Ing, Saturday, June 25, 1994
810-Lancasttr Farmii
Big Ben The Bear Pays Final Tribute To His Owner
MIRIAM WERT
Juniata Co. Correspondent
EAST WATERFORD (Juniata
Co.) It has been said that dog is
man’s best friend, but Mid Kistler
feels this iy not true for all men. In
the case or her husband. Bob, it
was a bear, Big Ben, that was her
husband’s best friend. In fact, Mid
said that Bob used to say he had
two loves in his life Mid and
Big Ben but he would tease her
and say he wasn’t sure which
should be named first!
Years ago, Bob started to raise
bear cubs. At the request of the
owner of a small ice cream place,
Bob placed the cubs in an area
back of Dairy Dine to help draw
customers. Eventually Bob placed
many animals there, and Bob also
started to have his animals in the
East Waterford parades.
Bob and Mid have lived on the
present farm for 12 years, but they
raised animals before that They
bought bear cubs and fawn and fed
them from the bottle. Once they
had three fawn on a bottle at one
time and had to keep them in a
comcrib divided into three sec
tions so they could be fed sepa
rately as each one demanded
attention at the same time. Since
there were so many of them, they
lost track of the number of deer
they raised, but they had as many
as 12 to 14 at one time in various
sizes. They would sell and get
more, sell and get more, until Mid
says it was like they were “whee
lin’ and dealin’.” It is not hard to
see, though, that Bob and Mid
were more interested in raising the
animals because they loved them
than they were in any profit they
may have received.
Of course, they had to be
inspected by the state and have
permits and license before they
could keep wildlife in captivity.
Many safety measures had to be
enforced to meet state require
ments. After awhile, the Depart
ment of Agriculture also required
them to have a license.
Although bear cubs and deer
seemed to be the favorites of Bob
and Mid, they also enjoyed raising
and displaying rams, goats, Fal
low deer (German), Maufflan
sheep, “de-frosted” skunks, pyg
my goats, foxes, wallaby (little
kangaroos), pheasants, exotic
pigeons, and doves. They certain
ly were “farmers” in their own
right, and they had a living “crop”
of animals which they loved and
which loved them.
The highlight, though, was in
Big Ben yawns contentedly.
1975 when Bob bought Ben and
his little mate, Jennie, then only
six months old. Jennie was taken
to New York state, but Ben stayed
with Bob Kistler. As Mid
describes it, those two had a very
special relationship from the start.
Next Bob bought a female bear,
Smokey. She and Ben had 15 cubs
together. Most of them were sold,
but two special ones were kept and
were also often in local parades.
One of the cubs, Herbie, was a
“bad boy” on a number of occa
sions, often getting into mischief.
As Mid laughingly described it,
you can’t correct or discipline a
bear with a spank on the butt
because they are too well-padded.
They soon learn that the only
place that will hurt from being
corrected is the nose which can be
tweaked or hit lightly with a
switch when necessary. So, when
Herbie had been naughty, he
would run to stick his nose in a
corner, letting his well-padded
behind stick out without fear.
One time Herbie got in their
water spring, rolled around in it
and became covered with mud.
Then he went to the house and got
into the washer. Needless to say,
when he was taken from the
washer, he headed for a comer!
There was sadness in Mid’s
voice, though, when she told that
Herbie had to be put to death when
he became older. A boy came to
their place and, without permis
sion, went to Herbie’s cage and
stood with his arm right up against
the bars. Herbie grabbed this
stranger’s arm, pulled it into the
cage bars and broke it quite badly.
The state made them have Herbie
put to death so he could be
inspected for Rabies, which, of
course, was not found. The Kist
lers knew that Herbie had not been
out of his cage where other ani
mals could have bitten him, but
they were told that a bat with
Rabies could have bitten him, and
so there \Vas no choice but to have
Herbie put to death. It was devas
tating for Bob and Mid.
Another cute trick that Mid
recalled about Herbie, when he
was small, was when he got into
the truck and stood at the steering
wheel like a kid. This provided
laughs for many people (and
happy/sad memories for the
Kis tiers).
In the meantime, Ben and Bob
played together and pulled tricks
on each other. Ben especially
loved peanuts in the shell. One of
his favorite tricks was to pull one
it in his big mouth ever so gently.
