Until recently, Sheena used to sleep on the concrete floor of her den with an assortment of blankets and comforters, many of which did not last very long.  Ami Testa, Director/Owner of M.G.E. came up with the idea of creating a bear bed to get the bears off of the hard floor, but it would need to be durable.  Jena Nash Reno, a special projects volunteer, took on this project and organized several companies to donate time and materials to the creation this mattress.

The mattress itself was built by Mattress Mill out of Bozeman, MT, using specially made springs capable of holding up an Grizzly Bear.  Jack Thanepohn (Owner) and Mr. & Mrs. Stacy Hildebrandt (Project Coordinators) brought the mattress to life.  Please see photos below.

Now a regular mattress, left unprotected in the presence of a grizzly bear would probably last about as long as the blankets in Sheena’s den before the springs would be exposed.  Enter BGF Industries who generously donated Kevlar fabric with a urethane coating to use as an outer cover.  After Jena inquired about viable material to enclose the mattress in that would be bear resistant with Mary Causey (Marketing Communications Manager), Mike Byrant (Vice President of Research & Development) recommended the same material that is used to make bullet proof vests and wrap fuel tanker trucks of which he sent enough material to wrap 2 mattresses in.

Then Marvin Hanson at Royal Elk Sewing donated his time to sew a mattress cover out of the Kevlar material and enclosed the mattress in it.

The collective efforts of all of these folks yielded, Sheena’s Bear Bed.  The video and photo footage below shows Sheena’s introduction to her new bed.  Even little Lucy got to play with it!

Montana Grizzly Encounter would like to thank everyone for all their time and effort in the creation of this bear bed.

NOTE: This bear bed is NOT considered Grizzly Bear proof as Brutus has not had any contact with it.

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Every purchase made threw the link below will make a donation to Save The Grizzly Bear!!

http://www.hendrickboards.com/shop/square-it-collection/square-it?tracking=4f7b5632ede76

Montana Grizzly Encounter would like to thank everyone who took part in the contest!! Your support means so much to us, and the bears!!

….drum roll please……

First prize is MGE’s 5 Bear Magnet, along with a long Lucy Magnet!
….and the winner is David Nicholson!

Second prize is a 5×7 matted photo of Sheena!
….and the winner is Michael Welch!

Third prize is 2 Dog Tags of MGE’s bears of choice!
….and the winner is Stephanie Carpenter!

Fourth prize is 2 key chains of MGE’s bears of your choice!
….and the winner is Cynthia Lott!

Fifth prize is a Brutus The Bear poster!
….and the winner is Matthew Kunic!

Sixth prize is a MGE hat (either Navy or Kahki)!
….and the winner is Carolyn Batterson!

Seventh prize is MGE T-Shirt!
….and the winner is Isa Cavalca!

Eighth prize is a MGE Hoodie!
….and the winner is Adrianna Brown!

Ninth prize is a Brutus The Bear Paw Print!
….and the winner is Ed Otto!

The grand prize is a behind the scenes tour of MGE, a personalized signed copy of The Story of Brutus, and Dinner with Mr. Casey Anderson!!!!!

….and the winner is Michael Smith!!!

Congratulations to our winners, thank you to everyone for your support!

—————————– Original Contest Description —————————-

Inspired by our friend Shannon, we are going to start a new fundraising effort. Shannon said if all of our Facebook friends donated $1 a month, just $12 a year how incredible that would be for the bears! Also to show our appreciation for all our loyal fans we are holding a contest. To be in the contest all you have to is send us your name, address , phone and email so we can enter you in the drawing. 10 names will be picked, the first 9 will win items including hoodies, T shirts, pictures, Brutus paw print, and magnets. The 10th name drawn will be the grand prize winner! This person will win a signed copy of The story Of Brutus, a behind the scenes tour of MGE and dinner with Casey Anderson!! Entries must be made by Dec 31, 2011. The drawing will be held on New Years Day!! There is no purchase or donation required to be in the contest .

Every dollar that is donated goes to the feeding, care and enrichment of our bears!  To make donations by credit/debit card please call (406) 586-8893, by check or money order please send to 80 Bozeman Hill Road, Bozeman, Mt. 59715. Don’t forget to include your name, address , phone and email so we can enter it in the drawing.

Also donations can be made from the website using your credit/debit card! Use the button below to donate via Paypal (don’t worry, you don’t need a PayPal account to donate as it will provide a secure checkout form). If you want to also be entered in the contest  please indicate in the special instructions for seller box (click to “Add special instructions to the seller” if not available) the name or names of the people you would like entered in the contest and the best way to contact them.

Don’t forget to “friend” Brutus The Bear and “Like” Montana Grizzly Encounter fan page on Facebook. Thank you in advance for donating and good luck in the contest!!

Another reminder for America The Wild!

http://grizanderson.com/2011/11/16/only-on-nat-geo-wild-2/

http://grizanderson.com/2011/11/11/only-one-month-away/

Inspired by our friend Shannon, we are going to start a new fundraising effort. Shannon said if all of our Facebook friends donated $1 a month, just $12 a year how incredible that would be for the bears! Also to show our appreciation for all our loyal fans we are holding a contest. To be in the contest all you have to is send us your name, address , phone and email so we can enter you in the drawing. 10 names will be picked, the first 9 will win items including hoodies, T shirts, pictures, Brutus paw print, and magnets. The 10th name drawn will be the grand prize winner! This person will win a signed copy of The story Of Brutus, a behind the scenes tour of MGE and dinner with Casey Anderson!! Entries must be made by Dec 31, 2011. The drawing will be held on New Years Day!! There is no purchase or donation required to be in the contest .

Every dollar that is donated goes to the feeding, care and enrichment of our bears!  To make donations by credit/debit card please call (406) 586-8893, by check or money order please send to 80 Bozeman Hill Road, Bozeman, Mt. 59715. Don’t forget to include your name, address , phone and email so we can enter it in the drawing.

Also donations can be made from the website using your credit/debit card! Use the button below to donate via Paypal (don’t worry, you don’t need a PayPal account to donate as it will provide a secure checkout form). If you want to also be entered in the contest  please indicate in the special instructions for seller box (click to “Add special instructions to the seller” if not available) the name or names of the people you would like entered in the contest and the best way to contact them.

Don’t forget to “friend” Brutus The Bear and “Like” Montana Grizzly Encounter fan page on Facebook. Thank you in advance for donating and good luck in the contest!!