An episode appeared twice a month
in The Michigan Farmer magazine.
Whitepaw Goes On a Journey
"How did Whitepaw's nose make him leave Friendly Forest, Uncle
Joe?" Jerry asked the next day.
"Well," said Uncle Joe, very mysteriously, "he had to
go to a doctor."
"Are there animal doctors?" Jerry asked eagerly. "And
do they have hospitals, too?"
"I'll tell you about it in the story," Uncle Joe declared.
"That is, if you want to hear the story,"
Uncle Joe had to take but one look at Jerry to know whether he should
tell the story. Without further question he began.
"Whitepaw was pretty sick the first couple of days. Mrs. Spence
bathed his nose with warm water and put medicine on it. At first I had
to wrap him in a blanket and hold him while Mrs. Spence treated the
swollen nose. Even then, Whitepaw would growl when she touched it. Food,
he wouldn't notice at first; and he would drink water only when we weren't
around. I built a little pen for him about the size of a doghouse and
tied him to a tree near the house with a small chain."
"Didn't the mother bear ever come around?" I asked.
Uncle Joe nodded. "Once or twice I saw footprints of her, quite
a distance from the cabin where she had come during the night. Many
times I saw her and Blackpaw during the day from the top of the tower.
She seemed to be looking for Whitepaw. Blackpaw stayed very close to
her during those days.
"Well finally, after a couple of days, I managed to make friends
with Whitepaw. He wiggled less and less when Mrs. Spence touched his
nose but he wouldn't eat food. I caught mice for him but he wouldn't
even look at them. I gave him warm milk. He would drink that when I
wasn't around. Finally I hit upon a scheme. I took him some honey.
"In a couple of days, Whitepaw was our friend. After that honey,
he would come out of his hiding place whenever we came near. He was
a funny-looking little fellow as he would come out of his shelter with
the chain clinking behind him. He would blink at us and look up as if
to ask what we wanted."
"Do you suppose Whitepaw remembered the bees and the honey from
the time he fell out of the tree with the bees after him?" I asked.
"Possibly," Uncle Joe said, "but he enjoyed the honey
so much that I believe he forgot all about the bees or didn't want to
remember them.
"Well, Whitepaw's nose seemed to be healing. Mrs. Spence bathed
it every day and watched it closely. Then, nearly a week later, she
came up here to the top of the tower and excitedly told me that something
was wrong with the little bear's nose.
"When I had an opportunity to see for myself, I found that the
nose was quite swollen again. Whitepaw's nose continued to swell. We
put medicine on it. We even brought him into the house so that we could
watch him at night as well as during the day. While Whitepaw seemed
to be afraid of us no longer, everything was strange and new to him
inside the cabin. He was feeling pretty badly to pay much attention,
but once in awhile he would look around from his box in the corner.
"The next day, Whitepaw was no better. Mrs. Spence was very anxious
about him for she said she was beginning to think a lot of that little
fellow. That evening we decided that Whitepaw must be taken to a doctor."
Uncle Joe paused. "Do you see that range of hills over there?"
he asked. "Well, beyond that range of hills is a town where the
veterinarian, the animal doctor, Dr. Williams lives.
"Whitepaw didn't understand what it was all about. I wrapped him
in a blanket in the same way I had brought him from the den, and held
him in the saddle in front of me, we rode over to town.
"Dr. Williams was very much surprised when I unrolled the blanket.
He took one look at Whitepaw's nose and then shook his head. He told
me that a piece of one of the quills had broken off and was still in
Whitepaw's nose.
" 'I doubt if we can save his life'," he told me, "
'but we'll try'."
Click HERE to read "Whitepaw
Goes to the Hospital"
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© 2004 Leo VanMeer
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