Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man

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Some Grizzly Truths

The bears now are settling in for a long winters sleep finishing another season of fishing and the occasional encounter with humans. I recently saw a film that has been floating around for about a year now called “Grizzly Man”.

It was a wonderful tale about a man’s journey of exploration in himself and nature. This is a documentary of a real person, Timothy Treadway who for several years would leave the comforts of his California surroundings and travel into the wilds of Alaska living amongst the huge grizzly bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve.

After 13 summer seasons of “living with the grizzly” and filming some incredible footage of bears in their habitat hunting, playing, and fishing the bears it seems finally had enough of this man (and his girl friend) who stayed well beyond the “fishing season” when food was plentiful and quite naturally “ate” them while his camera and recorder were rolling.

It’s a comedy really . . .

Of errors on Treadway’s part as he arrogantly invades the habitat of these animals and makes the assumption they “accept” his presence there. He was wrong . . . they only waited until they were hungry and their food source (salmon) had diminished.

I tend to think of Grizzlies this way. They are big furry animals with waists bigger than heads. To me (and probably most men) that means they eat first and think later.

Where I live in Anchorage, during springtime before the salmon run arrives in the rivers locally and the bears (brown and black) just coming out of their winter hibernation will rummage through my garbage cans looking for a meal. They are quite smart knowing how to hit the “locking” top just so . . . forcing the lid off and dumping the contents for an easy lunch or dinner.

Grizzlies are omnivores.

They eat the hiker, his belly button lint, and right on down to his boots. I’m sure there’s a way to hike safely among grizzly bears. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it would include the need to think like a grizzly. I know when I am fishing and bear come down to the river for their meal, I want to be sure it is fish they are having for lunch and not me. I will usually give them plenty of space, taking my fish and anything I may have brought with me moving out of their way. I have seen several bears who love getting into back packs left unattended that have peanut butter or jerky in them. They are like kids digging through everything, ripping it apart until they can get to the prize, the peanut butter. They will spend an hour biting through the plastic jar, squeezing out it’s contents and then licking the inside of the jar before a blissful nap, still dreaming of creamy or crunchy and that fine roasted smell of the “Jif or Peter Pan”.

So I offer you my translation guide between human and bear:

Bear Bells:

In human understanding – usually worn by hikers to alert bear you’re near

In bear understanding – bells alerting bear it’s dinner time

Backpack:

In human understanding – work to carry items (food & drink) while hiking

In bear understanding – Appetizer before Entrée’

Hiker:

In human understanding – Someone enjoying nature

In bear understanding – Entrée

Bear spray (pepper):

In human understanding - Pepper spray used to keep bear away

In bear understanding – Something that pisses off bear and used to make entrée’ extra spicy

Hiking stick:

In human understanding – Walking stick used for balance

In bear understanding - Toothpick

Bootlaces:

In human understanding – Used with boots to support ankles

In bear understanding - Floss to clean out hiker parts let after great meal

I like grizzlies.

I like to look at them from the bus that goes through Denali National Park and National Preserve. I plan to fly to the Katmai next summer to see these massive animals from safe vantage points.

If I’m on foot around here and the sign reads, “Bear have been seen in the vicinity,” I let the bears forage for the berries and the squirrels in peace. I like animals I can outrun. Porcupines are good or maybe even those pesky raccoons (we don’t have them) like “Men in Trees”

Ice