[HN Gopher] Watching "Grizzly Man" with a bear biologist
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Watching "Grizzly Man" with a bear biologist
        
       Author : cainxinth
       Score  : 131 points
       Date   : 2024-07-01 10:59 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.backpacker.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.backpacker.com)
        
       | kevinsky wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | timonoko wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | stavros wrote:
         | That can't be it: You had a lot to eat.
        
           | timonoko wrote:
           | Erh What. There is only one foodstore on Kodiak. I had what I
           | could carry in one dry-pack. I sometimes made bear-proof
           | stashes, because coast guard nannies so suggested, but it did
           | not seem to matter. Only foxes were real nuisance, they
           | chewed my wetsuit for example.
        
             | stavros wrote:
             | You had a ton of meat on your bones.
        
               | timonoko wrote:
               | Remarkably little. Under 60 kilos after 3 months on fish
               | diet.
        
             | southernplaces7 wrote:
             | Whoosh. That would be the sound of that bit of humor above
             | flying right above your head.
        
             | dpratt wrote:
             | How much do you weigh?
        
         | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
         | the reason probably was that they weren't hungry enough. They
         | took a measure of risk vs. need
        
         | Aurornis wrote:
         | > The reason was probably that I really did not have anything
         | to eat.
         | 
         | The reason was that they weren't hungry.
         | 
         | Bears don't randomly kill and eat every animal they encounter.
        
         | HanClinto wrote:
         | That is some absolutely beautiful footage. Thank you for
         | sharing!
         | 
         | Side note, the ffmpeg stabilization works surprisingly well --
         | thanks for sharing your commands in the YT comment!
        
         | IncreasePosts wrote:
         | Forget that, you need to start marketing your clipper vacuum
         | attachment.
        
       | ljf wrote:
       | 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)
        
         | cheese_van wrote:
         | <Watching this film set me off in a Herzog marathon - amazing
         | director.>
         | 
         | While in Alaska for the shoot, Hertzog took the time to address
         | students at the U of Alaska in Anchorage. It was in the
         | evening, in a teeny classroom, with only a few people there.
         | 
         | The only thing I remember (man, that was awhile ago) was how
         | personable Herzog was. He told the story of his start, that
         | when he was just a very young teenager, he stole (stole!) a
         | rather expensive camera to shoot his first story. "You stole
         | it?" someone conversationally asked? "Yes, I REALLY wanted to
         | film," Hertzog gleefully replied.
        
           | cmsefton wrote:
           | He recounts this story in his book, Every Man for Himself and
           | God Against All, which is a cracking read. The audiobook is
           | narrated by him, so I imagine that would be worth a listen
           | (not done it myself). I had the privilege to see him talk in
           | London several years ago, and the thing that struck me from
           | both the talk and the book, was how curious he is is about
           | things, and his general attitude of just trying to do the
           | things he was interested in regardless of obstacles,
           | exploring his ideas, no matter how hard, outlandish or crazy
           | they were.
        
       | tstrimple wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | marcus_holmes wrote:
         | I don't identify with it at all, but I'm glad some people do.
         | 
         | When we finally get our shit together and send people to Mars
         | despite that being a one-way trip, I'm glad there will be
         | volunteers who will sign up for that and go be pioneers. I hope
         | they get a school named after them.
        
         | lazide wrote:
         | Eh, I'm fairly certain that point was passed _many_ seasons
         | before he finally got eaten.
         | 
         | Good point though!
        
         | poulpy123 wrote:
         | I don't say I identify with him but I have some respect and
         | even admiration for McCandless, because I think I understand
         | his feelings from what I've read and watched about him, but I
         | don't have the same feeling for Treadwell though
        
           | toenail wrote:
           | They were both ill-prepared and harmed their environment.
           | Anybody who gets help for their mental health problems
           | deserves more admiration.
        
             | southernplaces7 wrote:
             | To be fair to McCandles, who was generally extremely
             | foolish in what he did too, at least his idiocy and lack of
             | really basic preparation didn't get anyone else killed.
        
