No, not like that. Don't have a heart attack mum. I've become a surrogate mummy to Norman the bear cub that arrived a few weeks ago. He is now off bottle feeding and has started eating more fruit, albeit, pureed together to form a kind of mixed fruit smoothie. He still gets milk and porridge and all of those combined have helped him put on another two pounds since he arrived, almost doubling his weight to 4.52lbs.
He has to be fed four times a day. The first feeding being at six in the morning and the last at eleven at night. I have taken the morning feeding slot as i'm up around that time anyway. Yes to any of my family reading this, you read that correctly. I'm a morning person now. I wake up between six and six thirty each morning without an alarm. So It just seemed to make sense that I do the early shifts.
Also because Norman is currently the only small bear cub here, we also have the task of playing with him to allow him to exhibit his natural play behaviours and help develop his physical and mental skills. So for part of each day I become Norman's playmate. I thought he was cute before but seeing this tiny little furball trying to attack my knee or play fighting with his teddy bear is just too adorable. I like to wait until he runs towards me, then with either my hands or a teddy tickle his tummy until he rolls over. He then runs away only to come running back for more. He thinks it's a great game. I also use the teddy when I give him milk. I place the milk bowl down and then put the teddy next to the bowl as if it is drinking the milk. This usually causes Norman to com running over and try to push the teddy away so he can drink the milk himself. This is a great behaviour to have and will help him tremendously when he does get released as he will inevitably face competition in the wild.
Yes I know, I have a tough job. But someone's got to do it right?
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