Baby the Black Bear

Baby was a beautiful female black bear that we had the privilege to meet in 2017 when she was only a cub, when visiting us with her Mama at our Blue Ridge mountain home. Baby had two sibblings, Bebe a female and Buddy a male but Baby stole our heart and we fell in love - so much, to the point that we built a playground and platform for Baby and her sibblings to play on. Almost on a daily occurrence Baby would come by the Bear Camp and munch on the bleuberrys and clover we planted around the mountain. She was elegant, kind, very smart and had a fabulous personality.

She was human like in her expressions and her poses, and she would even cross arms for a photo (as shown in the photo on this page). She became part of our family and she is the reason we started Blue Ridge Bears. We learned so much about humanity and the meaning of life because of her. She was a great mother and had 2 litters of 3 cubs each over the course of 6 years while visiting us at Bear Camp. She was such proud and kind mother.

During the summer of 2020, we had three mothers with three cubs each visiting Bear Camp one night. One of Baby's cubs sadly went to a different mother bear that we called Booger and this mother swiped the cub once to get away and then bit her. We tried finding the injured cub but we couldn’t. We assumed that the cub didn't make it. This was tragic for Baby and all of us. Baby was so depressed. She would just sleep and sleep. You could see she was suffering from the loss. Over time, Baby bounced back to her playful happy self and had another litter a year or so later. Baby did fight Booger that night which injured her shoulder and she walked with a painful limp for the rest of her life.

After the 2022 hunting season we never saw Baby again. We loved Baby so much and we know she is in Bear Heaven now. We are saddened by her death but she gave us a purpose. That purpose is to educate people about the American Black Bear and to help protect them. It’s because of Baby we are here. She’s in our logo so we never forget our why. We like to think of all the great memories she gave us and all that she taught us. We will never forget Baby and we will always keep her spirit alive. We believe that Baby was shot by hunters but couldn’t make it through the winter. Baby would even smile at you. She was a great mom. She taught us that the American black bear is so misunderstood. We are so thankful that Baby came into our lives.

We miss her dearly.