The speaker, who has a lifelong interest in bears, recounts their journey with the animals. They started by raising a bear named Brody, feeding him half-gallon calf bottles and observing his growth from 8 pounds at a year old to 550 pounds at 1.5 years old. The speaker became the bear's surrogate mother and experienced the bear's separation anxiety, similar to a human child's.
The speaker then shares their experiences with two bears, Bob and Screech, who they rescued from a park in Georgia. They emphasize that bears cannot be tamed but can be trained. The speaker's relationship with the bears evolved from hobby to profession, facilitating commercial work and TV shows, and eventually leading to educational presentations aimed at preserving both human and bear lives.
The speaker shares their practical advice for interacting with bears, emphasizing the importance of not surprising them and the need for people to learn how to behave in bear country. They discuss the challenges of maintaining bears in captivity, highlighting the need to prevent boredom and neurotic behavior.
The speaker also shares their experiences with a project aimed at releasing captive-born bears into the wild, emphasizing the importance of not conditioning bears with pain to fear humans. They express their commitment to the bears' well-being and their determination to prevent any surprises from them.
Finally, the speaker talks about the future of Bob and Screech. They have made arrangements for the bears' care if something happens to them, but for now, the bears' future is to stay with the speaker. They acknowledge the concerns of others about this arrangement but emphasize the bond they have formed with the bears.
Fact 1: The speaker has been interested in bears since he was a boy.
Fact 2: The speaker had a neurological disease and was paralyzed at a young age.
Fact 3: The speaker started caring for bears as a form of therapy.
Fact 4: The speaker started with one bear named Brody, who he bottle-fed for three years.
Fact 5: The speaker has two bears, Bob and Screech, who are littermate brothers and around seven years old.
Fact 6: The speaker rescued Bob and Screech from a park in Georgia that had gone out of business.
Fact 7: The speaker uses his bears for educational presentations to teach people how to behave around bears and to save their lives.
Fact 8: The speaker believes that bears should not be treated as pets as they are wild animals.
Fact 9: The speaker has been working with bears for 30 years.
Fact 10: The speaker has made arrangements for Bob and Screech in case something happens to him.