June accepts Big Harry,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01her yearlings will be on their own for the rest of their lives.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Lily's terrified.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10LILY YELPS
0:25:12 > 0:25:16June's bond with her yearlings has been so strong.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17But now it's over.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25CUB CONTINUES TO YELP IN BACKGROUND
0:25:27 > 0:25:30It may be traumatic for the yearlings,
0:25:30 > 0:25:35but for mother bears, accepting a male marks a new beginning.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38MUSIC: "I Take You There"
0:25:41 > 0:25:43# Oh!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49# I know a place, ah
0:25:50 > 0:25:54# Ain't nobody cryin'
0:25:55 > 0:25:58# Ain't nobody worried
0:26:00 > 0:26:02# Ain't no smilin' faces... #
0:26:02 > 0:26:06No-one has recorded wild bears mating before.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15These good vibrations we call "fluttering".
0:26:20 > 0:26:23People tell me mating bears could attack us.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27But, they've never even threatened me.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Big Harry is especially gentle.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56But some people have a knee-jerk fear of bears.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01And that can put bears, and us, in the firing line.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08- GUNSHOT RINGS OUT - '911.'
0:27:08 > 0:27:11'Hi, somebody just shot at us.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15'We were walking with bears and a shot came across the road at us.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20- 'Where are you?- About two and a half miles down the Trygg Road.'
0:27:23 > 0:27:29'It's June 9th, the day after Big Harry and June got together.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33'And as they crossed the road someone took a pot shot at them.
0:27:34 > 0:27:41'We called 911 because it's illegal to shoot bears out of season and across a public road.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51'Walking with bears allows us to see the dangers they face.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59'Some people are so afraid of bears they shoot them on sight...
0:27:59 > 0:28:03'even when they pose no threat.' It's me, bear.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07MONITOR BEEPS REGULARLY
0:28:07 > 0:28:10'Most people say approaching a wounded bear is risky.'
0:28:10 > 0:28:11There you are.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16But Sue and I need to find out if June or Harry have been hit.
0:28:29 > 0:28:35If you could just move so that you could show us if you have a wound, that would be ideal.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Here we are in the woods
0:28:40 > 0:28:4620 feet from a 400+ lb male who we think may be wounded,
0:28:46 > 0:28:51but he's not, he's not showing any signs of aggression.
0:28:59 > 0:29:05Oh, look at how he is favouring that back right hind leg.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07He just now put his heel down.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Good bear, June, good bear.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Yeah, good bear.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20June's appeared and seems to be checking that Big Harry is OK.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27He couldn't get up to join her so she's going over to join him.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33This particular bear
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I saw with a bullet wound, a fresh bullet wound
0:29:36 > 0:29:42towards the end of last summer and that's why he has that, that bare spot above his tail...
0:29:42 > 0:29:50That's from, where that bullet entered and the healing process caused him to lose his fur there.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54I think a lot of our bears are carrying lead.
0:29:57 > 0:30:03Unfortunately, trying to capture him could do more harm than good.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05We can only hope he'll recover.
0:30:17 > 0:30:2348 hours later, Big Harry and June are still together.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29I worry for both of them.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35But it would be a huge blow to the research if we lost June.
0:30:37 > 0:30:45I don't blame people for being afraid of bears, because we all grow up with ferocious images of them.
0:30:45 > 0:30:52I want people to know enough about bears so they don't shoot them out of misplaced fear.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02The best way for people to do that is to meet them.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06That's why we've started courses at our research cabin.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10'Nicole is from Quebec.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14'And like many people, she's afraid to go hiking because of bears.'
0:31:16 > 0:31:20I came here because I want to overcome my fear of bears.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25Because I'm a hiker and I want to go back to hiking this summer.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Seldom we hear something good or nice about a bear.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31'It's in my mind now.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33'I work on my mind.'
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Now, now it's time to face your worst fear, your worst nightmare here.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43- What's his name?- Black as midnight.
0:31:43 > 0:31:44LAUGHTER
0:31:44 > 0:31:45Dale. His name is Dale.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50'She's meeting Dale, a young bear that sometimes visits the cabin.'
0:31:50 > 0:31:52I don't have any hormones...
0:31:53 > 0:31:55See if he likes you. Dale.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57When it comes here, what do I do?
0:31:57 > 0:32:02Dale, do you like Nicole? Do you like Nicole?
0:32:02 > 0:32:06He says wow, this is, everybody's right here, oh...
0:32:06 > 0:32:08I do like Nicole.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Well, Dale, you're not even using your teeth.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19Wouldn't you rather have human flesh?
