Lil' Smokey in South Lake Tahoe

PLEASE DON'T VOTE! (YOU CAN COMMENT if you want to.) "Lil' Smokey," a dehydrated 6-month-old black bear cub horribly burned in the Northern California wildfires, was fighting for his life Monday at a care center in South Lake Tahoe. "Everybody should keep some good thoughts for him because he is pretty critical," said Cheryl Millham, founder and executive director of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. The cub, weighing just 8.5 pounds, has been treated with antibiotics, other medicines and clean bandages each day. Until Monday, when his appetite flagged, he dined on peaches, pears, grapes and plums. Millham credited firefighter Adam Deem, who found the bear in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding, CA, last Thursday, with saving the bear's life. "This bear would have been dead right now, dying an agonizing, horrible death with burned paws if that firefighter had not picked it up," said Millham. "Thank goodness this firefighter had some compassion." "If (the bear's) pads regenerate and the toenails regrow, the cub could go back to the wild," said Millham. The rescue center can only accept cubs from birth up to 50 pounds. The center has two other bear cubs, also six months old, who have grown to roly-poly furballs weighing 35 to 40 pounds. If Lil' Smokey survives, but cannot be returned to the wild, he would be kept in captivity. July 21, 2008 from Belleville News (source) UPDATE: As of August 3rd, this little Cubby is doing fine! Great news from my source in S. Lake Tahoe!!!