A Family Has Had Bears In Their Backyard For More Than 91 Years And What They Did Will Surprise You

This family has had bears in their backyard for more than 91 years, and what they do with them will surprise you. Having pets around is great for health and to keep things around the house light and peppy. Dogs make great pets, sometimes cats do too. People keep birds, tortoises, and fish as pets. Some people go out of the league a little and have spiders, chameleons, lizards, and the like as pets. But then there are those daring few who become one with nature by keeping wolves, tigers, and lions. The loving nature of these wild animals shows that, even though they are out in their ruggedness, they are capable of affection and, beneath the hard exterior, crave some attention. However, you might not have yet heard of people keeping a big brown wild bear in their backyard, and even if you had, what this family has in their backyard will change all your conceptions Pets are the best companions. They get super excited when you're in a good mood and silently listen to your grievances, being your best cuddle partners. They become such an integral part of our daily lives that it's hard to imagine an existence without them. They're like a family member who's always there, always waiting for you to give them love and attention and reciprocate it. There are people who keep generations of animal families in their own families. It's like families of two different species are connected for generations, and that bond is more special than any other. This is true for the family in this story, too. So, the people who are into exotic pets are of the opinion that dogs and cats as pets are completely obvious, and we don't agree with them. But we gotta accept that there is a slightly higher cool quotient involved when people keep an animal like the bearded dragon as a pet. Then there's the sugar glider, also called a sugar baby, which can, well, really stink, but people do keep them cuz they're cute. Why people keep tarantulas, hissing cockroaches, skunks, or Burmese pythons as pets? There's no knowing. Maybe they literally like living on the edge. Okay, a hedgehog is kind of a cute choice, but these exotic pets come with exotic attitudes, too. So, the kinkajou could pass as a crossbreed between a monkey and a raccoon and a weasel, but it's related to none, and the thing is they don't like noises. So, for noisy humans, it's not the animal to go for because if perturbed, it's gonna make your house a mess. The fennec fox looks like it could be a Pokémon, but for one thing, they abhor captivity and they are not really fans of humans. The list doesn't stop there. There are more quirky and peculiar choices of pets that people make which are the least confounding. And the only question that comes to mind when we see them is why? Wallabies are like baby baby kangaroos but a lot more finicky, bouncy, and require a lot of space. And even though squirrel monkeys might appear to be the ideal pet, they tend to fight for the alpha status, so if you're not careful enough, they'll be the ones petting you. These animals can be dangerous, but not nearly as much as the one which this family kept in their backyard. How would you react if you woke up and found a bear in yours? While trying to hold your breath, you'd probably collect all your belongings and make a run from your front door. But this family wakes up to a yard full of bears daily, and they don't seem to mind it much. Brown bears are usually called grizzlies because, well, even though they're dangerous, they look potentially really cuddly. That's where the term grizzly bear comes from. They're usually found in most places in Europe, US, and Canada, and prefer the deep forest habitat and mostly like feeding on berries and fruits. However, if they're too hungry, male bears are known to eat even their young ones. Yeah, extreme. They can weigh up to 700 pounds and the females can weigh up to 350. Why are you even being given facts about bears, though? Well, because a family in Florida kept them in their backyard, not just one or two or five. Wildlife belongs in the wild, that's what most humans believe. But it's also humans who are responsible for the loss and depletion of it. We've grazed down forests to build houses and malls and consequently, a lot of animals have lost their natural habitats. So is it really wrong for a family to keep bears in their backyard? The more important question is how they even come to raising bears, and how did they tame them, if at all? The story is of a family in Florida, and it goes back almost a century, the first time a bear came in their family. Since then, the bear family in their backyard has only grown. The first bear in the Welda family was introduced in 1946. It's been 91 years now, and it's a tradition for the current family members to be taking care of the bears. The Beardice Ranch in Florida is a huge open space suitable for bears' habitat. Till now, the Welda family has provided a home to polar bears, black bears, and grizzly bears in the last 90 years. Currently, it's Monica Welda who's the president, owner, and senior trainer at the Beardice Ranch. She says, my bears are a part of my family, and after seeing their pictures together, we're left in no doubt that she treats them all lovingly. Monica is actually Johnny III Welda's wife, which sort of made her an outsider in the family. The family tradition of having the bears become dicey went quite recently. Johnny III, the caretaker and patriarch of the family, died of a heart attack just after he turned 60. Monica said, I know the bears miss him, they do notice his absence. She continued, but our son and I decided to continue the family legacy and go on for my husband. Monica decided to not let anything happen to the ranch, and she, along with her son Johnny IV, who is 27 years old, decided to take over responsibility. The bear ranch is Johnny IV's inheritance, and Monica has been taking care of these bears for 37 years now, but how do they manage it? Monica has been in the Welda family for 37 years, and she's hand-raised the 14 bears who currently live in the Beardice Ranch. When asked if she prefers bears more than humans, she laughed and said, Well, there's gotta be something really interesting and inspiring about these bears. She said that over the course of 91 years, some bears have been born in the family and some have been adopted. Monica, in an interview, said that my son has been raised with the bears, he's been interacting with them since he was a child. And Johnny IV went on to confirm, saying, I've been around the bears since I was three years old, they're like family to me. I see them every day, so they're just my siblings, really. He told his routine, I go out and take care of the bears, feed them, clean them, interact with them a little bit, you know, talk to them. He further said they let him out in the habitat so they can run around, play, and be bears. The unexpected and sudden death of Johnny III left his son in a lurch. He emotionally accepted, My dad was my best friend. He taught me everything I know. We were extremely close, and I plan on carrying on his legacy for as long as I'm alive. He went on, My mom is also very close to the bears, they're her family. For my mom and dad, they're everything to them. She loves the bears very much. I'm very proud of