Watching "Grizzly Man" with a Bear Biologist

I went on a Grizzly Man return deep dive the other day and found the autopsy reports and ranger reports. Those rangers had a very scary time returning to that scene. There is a lot to be learned here.

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/foia/upload/03-109_KATM_Treadwel...

> Wes: There’s audio recording of him dying. My advisor listened to it. I’ve never listened to it, but it’s 15 minutes of him being dismantled by a bear. You can hear his arm being separated from his body in it. It’s the worst possible way to go.

God, I remember watching the scene in "Grizzly Man" in which Werner Herzog listens to this exact audio recording. Even via proxy, it's very hard to stomach.

https://youtu.be/IP2BQLOWi4M?si=yy76XPhS6woyyA86&t=170

In Herzog's own words:

> It's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard in my life. Being shocked like that, I told her, "You should never listen to it, and you should rather destroy [the tape]. It should not be sitting on your shelf in your living room all the time."

I read once that the root word that evolved into all the modern Indo-European variants of bear began as a euphemism to avoid having to say the creature’s name and risking summoning it. It meant something like “the brown one.”

Best quote from the article "It doesn’t sound like they needed him as much as he needed them." Bears don't need people, just leave them alone.

Biologists often have a lens for the world that I deeply admire. This one was a very éloquent intetviewee. They were very humanizing as well as empathetic and analytical in their discussion of Treadwell. They were also pragmatic about what it all means in context for the bears and the world. What a person.

I was interested to see that this link was flagged the other day after getting around 15 upvotes but no comments. Pleased to see it back as I thought the post was worthy of a read.

Watching this film set me off in a Herzog marathon - amazing director.

(edit - a little researching and I see this is the same post that I vouched after it was flagged, pleased to see the system lets good links back)

There is a part of me that strongly identifies with the "Grizzly Man" and Supertramps of the world. Yeah, often they make stupid decisions and go into things unprepared. But they are willing to go into the unknown in a way the vast majority of society is not. They are trying to experience the world as humans throughout history have experienced the world. And their experience ending in their death isn't the condemnation that people seem to think it is. Because that's where we all end up. And they reached that point by doing things that were not just outside of their comfort zone but the comfort zone of every normie in this country. They are easy to ridicule from the safety of a youtube video, but these people actually lived in these places and experienced these things in a way the vast majority of modern humanity never will. It's easy to judge. It's far more difficult to live in a way that defies society. Even when those lives are cut short, I think it's worth exploring and celebrating. They were trying to buck the trend. They were real hackers in a way most on this site cannot really comprehend.

What is definitely wrong in this article is the claim, that only bears eat living prey. Also wolves do that. There are many cases where wolves attacked animals (cows, sheep, deer), and as soon as those are immobilized, start feeding. Sometimes these animals survive with horrible wounds. Many images and videos can be found via google.

The clips reminded me of how great The Grizzly Man soundtrack is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man_(soundtrack)

My father was a field biologist. His specialties: grizzly and polar bears. I've sat on both after tranquilized whereupon basic data is taken and radio attached (1970-1980 tech). Hemingway would have killed to his buddy. He then went on to build and run a naturalist lodge -- all this in the far far north west of Canada. Accessible by bush plane only. As a guest you could ask about flora, mammals, birds, fishing, moose, bears, Dall horn sheep, plants, birds of prey, ecology circles etc and you'd get a good answer. I got to see all this up close over my summers. When you spend that kind of time where mother nature is that unmessed around with ... well I understand now why some people are partial to land being left alone and probably why city people will never get it. There's a connection to it. I wrote all to to say: there were no tvs, no camera crews, no shows 6pm west coast 9pm est. You were there cause of passion. Because of a decision. And frankly, that's the better way.

Cowboys and corporations naturally collide: Ian Tyson

I think this background is why I've never been fully happy in Corporate America. The petty control -- where's your badge? -- even though I worked at the damn place for 10+ years is something I'll never understand. Petty beurceatric control to "help you" ... I miss the old days

I am also real life Grizzly Man. Watching Herzogs film 10 years later caused some indigestion.

Those damn bears totally ignored me. At this beach family of bears walked past my tent and did not even bother to investigate. https://youtu.be/IK0wJ9y266I?si=TokV4ewiEvhl5Qev&t=1470

The reason was probably that I really did not have anything to eat. Just some kilos of flour for rainy days. I was living on fish and berries for 3 months.

The most tragic part about this story is not his death, he chose a lifestyle and stuck to it despite all the warnings, for me it's the fact he persuaded his girlfriend to camp with him in bear territory and ultimately got her mauled as well.

Rewatching this film, it really seemed fake to me. I love it, but I think it’s a mockumentary