3-17-2007

  Yesterday we received 4 Black Bear cubs from the DNR that had been orphaned.  Two of them will be leaving tomorrow for new homes in a den with females that only have one cub.   The female will take care of the orphaned cub as if it were her own.  If possible, two more single cub females will be located and the other two cubs will have a new mom also.  In the meantime Wild and Free will be taking care of them.  Before they could be moved to the W&F facility they had to be checked over by Dr Deb and their weights had to be recorded.  The smallest was 4 pounds 3 ounces and the largest was the female cub at 5 pounds 2 ounces.  After weighing them we put them in an assortment of containers for transport to their new temporary home.  These two seemed anxious to be out of their cages and on the way. (picture by Justin Jordan)

Here's the first of the cubs to be released in their new holding area.

Soon, the rest of them were sticking their noses out for a look around.

Since they hadn't been fed yet Rachael set out some special milk mixture for them.  This was the first one to find one of the bowls.

It didn't take long for the rest of them to find the food.

Sometimes they don't want to share.  This one seems to be a little put out about that.

Bear cubs are not the daintiest of eaters, are they?

After filling up it was time to clean up a little and find a nice soft place for a nap.

Use your "Back" button to return to the main page.  (background picture by Justin Jordan)

jl