her for carrying on my dad's legacy with me. It's not easy, but we're getting through it. The way the bears look happy in their company, it can be safely assumed that they're doing great. Now it's time to meet the 14 beary beasts. The oldest bears in the Welda family are 23 years old, and their youngest are five. This is Kenai, he's a five-year-old male grizzly bear. He was adopted by the Welda family about three years ago, and he's not fully grown yet. Imagine if he's this big right now, how huge he'll be in half a decade. He loves attention and honey. He's a sloppy kisser and likes to lick honey when it's drizzled on his paw, but it's never enough for him because he's always craving a new bottle. Since he loves attention, Monica makes sure to visit him daily. Our daily interaction with our bears is communication. Loving, petting, they thrive on that physical contact. However, she continued, we never forget that they're bears. They are bears first. Even though we share our lives with them, we respect them for what they are, and we want them to live like a bear, and that's why we built the Paradise Ranch, Monica said. The bears get all the diet they need. They're healthy and happy and very comfortable with the Welda family. Lucy and Tootsie are eight-year-old female bears, and the really cute bear on top of the stone is Misha. She's one of Kenai's sister and is five years old, too. Johnny IV said, to us, they're very safe. We're not strangers, which is understandable. We've raised them so, to us, they're very, very sweet. The fact that the bears adapted to and love the Welda family is proof that no matter how strong or dangerous an animal is, it always responds to love and attention, and Monica and Johnny made sure there's no lack of it. These are Fred and Ginger, both 23-years-old European brown bears. Johnny IV said, we had both their parents and their siblings, and when they're born, My mom hand-raised both of these from cubs. Fred weighs around 800 pounds and Ginger weighs 400. A full-grown male healthy bear wears around 700 and female around 350. Fred's weight is the proof that the family's taking good care of the bears. It's quite astounding how something which is so small at birth can grow up to be potentially one of the most destructive forces in the world. Monica Welda said, Here at Bear at Ice Ranch, our bears have a natural habitat, where they can come out and enjoy. They have a spring-fed pond, we have pools, grass, trees. My husband and I thought it would be nice for the bears to just live like a bear. What's respect-worthy is that the Welda family hasn't kept the bears in confinement or limited spaces. The bears have ample natural space. Adopting bears is not as easy as adopting a dog or cat. The Welda family is licensed to adopt them. By converting their backyard into a bear-friendly environment, the Welda family have proven their worth to be able to take care of these wild beasts. Keeping animals in confinement means robbing them of their natural habitat and restricting their movement. The Welda family have especially gone out of their way to make the bears feel at one with nature. They also take care to provide them with a good diet and loving environment. The Weldas are certified professional trainers who have trained their bears over the years. What's impressive is that the bears have responded as well. If Monica or Johnny the Fourth asks them for a kiss, they take their tongues out or pout and kiss their lovely caretakers. Johnny the Fourth has also trained them to control their food habits. They understand basic commands like stay, sit, stand. It's like having a big bear dog who's a good boy. But understanding these basic commands is not the coolest thing about these bears. Chances are you have seen them somewhere. Since the time the Welda family started keeping bears, many of them have appeared in various Walt Disney movies. So if you've come across a bear in a Disney movie, remember that it's not special effects or a random shot of some wild bear. Chances are it's one of the grizzlies from the Beardice Ranch. The bears have also been trained for various TV shows. Their learning and understanding have really made it easy for directors to shoot them. But Monica and Johnny are always present to command them. My bears have never attacked anybody. We never had any incident with the public or with ourselves, said Monica Welda. It is amazing how the mother and the son got these wild beasts to love and respect all humans, even though they're not comfortable with strangers. All their food, mates, and love requirements are fulfilled at the Beardice Ranch, so they need not attack any human or other animal for that matter. But Monica herself does have some scars. In response to the question whether she herself has been attacked by any of her bears or not, Monica said, I do have a few scars on me from their claws. That's natural, they're very powerful animals. However, she went on to say, they'll lick us and kiss us and hug on us and touch us. I've worked with bears for 37 years and I have all my fingers, so it's a good track record. Not taking the marks, giving these animals as a sign of their savagery, and being practical about it is what's kept Monica going. When Monica was asked to comment on some people's belief that bears should not be in human care, she replied, I'm sure there's people out there that say you shouldn't have a bear in human care. They should be in the wild. What do I say to people like that? First of all, the wild's disappearing. There's so many people on this planet, we're taking all the resources from the animals and their habitat's shrinking. All of what Monica is saying is true. However, she went on to make more valid points. She continued, six out of eight species of bears on the planet are threatened and endangered. Are my bears safer here with me than in the wild? I'd say so. I've spent 37 years of my life with bears and as long as I'm physically able to, I'll work with the bears till I grow very old. And I feel very confident that they'll be taken care of after I'm gone. We didn't see it ending with my husband's death, so we're going to continue the Welda family legacy and keep the Paradise Ranch thriving. The bears have ample natural space in the Paradise Ranch. They also have accessibility to pools, so they can be found rolling around in the grass after a dip in the around. However, seeing Johnny and Monica every day playing and spending time with them is the highlight of their day. The love, attention, and cuddles they get from these members of their families is irreplaceable. Some people might object to this domestication of wild animals, but the truth is the Welda family doesn't force it on them. The bears respond to their love. Surprising, right? It might seem like an easy task to be looking after a family of bears, but imagine having to feed and bathe 400 to 1,000-pound creatures daily. It's a humongous task and a lot for just two people to take care of. Johnny IV actually gave up an academic career just to look after the bears. For him, the family legacy holds more importance, and he plans to take full responsibility of Paradise Ranch, even after his mother. In times when humans are clearing out forests and killing bears for their skins, the Welda family has taken it upon themselves to save and nurture as many bears as they physically can.