ORR — When Rob Worsham interviewed for his internship, he was asked, “Are you comfortable walking in the middle of 60 black bears?”
“I'm retired Army, and I've been in some interesting places, and I was like, 'Sure, why not?'” he recalled.
“Sixty, I didn’t think that big a deal, although I’ve never heard of 60. And then when I got here, there must have been well over 90 at dinner time.”
Worsham arrived for his first day at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary in mid-August, just in time to catch bears in hyperphagia, their feeding frenzy as they prepare to hibernate.
The nonprofit American Bear Association runs the sanctuary, which is 10 miles northwest of Orr, as the crow flies. There, interns like Rob, volunteers and a handful of staff feed the bears.
“We try to kind of feed them a natural diet,” said Steph Horner, president and executive director, just before feeding time at the sanctuary on Sept. 11. “It’s dried fruit, nuts, seed. To just complement what they’re already going to eat out there in the wild.
“ ... There’s not fences, there’s not cages, they’re coming and going as they please. Some more than others.”
The meals looked a little different when the feeding first started decades ago.
Vince Shute was a logger, and he and his men often dealt with black bears breaking into their camp. After three decades of shooting and killing the nuisance bears, he tried something else.
“He was like, ‘Gosh, they really seem to like my sourdough pancakes. So maybe I should just make them a separate batch. I’ll place it away from the cabins and see what happens,’” Horner explained.
It worked in that it stopped the break-ins. But the bears kept coming back. Horner said the troubles of feeding wildlife weren’t really known in the early ‘70s when Shute started.
“Once bears learn a food source, they don’t forget a food source, so they continued to come back,” she said. “I like to say, ‘You know, sure, it wasn’t right.’ But Vince was ahead of his time. He was trying to peacefully coexist with the wildlife he was sharing a home with.”
Shute became something of a local celebrity. People called him The Bear Man. More and more came to visit, feeding the bears junk food and trash.
“People were doing crazy things like putting kids on the bears’ backs and stuff like that,” Horner said. “So not only were there fears of people getting hurt, but it was super disrespectful to the bears.”
The nonprofit began in 1995 and built the first deck from which visitors could observe. Now, 10,000-15,000 visitors each year walk the decks between Memorial Day and Labor Day to watch the bears. Their admission fees, plus a gift shop and photography workshops, fund the sanctuary’s work.
Horner estimated that about 80 bears visit the sanctuary each year, but it’s hard to know exactly.
Horner acknowledged that feeding the bears is no longer best practice and continuing to do so is controversial. In nearby Nett Lake, Bois Forte band members have expressed concern that the practice is making the bears too comfortable around humans, leading to potential conflict.
Horner said there are also concerns that if feeding stopped, it could lead to even more conflict. Tourists who come to the surrounding resorts aren’t “bear aware,” and their poor practices could cause problems for suddenly hungry bears.
“But you know, this is a great opportunity for people to learn about bears and to learn how to be bear aware,” she said. “So we pride ourselves on being a facility that teaches that.”
She said that's why the sanctuary’s work is important.
“The more people that you teach about them, they’re going to learn and understand the animal, they’re going to ultimately care more about that animal.”
Horner and her husband Ryan, who is the director of operations, both have biology backgrounds. They moved up from the Twin Cities 10 years ago to work at the sanctuary.
Ryan Horner’s favorite bear is Kenai, who he said has a clear personality behind his eyes. Kenai came to the sanctuary severely injured last year, just before it was time for hibernation.
“Normally we would probably intervene, but it was so close to the end of the season that we just were like, ‘If he can just make it to the den, if we can get him fat enough, if we can keep him hydrated, ... if we can just get him to the den, he’ll be alright,” Steph Horner said, noting bears have amazing healing properties.
Kenai returned in the spring, with a bit of a limp, but at least he was back.
“There’s still a big fear around bears, and they’re still very misunderstood creatures,” Ryan Horner said.
The internship program is another educational element. The sanctuary gets 15 to 30 interns throughout the season from all over the world.
Ava Stark graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in the spring with a bachelor’s in ecology, behavior and evolution. Sept. 11 was her last day. She said the highlight was witnessing the magic of bear behavior.
“Because I really am interested in wildlife behavior and wildlife conservation, and just the work they do here is great,” she said.
After Stark left, Worsham was the last intern standing. He’ll be there until the last bear leaves to hibernate.
The 56-year-old from Pennsylvania isn’t your typical intern, but he said he was bad at retirement. He’s pursuing a wildlife rehab certificate and needed the experience.
He also loves the bear behavior, and as he said so, two bears started huffing nearby.
“Two cubs pretending to be adults,” he explained. “I’ve been watching just this last week alone; the cubs are practicing adulting, and they’re trying to be rough and tough with each other.”
Despite its long history, the sanctuary isn’t very well known. Steph Horner said it relies heavily on word of mouth.
“I would love to scream it at the top of my lungs and for everybody to know about us,” she said. “It’s been hard because we’re limited financially, because we are a nonprofit.”
The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary is always looking for volunteers, she said, and reopens to visitors again Memorial Day weekend.
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