Excerpt from http://dwb.adn.com/front/story/4110831p-4127072c.htmlA California author and filmmaker who became famous for trekking to Alaska's remote Katmai coast to commune with brown bears has fallen victim to the teeth and claws of the wild animals he loved.
Alaska State Troopers and National Park Service officials said Timothy Treadwell, 46, and girlfriend Amie Huguenard, 37, were killed and partially eaten by a bear or bears near Kaflia Bay, about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage, earlier this week.
Scientists who study Alaska brown bears said they had been warning Treadwell for years that he needed to be more careful around the huge and powerful coastal twin of the grizzly.
Treadwell's films of close-up encounters with giant bears brought him a bounty of national media attention. The fearless former drug addict from Malibu, Calif. -- who routinely eased up close to bears to chant "I love you'' in a high-pitched, sing-song voice -- was the subject of a show on the Discovery Channel and a report on "Dateline NBC." Blond, good-looking and charismatic, he appeared for interviews on David Letterman's show and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" to talk about his bears. He even gave them names: Booble, Aunt Melissa, Mr. Chocolate, Freckles and Molly, among others.
Treadwell's films of close-up encounters with giant bears brought him a bounty of national media attention. The fearless former drug addict from Malibu, Calif. -- who routinely eased up close to bears to chant "I love you'' in a high-pitched, sing-song voice -- was the subject of a show on the Discovery Channel and a report on "Dateline NBC." Blond, good-looking and charismatic, he appeared for interviews on David Letterman's show and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" to talk about his bears. He even gave them names: Booble, Aunt Melissa, Mr. Chocolate, Freckles and Molly, among others.
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"I met him during the summer of '98 at Hallo Bay,'' said Stephen Stringham, a professor with the University of Alaska system. "At first, having read his book, I thought he was fairly foolhardy ... (but) he was more careful than the book portrayed.
"He wasn't naive. He knew there was danger."
Despite that, Treadwell refused to carry firearms or ring his campsites with an electric fence as do bear researchers in the area. And he stopped carrying bear spray for self-protection in recent years. Friends said he thought he knew the bears so well he didn't need it.
U.S. Geological Survey bear researcher Tom Smith; Sterling Miller, formerly the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's top bear authority; and others said they tried to warn the amateur naturalist that he was being far too cavalier around North America's largest and most powerful predator.
Despite that, Treadwell refused to carry firearms or ring his campsites with an electric fence as do bear researchers in the area. And he stopped carrying bear spray for self-protection in recent years. Friends said he thought he knew the bears so well he didn't need it.
U.S. Geological Survey bear researcher Tom Smith; Sterling Miller, formerly the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's top bear authority; and others said they tried to warn the amateur naturalist that he was being far too cavalier around North America's largest and most powerful predator.
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Church Lady wants to know,
If a bear wants to eat you, where would he start? or
Do you chant 'I love you' to your loved ones? or
Have you ever been to Alaska?
Let's discuss.....
26 comments:
This was sad, I remember back when it happened. Nice guy who really turned his life around, but I have to say his ego cost him his life.
Just like women who gravitate toward horrible men, he thought he was the special one they wouldn't be their natural, bear like selves around him.
A bear would probably start with something light, such as my head.
I haven't been to Alaska yet but would love to go; I have friends from there.
I don't chant anything in a high pitched, sing song voice to anyone I even like, much less love. How freaking annoying can you get, and no freaking wonder the bears ate him; they probably just wanted to shut him the hell up.
But still, it was sad - wasn't this a couple of years ago?
I know it was well before Steve Irwin.
Oh and yippeeeeee, I got to be first again,(that was not high pitched or sing song)
I'm second! Woot, as we are supposed to say. Woot. Woot. Yanno, that just doesn't work for me.
I'm pretty skinny so I'd be no more than a pre-dinner snack for a bear and a crunchy one at that.
Do I chant I love you? I'm with MB on that one. How annoying would that be?!
I've never been to Alaska, but it's on the list.
Ooh, I wuv you all, my little snookums, wuv you, wuv you. Who's your wittle alpaca. Oh, smoochie, smoochie, smoochie.
Someone mawl me now.
Mawl is a great word.
I did one of the Alaska cruises a few years back from Vancouver to Anchorage. The nature highlight was kayaking in a bay in Ketchican, I believe, and a humpback whale appeared on one side of us, and then a few minutes later on the opposite side, meaning she'd gone right under our kayak.
N saw an advertisement for a job many years ago that she was qualified for on Kodiac Island. I still regret not pursuing that. It would have given me a great opportunity to try my love talk out on the Kodiac bears.
If a bear wants to eat you, where would he start?
He'd rip off my stomach. That's a fact.
Do you chant 'I love you' to your loved ones?
No, and I dislike when people behave like that. I find it disgusting. I'm with Mussel bound.
Alaska?
Not yet. If there are parts where there are no bears around...
If a bear wanted to eat me, he'd probably start with my face,to get me to stop screaming and cursing.
Yep, I probably do the 'love you' thing too much, but, in my defense, I only say it to those for whom I actually feel love. A short-ish list.
Nope - haven't been to Alaksa- don't like the cold.
Musselbound, Your crunchy outer shell protects you.
McKoala, You would be used as toothpicks.
