Black Bear

We welcomed our latest black bear to the refuge late last week. He was found “dumpster diving” with no mother in sight, so the state division of fish and wildlife tranquilized him and brought him in.

He’s in relatively good shape but rather light for October. He came in at 39 pounds (about 18kg) where he should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 pounds (25kg) this time of year.

He’s all attitude, though, and has no problem huffing and puffing and bluff-charging whenever we get near him!

Striped Skunk

This skunk arrived into care with more ticks than I’ve ever seen on one animal. The amazing thing was that he let me pick him up and take off the majority of the ticks from his side and face. Any other skunk would’ve sprayed and sprayed but this one was so patient and nice, probably appreciative of me taking off the damn things.

Unfortunately it was discovered that this skunk is totally blind in both eyes; you can see the cloudiness in the eyes under a light.

It’s a shame, he’s such a sweet thing but it appears we’ll have to euthanize him.

Opossums

I took these guys home in the first week of June to give them some extra attention (tube feeding, administering meds) while things raged at the refuge.

Back then they weighed in the neighborhood of 25 grams and it was touch and go as to whether they’d survive.

Now they’re a robust 700 grams or so and they eat us out of house and home! It won’t be long before they’re on their own.

When I took these pictures it was about 34C at noon and these guys were feeling it (as were their human carers)!

It was so hot that the camera lens fogged over with the conditions.

More Black Bears!!

The ten cubs we received in May and June are really starting to get big (and brave!).

My guess would be they’re somewhere around 30 to 35 kilos. When we took them in they weighed on average about 5 kilos!

They’ll only get bigger before the snow flies as they gorge themselves to prepare for the cold weather.

We’re in the process of building them a huge enclosure, complete with denning areas so they’d be able to “hibernate.”

Baby Bear

Another of our newest arrivals is 4 kilos of energy!

He’s a three month old male black bear cub who arrived three days ago. Like any kid he just loves to play and starts crying when we leave him to work on other animals!

It’s tough not to want to take him out and play with him, but we’re trying our hardest not to imprint.

We’re going to release a 15-month-old bear this Friday; at close to 45 kilos he’s more than ready to go!