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Good, I'm all shaky!
0:32:22 > 0:32:24I'm so pleased.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32'We've been criticised for feeding bears.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36'There's an assumption that fed bears will expect food and become aggressive.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39'But the funny thing is...
0:32:39 > 0:32:42'no scientific research supports this.'
0:32:42 > 0:32:45And it's not what we see.
0:32:50 > 0:32:57Around here many home-owners have been feeding bears for over forty years.
0:33:01 > 0:33:07We have fewer nuisance bears than other parts of the country and we've never had an attack.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Bears' lives are ruled by fear and food.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23When people see wild bears they can get the wrong idea.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29When bears get scared they sometimes swat the ground or a bush.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39People think they're about to attack.
0:33:41 > 0:33:47But it's just their way of saying "I'm nervous, give me some space and let's talk about it."
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Bears show their tremendous power towards each other.
0:34:00 > 0:34:06Sue filmed two of the biggest males, Lumpy and One-eyed Jack, fighting over a female.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Males have died in these fights.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39One-eyed Jack is old and gets the worst of it.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41I hope he'll be OK.
0:34:43 > 0:34:49The big males look frightening, but we've found them to be even more gentle than the females.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54When One-eyed Jack visited the cabin,
0:34:54 > 0:34:59I laid some nuts on the weigh scale hoping he'd let me check him for wounds.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09Jack was blinded in one eye, years ago, when a landowner shot him.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17Today, he weighs nearly 250 kilograms.
0:35:17 > 0:35:23I'm moved that Jack trusts me now, after what a human did to him.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27It says a lot about the true nature of black bears.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Jack has no feelings for me.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37He's just happy with the deal here.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Touch is a universal language.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48It helps us collect data we couldn't get any other way.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03I'm happy to see Jack is healing well.
0:36:03 > 0:36:09But sometimes other bears fail to thrive and it's difficult to work out why.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18It's mid-August
0:36:18 > 0:36:24and June's sister, Juliet, now has a problem with another cub.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30David is doing well, but little Mimi is sick.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33She's shaking
0:36:33 > 0:36:39and having a hard time keeping up with her mother.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Later that day
0:36:47 > 0:36:48Mimi disappeared.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58JULIET CALLS FOR MIMI
0:37:00 > 0:37:04She's looking for her cub. Here's the one following her that's healthy.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15We've just got to watch what Juliet does here...
0:37:15 > 0:37:20She's looking round in these ruts, and there's space beneath the ruts, the bear could be under that rut.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26There it is, there it is.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28There's the cub.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30She led us to her.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36JULIET CALLS
0:37:45 > 0:37:49Your heart really goes out to a little cub like this that,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53er, is just trying hard to grow up and make its way
0:37:53 > 0:37:57and got caught with some kind of sickness, I don't know what.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11Juliet started with three cubs
0:38:11 > 0:38:16and lost first a female and now this female is sick.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19She's got a male still with her, very healthy...
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Juliet seems like she doesn't know what to do...
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Here's a cub that she's staying in the vicinity of where it is.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34But she has to eat, make milk to help the other cub survive.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36She's torn...
0:38:44 > 0:38:49I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen in the next 24 hours with this bear.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56It could, it could make a miraculous recovery and I'll be happy
0:38:56 > 0:39:01or it could be that, it looks like it's just going downhill.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Many times through the research I've seen situations where I've wanted to help
0:39:12 > 0:39:16and very glad that I didn't intervene because I wouldn't have learned anything.
0:39:16 > 0:39:22I would have just helped one bear, and not learned anything that could help all bears.
0:39:30 > 0:39:36That night, I returned to Mimi's resting spot under the tree.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03She'll still warm, but dead...
0:40:03 > 0:40:06And there are signs the mother has been back to check.
0:40:06 > 0:40:12Here's a clump of fur that she probably checked to see if the cub was responsive.
0:40:12 > 0:40:19And wasn't, and she wasn't here when I came, so she probably then just went on.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22OK, come on, little girl.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25I wanna see what happened to you...
0:40:43 > 0:40:45OK, at least we'll find out
0:40:45 > 0:40:47what happened.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56It looks like she died in her sleep.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Her eyes are closed.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Poor sick cub.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08MUSIC: "Delicate" by Damien Rice
0:41:14 > 0:41:16# We are alone
0:41:21 > 0:41:24# Nobody's watching
0:41:25 > 0:41:27# We might take it home... #
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Later, we found out that Mimi died from a deer parasite.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40We're now studying it to see if it will affect other bears.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49# It's not that we're scared
0:41:49 > 0:41:52# It's just that it's delicate... #
0:41:57 > 0:41:59It's August 22nd.