Paca, OMG, Hahahahah! :-)
Szelsofa, Depends what you have in your stomach. If you just ate one of those Kielbasas, for example, the bear might skip that part.
;-)
One bite, and the bear would spit me out!
Patoo-ee! he'd say, Too bitter!
I consider myself to be the animal whisperer - I hope one day that attitude doesn't bite me in the ass!
Hey- I just reread the last few posts and reread the Sapporo thingie- congrats on the house closing!!!!
Thanks Robin! And sorry I missed your post (we must've been typing at the same time)
Welcome back!!
:-)
Josephine, sounds like an interesting side of yourself....would love to hear more!!
Go for the nose and eyes. Pick up a nice juicy rock if you have time.
One lady saved her husband by bashing a grizzly in the nose with her camera.
If nothing else, you might take the pleasure of dinner.
I remember watching a show about this guy. I hate to say it, but I didn't feel a lot of sympathy for him. He got some great visuals but anyone with a little sense would have know what would happen.
He'd probably start with the ears. That's what I do with my chocolate bunnies, at least.
I haven't been to Alaska yet, but we're doing a lot of work there soon, so I might be forced up there against my will...
A bear would probably rip my throat out to stop my annoying, blood-curdling screams.
I don't chant. I leave that to monks.
I've never been to Alaska, but I would like to go.
Head first please!
I have no loved ones.
Haven't been to Alaska, but would love to go.
I dreamed about bears in the woods across the street all the time. When I awoke, I laughed at myself, thinking how ridiculous it would be to have a bear in a town of 75,000 just thirty miles north of Toronto.
Last summer, a black bear was loose in town. It took eight hours to shoot it with a dart gun in someone's backyard and I didn't find out about it until eleven o'clock that night.
Once during a canoeing expedition I tried to take pictures of a bear while my friends told my I was crazy. I knew he had bad eyesight and we were downwind, so he wouldn't charge us. Thinking back, I realize I was an idiot.
A bear would eat my ass first because that's what would be sticking up.
Everyone knows I love them so I don't have to chant it.
Never been to Alaska but B.C. is pretty close, huh?
Jason, I am slightly afraid to ask, but, who or what dinner are you referring to? ;-)
Charles, I agree, from what little I know. A sad story. But why tempt nature so?
I thought you didn't want to talk about Easter, Rob. heh heh :-)
Good one, Beth!!
AW, we in the blogger world are among your loved ones. But personally I don't mind if you don't chant. :-)
Chumplet--did you get the photo?! All that nice story setup, and you leave us dangling....
I wonder if he was killed by Booble, Aunt Melissa, Mr. Chocolate, Freckles or Molly?
I'm sorry for his family, but people who play with wild animals are not operating on all four cylinders. They are WILD. Not "girls gone wild" but "bears gone wild who don't give a crap if you love them".
My guess is that a bear would go for my sexy (ha!) legs first. A little nibble here, a little nibble there. I don't think he'd mind if I hadn't shaven in a week. (In fact, he might be turned on by it.)
Okay, I'd better stop now. I'm getting a little too giddy... happy new year! Growl.
Angelique
I'd go for your legs, Quoibler.
purr.....
My crunchy outer shell helps protect me from this cruel world, but not sure if it could hold up to a bear's 2,000 pounds of pressure in its jaws as it crunched through me.
And if a bear is gonna maul me and eat me, I'd pick Mr. Chocolate or Freckles or, hell, anyone but Boobies. Since I don't have much in that department, the irony would make me fodder for the late night talk show stand up routines for weeks and weeks.
I want to die a funny death, one they can't help but laugh even through their tears, because what a way to go.
But killed by a bear named Boobies, who probably has a bigger chest than mine?
I don't think so.
But I want to know also, did Chumplet get the perfect photo?
And Robin, saying I love you a million times is fine; it's the high pitched singsong that makes us want to gouge our eyes and ears out. Keep saying it while you can and you'll have no regrets.
If a bear wants to eat you, where would he start? My guess is the belly. It's soft & teary (in some of us, anyway. *L*)
Do you chant 'I love you' to your loved ones? Not in a high pitched squeek, at any rate.
Have you ever been to Alaska? No.
I seem to recall a lovely forest photograph with a little black smudge in the middle. That was the bear.
Everyone was yelling at me while I was taking the picture - apparently they thought whistling at a bear was a bad idea.
I wonder if I have it in an album somewhere?
Hey, Miss Mussel,
I know exactly what you mean with the singsong thing. No problem - cutesy gush-gush is not even my style- I'm right there with you on that!
LOL Musselbound!! I love your attitude about life. :-)
Hi Lana, me too. ;-)
Chumplet, cool!! Would love to see the photo! Speaking of photos...
Robin, awesome photo avatar of your two daughters. You must have your hands full!
:-)
"Robin, awesome photo avatar of your two daughters. You must have your hands full!"
Is that a polite way of saying her girls look like brats?
JUST KIDDING, and yes, I know where the door is; I'll see myself out...
Geeeshh! I meant they're very pretty. I have two boys, and there are certain issues I won't have to deal with. :-)
Ha, mussel and CL - just saw this -you guys just slay me.
Here's hoping this will be a happily bantering new year!
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