Deacon - A Miracle Cub (Part 3)

Have you ever awoken from a deep slumber without opening your eyes? 

You seize awareness yet you remain perfectly still?

My body told me morning had arrived yet I knew I wasn't in the comfortable folds of my down comforter, nor was my head on my nice comfy-cozy pillow. The cold hard concrete floor reminded me of the absent luxuries I had grown accustomed to while the bag of dry dog food that crinkled beneath my shifting neck assured me I wasn't in my bedroom.

Suddenly, crystal clear imagery began flooding my mind.

My eyes remained closed as I watched the scenes play out before me as if I were seated in a matinee. I remembered watching a small bear frolicking playfully in my midst. Never before had I interacted so intimately with a bear. I was almost able to reach out and touch it. I tried desperately to recall the rest of the dream for it seemed so gosh darn real.

Then the doofus stick slapped me upside the head and I immediately recalled my real-life situation and I was soon inundated with the overwhelming swell of reality. It was all coming back to me.

Before I nodded off I was playing with Deacon, a small cub from the rugged mountains of east Tennessee that had but a few hours to live. His fate was most assuredly sealed due to the selfish acts of some uncaring people. Besides stealing the bear's freedom they also caused him to contract a severe case of aspiration pneumonia. Unless a miracle happened his time on earth was quickly ticking away. I was quickly coming to my senses.

It was quiet in the maintenance building.

I feared the worst and I was afraid to open my eyes. I already felt the sadness growing in my gut. At least I knew in my heart I gave Deacon a good final night.

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I felt the sun’s rays beaming through the lone window of the maintenance building and decided it was time to do what inevitably needed to be done. Slowly but surely I opened my eyes.

Yet there was still blackness.

I blinked.

And then I blinked again.

There were the sun's rays streaming through the blackness...

...the blackness of his fur!

Deacon was lying smack dab in front of me!

Not only was he lying right in front of me, he had snuggled up against my arm and had come to rest there.

And most amazingly of all.... he was breathing!

I didn't even care that I was spooning a bear...Deacon made it through the night!

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While Deacon was still dusting cobwebs from his rapidly awakening brain I scooped him up and placed him back in his cage. For some reason he didn't mind a bit which was a far cry from my struggles the night before. Once inside, he walked over, lapped up a little bit of milk and curled up on the fleece blanket in the far corner of his cage. He still seemed a bit groggy.

Then it dawned on me on how his body was still fighting a raging war within. Before he drifted back off to sleep, I inserted his meds into a peanut butter slathered apple and fed it to him. I was praying this was the turning point and that things would slowly begin improve. They just had to.

For the next couple of days I spent quite a bit of time in his company. This undoubtedly assured there was more humming than coughing coming from his tattered lungs. Miraculously the coughing subsided and he began to gain his strength. I kept in close contact with Dr. Ramsey giving him constant updates on the bear's condition. He was thrilled and equally amazed the bear had made it through his ordeal. In fact, since he was no longer coughing, he was quite optimistic the bear was over the hump.

I was both relieved but in a strange way, saddened because of what was about to come next.

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This is where the story takes a down turn for this is not a success story.

Bears are not meant for confined spaces.

The ensuing weeks found me contacting numerous wildlife sanctuaries across the country. Although most people envision a wildlife sanctuary as a glorious haven for an unreleasable animal, that is often not the case. Finding a home for a young black bear cub was next to impossible. I cannot tell you the number of places that turned me down simply because they did not have "room" for another bear or that they did not have a "need" another bear, especially a male. This last statement made me cringe thinking of what potentially occurred at some places if they were only interested in females.

Needless to say, not many places met the standards we would consider acceptable. Keep in mind, though many places are licensed to accept animals, permitting requirements vary tremendously throughout the country. Fortunately we found a sanctuary in another state that agreed to take him in, and before we knew it, Deacon was gone.

Though Deacon had survived his precipitous ordeal, it made me wonder what his life was going to be like now that he was going to be placed in a cage, regardless of its size. Bears are not meant to be confined, they are meant to run wild and free. And Deacon would never again have a chance to do this.

This brings us to the lessons learned.

Yes, the bear center hurdled an obstacle to care for a severely debilitated animal. They proved without a doubt they had the capacity to fight against long odds and that is a true feather in their cap. The facilities as well as the personnel at the center, and their partners, have always exhibited the utmost commitment and expertise when it comes to "bear care". But they are not miracle workers. Especially when it comes to providing an after-triage life for a "rescued" bear.

In other words, their story does not always end with "and they lived happily ever after".

This undoubtedly is the case when a bear is deemed unreleasable. His fate, unfortunately, is sealed and he shall never run free.

This sad circumstance is the fault of the HUMANS… no one else.

We need to communicate with individuals who don't who don't know how to behave around bears and influence them to change their misguided ways. Not for their sake but for the sake of bears like Deacon.

This is why bear education needs to be the first and foremost priority for any organization that is an advocate for wild bears. With a primary component to teach people how NOT to make "friends" with bears, whether intentionally or unintentionally, then hopefully we will never have to read another Deacon story. And I will never again have to write one.