Customer Reviews

Among the Bears: Raising Orphaned Cubs in the Wild

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is basically a primary source about black bears, a subject that, as the author points out, has received spotty attention. "Among the Bears" partially remedies this neglect: it is rich in anecdote, modest yet persuasive in analyses.
This book has many small, satisfying pleasures to it, not the least of which is the idea of a large, stereotypically manly guy like Kilham being a mother to these bears. And he is an amazing mother, patient, wise and tireless. He always lends his bears an ear, literally (for suckling). Another is the reader learns along with Kilham, who continues to turn over the behaviors of his bears in his head, often coming to explanations only after thinking and experimenting. Finally, his physical encounters with bears are entertaining and, I think, instructive about how bears (and humans) become at ease with each other.
The book is very plain in language. As his story progressed, the content of the ideas was plenty engaging, and more than made up for any lack of style.
Telling the history of his interactions with bears, including an unusually large male interested in Squirty, one of the female bears he has raised, Killham ventures prescriptive advice about how to handle a bear encounter only at the end of the book. "Hold your ground, stay calm, maintain eye contact, and let the situation resolve itself. It will." (245)
Throughout the book, Kilham has relevant and undogmatic insights about hunting and hunters.
A small complaint: A bibliography, or more simply--in the character of this straightforward, unpretentious book--a short list of suggested readings would have been welcome. However, the basic but thorough index is excellent.

This is a wonderful book! Kilham does for bears what Jane
Goodhall did for primates. He lives among them and and in
so doing gains valuable insights into their abilities and
behaviors. He discovers bears to be highly intelligent
individuals, but with strong social connections, communicating
over distance and time by scent, sound, body language, and
deliberate trail signs. If you have any interest at all in
bears or in social lives of animals, buy this book!

If you love animals, if you are interested in their behavior, or if you just enjoy a great read.......BUY THIS BOOK! Ben Kilham raised orphaned black bear cubs as a momma bear would. He successfully returned them to the wild and maintained a relationship with them, even after one had cubs of her own! This is no pet bear story, but a look at how one man changed the way we look at a species, while retaining a respect for their wild stature. Black bears are sensitive, intelligent and often altruistic, as Ben Kilham shows. He makes us realize that there are things to be learned about animals, especially black bears and their behavior, that cannot be taken lightly. We humans are not the only intelligent and emotional beings on this planet!

Ben Kilham's observations about bears are wonderfully told - funny, sensitive and insightful. Not a naturalist by trade - he's a gunsmith of all things! - he brings a fascinating perspective to the development of these animals. Highly recommended

I just finished reading Among the Bears and I think Benjamin did a great job at describing the bears body language, and his explenation of what their sounds and gestures meant are superb,,,I have seen a lot of bears in the last 40 years and have seen several of these gestures..This book starts out a little slow but soon picks up and then I could not stop reading, This book does tell it like it really is in the bears world good and bad

Kilham's experience and Gray's writing offer excellent insight into bears' instinctive knowledge by describing how young orphaned cubs in Kilham's care learn how to become wild bears. I reread the book immediately after concluding it so I could take full advantage its information. I recommend Among the Bears to anyone who deals with these amazing animals professionally or informally. Motivation, communication, and dispersal are well covered in a truly understandable and engrossing manner.

I'm only half way through the book but I can tell you it is difficult to put down. As a wildlife Rehabilitator I find Benjamin Kilham's book informative yet fun to read.

As soon as I finished this book, I was sorry it ended so I had to get out and take a long hike myself. I found so much in the forest that has eluded me in the past. I went looking for footprints, marks on trees, acorns, beechnuts, etc. and especially 'scat'. Never knew what that was! This is not some tree hugger proselytizing on getting back to nature, simplifying, etc. This is a man writing about courage, humility, and living the life he preaches without whining and making it sound like the good thing it is. And he makes some amazing discoveries along the way and doesn't even pat himself on the back for all his work.

Book was received promptly, well before the promised deadline, in the exact condition described on the Amazon website. Thank you.

I've never been more disappointed in a book and I think this is the first book I've ever actually returned. I didn't want this man to get a single penny from me. My concerns were immediately raised when I read that he was a gunmaker and when he made the comment "I reached out to poke the radio on to a country western station. I like to listen to songs with lyrics I can understand". So I immediately look up bear hunting in the index and am soon horrified to read that he supports hunting and even bear hunting and tries to justify it as a valid wildlife management technique! How he could ever raise cubs and yet still support murdering them for fun is beyond me. Torturing and/or killing animals for pleasure is a classic sign of being a sociopath. So if you love wildlife and bears like I do and if you're an intelligent person then you will avoid this book like the plaque. If you want to read an amazing book about bears and two amazing people then get "Grizzly Heart" by Charlie Russel and Maureen Enns. Unfortunately, for some reason this book isn't yet available in the US and you must order it from Canada but its worth the extra trouble.