Noted filmaker Werner Herzog has assembled unreleased film of my late acquaintance Timothy Treadwel into a documentaryl. The outtakes I've seen once again reveal somebody morphing wild animals into everything but what they really were, as Tim did to himself. Meanwhile Doug and Lynn Seus have established www.vitalground.org in memory and thanks to the late Bart the Bear, who I met once and exhibited better manners than Tim ever did ( Bart, not me.) I'm saving my movie ticket, popcorn, gummy worms, junior mints, hotdog and jumbo Doctor Pepper and sending it to the Seus' <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I've seen the trailer to "Grizzly Man" praising Tim, and read the National Geographic article debasing him. Seeing the trailer was enough for me - this guy made some tragically poor decisions under the guise that he was "protecting these animals." As much as I love animals, you don't habitualize a bear to humans. It just puts them - and us - in more danger.

From what I've briefly read, it sounds like he stopped carrying pepper spray, didn't bring an electric fence, and couldn't carry a firearm (since it was in a National Park).

Here's one newspaper article I was able to pull up online:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/142982_bearattack08.html

What's interesting is that when the AK state troopers and the NPS rangers showed up at the site, they immediately killed two aggressive grizzlies. How ironic that the people who showed up after the fact were able to properly defend themselves, yet visitors cannot.

It's truly a sad loss for the families of all involved, and the bears, too.

We've got a mountain lion around here that is praying on people's pets in broad daylight. Mother Nature demands our respect at all times, and wild animals are exactly that -- wild.

Although it didn't say so, I saw a documentary on this story. They alleged that one of the male bears that they had to shoot after they discovered what was left of their camp had the remains of these two in its stomach. Tim encountered this bear on many occasions and had a name for him which I can't recall. The bear experts they interviewed not only pointed out many mistakes he'd made also suggested late in the season was a dangerous time to be around the bears, food being more scarce if I remember correctly. They showed alot of his footage and he was within arms reach many times and showed him touching a few? Also showed him very close to a mother and her cubs with no reaction from the mother? He was braver than I, but paid the ultimate price. They recovered his camera which had been turned on sometime during the attack but the lens cover wasn't removed. He recorded (audio) both of their deaths. He (Tim) exhibited some strange behavior to say the least. His parents were briefly interviewed also.

I read an interview of Werner Herzog, who directed the documentary. He seems to be fascinated with people whose outsized dreams inspire them to try superhuman tasks.

It's easy to dismiss someone who would get that close to grizzlies as demented. I haven't seen the documentary but what's intriguing is that Tim sounds like a guy who was trying to achieve something noble with his life. I want to believe it wasn't soley a fame-and-status trip. Another element that appeals to me was that the guy pulled himself out of a deep hole of drug and alcohol abuse.

So Tim stikes me as a man with restlessness or energy that just won't allow him to lead a humdrum existence. The easiest route is to give in to self-destructive behavior. The tougher way is to direct those urges to a pursuit that gives you a high-wire thrill, but is altrustic. So, as misguided as his methods may have been, I can't help but feel empathy for him.

I also found Herzog's view of Nature of interest. It's not hostile or benign. It's simply there. Attempts to assign romantic interpretations to Nature are dangerous delusions. Anway, I can't wait to see the movie!

It should be fascinating. But again, I was acquainted with Tim and have strong opinions on his 'legacy' both to bear and human. Another fascinating ( some people have stronger descriptions <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) bear researcher ( and I am being generous with Tim's 'work') is Doug Peacock, prototype for Edward Abbey's George W. Hayduke, and another peson who eschews firearms. i also met Doug once, and he is very savvy about being in bear country and knows when to LEAVE, as in 5 minutes ago. For myself, I am hoping for a Bart the Bear film festival some afternoon with a tweed jacketed theater arts critic sitting crosslegged in a chair discussing Barts maturing emotive powers on screen.