0:41:59 > 0:42:05Summer's ending, and the bears need to pile on the pounds before they den.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21This year there's plenty of wild food to go round...
0:42:21 > 0:42:25and it's led to something unusual.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33Three male yearlings from different mothers are hanging out together.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37We've named them The Three Amigos.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Dale, his brother, Mickey,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51and June's yearling, Cal, have formed a gang.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55# Sittin' in the jailhouse tryin' to learn some good... #
0:42:55 > 0:42:59I want to study this friendship so I need to get collars on them.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00MUSIC: "Sissyneck" by Beck
0:43:00 > 0:43:04# Got a stolen wife and a rhinestone life
0:43:04 > 0:43:06# And some good ol' boys
0:43:07 > 0:43:12# I'm writin' my will on a three-dollar bill
0:43:12 > 0:43:14# In the evening time... #
0:43:14 > 0:43:18I just managed to collar Cal and Mickey,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21but Dale would have none of it.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28The Three Amigos trust me here at the cabin.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31But they won't let me follow them in the forest.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36They're on their own. And hunting season begins in just a few days.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Hunting is a big part of the culture here in the Northwoods.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54People hunt bears for trophies and for meat.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03The six-week bear hunting season begins on September the first.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12From mid-August hunters put bait out to attract hungry bears
0:44:12 > 0:44:15to their shooting stands.
0:44:17 > 0:44:24At the same time, we put up signs asking hunters not to shoot our 12 radio-collared bears...
0:44:24 > 0:44:27out of the 15,000 bears in the State.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45We tie ribbons on collared bears
0:44:45 > 0:44:49so hunters can easily see these are research animals.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55- Pretty in pink.- >
0:45:09 > 0:45:16The next day, I was putting ribbons on Lily when we saw the harsh reality of
0:45:16 > 0:45:19her life after the family split.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22OK. Lily.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24OK, come nice bear.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27OK, come on. Here, bear.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37FIGHTING CALLS
0:45:44 > 0:45:45That was amazing.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47June was back here.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Lily was here for us to put ribbons on her collar.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54All of a sudden June just barrelled through...
0:45:55 > 0:45:58..right past me, nudged me as she went by,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02and Lily tried to get up that Tamarack tree but then came back down.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04I think it's because June bit her.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12These mothers really enforce it that you cannot hang out where I'm hanging out...
0:46:12 > 0:46:17On the other hand, if Lily were down in her usual area
0:46:17 > 0:46:19which is south of these lakes here,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23right in the middle of June's territory,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26June passes through there quickly giving her exclusive feeding privileges
0:46:26 > 0:46:29in that area, but apparently not here.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34We're learning stuff all the time about family relationships after family break-up.
0:46:36 > 0:46:43June's had to be brutal to Lily. She needs to defend her food patch for any future cubs.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52But tomorrow they will have bigger problems.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55It's the first of September.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Hunting season.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Research bears like June are so valuable to science that when
0:47:11 > 0:47:17hunting starts, we try to follow them from before dawn until after dark.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21That also puts US in the line of fire,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24o we wear fluorescent jackets to be more visible.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31This is the only time black bear research becomes dangerous.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46In my 41 years of research I've never found a bear like this,
0:47:46 > 0:47:51that I could walk with, rest with, and have her be this calm...
0:47:57 > 0:48:03'If this bear is killed it would just ruin the project.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08'She's seven years old and she has become the gentlest,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13'most trusting bear that I, I could imagine.'
0:48:19 > 0:48:24But like any wild bear, June could be drawn to a hunter's bait.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44The hunter was nice enough to call me and describe the bear.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47And it was Dale, one of The Three Amigos.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50Mickey, Cal and Dale, they hung out together.
0:48:50 > 0:48:56We wanted to find out how that relationship, how long it would continue, but well...
0:48:56 > 0:48:57we won't get that.
0:49:03 > 0:49:09When you find out that a bear you know has been killed it does something to you.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12You're happy also to know that the death was quick.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16It's ironic that it was Dale,
0:49:16 > 0:49:21the animal who helped so many people get over their fear of bears.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23We hate to lose Dale, but on the other hand
0:49:23 > 0:49:26hunting is a fact of life here.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31We're going to be on edge for the next six weeks...
0:49:31 > 0:49:35It's a six-week hunting season. This is just day one.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38We'll see what happens tomorrow.
0:50:00 > 0:50:0630 years ago I helped re-write the State's bear hunting regulations.