               | EdwardDiego wrote:
               | Yeah, but someone had to handle his corpse. I mean, SAR
               | people can get kinda used to it, but it's still going to
               | ruin your day a little.
        
               | qup wrote:
               | We should make it illegal to die
        
               | s1artibartfast wrote:
               | Civilized people walk into the incinerator alive.
        
               | xsmasher wrote:
               | I'd rather take my chance at being renewed in carousel
               | than be terminated as a runner.
        
               | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
               | someone is going to have to handle everyones
        
               | patrick451 wrote:
               | Retrieving him was a choice. This attitude that we have
               | to rescue everybody from the backcountry whether dead or
               | alive is silly. We could just leave the fools out there.
               | At the very least, then we wouldn't have to put up with
               | all these arguments about what you should or shouldn't do
               | in the backcountry because of the externalities incurred
               | when SAR gets involved.
        
           | EdwardDiego wrote:
           | Nah, McCandless deserves no respect or admiration at all. He
           | was arrogant, and he died, and someone else had to drag his
           | decomposed corpse out of the bus.
           | 
           | At least he didn't get his girlfriend eaten by a bear I
           | suppose.
        
             | troyvit wrote:
             | > someone else had to drag his decomposed corpse out of the
             | bus.
             | 
             | That will happen with all of us probably, whether it's a
             | bus, a bathtub, or a senior living apartment. When I read
             | Into the Wild I had the same feelings that this arrogant
             | idiot deserved to die.
             | 
             | Now that I'm older and I can feel the heat death of me and
             | everything I've touched I'm starting to second guess that
             | feeling. We're all arrogant, ignorant, and selfish, and
             | dying is going to most likely hurt no matter how it
             | happens. Why not be a fool?
        
         | verinus wrote:
         | Being stupid and selfish should not be celebrated at all but
         | warned against!
         | 
         | He did not understand bears, just saw them how he wanted them
         | to be and actually did them a severe disservice!
         | 
         | Going outside of you comfort zone is valuable though, but only
         | if done with knowledge of your own limits and consequences!
         | 
         | e.g. I live in the Alps and we have much too many stupid
         | tourists' emergencies in the mountains due to ignorance than
         | should be. They know nothing about the mountains, the tour, how
         | weather is up there, what equipment and clothing to bring and
         | wear and completely disregard advice of locals. Then Mountain
         | Rescue risk their lives and health to get them down. Most of
         | them volunteers no less!
        
           | jklinger410 wrote:
           | > and actually did them a severe disservice!
           | 
           | I can't imagine what disservice was done. A guy hung around
           | bears for a while, and one ate him and his girlfriend.
           | 
           | To the bears literally nothing happened of note.
        
             | tuna74 wrote:
             | Two of the bears that ate him and his girlfriend got
             | killed.
        
             | Marinus wrote:
             | Had you read the article, you would have known that two
             | bears were put down, as a direct result of all this.
        
             | baseballdork wrote:
             | The bears were shot and killed.
        
             | d1sxeyes wrote:
             | Reputation damage
        
             | MisterTea wrote:
             | > To the bears literally nothing happened of note.
             | 
             | They ate an exotic meal.
        
         | freddie_mercury wrote:
         | >They are trying to experience the world as humans throughout
         | history have experienced the world.
         | 
         | Except this isn't really true. Humans throughout history are
         | invariably tribal, not solitary. Their solitary pursuits are in
         | many ways profoundly modern and in keeping with the entire
         | tradition of solipsistic modernity.
         | 
         | > these people actually lived in these places and experienced
         | these things in a way the vast majority of modern humanity
         | never will.
         | 
         | But...so? The same could be said if they moved to any
         | developing country (I live in a developing country) but nobody
         | is valorising that in the same way.
        
           | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
           | This silly reddit narrative, invented to push a political
           | viewpoint, is utter hogwash. There have always been
           | individuals living a solitary lifestyle- explorers and
           | homesteaders, scouts, traders, hunters and fishermen.
        
             | jklinger410 wrote:
             | And yet humans are absolutely social animals. The science
             | is clear.
        
               | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
               | What a cute cop out
        
         | krisoft wrote:
         | > they are willing to go into the unknown
         | 
         | But how is it the unknown if anyone with half a brain can
         | predict what will happen to them?
         | 
         | > these people actually lived in these places and experienced
         | these things in a way the vast majority of modern humanity
         | never will
         | 
         | That is true, but it is not like the only way to experience the
         | wilderness is by being reckless. There is a ton of people
         | enjoying this kind of thing without getting bears killed for no
         | good reason.
        
           | jstanley wrote:
           | Being reckless and going off unprepared is a different type
           | of experience. You can't have the same experience if you come
           | prepared.
           | 
           | Yes, you might die, but while you're alive you're really
           | _living_.
           | 
           | I'm quite comfortable living an ordinary comfortable life and
           | preparing in advance for novel experiences, but I'm glad some
           | people throw caution to the wind and chance it. It takes all
           | sorts to make the world.
        
             | EdwardDiego wrote:
             | > Yes, you might die, but while you're alive you're really
             | living.
             | 
             | You're very privileged to be able to think this way. And
             | very naive.
             | 
             | A lot of people in our world spend a lot of time trying not
             | to die, and they don't think, "wow, this is really living"
             | while they're scrabbling for survival.
             | 
             | I've been in a few situations where death was close and I
             | don't think "wow, I was really living then".
             | 
             | At best I thought "well that fucking sucked", at worst I
             | spent years recovering from PTSD.
             | 
             | > Yes, you might die, but while you're alive you're really
             | living.
             | 
             | Now _this_ is pod-racing.
             | 
             | I'm sorry you feel you've been missing out by living a safe
             | and comfortable life, but you really haven't missed out at
             | all.
             | 
             | But shit, just go skydiving or mountaineering, get this
             | weird mindset out of your system.
        
               | jstanley wrote:
               | There's a big difference between putting yourself in a
               | dangerous situation by choice and being in one out of
               | necessity.
        
             | yard2010 wrote:
             | That's not "really living", what you're talking about takes
             | time, and people like these are often really short of it.
        
         | deng wrote:
         | Except these "Grizzly Men" and Supertramps of the world can
         | only do what they do because society has enabled them to do
         | that. Try living that life without any technology,
         | transportation, modern outdoor equipment, drugs/medications,
         | etc. It's an unproductive and essentially narcissistic way of
         | living, whereas hackers create. This is precisely why Timothy
         | had to build this ridiculous fantasy of him being the protector
         | of these bears, whereas in fact it was him who needed the bears
         | to satisfy his egomania.
        
           | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
           | Meh- people have done without the trappings of modern
           | society, with varying levels of comfort, for thousands of
           | years.
        
             | deng wrote:
             | Yep, and how did humans survive this? By going out alone
             | into the wilderness? That would be incredibly stupid. You
             | die out there alone.
             | 
             | So here's what they did: they formed a group and worked
             | together. You might even call it "society".
        
               | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
               | That was not always the case, contrary to what you want
               | to believe.
        
               | deng wrote:
               | Fortunately, you provide some cold hard facts that
               | counter my beliefs.
        
               | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
               | nobody is concerned with your beliefs lol
        
         | EdwardDiego wrote:
         | > every normie
         | 
         | Wow, really.
         | 
         | Supertramp wasn't "going outside the comfort zone of normies",
         | he was making very bad, very stupid decisions that inflicted
         | suffering on those he loved.
         | 
         | Oh, and the people who had to recover his corpse.
         | 
         | Yeah, fuck those normies and their "maps" and "bushcraft
         | relevant to their ecosystem", this guy was the real deal huh.
         | 
         | No point in learning from others, just wing it and die a
         | pointless needless death.
         | 
         | > I think it's worth exploring and celebrating.
         | 
         | I feel that this points to a certain existential angst you may
         | be feeling, but please let me assure you that dying alone and
         | scared like these two munters is not the way to resolve it.
         | 
         | And for the love of all that's holy, please stop romanticising
         | selfish idiots.
         | 
         | The only nice thing I can say about Supertramp is that he
         | didn't directly endanger anyone else, unlike the guy who got
         | his girlfriend eaten by bears.
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | >> They were real hackers in a way most on this site cannot
         | really comprehend.
         | 
         | Oh we all know what this was. It was someone doing something
         | stupid and filming it. He can pretend that he was studying
         | behavior but he broke that mirror when he started interacting
         | with bears. This was someone creating footage in order to
         | market that footage and support his lifestyle, no different
         | than people in wingsuits doing dangerous stunts for clicks.
         | Both were "experts" in the thing they were doing, right up
         | until that thing killed them.
        
