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Sally's News
8/22/10
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Corner willow before storm |
What a wild few months it has been this year. They say (whoever “they” are) it’s how you handle the trials and adversity that tells you who you really are. IBBR has certainly had enough opportunities last year and so far this year to discover who we are. You read in a previous e-mail about some of the huge limbs on the willows trees coming down during a windstorm. So why talk about willow trees when this is supposed to be about bears? Well, because one of the bears favorite foods is the willows off those trees. What happened with the trees is part of their story, an important part for a couple of reasons.
What you don’t know about the willow trees is that many years ago when the property on our south side was sold and development began on a subdivision, several of those willow trees became part of a controversy. Apparently back in the old days before we owned this property, the property line wasn’t properly surveyed. To get his building permits, the developer had to have a new survey done. We found out that the four of the trees were half on our property and half on the property next door. The developer intended to cut those beautiful old willows down and I wasn’t about to let that happen. We often seem to just cut down any tree in our way as a matter of convenience and if I could prevent it, these trees would not suffer that fate. We hired a lawyer and ended up trading property along the back end for the extra property the trees sat on at the front end. Breathe a sigh of relief.
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After the storm |
Two other huge willows, one along the road and one in a corner of the property became the next threat of progress. We almost lost the one up by the road to a highway department easement. After working through that, the huge old willow in the corner was threatened by the irrigation company. For several years they threatened to cut it down. Each year we told them we would call the lawyer and if they intended to cut it down, they better also cut down the dozen trees in the subdivision that also lined the ditch. Cutting one tree down was one thing, but cutting all the others was another matter. It was a huge old willow and very distinctive. People who saw it always commented how beautiful and unusual it was so everyone is happy that it wasn’t cut down and the threats stopped. Now that the willow trees were all safe, I said they will come down when they are ready to come down on their own and not before. The lesson - be careful what you ask for. After a big storm, it cost IBBR $1100 to remove the huge limbs that fell and top off some of those same trees.
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Fallen tree limbs |
The next windstorm ripped the huge willow in the corner in half (see pictures above) and today that half of it is still lying on the ground. This weekend winds topping 70 miles an hour went through and now there is a huge limb from one of the willow trees on top of the buildings holding some of the freezers and refrigerators. Half the roof is caved in. Previously there were small leaks in the roof so we had a roofer nail down a big tarp until we could afford to put in a new roof. We moved the freezers and refrigerators away from the hole and covered them with tarps since there is no way we can afford to fix the roof at this time.
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The roof is caved in under this tree |
While it is a problem and will remain a problem, I have learned so many things from the bears in how to handle situations like this. For example, in life we sometimes tend to go around the berry bush a dozen times before we zero in on the berries. I’ve learned from the bears to just decide what you want & go right to it instead of circling around and around. If you don’t, everyone else gets the berries & you are left with nothing. After our tree issues, I stepped out of the frustration and panic mode and began to use bear philosophy - decide what really is the priority and act accordingly. For IBBR, at this moment, the priority is the bears and providing them with the food and time they need to continue growing and developing for release. The trees on the ground and roof will wait, the hole in the roof will wait, all the other problems will wait. What little money we have will go to feeding bears and that is the only priority at the moment. I’m quite sure if you asked the bears their views on all this they would respond with something like.... “We love to eat willows and you humans were always complaining about how hard it was to reach them. No reason to complain now. There are willows easily available all over the place so what is the problem? “ Pretty simple when you use bear philosophy!
On July 30, we moved Kohala & Lanikai to the main enclosure so we could move Whiskers and the WA
twins into the enclosure the other two had been occupying. While the WA twins had been in that same
enclosure with Kohala & Lanikai, we had moved them into the enclosure next to it to be with Whiskers.
It’s a gradual process of moving to a larger enclosure with the final move being to the large main
enclosure. That can be a bit daunting for a small cub to find itself in this large open arena. If we need to
move bears quickly then tranquilizing the cubs is the best option. However, no one likes to do that unless
it’s necessary or the vet has something he needs to do. Rather than tranquilize them, we prefer to let
them use their natural curiosity to get them in the carriers. It's a matter of knowing each bear and
what they will or won't do given the situation and what you want them to do. Moving the two cubs to the
main enclosure wasn’t abnormally difficult. However, it took about an hour and a half to get them in the
metal carriers. One walked in with no problem. Of course the one bear I expected to be the easiest
stalled us for almost an hour. We finally took our live bear trap in, caught him in that and then
transferred him into the carrier. They did fine and were quite ready for the move. The swim tub was the
first thing they went to and within the first half hour they were diving and lunging in and out chasing
around the enclosure taking gallons of water with them.
