Grizzly Man documentary - bears are fucking DANGEROUS

[Joe]

I just watched this Werner Herzog documentary and it is easily one of the best films I've ever seen.

It is about a man named Timothy Treadwell (thread about his demise here. This guy was a failed actor who loved animals and decided to live with grizzly bears in Alaksa during the summer; he did this for thirteen years, and in October of 2003 he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten in a very gruesome fashion. Their remains were found in a bear's stomach and were carried away in four trash bags. In the years before his death, he filmed over 100 hours of footage of his escapades in the wilderness, and this footage (which is easily some of the best nature footage ever recorded on film) makes up the bulk of the film.

It is probably the best portrait of detachment from reality you'll ever see. He makes PETA members look like world-weary pragmatists by comparison. This guy treated wild brown bears like they were just humans in bear costumes, as one of the park rangers who recovered the remains said. He would break Fish & Wildlife regulations and get dangerously close to them, he would grab freshly laid bear shit and act like it was the most beautiful thing in the world, and he would overlay his commentary on bear sexuality with commentary on his own sex life. There's one particularly bizarre scene where he goes off on a long-winded, self-congratulatory rant cussing out the government for not doing enough to protect the bears (even though interviews with more knowledgeable people reveal that the bears were not particularly threatened by any particular group and generally not in danger) and praising himself for being the only one looking out for them.

But in spite of all this, he was genuine in his love for the bears and all animals and it's hard to completely have contempt for him in spite of his blatant idiocy. There's a scene near the middle where the director listens to the tape containing the audio of Treadwell and his girlfriend (only the audio was recorded - the camera was covered) being mauled and eaten by the bears on headphones - he shakes visibly and appears extremely upset, and turns it off after a minute. He asks the woman who played the tape (a close personal friend of Treadwell's) to destroy the tape so that it will never be listened to again. It's one of those scenes that just silence everyone in the room and leave blank faces. It's more upsetting than almost anything I've seen in a horror movie this year. There are other scenes like this, including a truly haunting scene where Treadwell films the bear who killed him just hours before his death.

It may be the best movie I've seen from 2005. And also, if you or anyone you know has romantic illusions about nature being beautiful and utopian, this film will very quickly shatter those illusions. [/url]

[Durandal]

This is why bears always find their way on to the Colbert Report's "Threat Down".

[Vympel]

I saw a Discovery channel documentary about this guy. He also gave the bears cutesy names and in general didn't treat them with the respect and space such creatures deserved.

[Joe]

I saw a Discovery channel documentary about this guy. He also gave the bears cutesy names and in general didn't treat them with the respect and space such creatures deserved.

There was actually an Inuit man who curated a bear museum in the documentary. He believed that the Inuit had existed with bears for over 7,000 years because they knew not to cross the line and intrude into the world of the bears, out of respect as much as for survival. This guy, on the other hand, seemed to quite clearly prefer living with bears to living with humans.

[Rogue 9]

My only question is how the fuck did he last for thirteen years?

[Joe]

My only question is how the fuck did he last for thirteen years?

Apparently he had a natural talent for charming the bears, and also he was lucky enough to have chosen the right area and the right time of year. The bears he "befriended" seemed to be relatively docile and generally well-fed. He was killed when he stayed for an extra month and his bears went into hibernation - a meaner, older bear close to starvation moved into the area and killed him when he treated it the same as he treated his other bears.

[SylasGaunt]

I saw a preview on the monitors at Blockbuster.. got a laugh out of watching him, then got another one when it mentioned he was killed by a bear. Darwin Award winner right there.

[Tolya]

Reason of death: Ran out of bear charm

[Broomstick]

My only question is how the fuck did he last for thirteen years?

Apparently he had a natural talent for charming the bears, and also he was lucky enough to have chosen the right area and the right time of year. The bears he "befriended" seemed to be relatively docile and generally well-fed. He was killed when he stayed for an extra month and his bears went into hibernation - a meaner, older bear close to starvation moved into the area and killed him when he treated it the same as he treated his other bears.

I think there may be something to that.... the bears in his chosen area might have tolerated him as a sort of village idiot, and after 13 years some probably had known him since they were cubs. He was a local fixture, a known quantity, considered unthreatening, and not worth the trouble to swat.