         | jrm4 wrote:
         | Upvote, though I'm not a fan of "can't comprehend"
         | 
         | But broadly, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's work changed my thinking a
         | bit on when I see people doing brave (and/or perhaps goddamn
         | stupid) stuff like this. Skin in the game is powerful.
         | 
         | There is something to be said for -- "as long as you're ONLY
         | putting yourself in harm's way, do your thing."
         | 
         | Again, I think playing around with bears is dumb as all hell,
         | but for (an admittedly different) example, I no longer make fun
         | of the Lifelock guy. Went from idiot to hero in my book.
        
         | sethammons wrote:
         | You ever wonder if your life's purpose is simply to serve as a
         | warning sign for others?
        
         | hluska wrote:
         | > They are trying to experience the world as humans throughout
         | history have experienced the world.
         | 
         | There was a critical difference between these cases. Early
         | humans grew up within nature so they had a lot of skill and
         | knowledge. I loved Into the Wild and thought I identified with
         | Christopher McCandless too. But the way he packed was not
         | conducive with survival. He sadly didn't know enough to know
         | how much danger he put himself in.
         | 
         | There is a lot to mourn and a lot to learn. But there's really
         | nothing to celebrate - these were complicated people who
         | behaved like they had a death wish. Early humans had a survival
         | wish and while it didn't always work out, the motivation was
         | different.
        
         | HanClinto wrote:
         | "It is not the critic who counts..."
        
       | lqet wrote:
       | > 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."
        
         | RamRodification wrote:
         | How can someone tell, in an audio recording of a man being
         | eaten by a bear, that at one specific point, you are hearing
         | his arm being separated from his body? I'd like to think that
         | he narrated it while it was happening. But imma call BS on this
         | one.
        
           | nkrisc wrote:
           | It might make a rather distinctive sound, based on what I've
           | heard from other large mammals being butchered.
        
             | mannykannot wrote:
             | And maybe the remaining physical evidence ruled out other
             | limbs.
        
           | scotteric wrote:
           | He was alive and conscious for the 15 minutes of the attack.
           | He may have screamed about his arm to his girlfriend.
        
           | EdwardDiego wrote:
           | AHHHH NOT MY ARM.
           | 
           | Also, joints make a distinctive noise when being...
           | decoupled. But I suspect the narration may have helped nail
           | down which joint was in play.
        
         | eddiewithzato wrote:
         | gotta give it up to tigers, at least they kill you in the neck
         | first
        
           | tokai wrote:
           | I think the bear biologist forgot that cats often play with
           | their prey before killing it.
        
             | EdwardDiego wrote:
             | Citation for big cats doing that with primates?
        
               | sandworm101 wrote:
               | I have seen trailcamera footage of a cougar bringing a
               | live deer back to its cubs so they can learn how to kill.
               | The cubs seemed confused, playing with the deer.
        
               | EdwardDiego wrote:
               | I believe I mentioned primates?
        
               | pessimizer wrote:
               | What reason would you have to think that primates are
               | exceptional?
        
               | EdwardDiego wrote:
               | I specified primates because big cats eat more baboons
               | than humans, but they kill both species in a very similar
               | fashion, so let's open up the problem space.
               | 
               | So, really straightforward, in the context of bears
               | eating people, someone implied that a cat will toy with
               | you to death. I asked for evidence that they do this with
               | primates, someone shared an anecdote about deer that
               | isn't relevant to "bears eating people".
               | 
               | I'm not saying primates are exceptional, rather, that the
               | story about deer is irrelevant.
        
