Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Claws

After visiting the wolves we headed to the North American Bear Center.
North American Bear center
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This is their sculpture surrounded by flowers.
We went on a tour that didn’t impress me.  It was called a back stage tour.  I thought the holding pens were small and that yes a bear in a cage will eat peanuts out of a persons hand…but what did that teach us?
Bear in jail eating peanuts
Bear jail
After that tour we went outside to the parking lot and took photos of their flowerbeds.
The next tour was an hour later and was called an Enrichment Exercise.
bear heading out of the woods
There is inside viewing or outside above on a catwalk.  We chose outside.
a bear
They threw some food out to get the bears attention, and then put some kind of feed in the feeder part of the bear scale.
bear scale
They said that the bears are not particulary hungry this time of year as they are done bulking up eating everything in sight and are on the verge of hibernation.
The bears are fed lettuce, almonds, seeds, berries and grapes…oh an apples.  Apples are thrown into the water on hot days .
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The bear pool
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They put some grapes in the tire that they threw out for the bear.
Bear disapperaing into the woods
After the bear finished she sauntered off into the woods.
Bear on a rock
Jen and I talked about what we would do next as we figured the bear sighting was over when the bear came back.
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This one only stayed a short time and took of into the woods also.
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All of the bears there (four) have been rescue bears,  several were raised in homes, some were rescued when their Mothers died. Two male and Two females…Ted, Lucky, Tasha and Holly.
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The grave of one of their older bears was out near the flower beds. Honey came to the center as a ten year old along with Ted, a couple in Wisconsin had raised them but could no longer care for them.
This Center for Bears serves a purpose, it rescued bears that would have otherwise been euthanized.  Their enclosure was 2 1/2 acres…and they let the bears out during different times of the day…not everyone gets along together.
We headed out for a little shopping and onward to Grand Rapids to the Trial Gardens before meeting Far Guy in Bemidji…we returned home safely Saturday night.  It was a fun adventure!!
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17 comments:

linda m said...

It looks very interesting. A lot more up-close and personal than a zoo. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

DJan said...

That one bear sure looks ready to hibernate and lose a few pounds doing it. I think it's still an awful small enclosure for bears that like to be free. Bear prison indeed. But thanks for sharing.

Pauline Persing said...

Interesting post.

thecrazysheeplady said...

Well, at least the outside area looks nice. Wonder how they get them to switch out?

Mac n' Janet said...

Too bad they can't be released back into the wild.

Tired Teacher said...

Why on earth do they allow people to feed peanuts to the bear in the pen? Dumb!

I like the cat walk idea and would have chosen that option, too.

Far Side of Fifty said...

The keepers are the only ones that feed them, since all the bears were raised by humans they associate eating with people.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I think it is all routine and that they get special foods at special times, I also heard a whistle at one time.

Far Side of Fifty said...

It was tried with two of the bears and they became nuisance bears, so there was no choice for them other than death. The oldest Bear Ted who is 20 was raised for ten years by a couple in Wisconsin. He could never have been released into the wild.

Patsy said...

Bennie and I read your blog most every day, we are now on Facebook under
Bennie Smith would love to see you there.

Leah said...

We visited this center - sad to hear that Honey had passed away. We visited in 2015. I would like to go to the Vince Shute Sanctuary near Orr.

Rita said...

I suppose bear prison is better than being killed and they are fed well. It's a quiet life for them, I guess. Too bad people keep wild animals like that, though, because they always seem to need to get rid of them later on and they usually can't go back to the wild. I'm glad they were all rescued. :)

Red said...

for some reason or other people are fascinated with bears. Here, our bears are a nuisance and can be dangerous,. We stay away from them.

Terry and Linda said...

I enjoyed your trip! Thank you!

Karen said...

I think I would have found it sad.

Granny Marigold said...

You had a nice adventure with your daughter, that's the main thing.

Sam I Am...... said...

I love bears....but do not want to run into one in the woods! We have bears here too but they stay away form populated areas but there are some in the next town and I think I spotted one when I first came here. I don't think about it much and the girls would definitely let me know. Sometimes Nitty barks and growls at the woods but it could be deer too. She goes out every night and warns everyone to stay away! LOL!