Then a stranger shows up and doesn't realize this stupid biped is the local mascot.

I haven't seen the movie, but what I heard reminds me of Into the Wild, about a kid who is in love with the romance of the wild and living off the land and winds up dying in an abandoned school bus in Alaska

[Elfdart]

This guy isn't the only person to die because he was stupid around bears. I think the problem is that so many people grew up with Teddy bears, Care bears, Yogi Bear and such see bears as cute, fuzzy, friendly creatures they can play with. Dumbfucks also assume that even if they piss off the bear, it's so big and fat they can just run away, climb a tree or jump back in the car. In fact, bears can outrun horses for a short distance. So many a fucktard gets too close, annoys the animal or best of all -screws around with the cubs - and ends up seriously dead. Aside from the urban myth of a guy checking to see how much gasoline is in his car by opening the gas cap and striking a match, this is about the stupidest way to die I can think of.

You'll notice people don't act that way around tigers because even stupid people realize big cats often regard people as lunch.

[Shroom Man 777]

That's why when I think of bears, I think of them as horrific totalitarian despotic humanoid aliens who either nuke anyone who disagrees with them or shoot acidic booger from their noses. Or both.

Really, why can't people get it in their heads that these animals can kill people?

And if you don't like people and want to hang around some dumb animal that you think can understand you, why don't you hang around with something nice, like... lemurs or something. Heck, I can't even name a single animal right now that can't, in some form or another, kill you if you cross it in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hey, there was this really cool movie where Anthony Hopkins pwns a bear!

[Flagg]

Hey, there was this really cool movie where Anthony Hopkins pwns a bear!

The Edge. Awesome movie.

[The Spartan]

IIRC, bears are one of, if not the strongest animals, pound for pound in the world. Particularly the big grizzlies. They have not hesitated to eat people in the past and when hibernation time is approaching they will eat anything they can digest because they need that energy.

I've known people that had gone into bear country in Alaska on a fishing trip and they carried shotguns as protection. And as recommended by the locals loaded them alternately with buckshot and slugs. Buckshot to the face, slug to the chest when they rear up, rinse and repeat until the bear goes away, dies or kills you. That's how dangerous they were considered. They also had one shotgun loaded with what they called "firecracker rounds" to scare bears off so it wouldn't have to come to that. They were also smart enough to not actively seek out bears.

Don't misunderstand, I don't think bears should be exterminated or anything that ridiculous. I love bears as part of our natural landscape. But, as has been stated, they are not teddy bears or Yogi. They are top-of-the-food-chain predators and omnivorous. And when you intrude on their territory you rank below them on the food chain. I think it's neat, I suppose, that he could coexist with them for so long and that he was so passionate about them, even to the point of idiocy. But I still agree a Darwin award should be granted.

[Elfdart]

Bears are the largest land predators on Earth. Brown bears like the ones this moron was screwing around with can weigh over 3/4 of a ton (700 kg). The much smaller grizzly has been known to break the neck of a bison with a single blow. The fact that they also eat fruit doesn't change the fact that they are dangerous animals and people should keep their distance. But no, some retard sees a bear eating wild blackberries and thinks "Isn't he cute?" and walks right up to it.

As for shooting them with shotguns, I've heard of people firing shotguns to scare them off, but even black bears (which are maybe a third as large) not only survive being hit, they attack their assailants rather than run away.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I believe Kodiaks are the only ones bigger than grizzly brown bears and that polar bears are probably even worse.

Guess this guy could've done with that anti-grizzly suit.

[Solauren]

Anyone stupid enough to willingly get that close to a bear that isn't pumped full of tranquilizers deserves what he gets.

