The newest set of of orphaned cubs, Peppermint, Mistletoe, and CranBeary, are settling into the Hartley House. We assume that they are happy and perhaps overwhelmed by the amount of food available to them. According to the educated guess by the rangers who rescued them, their mother weighed about 65-70 pounds, which is very low for an adult sow. Evidently the little family had been struggling for some time, although we are sure the mother was doing her best, and the fact that tiny CranBeary had not been abandoned was testament to her efforts.

It seemed that the smallest cub, CranBeary, went into the second room of the Hartley House alone, to sample the food.

His siblings, Peppermint and Mistletoe, watched from the doorway. They were not anxious to venture inside.

After a while, CranBeary returned to them. They sniffed his mouth, to find out what he had been eating.

Finally they entered. One sibling decided to try the food. The other was still apprehensive. CranBeary tested the bed by walking on it. Everything here was very strange to the cubs, who had been living outside.

Finally, the third cub entered to sample the food. CranBeary explored the strange place.

Eventually all three cubs curled up on the bed, where we can see the contrast in their sizes.

Speaking of contrast – here are the Fight Club girls in Acclimation Pen #4. They are about 4 times the size of the little newbies!

Yearling Heather snoozes on her platform in the fog. She is nice and plump!

Heather, as well as the cubs in the Wild Enclosures, prefer to be outside, even when it is raining.

Some of the cubs are spending more time in their Acclimation Pens, but none of them choose to sleep inside, out of the rain!

The super-chonky cubs in Wild Enclosure #1, sleeping outside like Heather. Although they seem to be totally passed out, they could move quickly to climb the trees if disturbed.

It is obvious that the newest arrivals have a lot of catching up to do before they are ready for release. The chances are that they will need to stay on at ABR after the others are released before the end of the year. Watch this space!