Ben also loved to get in the cage in
his bear trailer to be taken to para
des. He was always content as
long as Bob was near.
When raising the bear cubs, the
Kistlers started with goat milk,
then baby cereal such as Pablum,
then puppy chow and, finally,
adult dog food. There are dog
bears and hog bears. Big Ben and
offspring are the dog bear type,
and as adults they like day-old
bread and dog food. The only
meat they get is what is in the dog
food, which must be high in pro
tein. They also like ear corn,
apples, pears and donuts (but they
are given only limited sweets).
Ben still loves to eat grass, but
it must be pulled or weed
whacked; no mower clippings for
him! After all. a fella has to have
something to chew on to make it
worthwhile. It is quite a picture to
see Big Ben sitting on his butt and
holding ear com as he eats it Of
course peanuts are still his favo
rite, perhaps because they make
him think of Bob.
About eight years ago, a new
friend came into the life of Big
Ben and the Kistlers. Pennsylvani
a State Trooper Cliff Stitely
started to raise deer and went to
visit Bob Kistler for advice. Bob
reminded Cliff of his grandfather,
and they became the best of
friends. Cliff also became quite
attached to Big Ben who now
weighs 841 pounds and is 19 years
old. This might sound old, but his
father lived to be 35! Ben is the
last of the large animal collection
once owned by the Kistlers,
although Mid still has Sparky the
Schnauzer for a pet.
Some months ago, Bob Kistler
found that he had cancer. In addi
tion to his pain, perhaps the most
difficult thing for him to face was
leaving Big Ben because he knew
how much Ben loved him and
would miss his care. At first. Bob
asked Cliff to have Big Ben put to
death after Bob died, but later he
withdrew this request when he
realized it would be impossible for
Cliff to cany out that request.
Another request, however, was
one that Cliff definitely planned to
fulfill. While in the final stages of
cancer in the hospital where he
was too ill to be released. Bob told
Cliff that his last wish was to pet
Big Ben just one more time. Cliff
received permission from the hos
pital to take Big Ben in his cage on
the trailer to outside the hospital
where nurses would wheel Bob so
he could give Ben that one final
pet
However, Cliff found the
melted snow had made such soggy
ground that the truck could not get
into the area where Big Ben could
be transferred from his enclosure
to the cage on the trailer. Before it
was possible to take Big Ben to
answer Bob’s final wish. Bob died
in the hospital at age 77.
Guess who led the funeral pro
cession? Big Ben in his cage on
the trailer pulled by a pickup just
as he so often had been taken by
Bob. A short time before the fun
eral, the wind had come up and
dried out the ground enough for
the truck to get in to load Big Ben,
and Cliff Stitely was able to take
care of a final act of love for his
dear friend. Cliff took Big Ben to
his home two nights before the
funeral to get him ready for the
procession.
To the people of this little town
and rural area in Tuscarora Valley,
it was most appropriate that Big
Ben was where he belonged one
last time in a parade with his
beloved Bob, although this time it
was a private procession and not a
public parade.
UPDATED NOTE: We are happy
to report that Big Ben is alive and
well, though perhaps somewhat
homesick for Bob, Mid, and Cliff.
A man in Maryland had heard that
Ben was available and, about
three days (tfter this writer inter
viewed Mid Kistler and took pic
tures of Big Ben (which was about
ten days after Bob's funeral), the
new owner came to get Ben. He
took Ben to live in one of his pri
vate menageries where he keeps
exotic animals and birds.
Perhaps Big Ben will not grieve
as much for Ms friend away from
the old, familiar surroundings;
but we suspect that, back in the
recesses of Ms mind, when he
Big Ben takes a peanut from the mouth of his former mas
ter, Ben Klstler.
Mid Klstler said it would be too much for her to keep Big
Ben. The cost of an Insurance llaabillty policy is far beyond
what she can afford. Although it Is like losing a member of
the family, she knows that Big Ben will be cared for
properly.
smells fresh peanuts he will sense
that some one is missing. Good
bye, old friend, many people will
miss you and remember you. May
you live to be even older than 35.
A trooper’s hat gives Big
Ben an authoritlve bearing.