0:50:08 > 0:50:14We reduced the season from 52 weeks to six and made it more humane.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25BEEPING
0:50:41 > 0:50:45A few days later, there's another gunshot.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53This is where the tree stand was.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01And this is where the bait was.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Then we found Mickey's remains.
0:51:03 > 0:51:09There's no way the person would miss that this is a radio-collared bear.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12This bear could have given us so much information.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16He was an unusually good bear for research.
0:51:16 > 0:51:22Now he's just gonna be a little meat in somebody's freezer, maybe a skin, maybe a head on somebody's wall.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25And he could have given so much to science.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31There were three amigos, Mickey, his brother Dale,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35and June's yearling Cal,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39were just three friends that went everywhere together.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44And then Dale got shot the first day of hunting season, and then
0:51:44 > 0:51:49Mickey did and then Cal just loyally hung in there, close by Mickey,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52the only one left of his two friends.
0:51:53 > 0:51:58I worry because we are less than a week into a six-week hunting season and we've already lost
0:51:58 > 0:52:01two valuable study bears.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06So, we'll see what happens.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I worried our study animals would be vulnerable.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18But on average they are four times less likely to be shot.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20This year was worse than usual.
0:52:23 > 0:52:29I hope the more we learn about bears, the more tolerant we'll be.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35It's a fact...
0:52:35 > 0:52:40the more experience bears have with people the less likely THEY are to harm US.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47Most black bear attacks happen in the remote areas of Canada and Alaska.
0:52:50 > 0:52:56In the Eastern US there have been only three fatalities in the last hundred years.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02'I wish people could see what I see.'
0:53:10 > 0:53:13It's September 5th.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17June has found a den on a protected island.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24She's denned really early, which could mean she's pregnant.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32Before she settles in she gives me an amazing opportunity.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37She allows me to measure her heart rate, so I can track the enormous
0:53:37 > 0:53:40changes that happen to her body as winter approaches.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44I'm checking her heart rate because in the winter
0:53:44 > 0:53:49their heart rate drops greatly to as low as eight beats a minute.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54And right now she's in transition, she's making her den, she's slowing down for the winter.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Just a few days ago the heart rate was 78.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59Yesterday it was 64.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Today it's 60.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04I'm just amazed
0:54:04 > 0:54:06at the tolerance
0:54:06 > 0:54:08of this bear.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13She's showing just complete trust.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15It's not that she likes me.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17It's just that she trusts me.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21# Sleep
0:54:22 > 0:54:25# Don't weep
0:54:27 > 0:54:31# My sweet
0:54:31 > 0:54:32# Love... #
0:54:32 > 0:54:38We are so relieved that she's going into a den this early.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43There's five weeks of hunting season to go yet. She's going to be safe.
0:55:01 > 0:55:02It's a beautiful time of year.
0:55:12 > 0:55:18'But my wife Donna and I can't sleep easily until all our bears are in dens.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24Lily's made it through hunting season, all by herself.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29She makes her first den in early October.
0:55:33 > 0:55:38Juliet and her surviving cub David, are sleeping safely too.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48And even Big Harry will see another spring.
0:55:54 > 0:56:00For the first half of my life I struggled to conquer my fear of bears.
0:56:05 > 0:56:10Bears like June have taught me that they are not the ferocious animals we once thought.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24And that I'm safer here in the woods than anywhere else.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34But I wonder if I will be able to share with others
0:56:34 > 0:56:37what it's taken me a lifetime to learn.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39BIRD SINGS
0:56:43 > 0:56:47I can't wait until spring to see what else June can teach us.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57In April, I walked across the last of the melting ice to June's den.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10It's me, bear. Come, June.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Here. Look at that.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32I found she had two beautiful new cubs.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39To me, there's nothing cuter in the forest.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47Maybe they'll do as much for bears as June has.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58They give me hope that people will one day learn to overcome
0:57:58 > 0:58:01their unreasonable fear of these timid and intelligent creatures.
0:58:06 > 0:58:11And that these wonderful forests will continue to be their home for generations to come.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16# And I think to myself
0:58:16 > 0:58:21# What a wonderful world
0:58:21 > 0:58:27# World Some day I'll wish upon a star
0:58:27 > 0:58:35# Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
0:58:35 > 0:58:38# Where trouble melts like lemon drops
0:58:38 > 0:58:41# High above the chimney tops
0:58:41 > 0:58:46# That's where you'll find me
0:58:46 > 0:58:51# Oh, somewhere over the rainbow... #
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:54 > 0:58:57Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk