From maternal kiss to Bear hugs

"Both my bears grew up in the house. They woke my kids up for school early morning"
"I raised three children - a son, a daughter, and a bear," says Velga Vitola, an animal lover, who lives near Ligatne National Park, Latvia.
This 55 year old mother of has a special fondness for animals and her home in the woods is an abode of many species. But among them, her love and care specially goes to a bear she has been raising along wirh her children.
Ilzite came to her life in one ofher walks in the woodland when she stumbled up on two bear cups. The abandoned cubs found a new habitat in her shack in the dense forest, but one of them don't survive.
"Both my bears grew up in my house. They woke up my kids for school every morning," Daily Mail quoted her as saying. When the other cub died, Vitola developed a bond with the Ilzite, the remaining cub.
With the tenderness of a true mother she says the cub loves to give its mother a kiss the way her natural children do. Vitola closely observes her pet's behavior and suspects the bear has grown up believing it is a human.
She relates an example of how the animal got flabbetgasted at its image in looking mirror. "She was growling so loudly because she thought she looked like me - her mum," says this vivacious animal lover.
This ten year old bear is now part of the family, and often voluntarily joins Vitola's walks in the area. The only problem is since the animal has grown so big, it lives outside the house, but dosn't make it feel like cut off from the family.
Vitola calls herself a 'mother of all animals'. Her home pen includes animals ranging from hedgehogs to an elk.
She started raising wild gees as one morning she woke to find a pair on her bed room. Years ago when she planned to move to woodland, her mother called it very crazy and said she would die out there. But 22 years on, her life in the woods is greatly satisfying to her.
Her philosophy of life is simple. "People can be two faced, but when an animal looks at you he is only himself".