Grizzly Man diaries

[redhen]

the part that i remember the most(besides the death part)..was about the actual bear that kiled him..a few days before he got attacked.. he got this bear on tape..he he was saying how it was a (i cant remember his words)..but saying it was a grumpy bear..mean..he'd had some problems with him before...but in this one scene..he was like right almost up in its face(they were by the river)..does anyone else remember this scene?..thats what bothered me...you cant try to show a wild bear that you are dominant over it...and expect to live...

....but i agree..he did alot of great things for them!!..i actually was at that kodiak island..beautiful place!....Wendy

 

[chicknmania]

All that I meant was, that I remember that when he died and I read about it in the paper, I really didn't even know who he was, thought that he was a freak and a drug user and had no business there to begin with. When I watched the show though, I thought he did an excellent job of portraying a protected area that a lot of us will never see, except in movies and in pictures, and, I was impressed with his repoir with the animals, because it did allow a glimpse into their lives that, again, most people have no idea., really. I don't necessarily agree with him trying to make friends with the wildlife. Weirdly enough, he actually vividly dreamed that he would be killed and eaten by a bear, a day or so before he was. I'm not going to go into politics here but, I thought it was a good wakeup call, that's all. And, awesome scenery and excellent photography, worth seeing. I was interested enough to research him as I never realized there was a movie about him. or that he co-authored a book, and I read more than I really wanted to know about the events leading to the death of him and his girlfriend, and what they found after. Not exactly surprising. He was a little bit odd but certainly not crazy, in my definition, and I think it's too bad they portrayed him that way.

 

[chicknmania]

Quote:
Actually, I just saw that episode...he was across the river from the bear, and I think he just came across him, accidentally. Maybe he thought if he could build a relationship with the bear, like he had with the regular bears, that it would protect him. That was my impression. He knew the bear was probably going to be a problem for him, and was dangerous.

 

[mom'sfolly]

He was an idiot, and it got him killed. Yes he got great footage, but he showed no respect for dangerous wild animals, he habituated wild foxes to humans by feeding them, and eventually fed the bear, and got the bear killed. People routinely underestimate bears and the Alaskan wilderness, and every year they end up dead. With him, it was only a matter of time. If he had been there in a bad salmon year it would have happened alot sooner. The bear did what bears do, and died for it. My sympathy is with the bruin!

He was also in Katmai National Monument, not on Kodiak Island. Kodiak actually has a sizable city, and Katmai is true wilderness.

 

[chicknmania]

You know, people will insist on making this controversial, and, since you insist...most idiots have no idea what the alaskan wilderness is really like. So it doesn't matter to them, if we drill there and destroy what is LEFT of the alaskan wilderness. What he did was a tiny tiny footprint compared to what will happen when the Federal government violates it's own laws and decides to start drilling in alaska. I don't care whether he was an idiot or not, he was nothing compared to the number of idiots out there now. and, like I said, he portrayed something priceless..probably the only sort of accurate portrayal leftat this point. What he did was no different than what Steve Irwin did....he too handled and familiarized himself with wildlife, but he was the world hero for a while. Not that I don't admire what he did, too.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I merely stated my opinion, and it has nothing to do with my opinion on offshore drilling. He watched his bears in Katmai, which is a national park. His bears were protected already, no hunting allowed. He did make people more educated about bears, but he also perpetuated myths about bears. He was irresponsible and it got him killed. It also got two bears killed. Habituated bears are almost always killed, in Alaska, in Yellowstone, in the Smokies, in Glacier, in Yosemite, everywhere. And just to play devils advocate, Alaska has more federally protected land than the total area of the state of Montana....thats national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, etc.

Just for reference, I oppose drilling in ANWR, clearcutting the Tongass, opening up Misty Fyords for mineral rights and many other things. I still feel that Treadwell was an idiot.

 

[redhen]

hi..i wasnt trying to be controversal..honestly... i guess i remembered the scene differently ..with the aggressive bear...i saw it like 3 years algo..lol...i thought they were pretty close by each other...maybe the bear was in the river or something..i dont know..again..i saw it a long time ago....
and..oops!..i thought it was on kodiak island!...sorry...again..i saw it a long time ago...i wasnt trying to say anything bad about him...but..in MY opinion..he got way to close to those bears...espically that aggressive one...... and i do feel bad about him dying..and the girlfriend also......i recently went to the Big E fair in my area..and every year they have a bear trailer..(poor things..)..they have these bears..and one was a kodiak...i wish the pics i have would do the size of these bears credit!...they are huge!..just his head alone..was the size of half of my body...i cant even imagine how brave this guy was to get so close to them in the wild!...

...

 

[chicknmania]

Well, i think he did, too, and like I said...I'm not disputing that he was an idiot in some ways...it's just that I was trying to point out that, ok, everyone knows Alaska is protected and beautiful, but to most it's just a picture, you know? This guy made it real. And if he was an idiot, my question is, does that make Steve Irwin an idiot? Basically, he did the same thing, just with different animals. I mean, someone has to work to make animals high profile sometimes...and I think Animal Planet's timing was very good, under the circumstances. I DO think that the grizzly guy had some kind of subconscious deathwish, and why would he not carry bear spary???? I mean, that is pretty dumb. I'm not mad at anyone...maybe I'm the one making it controversial....sorry, but offshore drilling is a huge sore point....

 

[redhen]

ooh..i dont even remember anything about the drilling...

.(duh)..sorry...and, i dont think you are being controversial...

..its okay that we all have our opinions...

..Wendy

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Quote:
Steve Irwin was crazy where those animals were concerned. Remember the baby dangling over the croc. I am just surprised that the croc's didn't get him. He would of lived if he would not of pulled those barbs out. Some people can not resist they have to touch. I loved Steve Irwin.

I liked Tim, yes he was crazy, where those bears were concerned. He was a man who had addictions. When he got off the drugs and booze those bears became his addiction.

He pointed the bear that killed him out on tape just days before. He even named him. He was an old bear missing most of his teeth and having a hard time. I want to say he called him Monte. He made a comment that yes the bear could kill and eat him but he wouldn't be mad at the bear as that would just be the bear being a bear.

He was not suppose to be at that park at that time. They had left to go home but there was a mix up at the airport and they had to wait. They went back to the island. He never stayed that late as the high up bears came to feed and they were very dangerous and he left before they came down.

I am not sure where anyone got that he fed them. I never seen that anywhere. Did he get too close yes he did. But not to the bear who killed him.

He stayed in that protected park trying to keep those bears safe from poaching not hunters. Since his death the poaching there has started up again big time. He was over passionate about these bears and a little bit crazy about them as well. In my opinion that did not make him an idiot. Just bear crazy.

But hey I feel that way about my Kids, grandkids, chickens and chihuahua's. It does not make me an idiot. He was not a stupid man.

Was what he did right. For him it was. Was what he did right for the bears. Who knows, 2 died after his and his lady's death but how many did he save from poaching in the years he went to that park.

He would of been devestated to know that 2 bears where killed because of him. You can't blame him for that. What was sad to me is that his lady who did not feel comfortable there but loved him enough to follow him died there as well. He told her on that tape to run and she stayed and fought to help him and lost her life.

Getting off the box now, this is just my opinion and I am sure not asking anyone to share it. Thanks for letting me share it.