Bear Mountain bears, who have entered winter mode with the start of 2012, are still sleeping quietly today. Hirotake, who has shown resistance such as opening the lid of the ventilation mouth until the end, has grown up completely for the past week and has a (^^) good night's sleep Well, I have talked about the winter weight of the brown bear before, but it is not a state of temporary death or continuing to sleep without getting up until spring, depending on the time of day, I lick the ice, rumbling and messing with the straw. Therefore, the keeper checks every day, and the straw that gets dirty or moist takes the bear out of the acupuncture house and performs the replacement work. Today, we did a straw replacement work for Kota's room. I saw Kota that came to light for the first time in a long time, but I could see that there was no particular serious thinness and that I was having a smooth winter. Kota's bed. It's a bit messy and it's completely pettanco (laughs) This is a lump of ice left for hydration. There are about 50 cm × 30 cm, and what is missing is the mark that kota licked. Some bears have Garigari-kun. Welcome Kota with a beautiful straw. I was a little wary, but after this I entered easily and fiddling with straw so that I could sleep easily.

Happy New Year. It is Moko. We celebrated 2012 with a lot of light from the first sunrise. And today, I went out into the unknown. It is Sahorodake Shrine. It is a guardian dog, koma moko. I was told what, and I was shaken by the gondola. Mt. Sahoro Shrine built next to the gondola summit station building. Why don't you come and visit ☆ It was a surprise moko on the gondola for the first time.

2011 is finally coming to an end. Bear Mt's bears are steadily entering the winter months! Hirotake, who had never shown any signs of sleeping, has calmed down considerably over the past few days, and has stopped opening the vent lid. I think it's safe to say that the other bears are mostly in hibernation for the winter. The photo I'm going to upload today is of me going into the animal enclosure after hearing the bear's breathing first thing in the morning and watching the bear through the small board window in the lattice door. Please avoid entering the animal enclosure as much as possible so as not to disturb the bears' sleep. However, it is not possible to check the condition of the straw or the presence of ice placed to maintain moisture by just checking for breathing, so we check the condition using only flashlights and whispers. First, let's look at the front room. Here I get ready and enter the dark animal house. He looks like he's going exploring somewhere... He watches the bear through a small window. Currently, the temperature inside the animal house is about -5 degrees Celsius. I took this photo with a special flash, but it was actually pitch black so I had to press the shutter (...) Anyway, everyone! Don't give up on the cold and see you next year!! [Breeding: Shigematsu]

Today marks 7 days since I completely fasted. It's been three days since we renovated each room on the 22nd to make it more winter-friendly (we put a board over the lattice door to make it darker and put straw in it for sleeping), but the Bear Mt bears are already starting to move into winter. Meanwhile, there's a bear who doesn't seem to be sleeping... It's Hirotake, a problem child. In the summer, I leave the lid of the ventilation hole on the roof open to improve ventilation, but in the winter, I close the lid of the ventilation hole to darken the room and prevent snow from getting in, but so far, only the Hirotake mushroom opens the lid by itself (><) I've made a diagram to make it easier to understand! ! Even though I have no artistic talent, I took on a reckless challenge (.＿.) But this is what it really looks like! Maybe... It's like hell, but I can open it even if someone is on top of the lid. As expected of a brown bear! ! If it were a human, it would be one punch. This is a really shocking photo! If you look closely, you can see the forelimbs of Hirotake. [Breeding: Shigematsu]

She had her final feeding on the 18th and went on a complete fast from the 19th, and today is the 4th day. Today we worked to create a more comfortable sleeping environment by putting boards on the lattice doors of each room. Clinton is likely to be the first to stay home this winter!! When I go out of the room, I don't want to come out and my movements are slow. For the past few days, he had been sleeping in the corner of the room, and I noticed that he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings, but today, as soon as he entered the room, he shook the straw that he had prepared and quickly laid down on his back and fell asleep. It's a little hard to tell, but it's Kouji entering a room with straw. Everyone came in obediently, probably because there was a wall today. If you leave straw behind, they will start making their own bedding as they like. No one teaches these behaviors; everyone does them instinctively! They have quite a unique personality and are interesting, so I'll be introducing more about them in the future (^^) [Breeding: Shigematsu]