               | boneghost wrote:
               | This is the funniest hill to die on. Thank you.
        
               | tokai wrote:
               | Classic HN.
        
               | sethammons wrote:
               | If primates are not exceptional as prey, how is the deer
               | irrelevant?
               | 
               | Primate == food; Deer == food
               | 
               | Why would one food be different?
        
               | jessekv wrote:
               | Primates and Deer are shaped rather differently. Deer are
               | 20% neck. I am with EdwardDiego on this one.
        
               | sethammons wrote:
               | The presence of a neck means the cat is more likely to
               | play with its food? That is outside my world model having
               | lived around wild predators, including wild cats, most of
               | my life. I had a mountain lion kill a deer three nights
               | ago outside my house on our property. It seemingly didn't
               | kill it outright since I heard the deer 15 minutes later
               | make a similar sound. I have seen the same behavior in
               | house cats with mice and lizards. The case is on y'all to
               | say why a primate as prey would be different
        
               | albedoa wrote:
               | > someone shared an anecdote about [big cats eating] deer
               | that isn't relevant to "bears eating people".
               | 
               | Would you admit that it's relevant to "big cats eating
               | animals"?
        
               | tomrod wrote:
               | That is probably overly specific.
        
               | t-3 wrote:
               | This kind of behavior is common to housecats too -
               | they'll lame a small animal and bring it to their kittens
               | for practice.
               | 
               | Another thing worth noting - most cats like to eat their
               | prey intestines first without caring whether or not it's
               | alive (for pre-digested fiber and other nutrients not
               | common in meat). For larger cats that often hunt by
               | leaping from above and breaking the neck in one stroke
               | the prey will probably be dead, but otherwise they're
               | probably not.
        
               | fullspectrumdev wrote:
               | Even without kittens, house cats will often take a
               | captured small animal inside (still alive) and dump it
               | near their caretaker and expect them to finish the job.
               | 
               | Our cat has only access to a confined (extremely high
               | walls) garden (largely left to grow wild for
               | environmental reasons) due to proximity to a road where
               | people drive extremely badly, and still manages to
               | occasionally succeed at bringing something in, usually
               | dumping it at someone's feet and going "ok you do it".
        
               | suzzer99 wrote:
               | Always fun when the bird starts flying around the house.
        
               | daelon wrote:
               | My interpretation of that behavior is that they think
               | _you 're_ a kitten. After all, they've never seen you
               | kill anything! It's reasonable to conclude that you need
               | some practice.
        
             | 1234letshaveatw wrote:
             | Also killer whales. It is disturbing to see them playing
             | "catch" with a seal. At the same time they typically don't
             | harm humans that share their space, it is curious
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | https://youtu.be/nU5cMZymSr0
         | 
         | Dont worry, not a violent attack. This is a black bear digging
         | into a girl's kayak as she yells at it. Notice how the bear
         | ignores her pleadings. I have personally shouted at and scared
         | away bears (bc, black bears). They do respond. But once they
         | decide you are not a threat, or heaven help you food, they will
         | ignore any noise you make. This girl's high-pitched squeals
         | fall on deaf ears. The fuzzy dog-like intelligent animal
         | becomes a monster.
         | 
         | Fyi, the girl's progressively higher pitch may do well to
         | attract help from other humans, but wont work on a predator.
         | You want to sound intimidating and big, not small and weak. Of
         | course you aren't ever going to sound bigger than a grizzly in
         | feeding mode. At that point your only hope is something
         | unnatural like a bearbanger (firework) gunshot or metallic
         | sound, something to break the predator's confidence. Sounding
         | like food won't help.
        
           | ccppurcell wrote:
           | If it's black fight back, if it's brown lie down, if it's
           | white say goodnight.
        
             | sandworm101 wrote:
             | Bears are more complex than their species. A black bear in
             | protective mode trying to scare you away from its
             | cubs/kill/den won't back down from a fight. Better to
             | retreat quietly. And lying on the ground won't save you
             | from a brown bear in predator mode. You need to read the
             | animal just as you would read an aggressive dog. But a
             | polar bear within 10 feet of you is another thing. I'm no
             | gun nut, but a fully-automatic AR-15 with a 30-round mag is
             | totally reasonable when in the arctic. Or an automatic
             | shotgun. Don't mess around in polar bear territory.
        
