Treadwell's death and body recovery - a live-action account

[lysander]

Treadwell's sin was hubris. It is a common thread found amongst the "greens" and it permeates their entire ethos. There is a level of arrogance that goes along with the idea that mankind is "ruining the globe" for all the trees, the fuzzy bunnies, the pretty fish and the harmless giant predators. It is an arrogant idea, because in order for their hypothesis to be true one must believe that mankind is somehow separate from the system; that mankind is an "outside influence" rather than an integral part of the complex natural world. The reality is that man merely sits at the top of the pyramid. He does not reside outside of the pyramid. He isn't ruining the food chain...HE IS PART OF THE FOOD CHAIN. All living creatures change and affect their environment (termites, ants, beavers, birds, etc.) mankind just happens to be the best at it...and when we have gotten so good at it (changing our environment) and done so much of it that we threaten the delicate balance which sustains our vast numbers....nature will self correct somehow, (disease, war caused by competition for scare resources, famine, etc) our numbers will contract and we will end up as the biomass starter kit for the crude oil being pumped out of the ground by the intelligent descendants of present day gerbils....

Treadwell's lack of respect for the laws of nature and the wild led to a horrific death for himself, his girlfriend and at least two bears. A shame....

Staying relevant to the purpose of THR...any doubts about a slug gun's close range terminal performance should be laid to rest.

 

[Hardware]

I am reminded of a native american legend that Bear was created so that man would have something to fear. I am also reminded of tales of mountain men who went hand to hand with Grizzlies and won by stabbing into the gut of the bear and disembowling him as the bear savaged their back. Those mountain men were tough!

These grizzlies were displaying behavior typical of rogue black bears from the northeast. I was always told if you see a black bear, holler and make all kinds of racket, if the bear takes a step toward you it thinks you are lunch. Makes me think these bears had probably seen too many humans. They were no longer unsure of themselves and decided to see if the humans were tasty.

 

[Preacherman]

WayneConrad, thanks for the heads-up about the link. I've fixed it.

 

[JohnKSa]

Found it...

http://outside.away.com/outside/news/200401/200401_blood_brothers_1.html

"Treadwell's video camera (its lens cap still on) yielded a six-minute audio recording, illuminating all too vividly the last moments of two people trying to save each other's life. It starts with Treadwell investigating a bear that has come into camp. Something goes wrong, and the bear attacks him. "I'm getting killed!" he screams. Huguenard, still in the tent, tells him to play dead, and for a minute the bear backs off, suggesting that the initial attack was not predatory. But the grizzly returns, and Huguenard comes to Treadwell's aid. In his last words, he yells to her to save herself."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/09/1065676096195.html?from=storyrhs

"Mr Wilkinson said the tape begins with sounds of Mr Treadwell screaming that he is being attacked and calling for help to 37-year-old Ms Huguenard, who was apparently still inside a tent. "It's obvious that the attack was going on before the tape was turned on," said Mr Wilkinson, who quoted from the tapes.

"Come out here; I'm being killed out here," Mr Treadwell said. "Play dead!" Ms Huguenard yelled in reply.

That strategy is commonly used to pacify angry bears in an attack. But Mr Treadwell told Ms Huguenard the strategy was not working and she urged him to "fight back".

Mr Treadwell, who never carried weapons, then asked her to get a pan and to hit the bear, police said. At that point, the tape - much of it fuzzy and inaudible, stops, Mr Wilkinson said."

Sounds like he had some clear moments there at the end. Too bad they didn't come before he convinced his girlfriend to accompany him into bear country armed with a pan.

It's also interesting that many of the articles I found while searching for the above quotes painted Treadwell as some sort of hero... I guess I wasn't really expecting that--maybe I should have.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Makes me think these bears had probably seen too many humans. They were no longer unsure of themselves and decided to see if the humans were tasty.

Worse than that -- by the time the pilot and the rangers arrived, the bears already knew that humans were tasty.

 

[myrockfight]

Choice

"Even his friends worried—they thought he should carry bear spray. But after blasting one charging bear, Cupcake, with pepper spray in 1995, Treadwell refused."

