Mr. Russell was outspoken in his belief that the view most people — including many of his fellow naturalists — held of the bear was wrong.You can watch the whole documentary:
“I believe that it’s an intelligent, social animal that is completely misunderstood,” he said in a PBS “Nature” documentary about his work. To prove the point, he and his partner at the time, Maureen Enns, a photographer and artist, spent months each year for a decade living among bears in a remote part of eastern Russia....
His and Ms. Enns’s experiment on the Kamchatka Peninsula ended heartbreakingly. When they returned there for the 2003 season, they found that almost all the bears they had become acquainted with were gone, presumably slaughtered. A bear gallbladder — the prize for poachers, valued in some countries as an aphrodisiac and general health remedy — had been nailed to their cabin wall, like some kind of warning.
May 13, 2018
The other grizzly man.
"Charlie Russell, Who Befriended Bears, Dies at 76" (NYT obituary). Russell did not die in a bear attack (like the "Grizzly Man" in the Werner Herzog movie). He died of complications of surgery.
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Russell did not die in a bear attack (like the "Grizzly Man" in the Werner Herzog movie). He died of complications of surgery.
Sometimes operating under the influence of chronic opioids can impair performance.
Was it Michael K.?
Herzog's Grizzly Man wasn't doing it for the bears. He was doing it for himself.
I'm sure it's a very informative piece. but for the rest of us, they're bears. Brown bears. The worlds top tier mammalian preditor. Don't fuck with them. They are bigger than you and they bite. As the other bear guy and his girlfriend found out.
For anyone who thinks Eastern Medicine is somehow more enlightened than Western medicine, let the idea a bear gall bladder is valuable medically be lesson A in disabusing you of this notion.
Does a bear shit Grizzly Man in the woods?
In this case, no.
It is only because we are the top predator that we can entertain silly notions about the circle of life.
It wasn't always so.
Great video. The 10 ft, 1500 pound Grizzly was quite impressive.
“I'm sure it's a very informative piece. but for the rest of us, they're bears. Brown bears. The worlds top tier mammalian preditor. Don't fuck with them. They are bigger than you and they bite. As the other bear guy and his girlfriend found out.”
Not sure if that is true world wide - some cat species might vie for that title on other continents. But I very much see them as the indigenous apex predator in North America. We have brown bear in the county that I live in this time of year, so we tread carefully when out of the valley, and carry firearms that give you a fighting chance against them. Indeed, it is the the chance of meeting a brown bear that isn’t interested in getting along, that drives firearms and ammunition selection - if it works with brown bear, it will work with any othe North American predator, or predators (we also have wolves), but not the other way around.
I might be convinced that black bears might be somewhat social, but doubt that normally with brown bear. One of the reasons is that they include brown bear in their list of potential food sources (they also like black bear - bear meat is bear meat - they don’t discriminate). Which translates to that they are a cannibalistic species. In some ares, maybe 3 cubs are born, but one lives to adulthood. And the biggest risk they face? Adult males. Mama bear is ferocious when her cubs are involved, because that is all that separates her legacy from adult males in the neighborhood who would find them tasty morsels, and can, at full maturity, be twice her size.
Timmy Treadwell had a community meeting with some Alaska bears. His mother hasn't released the tape of that meeting.
Bruce.
The average Kodiak brown bear weighs what? 1000 pounds? The average tiger weighs, 400, 500? I'll go with the bear every time.
It wasn’t a warning. It was thanks.
How do they intend to keep them fed?
A serial killer doesn't kill everyone he meets, so just becuase you have a nice conversation with one, it doesn't mean he's not willing to kill you when he's ready and able to. These people who do this are very brave or stupid, but it doesn't prove what they claim it does. Bears can be friendly and still extremely dangerous, and Ted Bundy was charming most of the time.
When they returned there for the 2003 season, they found that almost all the bears they had become acquainted with were gone, presumably slaughtered..
Becaaaause.....they had artificially interfered with the natural instinct of the bears to be wary of humans and made the bears vulnerable.
Turning wild animals into "pets" never ever ever has a good result.
It may feel good, powerful, even Godlike to tame the bears, the deer, the raccoons and then leave them in the wilderness to fend for themselves, however all it does is to make the animals easier targets.
Grizzly Bears like eating things. To a bear you're just a two-legged deer.
I've gone on Safari, and according to the guide, the lions aren't that dangerous in the Afternoon. Its hot, they have their bellies full from the night's kill, and they just want to kick back and relax.
But I still stayed in the Land Rover.
"all it does is to make the animals easier targets."
Exactly, and they knew that themselves too, which means they caused the bears to be slaughtered out of pure selfishness with no regard for the animals. If you love something wild and free, leave it alone.
