A Bear's Tale

A few years ago, while we were still living in Toronto, we had gone to a weekend retreat in a town in eastern Ontario, near the city of Kingston. It was located on a "subtropical fen", at least that's what the owners claimed. The main part of the property consisted of an animal refuge, which I saw more as a zoo of sorts, since most of the animals were in cages, though very large ones. These were all critters that could not be released into the wild, as most of them came from zoos, circuses and some were "trashed" laboratory subjects.

They had wolves, coyotes, cougars, lions, Siberian tigers (mother and son, both were part of Hollywood productions but, I guess, had outlived their use). There were also a pair of Norwegian foxes, llamas, a camel, deer, wallabies, about twenty or so monkeys, mostly of the rhesus species, assorted birds, such as peacocks, pheasants, and the like. Among the inmates was a lone Alaskan brown bear.

Even in the two days that we had stayed there, I had made some bonds with the animals, especially, the wolves, which is not really surprising when one considers that the wolf is my main spiritual guide.

Some time later, we got a bright idea into our heads that this would be a great place to work, at least for me, with my husband Michel commuting to Toronto. So, a few months later we went back, and, this time, stayed for two weeks. To make the long story short, this venture did not work out, the vibes were not too good, I could not get along with the people there, but still, I really enjoyed working with the animals. And let me tell you, you have not lived until you have cleaned the monkey cages!!! (LOL)

Now, back to the bear: it was a male bear about 18 years old (middle-aged, as far as bears are concerned), by the name of Oso.

Oso had a very rough start in life, he was taken from his mother in the wild when he was a cub, and sold to a travelling circus. (Unfortunately, such still exist, I have no problems with them if they have human acts only, such as Cirque Du Soleil, but the ones that use animals should be abolished, I feel very strongly about that issue!)

While at the circus, he had both his claws and most of his teeth removed, had to wear heavy steel chains, (he still had the scars when I met him), and his paws were burned with coals in order to make him walk upright. He had spent about seven or eight years under those conditions. The circus was investigated by the authorities and ordered to close. Most of the animals were sold to zoos or other circuses, but nobody wanted Oso. So, the circus owner moved on, leaving Oso in his cage to die the slow death of starvation. He had only rainwater to drink, and, apparently, spent at least two weeks there, until he was rescued by the Humane Society in nearly comatose state. With a lot of attention and intravenous feedings, he fully recovered, at least, physically speaking. It was at that point that the animal refuge mentioned above had heard of him and asked to adopt him.

When I first met Oso, I was immediately struck by his incredible gentleness, his intelligence and good nature, especially taking into account the horrible treatment he'd suffered at the hands of humans. He had a fairly large enclosure to himself, with a log cabin to hibernate in, and trees to molest.

He weighed about 700 pounds, (this species of bears is one of the largest), and his fur was actually golden brown, long and soft, (yes, I got to stroke it). I was told that he could be hand-fed, albeit with some caution, and did I share my breakfast of fruit with him. I would place the pieces on his tongue, and quickly pull my hand back. Even though he had no teeth, except for a few molars at the back, the power of those jaws could have easily pulverized my wrist, without him being aware of it ever happening. I'd spent a lot of time with him during our stay, and he would always come to the front of the cage whenever he'd see me coming. (And I don't think it was just for the apples!)

I consider Oso to be one the best teachers that I had the honour of encountering in this lifetime.

In spite of all the pain he had endured, he had not turned bitter and angry, but being an old soul that he was able to look into the heart of each person that he met with trust, love and understanding.

The people there would let him out of the cage at times, he could be totally trusted with their three-year-old son and counted the family dog as his best friend.

I, too, had been severely abused as a child, and Oso has taught me by his courageous example, that life does go on, and it is possible to heal, after all. I'll be eternally grateful to him for the lessons, and to my guides for bringing us together!