From December 23rd, a nature tour will begin where you can walk around the park on snowshoes. First, we will proceed on the bear watching bus course. What you can see above is the promenade course. How do the bears look up? That's what I thought when I started. We found a tree whose skin was peeling off due to excessive marking (back rubbing)☆ Even though there was 50 cm of snow on the ground, there were claw marks on the head of a male staff member. The real pleasure of nature tours is being able to see things so close. And the hair that fell out during marking (back rubbing) is still there. I wonder what brown bear fur feels like. This is the content of the tour. You won't be able to see the brown bears who are huddled in winter, but if you can feel the brown bears and walk on the fluffy snow, even if you can't ski or snowboard, you can still walk energetically. Snowshoe rental is included, so we look forward to your participation! Bear Mountain Forest Nature Tour Details Click here for last year's schedule

Today I went to see the inside of Bear Mountain for the first time in a while. As expected, the park was covered in deep snow, making it difficult to walk without snowshoes. I mainly walked along the promenade, and there was about 3cm of snow above my knees, so the view from that point of view was completely different from the summer season. (It's different in the first place since it's winter, but...) The fall prevention net installed on the promenade seems to even prevent snow from falling, and there was a thick layer of snow on top of the net, and if we didn't remove it, it would put a heavy burden on the fall prevention net, so today we worked hard to remove the snow. I took the opportunity to upload a photo of the promenade covered in snow, which is hard to see (^^)

It's mid-December, and Bear Mountain is completely covered in deep snow. It feels like there's a lot of snow this year, probably because there wasn't much snow last year. In fact, it is said that there is a relationship between snow and winter confinement, and depending on the depth of the snow, some brown bears dig to find and eat food, while others calmly burrow into a hole to reduce energy consumption and wait for spring, rather than moving around tirelessly to search for food. Every morning, there is a thick layer of snow on the roof of the animal enclosure due to the constant snowfall, but removing this snow is actually very important.If the snow is not removed properly, the body heat of the bears inside the enclosure will melt the snow on the roof, dripping into the rooms where the bears are sleeping, dampening the straw that the bears sleep on during winter confinement, and potentially robbing the bears, whose metabolism has slowed, of their body heat. Therefore, when the snow accumulates every day, the keepers thoroughly remove the snow before working on the animal housing, but this year, the pace of snowfall has been fast, and the snow that was falling from the roof has already piled up and reached the roof of the animal housing (><) Last year, I think it only reached this point around February, so I'm looking forward to seeing how far it will go this year (^.^)! [Breeding: Shigematsu]

Today is the long-awaited feeding day for the Bear Mt bears. After two days of fasting, the hungry bears were banging on the door as if to say, ``Feed me quickly!'' Including today's feeding, there are only two more feedings this year. After finishing the last feeding of the year on the 18th, we are finally heading into winter in earnest. Depending on the individual, their metabolism may have slowed down considerably, and some may already be switching to winter mode. I think you can see various changes in the bears' movements from here, so be sure to check out the blog! This is Hinata waiting in a corridor called a chute outside the room to clean the room (^^) [Raising: Shigematsu]

I have finally entered the final phase of my planned fasting in preparation for winter confinement. By gradually reducing the amount of food fed and adding days of fasting, we have been guiding the bears towards winter confinement, but due to the recent cold weather, the bears at Bear Mt' are also well into winter confinement. It seems that we will be completely stuck in winter around the year-end and New Year holidays. Moko Sara is feeling even better now that the snow has piled up (^^) You can meet her in front of the ticket office at the ski resort! This is Kouji with his big butt facing us. What are you thinking when you put your face on the door leading outside? [Breeding: Shigematsu]

We are halfway through the planned fasting for winter, and the bears are relatively obedient to their rooms after being fed for the first time in two days. Next, after two days of fasting, there will be a feeding day, where we will further reduce the amount of food they eat to get their bodies used to winter confinement. Bears in winter have lower metabolism and slower movement than in summer or autumn. They switch to a so-called energy-saving mode, sustaining themselves with the nutrients they stored in the fall, and quietly survive the winter. At the moment, Inuo and Shingo (both 28 years old, which is quite old for a bear) are starting to move a lot slower, and I'm a little worried that they'll fall asleep at any moment (><) Today, I'm going to take a picture of Kouji, who ate his first food in two days in the blink of an eye, and for some reason is staring at one thing in a daze. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　[Breeding: Shigematsu]

