CHADWICKS, N.Y. — When the bat hhone rings at Woodhaven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, you never know what animal is going to be on the other end of the line.
Thursday night, it was a very unusual one.
They got a call last night from a DEC officer with a bear cub.
Someone spotted the 2.7-pound cub on West Ava Road, in Ava, with no mama bear in sight, making this little girl vulnerable to larger predators and traffic.
Off to Woodhaven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, but what do you feed a baby bear?
The answer: vanilla Ensure.
“So, it was 9 at night, and my DEC officer’s still here. And he says to me ‘Well, where do you get Ensure?’ And I said, ‘The drug store. They’re open ’til 10.’ It was 9 .He says to me, ‘I’ll go get the Ensure.’ So, he’s in full uniform and everything. He goes, and he brings back the Ensure for the bear,” said Judy Cusworth of Woodhaven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
The cub goes to a licensed bear rehabilitator in Greene County on Saturday, much to Judy’s heartbreak.
The cub will be with other bears and then released onto State land in about a year.
Woodhaven gets no government funding; they do this all on their own but gratefully accept donations on their website.
When the Bat Phone rings at Woodhaven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, you never know what animal is going to be on the other end of the line.