-quote from above article in "Outside" magazine.


This guy made a choice ten years ago. If it came down to him getting eaten or even pepper-spraying a bear, much less killing it, to save his own life - he would let it attack him.

His choice. Simple as that.


People make indirect choices to sacrifice their lives all the time. Fate is just forgiving and rarely calls people out on those choices. Every once in a while it does and you see a well defined and obvious case. This is one of them. Take note. It happens.

 

[Cosmoline]

Yes, there was an audio record from the video camera. But it's been sealed. Someone will probably bring a FOIA request and get whatever copy the Park Service has, if they haven't done this already.

. I am also reminded of tales of mountain men who went hand to hand with Grizzlies and won by stabbing into the gut of the bear and disembowling him as the bear savaged their back. Those mountain men were tough

Gene Moe got into a hand-to-hand fight with a sow brownie and disabled her by stabbing her multiple times. IIRC he finished her with a rifle, but if I didn't know it happened I would never have believed it possible. There are some rough customers up here.

 

[p35]

Peter Capstick made a remark in one of his books about the mistake of thinking that "the God-like gift of human affection" will turn a predator into a pussycat. He was referring to African lions, but it's the same mistake Treadwell made. He regularly filmed himself petting bears and talking baby talk to them, among other dumb stunts. Bears are what they are, and I doubt they care much whether humans love them or not. Their main interest in life is food, and if a smaller animal isn't dangerous it's a candidate for dinner. By teaching them that he wasn't dangerous, Treadwell made himself dinner.

Hey, I love wildlife, and I would have voted against killing the bear that did this if I had been asked. It's better for all concerned, though, to encourage grizzlies and other potentially dangerous animals to fear humans.

FWIW, it appears that they shot the responsible bear in self defense, not in retaliation for Treadwell's death. Makes sense to me.

 

[thrifty7]

One thing is clear to me. If more aggressive bears are killed, fewer of these incidents will occur. Its called natural selection. It is absolutely not necessary to kill enough bears to significantly reduce their population--just killing off the most aggressive one percent will greatly reduce the incidents of human predation.

 

[p35]

I don't know that killing off 1% would be the way to go- bear's moods change a lot and one that's aggressive one day might act like a French general the next. My suggestion would that any bear that shows curiosity about humans (as opposed to crossing paths with humans while going about its business) gets shot in the butt with a load of rock salt, unpopped popcorn, or whatever (there's a thread somewhere on this). Get them to associate humans with loud noises and pain, and they won't be so curious the next time. They do this a lot in the lower 48 using firecrackers and Karelian bear dogs, and the majority of problem bears don't come back.

 

[Cosmoline]

The natives in the SW bush will give unwelcome griz a "belly ache" with a load of shot or a .223. I wouldn't suggest trying this at home, but the fact is there are very few maulings of natives.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

This is a case of green, eco-friendly ideology running blindly smack
dab into a solid brick wall of reality.

Bears are not Disney cartoon characters or a our hairy woodland
brothers: they are large predatory animals that react by instinct,
not by emotion or reason.

You do not disrespect predators on their home turf with impunity.
And by not treating these animals as predators, he was disrespecting
them. It is too bad he lulled his girlfriend into a false sense of security.

And the Big Media are portraying this idiot as a hero?

 

[p35]

Wouldn't gut-shooting a griz with a .223 lead to a lingering death for the bear? Do the natives not care, or am I missing something?

 

[50 Freak]

I myself will be swimming with great white sharks off the Faralon islands next month and feeding them by hand. They will not harm me because they will sense I am one with the earth mother and mean them no harm. (Sorry Timothy, I had to.)

You too???? I'm doing the same thing next week. Am bringing the family also and plan to chum the water as we all go in for a dip. Hopefully we can swim with the great whites. They will not hurt us cause they will feel the love an respect we have for them. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Damn tree hugger. He made his choice, he got the short end of the stick. I feel sorry for the poor girl he convinced to come along.

