Firefighter Rescues Tiny Injured Bear from Moon Fire

[krisinluck]

This is cool.“He was tottering down the trail,” said Deem, who initially pulled out his camera to photograph the six- to eight-week-old bear cub.

But then Deem noticed that the little bear was hurt.

“The bear lifted its paw and held it” in the air. It was then that Deem saw the red, raw pads of its paw.

Deem searched the area for the cub’s missing mother, but couldn’t find her. Eventually he as able to grab the scared and injured cub, though he scratched his hands as he tracked it through heavy brush.

After wrapping the bear in his fire-fighting jacket, Deem said he cradled it in his arms as he drove his pickup to a fire-fighting staging area. From there he and the cub were driven to a Fire Incident Command Center at the Shasta District Fair grounds in Anderson.

“He was really scared,” Deem said, adding that he comforted, petted and sweet-talked the little cub all the way to the command center,

The bear was treated for its dehydration by the medical unit at the command center, where it also enjoyed licking a lollipop before a state Fish & Game wildlife biologist picked it up for the trip to the Sacramento area rescue shelter.Whole story, and photos. (http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/17/firefighter-rescues-tiny-injured-bear-moon-fire/)

Seems like so much of what we encounter in the world these days is miserable selfish stupidity. This kind of thing sure does give me a glimmer of hope for humanity.

[LittleRedFireAnt]

:1snoop:
You have to look for the good...it's the miserable selfish stupidity that gets reported. Exposing yourself to too much of it will make you sick.
Courage, dignity, kindness, funny stuff, it's all right there side-by-side with the ugly.

[paleryder]

Glad there are a few left that still care.

[bluekazoo]

Well, that brought tears to this old lady's eyes ...

Great story ... it's nice to hear about something so positive these days ...

(got any more? I could sure use the 'lift' ...)

[LittleRedFireAnt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Watch this! This is that guy who has been going from country to country doing that silly-assed dance. What's so funny is that in every culture (and there's so many) everybody joins in the same! That's the part that cracks me up..."goofiness" is so universal.

Whatever has got you down today...all you have to do is lay it down for a little while. Get up and dance a little, sing real loud, eat something really good, laugh. Joy will find you. You can always worry later if you want.

[krisinluck]

I'm kind of a goofball, but the idea of that little bear enjoying a lollipop made me smile big time.

[kim]

cute little bear... :)

- i like bears...

[Piinthesky]

(got any more? I could sure use the 'lift' ...)

As I sat here reading that positive bear story, I heard the quail calling outside my front door. The male has a distictive call that is a sort of a shriek. I've been trying like crazy to get a shot at them for weeks now. NO not with a gun but with a camera. They have their chicks with them this time of year and when I first saw them there were about a dozen tiny chicks in their brood and everyday there's less and less of the chicks. I don't know if they die off due to starvation, exposure to the elements or if the coyote's get them but I wanna get a shot of them all together before they're all gone. In past years i've gotten some pretty good shots of single quails but I really want a good shot of the whole family together.

Wanna see the pics?

[krisinluck]

YES! Please. :)

[Piinthesky]

Here's the clearest picture I have of one of the quail. This is a hen. Her headtop feathers are much shorter than the male's. This was taken out my front door. As long as I stay inside they don't seem to be afraid of me and sometimes they will even walk right past my front door but if I step outside they fly away fast.

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/7/0/9/9/8/webimg/153633360_o.jpg

[kim]

pretty quail... :)

[toke]

This little story made my day. :) That guy had some guts, considering what an angry bear could have done to him for messing with her cub.

I loved the pic of the quail, Pi. When we first bought our house, many years ago, I saw a little quail family marching through the yard in a line...mom in the lead, babies behind. Totally charming. Have never seen another quail around here since, sorry to say.

[Piinthesky]

If you put out a pan of wild birdseed and fill it a couple times a week, the quail will return. The rabbits and squrrels will eat it too. The squirrels, however will make pigs out of themselves with it and carry it away stuffed in their cheeks, to their lair, saving it for winter.

