He has not regained his appetite, but "Lil' Smokey," a 6-month-old black bear severely burned in the Northern California fires, is beginning to show signs of healing.
The cub, being treated at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care in South Lake Tahoe, has new tissue growing on his rear feet, said Cheryl Millham, the center's founder and executive director.
The cub was found in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding last week by firefighter Adam Deem. The animal was injured by one of the many fires then raging in the mountainous terrain.
The 8 1/2-pound cub remains uninterested in food, however, and caregivers speculate that medicine being administered to the animal is interfering with his appetite.
"We think it's either the antibiotic or the painkiller, but we can't take him off either one," Millham said.
Fresh raspberries and blueberries will be offered to the bear today to tempt him to eat.
Lil' Smokey does like drinking his bear milk formula, a special recipe Millham got from a bear rehabilitation center in Idaho, and his digestion is good.
The cub was found in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding last week by firefighter Adam Deem.
Millham said the cub's temperament varies.
"He's hurting," she said. "He's a little bear and sometimes when he isn't hurting he'll grump at us and tell us to stay out of his territory. He's OK though. He's got a nice temperament for a bear."
Lil' Smokey's pads on his feet and toenails must grow back for him to be released back into the wild. If he cannot be returned to the wild, he will be kept in captivity.
The care facility has begun to receive donations on behalf on the bear cub.
The nonprofit wildlife care center relies on donations to help rehabilitate animals. For information on the facility or how to donate, go to www.ltwc.org. If you would like to donate money specifically to help rehabilitate Lil' Smokey, officials ask that you designate that on your donation form or check.
Call The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.