It was a colourful and nutritious delivery guaranteed to make 77 hungry black bears very happy. A massive mountain of fresh fruit arrived at the Bear With Us Centre in Sprucedale on Wednesday, providing the sanctuary’s most mighty residents with everything from watermelon and peaches to berries, grapes and apples. The donation came courtesy of Lynne and Randy, who brought an impressive assortment of food for the bears. Before the refreshing feast could began there was plenty of work to do. Social media photos from the sanctuary show members of the Bear With Us team sorting and organizing piles of colourful produce, like apples, oranges, peaches, grapes, blueberries, watermelon, blackberries and carrots. Once everything was ready, the bears took care of the rest. The delivery made for an abundant edition of “Fruit Wednesday,” with the produce offering plenty of variety for the once wild animals. “A lot of num noms,” staff said over social media. “Bears really appreciate it.” Bear With Us has been helping black bears for more than three decades, taking in animals that have been orphaned, injured or otherwise found themselves in need of assistance. The organization was founded by Mike McIntosh in 1992. Since those early days, the organization says it has assisted more than 1,000 orphaned and injured bears across the province. For bears that can be rehabilitated, the ultimate goal is a return to the wild. The sanctuary also provides lifelong care to a small number of animals that cannot safely be released. To learn more about the organization, click here.