Today is a painful fasting day for bears! In order to clean the room, you have to leave the room once to clean it, so you have to come out, but when you come out, at the end, there is no food in the room after cleaning, so it is difficult to enter the room (><) Especially Hirotake and Kouta (parents and children together...) joiners are stubborn and do not enter easily. For the time being, I put a little bait ~, but I glance at the entrance and pass by as if to say, "That's not enough~!" It seems that the struggle between these bears and keepers will continue for about this year (><) I was trying to upload it to my blog and brought my camera, but I completely forgot to take it, so today there was a healing photo of a whimsical joiner in the summer, so I uploaded it. 【Breeding: Shigematsu】

Thanks to the sudden cooling over the past few days, the area has become completely wintery. The bears of Bear Mountain have also entered a planned fast in stages from today in preparation for winter. From the latter half of November, the amount of feeding is gradually reduced, and in December, feeding days and fasting days are alternated, and fasting days are gradually increased, and finally complete fasting is entered and winter is headed for. That's why yesterday was actually the last time to release into the sub-paddock! I had completely forgotten to take a picture of these bears' last outdoor brave appearance of the year (><;) It seems that we will be able to deliver bears walking outside around March next year. But winter is still ahead! I will do my best to report on the habits of bears that are different from when they are walking around energetically outside, so please (^^) come and see the blog. This afternoon, we also conducted a patrol inspection of the park. Unlike the business period, the snow is piling up lightly. 【Breeding: Shigematsu】

How much weight did you gain in the 7 months from the end of winter to November before winter? The October event "Guess the weight of a brown bear quiz" has been predicted. The measurements were taken during a health check after this season's business hours. Now, we will announce the correct answer to the ``Brown Bear Weight Guess Quiz''! ■Koji 304Kg⇒323Kg (19Kg) Miyuki Ito, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido ■Santa 230Kg⇒315Kg (85Kg) Hiroaki Minagawa, Sapporo City, Hokkaido ■Hirotake 241Kg⇒328Kg (87Kg) Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Ms. Yuko Unjo ■Moko 211Kg⇒301Kg (90Kg) Mr. Takehiro Yamauchi, Ebetsu City, Hokkaido Mr. Nisho Kosaka, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido　 The above 5 people guessed the weight perfectly! wonderful! ! We will send you an annual passport for next year (2012) as a Pittari Prize prize☆ We would like to thank everyone for their predictions this season. Please come and see the brown bears next year as well.

Today is the end of November, but the young bears are still moving around! When I was on the roof of the animal house, I could hear the fugafuga, so when I went to see it, Hirotake was (^^) appealing hard from the ventilation opening. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Long time no see, everyone!! One month has passed since Bear Mountain closed. What were the bears doing during that time? In preparation for winter, we measured weight and fat thickness (thickness of subcutaneous fat). Brown bears eat a lot in the fall in preparation for winter, and have to accumulate fat in their bodies to survive the winter. Therefore, it is very important to look at the fat thickness in order to measure how much fat you have stored. Bear Mountain bears have judged that an average thickness of 4 to 3 cm is enough to survive the winter. If the fat thickness does not reach the average thickness at that time, they will be given nutritious food to store fat by late November, when preparations begin in earnest. By the way, the joiner in this photo boasted an amazing thickness of 7 cm. You're quite chubby (laughs) And as you may have noticed from the photo, there was snow on Bear Mountain, albeit still thin! As expected, brown bears are resistant to cold! Even if the snow is piled up, it looks humble. Would you rather enjoy seeing snow for the first time in a long time? 【Breeding: Nagata】

On the last day of October, Sara and Moko had an all-you-can-play day at the dog park. (Upper left) Sarah: Aura, playing with a shy person (upper right) Moko: My eyes and mouth are ajar and I have a strange face (Lower left) My face is coming out of the fence - After playing for a while, we returned to the hut by ourselves. The two stand up to get a snack from the small window. Don't ♪ you look like you're coming to buy a lift ticket? Sara Moko is visiting you in winter ☆