               | snerbles wrote:
               | Are you hunting the bear? Or carrying insurance _in case
               | of_ a bear attack while conducting some other activity?
               | Both are very different things.
               | 
               | 5.56mm is a very small cartridge for game that large, and
               | with full auto you will spray wide and in a few seconds
               | have an empty mag. Besides, within 10 feet everything
               | that can go wrong has gone wrong and you will likely get
               | mauled anyway. Large magazine rifles with backup pistols
               | do have a niche in hunting packs of aggressive wild boars
               | in close quarters, but that is an exceedingly dangerous
               | hobby best left to those with a background in door-
               | kicking.
        
               | daelon wrote:
               | You should spend some time learning about guns, because
               | an AR-15 isn't even remotely enough firepower for a bear.
               | A common opinion is that 5.56 is so small it's not
               | appropriate to hunt _deer_ with, so if the bear has
               | decided to eat you then 30 rounds of 5.56 is just going
               | to piss it off.
        
               | lazide wrote:
               | An AR-15 is woefully undersized for any bear, let alone a
               | polar bear to take humanely. Not that it is impossible to
               | use something less - the Inuit apparently sometimes take
               | polar bear with a 22LR. Which is an upgrade from the
               | spears they used to use, apparently. But you are no
               | Inuit.
               | 
               | Also, a lot of them disappear on the ice each year.
               | 
               | You also aren't going to get a fully automatic one as a
               | civilian without a massive amount of paperwork. A
               | military M4 is even less adequate due to the short barrel
               | length.
               | 
               | Typically, a 12 gauge with 3" slugs is the minimum 'good
               | idea' big bear defense gun.
               | 
               | 45-70 with modern (high pressure) loads, or a 30-06 with
               | heavy bullets (200gr partitions) are also considered good
               | to adequate - at least for Kodiak brown, which is close.
               | 
               | The issue is with shot placement.
               | 
               | Someone successfully defended themselves against a Kodiak
               | brown bear attack with a 9mm because they were lucky and
               | got a great shot through the nasal cavity from 6-8ft
               | away. Albeit with extremely hot ammo.
               | [https://www.americanhunter.org/content/alaska-outfitter-
               | defe...]
               | 
               | do not underestimate how difficult or dangerous that shot
               | would be to make. The shooter had been a hunting guide in
               | that area for 30 years.
               | 
               | The same bear, if the shot was a couple inches higher,
               | would have been able to keep going even if hit with a 12
               | gauge slug. They have highly armored skulls. [https://www
               | .reddit.com/r/badassanimals/comments/14die7f/kodi...]
               | Males in particular are also used to (and regularly do)
               | literally fight grizzly bears, so are not cowardly
               | opponents.
               | 
               | Many people disappear in that area every year, while
               | armed. Eaten by bears is the presumed cause for a
               | significant portion of them, but no one can tell for sure
               | since the bodies never get found.
               | 
               | The US Air Force used to issue (literal) bazookas to
               | airmen it stationed above the arctic circle as it was the
               | only adequate man portable weapon they had that would
               | consistently and reliably work if they could hit the bear
               | with it.
        
             | thegeekpirate wrote:
             | If a bear wants you dead and you aren't prepared, you're
             | dead.
             | 
             | If you actually care to survive, listen to this great talk
             | before heading out to bear country
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PExlT-5VU-Y
        
       | polairscience wrote:
       | Biologists often have a lens for the world that I deeply admire.
       | This one was a very eloquent 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.
        
       | chakintosh wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | gadders wrote:
         | Anyone who can spend 6 minutes fighting a bear with a frying
         | pan is brave as fuck. She was a hero.
        
           | chakintosh wrote:
           | That's not my point.
        
             | mpalmer wrote:
             | Replies don't have to be a continuation of your point.
        
