As you may recall, ABR has designated January 22nd as the official birthdate of all of our bears, because it is approximately in the middle of the possible dates for the birth of cubs. So on the day before this month’s birthday, when our yearlings become fourteen-month-olds, Ken LaValley, the official ABR photographer, went to the facility and took “birthday portraits.” These detailed photos can be shared with the vets and often take the place of a physical visit, thus sparing the curators as well as the bears the stress of a trip to UTCVM.

We’ll start by showing you the impressive camera equipment that Ken uses to achieve these excellent results.

It’s easy to see the difference between Ken’s professional equipment and the little camera that the curators use! So here are the birthday photos of our outdoor yearlings:

The two Christmas yearlings.

Here they are again. They really have grown and are looking good!

Peppermint has chubbified nicely.

She looks up at the tree she wants to climb.

And up she goes!

Her brother soon follows.

Next door, Nettles shows us how chonky she is. Her fur is shedding, and she looks rather unkempt. After she sheds the winter fur she will have a sleek, smooth, shiny black fur coat!

All bears are in the process of shedding their winter fur. In another month they will look much better. Watch for it!

Ken was not able to enter the Hartley House or Recovery Center,so we don’t have photos of the three tiny yearlings today. We’ll catch up with them tomorrow.