One week has passed since Bear Mountain closed for this fiscal year. Since the Yubari IC and Shimukappu IC of Eastern Hokkaido opened yesterday (10/29), we have received several inquiries asking "Are you doing Bear Mountain?" The brown bears that are closed are undergoing health examinations one after another. The "Brown Bear Weight Guessing Quiz" held in October is about to be answered, so please wait a little longer for everyone who participated in the quiz. Will there be a prize??? By the way, this is a photo taken occasionally in October, but the healing image (?) ) will be introduced. I often see them sleeping face down with the soles of their feet exposed. I definitely can't × 100, but I want to touch the soles of these feet!!!! Since I am walking barefoot (naturally), I imagine that it is hard to the touch, but it looks plump. Does it feel good to massage the soles of your feet like a human? If it feels good, will you lie on your back like a dog and put your stomach out? It was a suspicious staff member who was grinning alone with a brown bear delusion. Excuse <(_ _)> me for being a little maniacal

Today, the 23rd, the business of this season has ended. Although the weather was terrible, the bears still looked healthy. Hirotake peeking out of the cave. Kouta (left) and Joiner (right) greeting. Koji eating melon. Actually, this melon is a delicious melon from Furano! It looks delicious... (^q^*) It will be the last time we see the bears in the park, but from now on, the bears will be anesthetized and checked for health before preparing for winter. At Bear Mountain, like wild bears, all winter stays are held. There are still many things that have not been elucidated about the winter habits of brown bears, and we breeding staff can't wait for them to collect valuable data. I would like to tell you about the situation, so please look forward to it! All the staff are looking forward to seeing you again next year! 【Breeding: Nagata】

Bear Mountain 1 large body canta that looks square in the outline of the face and the silhouette of the body. The canter is spreading the hind legs in front of the point. Why are you spreading it out? I thought, koji's figure is at the end of the canter's eyes. A threatening back figure ... further bending the forelimbs and in a low position ... the war situation just to say "Take it". However, a gentleman koji was not sure to go, and nothing was 30. This fall, when the obsession of food becomes more intense, there are many struggles. There are many injuries, and it is one of the worries of the breeding staff.

The photo is kouta. Take a nap next to the bus road. Even so, "Next moon!? The stomach that makes you want to hear. Bear Mountain's brown bear is a male, so I don't get pregnant. That's it. Everyone is getting all right for winter. We will close this season next Sunday (October 23). If you are coming to Tocachi, please come and see the brown browns.

The yellow leaves have also crossed their peaks, changing from bright to dark. The leaves have fallen again, visibility is good, and it's easier to find browns! When I got on the bus and went to the park, santa moved his forelimbs some time, so I shot a video. It looks like you are collecting kumasasa in a little depression. When I thought, I singed the body in the hollow and rest mode. "Santa, it's still early for winter! The breath is white, and Santa is ready for winter! ?

Sahoro is also in the yellow-leaf season, and the pleasant scenery spreads out. From the road to Bear Mountain, you can see distant mountains covered in white and snow. Then, please enjoy the yellow leaf scene in the park. Top left) From the bear watching bus to the upper right) from the promenade) Bear point The sun shines brightly, and it is a spot recommended for photogirls ☆ Bear Mountain. It's on the glass! The person who sees brown bear with a serious look is "Dayki-kun" 2 years old who came from Sapporo. But after this, I was running around bear point with a smile. Is it because of the excitement of being a bear? Just because it was a large place? I don't know the truth, but I think it felt so good that I wanted to run!

This year, we received entries from children visiting the "5th Sketch Contest". We exhibited the unique works submitted and voted for their popularity by visitors. Thank you for your help. As a result of the popular vote, the winning works are here ☆ Gold Prize Hajime Kato (5th grade) Aomori Prizes 2012 Bear Mountain Annual Passport Sahoro Resort Hotel Accommodation Voucher Silver Prize Sohei Iwato (5th grade) Osaka Prefecture Prizes Bear Mountain Invitation Ticket Sahoro Resort Hotel Accommodation Voucher Bronze Prize Eiji Yamazaki (3 years old) Tokyo Prizes Bear Mountain Invitation Ticket Special Jury Prize Akari Okazaki 　(4th grade) Prize Colored pencil set That's it. The work will be on display until Bear Mountain Close on October 23. After that, we will return it, so please wait for a while.