               | teddyh wrote:
               | I LIEK CHOCOLATE MILK
        
             | gadders wrote:
             | Yes, but you specifically mentioned her. I agree with you,
             | but wanted to highlight her heroism (which in an ideal
             | world would not have been needed)
        
               | s1artibartfast wrote:
               | what is heroic at all about fighting frantically for ones
               | ones life?
               | 
               | The brave part Brave I get that. Heroic, not so much.
        
           | pookha wrote:
           | Frying pan wasn't the way to go with a grizzly. There was a
           | group of collegiate wrestlers that managed to survive a
           | violent predatory grizzly attack. Bear was trying to eat
           | them.
           | 
           | https://abcnews.go.com/US/wyoming-college-wrestlers-
           | recount-...
           | 
           | It seems like they survived the initial attack by sticking
           | their hands balls deep into the bear's mouth while it was
           | attacking. They took compound bone fractures and one of them
           | got a bicep nearly ripped off. Bear was persistent and
           | attacked twice. Tried to bury one of them in the dirt (for
           | the cubs) and left. They managed to escape with some very
           | haggard injuries. Bottom line is I wouldn't go deep into
           | grizzly territory unless I had a twelve gauge with 00 buck
           | shot. Inland grizzly bears have dwindling fish stock and they
           | hunt large game and they're wildly aggressive. Yellowstone
           | had 62 instances of bears charging hikers in 2011 from what I
           | saw.
        
             | gadders wrote:
             | I get most of my knowledge on grizzly bears from the Joe
             | Pickett novels about a game warden in Wyoming.
             | 
             | But yeah, I'd want bear spray and a gun as plan b.
        
         | lostemptations5 wrote:
         | Maybe she knew what she was doing and accepted the risks
        
       | teh_infallible wrote:
       | Rewatching this film, it really seemed fake to me. I love it, but
       | I think it's a mockumentary
        
         | EdwardDiego wrote:
         | You going to elaborate on that?
        
           | nkurz wrote:
           | Not the OP, but I have some of the same concern. No, it's not
           | a "mockumentary"; yes, it's based on true events; but based
           | on some of Herzog's other films and public statements, there
           | are good reasons to doubt that it's a straight factual
           | account of what happened. Herzog has frequently stated that
           | he's not trying to relate straight facts, but is going for a
           | deeper truth.
           | 
           | In pursuit of this, he's frequently bent the facts in his
           | other "documentaries" to achieve the narrative that he's
           | aiming for. I vouched for the parent comment because I think
           | it's a view that should be discussed rather than suppressed.
           | I like his art, but equating a Herzog documentary with
           | factual truth is likely to end badly.
           | 
           | I've only skimmed it (and I don't have time to read it closer
           | today) but this looks to be a decent academic paper that
           | explores some of the problems with Grizzly Man:
           | 
           |  _Conceiving Grizzly Man through the "Powers of the False"_
           | 
           |  _..._
           | 
           |  _But is Grizzly Man a documentary at all? Is it a "true" or
           | appropriate representation of reality?_ _Grizzly Man engages
           | in "creative falsification" -- a cinematic concept theorized
           | by Gilles Deleuze in which the filmmaker generates optical
           | images which bond to virtual images (or images that evoke a
           | people's general past, fantasies, and dreams) to reveal some
           | representation of "truth"_
           | 
           | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/documents/2008/june-2008/.
           | ..
        
             | s1artibartfast wrote:
             | Fascinating paper. The primary point doesn't seem to be
             | that Hetzog has bent any facts, but willfully presents his
             | subjective interpretation of the world.
             | 
             | It is more akin to the idea that all perception, thought,
             | meaning, and opinions operate in a realm distinct from the
             | material world.
             | 
             | The following sentences after your quote make this clear.
             | 
             | >But is Grizzly Man a documentary at all? Is it a "true" or
             | appropriate representation of reality? Most scholars
             | presently writing on documentary posit that the duplication
             | of realities through cinema is always fictional because of
             | its use of rhetorical figures and emblematic symbolism,
             | regardless of claims of objectivity or historical
             | significance. As a filmmaker, Herzog shares this
             | ideological: all documentary is false even if it conveys
             | the myth of objectivity
        
         | solumunus wrote:
         | I guess you must be unaware that the guy in the film was
         | eventually mauled to death by bears?
        