[toke]

We live on a lake in New England, Pi. I used to feed the birds, and really enjoyed them. THEN, came the rats. I'm not kidding, we were overrun with them. Birds spill a lot of seed, and that drew the rats. Offed the rats and quit feeding the birds. I actually could have lived with the rats had they stayed outside, but they moved into our crawlspace. Too much for me. :eek:

[Piinthesky]

We don't have rats here but we do have field mice and i'd feed them too if they wouldn't take advantage, move in and crap all over everything. So I know what you mean. It's really the squirrels that bother me so much because they get under the buildings and chew up wires and tear up insulation. They also tear up the flower beds and gardens too. So I shoot them with 22 bb caps to scare them away. It doesn't kill them, it just stings 'em real good. I also shoot coyotes with 22 bb caps if they come too close to the property to let 'em know their presence won't be tolerated so close to where we live. Weve lost too many small dogs and cats to the coyotes and my landlord has small grandchildren that play outside sometimes. A coyote won't hesitate to take a small child if it has the chance to.

[stronzo]

A few weeks ago one of the guys mowing here at work came upon this bedded down fawn. Mama deer wasn't any where in sight, she probably told it to "stay put" while she foraged. This facility is enclosed by a 6' chain link fence with barbed wire across the top, but we've got construction going on so the fence is down in places.... but the fawn was several hundred feet from the nearest opening. We just left it alone all day, and it stayed put.

We did get a picture of it, with a tape measure for size reference.

By late afternoon, I was wondering if it had been reunited with it's mother, so I went out to check on it. It was up walking along the fence, letting out little cries that sounded like a baby goat saying, "maaa-maaa....maaa-maaa". I approached it, and it just dropped down and curled up like in the picture. Then, I could hear snorting and stomping on the other side of the fence, Mom was over there, and she was PISSED! The fawn was further from the opening than it had been earlier, I knew they were going to have difficulty getting back together....so I got the bolt cutters and sliced the fence at a post and rolled it back (this was in a treeline, or the mother would have just jumped over, but she didn't have room to launch. I've seen them jump over the fence in the open like it's not even there).
I backed off, and watched, but the fawn didn't move. I finally went to put the bolt cutters up and when I came back in a few minutes the baby was gone. I guess it had strict orders not to move until "the man" was gone.

I saw them a few days ago, the fawn is much bigger now. That first day, it wasn't much bigger than a Chihuahua! I'd guess it was maybe a week old, I've never seen one that small.

[krisinluck]

I do love to see someone with an avatar that looks like a pro-wrestler and a name like "Stronzo" post something so sweet. That is cool!

We have a family friend who is Mr. Tough Guy hunter/fisher/outdoorsman bad ass. He and his wife were out one day and there was this tiny fawn lying in the middle of the highway. He noticed it move, so he turns around, goes back. It was just lying there, much like the little one in your photo. So he picks it up, moves it off the road. By the time he's back in his truck, it's moved back to where it was. He loaded it up in the back of the truck (it's a Tahoe, so it's not like a truck truck) and put it on some blankets. Took it home, fed it from a bottle...I have blackmail photos of him and that fawn, lying on the floor of his garage while he bottle feeds it. lol

He saved it's life, and in a couple of weeks it was strong enough to move out to some property he has east of town. And it thrived out there for a year or so - overfed itself on something it shouldn't have eaten that I cannot remember. But I thought it was awesome that he did that.

And I think it's awesome you got that mama back to her baby. :) Thanks for starting my day on a high note.

[toke]

I never would've believed I'd be coming here to find a smile. That pic is wonderful, Stronzo. :) :) :) Never seen a fawn so tiny.

[lakelady]

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20080722/NEWS/270844594/1059&parentprofile=1049

[lakelady]

Sorry, I should have noted that the above link goes to an update about the rescued little bear.

[krisinluck]

Thanks, Lakelady.

I sure hope they are able to save him. Poor little guy.

[tekobari]

What a great thread! Thanks, guys.

[lakelady]

I don't have a link because I saw this update on our local news tonight. You all will just have to trust me.

Anyway, the little rescued cub is doing very well and is due to be released back into the wild in January. He weighed 8 pounds when they began treating him and now is at 80. His paws have healed and he is healthy. He will be released in Northern CA where he was found.

Good news...............

[krisinluck]

I'm so glad you brought this back up, Lakelady!

I found the rehabilitation blog....http://ltwc.typepad.com/

Pictures and updates and links to news stories. There's a webcam link on the site as well. :)

Nice way to start a stupidly busy, and likely difficult, two days!

[Kandi]

Awwww, thanks for the smiles. Much needed this morning. That baby deer...OMG. How tiny.

[kim]

thanks for the update lakelady and thanks kris too for the link...

- i'm glad that he's doing well... :)