Anyone that survives being that close is either lucky, or the bear didn't notice them

[Edi]

Here in Finland most of our bears (of the brown variety Elfdart mentions above) are no threat to humans unless you're unlucky enough to startle a mother with cubs or otehrwise annoy them. There's so much elk around that it's their main source of protein. I read a pretty long article on bears less than a year back, written by a bear researcher whose sources were his own research and several professional nature photographers. Amazing creatures, but not something I would ever want to tangle with. (See rant on the dangers of wild animals here)

One of the most bizarre things I've ever heard of about bears was from that article. One of the photographers had been regularly photographing a most unusual pair: A brown bear and a wolf that shared kills and generally moved together and acted like friends. They ate from the same kill at the same time without any animosity, which is, to say the least, very unusual. I guess the wolf had tagged along with the bear and for some reason or another it had been accepted and so they had formed a pack of two (since a bear can kill an elk with one swat, you don't need any more than that to hunt). These were both old animals, but it's still amazing.

Edi

[Edi]

I believe Kodiaks are the only ones bigger than grizzly brown bears and that polar bears are probably even worse.

You believe correctly. Polar bears are the absolute worst, because despite being omnivores by evolution, they eat almost exclusively meat. They will kill anything they can catch, which includes the slow, weak, hairless bipeds that sometimes stray into their domain. It's not a question of whether or not they would attack you, they always will if they can.

Edi

[Master of Ossus]

You'll notice people don't act that way around tigers because even stupid people realize big cats often regard people as lunch.

I think that's more a function of media coverage than of reality. Also, tigers for the most part do not live in human-habitable areas, whereas bears and humans have virtually identical dietary requirements and share vast habitats.

In This thread, for example, you can see some people who were just incredibly stupid around tigers (ie. hiding in an enclosure with TWO TIGERS in order to escape the police) and paid for it.

[The Spartan]

As for shooting them with shotguns, I've heard of people firing shotguns to scare them off, but even black bears (which are maybe a third as large) not only survive being hit, they attack their assailants rather than run away.

Just wanted to point out that that obviously wasn't their first choice for dealing with the situation. It was very much a last resort. And since a bear can survive a shotgun blast that's why they used the buckshot/slug combination.

I don't know how well this would work and don't plan on testing it anytime soon but this is what they say the locals recommended.

It's also 3rd hand, at best, so don't forget your grains of salt.

[Flagg]

You'll notice people don't act that way around tigers because even stupid people realize big cats often regard people as lunch.

I work with a guy who volunteers for a big cat rescue group that takes in tigers, lions, panthers etcetera, and he has flat out told me that though tigers are bigger, and can royally fuck you up if they so choose, lions are the absolute worst and most dangerous. Apparently when lions are "playing" with you, unlike tigers and other big cats, they don't seem to realize that they can seriousely hurt or kill you and so they play with you like you are another lion and don't "pull their punches".

[Master of Ossus]

When I go fishing in Alaska, the guys at the weir always keep a shotgun loaded with buckshot to scare off any bears that approach their cabin. They used to be able to just fire them into the air, but now the bears have gotten to the point that they aren't scared of the noise, anymore, so they have to shoot the ground in front of the bear. Pretty soon they'll have to start shooting the bears--which won't kill them but it might scare them off.

[Joe]

This guy isn't the only person to die because he was stupid around bears. I think the problem is that so many people grew up with Teddy bears, Care bears, Yogi Bear and such see bears as cute, fuzzy, friendly creatures they can play with.

Yeah, you're right on the money here. This guy loved teddy bears and he had his favorite teddy bear from his childhood with him whenever he was staying with the bears. Very much a man-child type with his behavior.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I think that's more a function of media coverage than of reality. Also, tigers for the most part do not live in human-habitable areas, whereas bears and humans have virtually identical dietary requirements and share vast habitats.

In This thread, for example, you can see some people who were just incredibly stupid around tigers (ie. hiding in an enclosure with TWO TIGERS in order to escape the police) and paid for it.

That tiger incident is just hilarious.

[Raw Shark]

You'll notice people don't act that way around tigers because even stupid people realize big cats often regard people as lunch.

I think that's more a function of media coverage than of reality. Also, tigers for the most part do not live in human-habitable areas, whereas bears and humans have virtually identical dietary requirements and share vast habitats.

In This thread, for example, you can see some people who were just incredibly stupid around tigers (ie. hiding in an enclosure with TWO TIGERS in order to escape the police) and paid for it.

And of course there was this guy.

"My leg is not the problem," he said. "It's my heart."