Am reminded of a story of a bear up in Shasta Co. Hunters tried killing him for years. When he finally died from LEAD POISONING. They skinned him and removed a jar worth of led bullets. Everything from 308 to 45-70.

If I go bear hunting, I'm bring a cut down Barrett semi.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

One thing is clear to me. If more aggressive bears are killed, fewer of these incidents will occur. Its called natural selection. It is absolutely not necessary to kill enough bears to significantly reduce their population--just killing off the most aggressive one percent will greatly reduce the incidents of human predation.

"Natural selection"? Go to the back of the class, and repeat the first semester. In any system of natural selection, it's the biggest, strongest, toughest, meanest, baddest, most aggresive bears that survive, and it's the cupcakes that don't. Killing the most aggresive runs 180 degrees counter to "natural selection."

This entire situation had nothing to do with "nature" anyway. Treadwell interfered with nature, by teaching bears not to fear humanoids, and probably even encouraging them to venture in close proximity to his campsite. That's just not very intelligent. As others have rightly pointed out, once the bears figured out the Treadwell wasn't a threat, he became an entree.

I'll bet he was a vegetarian. And that reminds me of what a young friend from the hinterlands of central PA has often said: "SALAD!? Salad isn't food. Salad is what food eats!"

 

[PATH]

I guess Mr. Treadwll forgot the adage of "sometimes you get the bear and sometimes he gets you". Does the term "loaded for bear" ring a bell.

Well if you want your name to be "Dances with Bears" that's fine. Just remember it may quickly change to "Feeds the Bears". You just can't make this stuff up!

 

[joab]

Tredwells stuppidity created the most dangerous animal on the planet, a wild predator that has lost all fear of man.

He is already responsible for the death of 1 human and 2 bears.

How many more may turn up later due to his conditioning other bears to not fear man

He did said somewhere that he would be honored if he was eaten by a bear

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

This post got me interested in this dude Treadwell. Googled him.

Lived in Malibu... Made me question... too much money? too much time?

I know too much hubris.

Joab, you are right on about the predator... I hope the "rescuers" destroyed the right bears. If not, others will be at risk.

If you haven't seen what the moonbats at Cornell have come up with ... introducing African predators (cheetahs, lions and the sort) to our American West go here,

 

[joab]

Lived in Malibu... Made me question... too much money? too much time?

Recovering drug addict I believe. If I remember correctly he was a bohemian type

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm going to swing over and catch Herzog's documentary about him tonight. I expect the Anchorage audience to be laughing its head off from the previews I've seen. It's worth it just to see an old Malibu hippy ranting about how he is the samurai warrior protecting these bear.

 

[Can'thavenuthingood]

Well if you want your name to be "Dances with Bears" that's fine. Just remember it may quickly change to "Feeds the Bears". You just can't make this stuff up!

I think "Passes through bears" is a better name.

Yup, he killed 2 bears he was trying to save. And how many more will die just being true to their nature due to his training them?

Vick

 

[torpid]

Et tu, Boo-Boo?


.

 

[joab]

Et tu, Boo-Boo?

Now thats about the funniest thing I've heard all week

 

[Harry Tuttle]

32 threads mention ole Timmy on THR:
http://www.thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=656987

heres the early report:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=43584
Bear suspected of killing two people in Katmai National Park
Bodies of man and woman from California found by pilot

The Associated Press

(Published: October 7, 2003)


KING SALMON -- A man and a woman were fatally mauled in a bear attack in Katmai National Park and Preserve - the first known bear killings in the 4.7-million-acre park, National Park Service officials said Tuesday.

The bodies were found near Kaflia Bay on Monday when a pilot with Andrew Airways arrived to pick them up and take them to Kodiak, Alaska State Troopers said. The park is on the Alaska Peninsula.

The pilot saw a bear, possibly on top of a body, in the camp and contacted the Park Service in King Salmon and troopers in Kodiak.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I saw the trailer at a theatre. Treadwell was extremely arrogant in exclaiming, "Only I can protect the bears!" He went on boasting, "I will die for them." Now I have to see the film. It may be the comedy of the year.