A New Brunswick family has an unusual pet taking up residence in their shed after they spotted a bear cub roaming around their yard in Parker Ridge, N.B.
“Sunday morning, I was making my coffee in the kitchen and looked back in the backyard. I had a few bags of deer apples leftover, and at the end of the season I just threw them back there, if there was any deer around or more or less to get rid of them,” says Jeremy Hallihan.
“I looked and seen this little guy digging way down deep in the snow. I got out the binoculars and sure enough, it was a baby bear,” Hallihan explains.
The Hallihan family wouldn’t have thought much of it, except the bear spent the rest of the week roaming alone around their yard. His mother was nowhere to be seen.
They called the local ranger, but the bear couldn’t be caught.
“We put peanut butter outside and in a cage and he climbed in the cage and ate it, and the door shut and we brought him in the shed so he can stay warm,” says Kyah Hallihan.
The two girls have affectionately named him “Buddy”, and they’ve found out he likes to eat Fruit Loops and marshmallows. They’ve also realized he’s not your usual household pet.
“He’s really cute and nice sometimes but he can be a bit sassy. Sometimes he tries to bite you and sometimes he tries to claw you,” says Kyah.
The Hallihan’s say they caught him because they believe he won’t survive the winter without him mom. But they won’t be keeping him for much longer.
Buddy is headed to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute on Saturday, where they hope he’ll be able to gain his strength back over the winter and then be set free into the wild.
They think he’s a couple months old, and weighs 12 to 15 pounds.
The Hallihan’s just want to make sure Buddy gets the help he needs.
“I respect the animals. I love to hunt, but I also respect them,” says Jeremy Hallihan.
Department of Natural Resources officers are expected to drop in on Buddy before he is transported to the Wildlife Institute near Sackville, N.B.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