You know the old joke about the guy putting on his running shoes while the other guy puts on boots. The punch line: "I can't outrun the bear, but I can out run you"
I have spent some time around bears while salmon fishing. They can be frightened off - sometimes! To me, trying to mix with them is a classic case of "hold my beer".
DBQ Is 100% on the money!
We have brown bear in the county that I live in this time of year, so we tread carefully when out of the valley, and carry firearms that give you a fighting chance against them. Indeed, it is the the chance of meeting a brown bear that isn’t interested in getting along, that drives firearms and ammunition selection - if it works with brown bear, it will work with any othe North American predator. - Bruce Hayden
Sheesh. If wildlife intimidates you that much, why not just stay home?
Around 2001 I spend a week fishing a stream on Kodiak Island in Alaska. Each day Kodiaks would wander past us casually to get to a weir in the stream that kept salmon runs pooled. We had to keep 200' away (legally) from the weir but the bears went on top on it and next to it.
We never had an issue except when we got a fish on that thrashed and Momma bear would race to get it. No male bears, tho, except for juveniles.
I've heard that polar bears are ahead of brown bears as far as top predators are concerned in that they seek out humans rather than shy away when confronted. So say my Inuit guides in the north of Canada.
A bear gallbladder — the prize for poachers, valued in some countries as an aphrodisiac and general health remedy —
China, mostly. NYT has no compunction regarding defaming Trump by name, it's almost their entire raison d'etre. Yet they are notorious pussyfooters on subjects impugning the good reputations of favored groups, in this case, the ChiComs. Reading the MSM would never reveal that rhinos are being exterminated because certain Muslim tribes lust after ornamental daggers with rhinoceros horn handles.
Sheesh. If wildlife intimidates you that much, why not just stay home?
He didn't say he was intimidated. He indicated that he was/is prepared for emergencies. Like any sane person should be.
I do not go outside at night or dusk on my property..at HOME.... unless I am armed. Mountain lions, bears, coyotes, no wolves (yet, but they have been reintroduced....thanks a bunch) are frequent visitors and pass through.
If we are camping, or hiking, also armed. I don't believe the animals are out to get me (necessarily) however, if we suddenly surprise a predator, they WILL most likely run and some WILL attack. If you are armed your chances of scaring the predator off is much higher.
A few years ago, a local neighbor was stalked and almost attacked by a starving mountain lion while she was checking on her livestock one early evening. Fortunately she was able to shoot the poor thing before SHE became the dinner. My neighbor was 80 years old :-)
Don't judge everyone by the standards of where YOU live.
Nothing impairs the performance of Ritmo. His atrociously stupid and immoral blatherings are entirely his own choice. Why Althouse tolerates him is unfathomable.
Rusty said...
Bruce.
The average Kodiak brown bear weighs what? 1000 pounds? The average tiger weighs, 400, 500? I'll go with the bear every time.
5/13/18, 9:25 AM
So true,the other bear equal to the Kodiak would be the Polar Bear a close cousin which also weights from 700 to 1500 pounds.
Nevertheless, the Siberian Tiger weights on average close to 1,000 pounds could possibly match the bears, but would still have a disadvantage since bears can fight upright as well on all fours.
He didn't say he was intimidated. He indicated that he was/is prepared for emergencies. Like any sane person should be.
- DBQ
Guns are the wrong measure in almost all wildlife encounters. Guns are a fallback measure for those who are ill-prepared.
I do not go outside at night or dusk on my property..at HOME.... unless I am armed. Mountain lions, bears, coyotes, no wolves (yet, but they have been reintroduced....thanks a bunch) are frequent visitors and pass through. - DBQ
If you are a rancher I would imagine carrying a gun is a necessity. But for those hiking through wilderness where blacks and browns live, a gun is almost always the wrong prescription.
Guns are the wrong measure in almost all wildlife encounters. Guns are a fallback measure for those who are ill-prepared.
Unless you are hunting [which I haven't done in many years], using a gun is a measure of last resort. Yelling and waving arms at the animals 'usually' makes them shy away. The starving mountain lion is an exception to that rule. Generally, they (the animal is more afraid of you.) If they don't run off, then the next step is a loud warning shot. If that doesn't work, hope to Hell you have good aim.
Hiking and camping threats are often come from more than just the 4 legged animals. If you get my drift :-O
I met Mr. Russell at a seminar on Canadian wildlife in Calgary in the late '90s. Very interesting man to talk to, and his presentation on grizzlies was fascinating.
If you watch Grizzly Man carefully, you can see that Tim Treadwell perceived that things were going wrong with the bears. He and Russell found the same thing, and had the same central insight about bears. Treadwell's bears were running out of food and were otherwise distressed, as he carefully documented. Maybe they didn't like his girlfriend being there either. But he was not wrong about bears. That's what interested Herzog in Treadwell's story, and what made Herzog's movie great.
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