We Could Bearly Stand It!

Joan and I have annual passes for the Brevard Zoo. We really like being supporters and go when we can.

We never fail to stop by and see their resident Black Bear, Cheyenne. An orphaned cub, she was adopted at about four months as she had to be removed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission; people had been feeding her and she had lost her fear of humans.

That is, indeed, Cheyenne in the banner photo. Here’s one more pose, taken as she began to climb the tree in her enclosure. She easily made it up to about four feet from the top.

Back to my main point, we get quite a bit of mail from the zoo, and I’ve always loved bears. So in response to one mailing a couple of months ago, I took the plunge and “adopted” Cheyenne.

Of course, I’m very well aware that probably a couple of hundred other Zoo lovers got out their checkbooks and “adopted” her as well.

I couldn’t resist making a joke out of the whole situation. I mentioned to one of the zoo volunteers who was with us at the exhibit that I had “adopted” her. And then I just let it lay there for a moment…

Then I looked at her with a completely straight face and asked “now do I have to get her braces and show up at all her soccer games?”

Yeah, she laughed pretty damn hard! 

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Photo credits Ben Lawrence Basile