Brown Bear, Brown Bear, I see a Brown Bear

I stand on stiff legs, my heart pounding. My mind races but goes no where. I can hardly breathe. Before me stands an 800 pound brown bear. But my heart is not pounding because I am afraid. No! I am thrilled. For weeks I have been waiting to find out which animal I would be training only to discover I would be working with the biggest one of them all - Kodi the brown bear. 

During my internship at Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center, I got to work with everything from hummingbirds, to turkey vultures, to raccoons. Humming birds are such delicate little things but fiercer than a wild tiger.  Everyone who has heard me talk about my time at Wildlife Images knows how I feel about turkey vultures. They puke on you as a form of self defense, and when you think about what they eat... well you get the idea. Raccoons are cute,  and they live up to their nickname, "Backyard Bandits". One even stole my phone from my back pocket. And then their was Kodi bear. 

Holding Scratch the Skunk
One of Wildlife Images Animal Ambassadors 

Me and Buddy the Great Horned Owl
A Permanent Resident at the Rehab Center

Kodi was a permanent resident at the rehab center, meaning he will never be fit to be released back into the wild (which is our goal for all animals that come into the facility). This is why we take such an active approach in his care. I helped to develop a training system which allows us to work with him in case of an emergency, and helps keep him mentally and physically fit. I want everyone to know that we never forced the animals we worked with to do anything they didn't want to do. It was always their choice whether they wanted to participate or not. They made it plenty clear when they were not interested in interacting with us. This precaution was just as much for their safety as it was ours. However, it never ceased to amaze me how such a powerful animal like Kodi could be so peaceful with me. I really loved Kodi bear.

Training Kodi Bear with his Favorite Treats

And so last weekend when my mom surprised me with a ticket to the teddy bear making class at the sewing expo my heart was pounding once more. I couldn't wait to get started. I modeled my teddy after Kodi bear. Everything from the fur I picked down to the plastic nose was Kodi. Of course there was one obvious difference. My teddy is huggable size. Kodi was an average size brown bear but brown bears can weigh up to 1,300 lbs! They also have long fore claws specialized for digging and jaws powerful enough to crush a bowling ball. My teddies won't be crushing bowling balls any time soon. In fact, I hope that the future teddies I make can find homes where they can be cuddled. 

Teddies in Need of Good Homes

 

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