Dean and Jewel Oswald own the bear ranch and the 40 or more bears inside. Oswald’s Bear Ranch opened in 1997 and it has grown drastically through the years because every year they rescue black bear cubs from unfortunate circumstances. The ranch tries to make their new homes look like their natural environment so they are comfortable. Bears are separated by age (cubs and yearlings) and gender (adult males and adult females). The cubs have a smaller place to play than the other bears, but they still have a lot of space. The cubs’ pen has one area for getting fed and two areas for playing, with a door connecting each play area. They even have a swimming pool. The yearlings are in a natural area much larger than the cubs’ pen, and they have a small waterfall and a small pond. The males’ pen is a half mile in perimeter and has a trail so you can walk around it. The first thing we did when we got there was get our picture taken while spoon-feeding the bear cubs ice cream. Mac the cub was so excited to get his frozen treat that he dropped it at least five times. Brickhead and I both got an opportunity to spoon-feed a bear cub while the rest of the family pet it. There is a stand where you get four-dollar bags of apples to feed the bears, so next, we fed the older bears. The bears used one paw to put the apple on the top of the other paw and then nibbled at the apple. When you walk around the bear habitats, you might not see all the bears because they might be trying to find shade, but you will definitely see some bears. The last thing we did was go to the gift shop where you can get a picture with a statue of Tyson, the biggest black bear ever recorded. Tyson grew up at the refuge and was nearly one thousand pounds, but he died in a fight in 2000. They also have souvenirs, so if you want something to remember the ranch by, you can get a stuffed animal, a book, a necklace, a pocket knife, or a shirt. Oswald’s Bear Ranch is really cool, and I recommend going there if you’re around that area. The bears there are cute and they probably won’t think about biting you. If you feed them they will love you for two or three seconds! I think you should support Oswald’s Bear Ranch because they save bears that are in need and they care of them properly. They also educate people about black bears. Not to mention, those little baby bears are adorable!
7 Comments
Nancy Corley
8/17/2022 03:23:59 am
Thank you for this. I am delighted to hear that stranded bears have a caring home.
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Anne
8/17/2022 07:03:23 am
Thank you so much for this posting, Banana! Your visit to the ranch sounds so fun. We have a small grizzly habitat area at Washington State University, only 18 miles from where Clark and I live. We love to stop and watch them, especially in the Spring when they are so active. We have never fed them!
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Joni Ramsey
8/19/2022 12:15:35 am
We may have to check that out! We'll be in the area in a few weeks.
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Maxine Holmes
8/17/2022 10:28:32 am
That is Amazing that the whole family got to interact with the bears ! I doubt I’ll ever get to get there to see them so it was very interesting to read about the bears in your article ! ❤️
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Lorna R Stachowicz
8/17/2022 06:22:48 pm
Great job writing this story Banana! It's wonderful how they care for the bears and looks like you all had a great time. I have never fed a baby black bear or any bear!
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Lily
8/24/2022 08:33:00 am
Hi!!!
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Ms. Joy
8/24/2022 08:38:53 am
J-
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