Giving a Bear a Pill. Or Trying To . . .
Animal Tales, Bears, Blog | April 14, 2011
Huckleberry Bear Bear and Major Bear
There comes a time, in the course of human events, when you have to give a bear a pill. Or in this case, eight of them twice a day because unfortunately they don’t come in bear size. You might think it would be easy. With a wolf, as long as there is breath in their body, put the pill in a piece of meat and they “wolf” it down, no questions asked. If there is any difficulty at all you keep a second piece of meat in your other hand and they focus so much on the second piece they might miss, that they wolf down the first while eyeing the delectable second (the grass is always greener . . . ). If there should be any possible problem even then, you offer a piece to another wolf, and they are so upset that the other is getting something they aren’t, they wolf it down. No problem giving pills to a wolf. But a bear is another matter. A black bear in particular is quite particular in what he eats and does so slowly, with thought and care, methodically sniffing, examining, then folding his front legs and laying his bulk gently down preparing to take his time enjoying his meal. A bear does not wolf down his food.
Going into this process we thought we had Huckleberry Bear Bear buffaloed. He loves marshmallows. We thought ”this will be a snap - just put the pill in a marshmallow”. Try the wolf trick to be certain; first give him one without a pill and then when he is lulled into a false sense of security, give him one with it hidden deep inside, and then quick another without a pill (that does mean about 20 marshmallows for one bear two times a day, but hey – worth it). Huckleberry Bear Bear, however, was not about to be rushed or tricked. Anything going down his bear gullet to add to his tender and precious massive self was going to go down carefully and slowly. And be thoroughly enjoyed. It took forever to finish a cherry pie for example. First the whipped cream had to be licked off, then one edge of the crust lifted; then the cherries licked out one by one using his long sticky pink tongue . . . and on and on. You would think something he loved so much would go down quickly but no. Slowly and methodically with thorough sensual enjoyment. They do not pig out (except in amount).
So we watched in suspense as he took the marshmallow, us willing it to go down. But with his sensitive and agile tongue he realized something was amiss. He got a funny look on his face, “Uh oh” I thought - “he broke the capsule and doesn’t know if he should swallow or spit it out”. But he hadn’t even nicked it. He chewed and rolled the marshmallow around in his mouth and managed to extract the whole intact capsule from its sticky enclosing walls and let it drop, clean and intact, to the ground and then enjoyed the marshmallow. Out-foxed. We tried all the above-mentioned wolf tricks using his brother Major Bear as a foil but to no avail. There’s no fooling around with a bear and his food.
So – now Plan B. Wish us luck . . .
By Susan Eirich
Nomad Lives by Jennifer Sauer
Does he like peanut butter?? LOL
Been here…done this…
Good Luck coming your way!
Comment by Ramona Coyote — April 14, 2011 @ 8:01 pm
Maybe crush the pills and mix with .. honey?
Explain to him in detail how this special treat will make him feel so much better?
Good luck! Love your stories!
Comment by Fain — April 21, 2011 @ 5:23 pm
Wonderful story, wonderfully told Susan. I have no suggestions for how to get him to take it- my cat reacted to meds just like Huckleberry Bear Bear, and I ended up having to mix them with water in a syringe and shoot them down her throat- don’t think that would work for a bear!
Myles Maloney
Comment by Myles Maloney — April 21, 2011 @ 5:30 pm
As always, a very well written and entertaining story. And a suggestion… years ago I had a dog that was beat up by a pack of wild dogs almost to the point of death (that pack did kill other dogs). For a while, he didn’t really care to eat and his head was so horrendously mangled, I couldn’t hold onto his head to put a pill down in my usual method of encapsulating it in hard butter, which works great for both dogs and cats. My dog had an incredible fondness for parmesan cheese. I had some milk and added the contents of the capsules, freshly squeezed garlic, echinacea tincture, and lots of parmesan cheese. The garlic and echinacea were to help him with his condition. Even with being not interested in food at first, he would smell that parmesan cheese and lap up what had to be a pretty horrendously tasting concoction. Would Huckleberry drink something? If so, add the contents of the capsule to his favorite drink so he can’t separate it out. Milk and honey perhaps? I’ve not hung out with bears, so I don’t know what they like.
Best of luck to you in outsmarting a bear!
Comment by Khiyani Hill — April 21, 2011 @ 6:23 pm
Such a great story and leaving us without an outcome is soooooooo mean of you. Hope that you find a solution for Huck Bear Bear
Comment by philbin — April 21, 2011 @ 6:33 pm
Does Huckleberry Bear Bear like those toys where you put treats in them and he has to dig out the treat? That keep him working on getting it out and if the pill is firmly inside the treat he may just eat it as he worked hard to get it out. Or, how about throwing him food? Does he catch it, like our dog? The pill might be in the trat he catches and then eats. He is a difficult Bear for sure.
Comment by Ann Freed — April 21, 2011 @ 9:02 pm
Maybe you could locate an acupuncturist who treats animals, and forgo the pills completely?
Comment by Nancy — April 22, 2011 @ 9:15 am
Wonderful story. I always enjoy your wildlife tales.
What about salmon juice? Mixing the capsule contents with salmon juice or even berry juice or a cocktail of both?
Please do a follow-up & tell us the outcome.
Thanks
Comment by Shanimah — May 2, 2011 @ 10:59 am
It is SUCH a delight to read and be part of your family’s goings-on. Your telling, as always, leaves me smiling hugely, with a beaming heart.
It is tempting to try to help you with ideas. In case you need any ideas, here’s mine:
I wonder if the pills’ contents could be emptied out of the pill ‘shells’, and into one of his foods. (Certainly he wouldn’t detect a bit of powder or goo, if it was well-mixed into a good smelly food? Or would he!?!)
Love you all : )
Comment by Jshan — May 6, 2011 @ 5:09 pm