Once they were moved, we cleaned their enclosure, prepared the food for the next cubs, and opened the chain link door that would allow Whiskers and the twins to move into it. I expected Whiskers to hang back and that I would have to use his trust in me as his foster mom to coax him into the bigger enclosure. He showed me - that brave little cub just walked right past me into the other enclosure before I could even blink. I was totally surprised, but very pleased. The WA twins weren’t quite so willing, but within 15 minutes they were all moved and we closed and locked the door behind them. Since the WA twins had already been in that enclosure, it was a bit like coming home. Whiskers, on the other hand had to check out every corner, every den, the hollow log, and of course engage both of the twins in a wrestling match and game of chase. What fun they had - 3 bears chasing each other around dens, across to the front, jump in and out of the water tub, down the side to the back, and through the hollow log - all at full speed. Then the one in the rear would leave the formation, turn and run behind a den only to come face to face with the other two and the chase was on again. That went on for over an hour before the settled down for a snack of yogurt, grapes, and then a nap.
On Saturday, the 21st it was time to move the twins & Whiskers to the main enclosure with the others. While the twins could have moved with the other two, Whiskers wasn’t ready and needed more time so the twins remained with him. Whiskers continued to get formula to help him grow since he was so small. For a while the WA twins also got some because we had the formula in dishes. However, Whiskers had always been a bottle bear and the twins would get the formula in the dishes before he could get what he needed. So we continued to give him bottles of formula and let the twins have the formula in the dishes. We cut the twins off about a week before the move. Whiskers continued to get his formula right up to the day of the move. Little did he know he was doing so well in his rehab that he would no longer get his bottles of formula after that day. Moving him to the main enclosure was timed to his last day of formula for a reason. There is so much to be excited about in the new enclosure that it distracts him from realizing no bottles. Normally we put formula in a dish for another week after stopping any bottle feeding, but he didn’t need that. His weight & size were excellent so there just wasn’t any reason to continue with it. The next challenge for him would be how he reacted to all the other bears and to this huge, open and seemingly less secure home.
The morning came to move them and I was still exhausted. I'm always out there when we move bears, but decided this time if I got some work done inside, maybe I could take a badly needed break later that day. So I let the staff handle the move. I watched the action from our monitor system and gave them a tip or two via cell phone as things progressed. It was the same group of people that previously moved the other bears to main enclosure so I knew they would know what to do, best or worst case scenario. I think the whole process took less than 20 minutes. First Whiskers walked into the carrier and they shut the door. Then the twins got curious and one would go in the carrier and back out as the other went in. It only took a few minutes before both were inside and the door shut. I jokingly told the group that next time I wasn’t going to participate because with me it took an hour and a half - without me it took 20 minutes. Talk about feeling unneeded! They did a great job at knowing just what to expect from each bear and acting accordingly. It made for a very smooth and stress free move.
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Open this gate! |
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Finding new dens |
We shut the gate between the front and back area so these three could have a little time to adjust and get a look at their new home. I worried about Whiskers because this was a huge change for him. The twins knew and had been with Kohala & Lanikai, but now the 3 new WA cubs were also there. Kohala and Lanikai immediately came to the divider gate and got reacquainted with the twins. Whiskers held back, but wasn’t overly stressed. When we opened the divider gate, Kohala & Lanikai came in and started wrestling with the twins. One of them challenged Whiskers and he backed up into a corner & then stood his ground making the other bear move away. Talk about a proud parent! It’s been 2 days now and Whiskers has been all over the enclosure, in the swim tub, and even a bit of socializing with Kohala and Lanikai. The 3 new cubs remained in the back part of the enclosure, but today were wandering around. They haven’t yet come back into the front part of the enclosure, but that’s to be expected. It will only take a few days for them to merge with the twins & Whiskers.
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Getting reacquainted |
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Whisker's first day in main enclosure |
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Hey - a little privacy please! |
While Whiskers was a huge drain on time and energy and caused lots of stress for me, I still consider his arrival a blessing. Because the concerns about his ever being released were very real, I knew there were no shortcuts or letting down for even a minute. His needs and demands were never-ending, but I've heard many people with a special needs child say that child is so special to them. It's no different with Whiskers and thank heavens I could be there for him. As much as I gave, he gave more. As hard as I tried, he tried harder. I admit I had many doubts, but from what I see now, Whiskers took what he needed from me as he needed it. When he was ready for each step of going back to being a bear, he took that step and never looked back. I really am a very proud foster mom and thank him for the experience and all that I learned in the process. His release will be an emotional one filled with joy and excitement when the time comes. If you see some weird woman wandering around the woods following him just out of sight, that’s probably me...ha..ha.
We will update the Bear Journal with pictures of the three new bears in the near future. They are still pretty shy and adjusting to all these changes which has made it hard to get good pictures. Here are some taken a couple of days after they arrived.
Sally Maughan