         | nervousvarun wrote:
         | What a strange comment. Rewatching means you've seen it at
         | least twice but you think it's a mockumentary?
         | 
         | Please help me with this logic because there's absolutely
         | nothing funny about this film which is arguably one of the most
         | disturbing ever made.
        
       | hdersch wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | technothrasher wrote:
         | I've personally witnessed both wild dogs and lions in Botswana
         | starting to eat their prey before it is dead.
        
         | ericmcer wrote:
         | Nature is brutal, we should all be really thankful that we get
         | to die in a bed being made as comfortable as possible. For
         | every other animal in history death was almost guaranteed to be
         | something scary and painful.
        
           | vundercind wrote:
           | Nature's like living in a 24/7 horror movie for most things
           | that aren't humans.
           | 
           | All those pretty birds you see are like one mistake and bit
           | of bad luck from being ripped to shreds--at all times. Yikes.
        
         | ziofill wrote:
         | Yep. That keeps happening e.g. in the mountains in northern
         | italy. Cows with huge wounds stumble back from the field, it's
         | horrific. And when the farmers kill a wolf it's an outpour of
         | indignation from animal welfare :/
        
         | suzzer99 wrote:
         | Hyenas too. They sometimes chase their prey for hours until it
         | drops, then leisurely consume the softest parts first, like the
         | genitalia.
        
         | krig wrote:
         | I doubt that statement was meant to be some kind of absolute
         | rule, big cats will definitely eat you alive if they feel like
         | it. But at least you are perhaps more likely to get a quick
         | death..
         | 
         | The advice I grew up with (in swedish bear country) is to do
         | these things, in order:
         | 
         | 1. Make noise while in the woods, bears will generally avoid
         | you if they know you are there. You don't want to startle a
         | bear.
         | 
         | 2. If charged, stay calm, make yourself big and talk to the
         | bear, move slowly.
         | 
         | 3. If attacked, play dead.
         | 
         | With luck, the bear will lose interest once it doesn't perceive
         | you as a threat. If it's hungry, well, bad luck. There have
         | been cases of people scaring bears off by punching them in the
         | nose, so as a final resort I guess that's something to try.
        
           | suzzer99 wrote:
           | Grizzly: play dead. Black bear: fight back. Polar bear: make
           | your peace with God.
        
             | butisaidsudo wrote:
             | If it's brown, lay down. If it's black, fight back. If it's
             | white, good night.
        
               | hackeraccount wrote:
               | If it's jelly, put it in your belly. If it's teddy, take
               | it to beddy.
        
               | jaredhallen wrote:
               | Sedges have edges, rushes are round. Grasses are hollow
               | and grow in the ground.
        
         | s1artibartfast wrote:
         | I think it is extremely common in the animal world, if not the
         | default. Thinking of other biomes Fish and reptiles almost
         | always do it. I suspect anything which a substantial size
         | difference does it and it is only avoided when you have pretty
         | that is very dangerous to the predator.
        
         | teddyh wrote:
         | > _What is definitely wrong in this article is the claim, that
         | only bears eat living prey. Also wolves do that._
         | 
         | And horses1. And deer2.
         | 
         | 1. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnYNmGMsU18>
         | 
         | 2. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk>
        
       | User23 wrote:
       | 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."
        
         | neaden wrote:
         | In English, and other Germanic language, it comes from the
         | brown one. In Slavic languages bears are called honey eaters.
         | In other languages though like Welsh they don't appear to have
         | had the taboo and use a deririvative of the older PIE word,
         | which is thought to be something like rktho.
        
         | gavindean90 wrote:
         | If you haven't seen this you might enjoy:
         | https://xkcd.com/2381/
        
       | overkill28 wrote:
       | The clips reminded me of how great The Grizzly Man soundtrack is
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man_(soundtrack)
        
         | d1sxeyes wrote:
         | Richard Thompson is a genius.
        
       | Mistletoe wrote:
       | 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...
        
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