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Great story CC, brought a few tears to my eyes, and definately makes you think.

Wonderful heartwarming story CC

Do also love your clever duck SC

These stories under this topic are great Let them come

Super story CC.

SC, thanks for the link - very clever duck. Amazing.

Five Baby Black Bears
From Anonymous (via forwarded email)

Black bears typically have two cubs; rarely, one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire , a black bear Sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs, but five was, and is, extraordinary. I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom - no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks, I had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and photographed them. I used the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed, with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.



I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them, and everything remained OK. I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal.
After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.

This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007.

I saw them before mid-April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once-in-a-lifetime photograph

On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.



When something as magical as this happens between man and animal, Native Americans say, 'We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.'

And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.

that is wonderful

really awesome!!


well I know this sounds rather stupid but I always thought it`s a pity there are no bears in Africa - they`re spread all over the world but not there

I really like bears very much but I would have to go on a "non-african safari" to discover one of those

fantastic!

Wow, that is something specail, |SC, what amazing photographs after such dedicated sleuthing. I am stunned!

wow amazing

Elk Rescue

Submitted by Ray Barta - Original source unknown


Sometimes the issues are bigger. Like when a Nevada game warden was handed the chore of figuring out how to separate two bull elk who locked horns while sparring and couldn't untangle them.


Larger view

The saga began Nov. 21 when a rancher in Reese River Valley spotted the two elk.
By the following day, the animals were gone and the rancher assumed they had separated.

A week later, according to Nevada Division of Wildlife biologist Tom Donham, the rancher was out looking for some of his cows and saw the elk again.
This time, he called the wildlife department and Donham, game warden Brian Eller and Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Bryson Code headed out to see what they could do.


Larger view

When they reached Indian Valley, south of Austin, it was Nov. 29, one week after the elk were first seen.
"When we arrived where the rancher had last seen them, we found them pretty quickly. They were both lying on the ground and one of them was in a very uncomfortable looking position with his head directly above the others head and his nose pointing straight up to the sky," Donham said. Eller said he wondered if they had survived their ordeal.


Larger view

"Once we found out they were alive, I was hoping they couldn't move and would stay where they were. That didn't happen. When they ran off, I was hoping that they could not go very far. That didn't happen either," he said.

The elk may have been sparring at the outset, but Donham and Eller say they used teamwork to run for nearly a mile to evade the newcomers. "It looked like they had been doing it all their lives; serious cooperation if I've ever seen it," Donham said.


Larger view

After two unsuccessful attempts, Donham was able to get a tranquilizer dart into one of the elk. With one down, the other could not run, but was also partially tranquilized in order to separate the two.

Eller and Code helped hold the elk down while Donham used a hand saw to remove part of an antler off one of them.
"As soon as they were apart, the bull that hadn't gotten a full dose jumped to his feet and Bryson, Brian and I quickly gave him all the room he wanted.
He went off about 30 yards and lay down for about 10 minutes before finally walking up the hill and over the ridge, none the worse for wear" Donham said.
The other elk was treated with antibiotics and eventually walked off as well after the tranquilizer had worn off.

"If these two bulls had not been discovered, and we never got the call, they more than likely would have both died. Watching the bulls walk away, and knowing that we likely saved them from a slow death was definitely one of those moments that makes this job rewarding."

If we all learned to love and befriend animals, as in the case cited here, instead of killing them, we would have a much more gentle and peaceful world.

QUOTE:::::If we all learned to love and befriend animals, as in the case cited here, instead of killing them, we would have a much more gentle and peaceful world. Good ending to a nice story.

I love the Happy End!

Great story Spotted Cat!

This story reminds me of the bronze statue of the two kudus with their locked horns in Skukuza camp.

What wonderful stories in this thread, it is wonderful to see man helping and caring for the animals all over the world. Keep it up.