Timothy Treadwell - The Grizzly Man

[Andrea]

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what he was doing. Sometimes you think "well, he was putting together a documentary and did love the bears and was hoping to cash in", and other times you wonder if it ended the way he really wanted it to and was just waiting for it to happen, and other times you think he was just nuts.
What next? I'm going to go live with the Great White Sharks! Ohhh Mr. Big Mouth I love you so much! NO that's a bad Mr. Big Mouth! What? Ow! Hit it with the snorkel! gurgle chomp gurgle chomp!
The entire thing with him seemed like he was getting more "out of it" each season he went there. It is a sad.......and also ridiculous story.

[NOVSTORM]

Grizzly and polar bears are the only bears that will actually hunt humans. A guy we know actually had one break the door down to his cabin to get him. He fortunately had this huge 40 cal. gun and blew the thing away before he got to him. We couldnt believe the pictures of the cabine (it was more like a house) that bear ripped the shit out of it and he lucky he was upstairs and got in 2 good shots. I love animals and believe that they should have their own space.

[amaranthaseven]

Cleanskull, you are a bad, bad man! (Don't ever change!)

Novstorm, that's an amazing (and scary) story! Bears are obviously big predators, and in an ideal world, they should be given territories to hunt in (human-free). But obviously we humans have been encroaching on all the free space over time and animals have paid the biggest price. Bears are obviously not pet potential, and deserve both space and respect. Stories like your friend's illustrate this quite vividly. Treadwell acted like they were all big teddy bears who would be calm if you just loved them. Right.

[Chevyheaven]

Timothy Treadwell, I forgot about that guy. I saw him on Lettermen I think Im not sure but I remember thinking he was out there but it made me curious. Bieng Canadian myself. I am a huge fan of nature and big hairy bears.

I loved watching them in their own natural habitat. They are like big teddy bears
but ferocious. Anyways I watched that movie and re-watched it. It was really interesting. Timothy really sounded like he knew what he was blabblin about all the time. For an ex drug addict thats not too bad. Not to bad at all.
Theres another guy out there named Dave Salmoni that works with Lions. He has been schooled and professionally trained to deal with the large pussy kitties.
I see him sometimes and he is taking a huge risk too. I think the difference is that Timothy Treadwell was an amatuer and didnt really use his head..

[Andrea]

Timothy Treadwell, I forgot about that guy. I saw him on Lettermen I think Im not sure but I remember thinking he was out there but it made me curious. Bieng Canadian myself. I am a huge fan of nature and big hairy bears.

I loved watching them in their own natural habitat. They are like big teddy bears
but ferocious. Anyways I watched that movie and re-watched it. It was really interesting. Timothy really sounded like he knew what he was blabblin about all the time. For an ex drug addict thats not too bad. Not to bad at all.
Theres another guy out there named Dave Salmoni that works with Lions. He has been schooled and professionally trained to deal with the large pussy kitties.
I see him sometimes and he is taking a huge risk too. I think the difference is that Timothy Treadwell was an amatuer and didnt really use his head..

Yup, and even those professionals get maimed or killed --- like the guy in Siegfried and Roy and they weren't dumb enough to try to live in the wild in a tent with those tigers.

[Lisamarie]

any audio or death footage???

[Lita]

Nope, Lisa. There was no video, only audio rolling. It was Treadwell's habit to tape record his encounters with bears in his camp. The audio tape was given to an ex-girlfriend of his. There was talk about her destroying it but she said she didn't want to destroy anything Timothy had made. She won't release the audio tape to the public.

[Lisamarie]

dammit.

[silverwaif77]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RUG7...eature=related

I may have found it! It sounds like the real deal to me.

[endsleigh03]

I don't know about this, I thought the audio had been destroyed or was being held by that friend of his........

[lisalouver]

I don't know about this, I thought the audio had been destroyed or was being held by that friend of his........

I think its a fake - it sounds wayyyyyy too tin like (like in a can)

[endsleigh03]

Also the original audio tape was six minutes, this is 1:51.
If you have it, why not play all of it.
There was enough info released on the audio tape to easily dupilicate some of the dialogue.

Interesting find anyway.

[Smores]

I honestly don't believe the YouTubes and TMZ releases of his and Amie's last few minutes are real, JMO of course.
There was the one audio tape of what happened, it was listened to by a few people, but under guarded conditions and that original tape was given to a lady named Jewel Palovak who was a close friend of Tims. Much of his belongings were given to her, per his instructions. She states she never listened to the tape, does have it, but will never release it. (I'm referring back to an interview I saw her do a couple years after they died).
When I listen to the ones on YouTube and such, it sounds too 'echo' like to me, like it was done in a room or studio, but again, JMO.
If you read this accout of what happened, it would not be difficult for someone to create a fake tape, since they go into such detail, almost second by second describing it.
I don't think Tim was right in the head. Not to speak ill of the dead, but then again, I guess I am. It's my understanding he had pretty bad drug problems earlier on along w/a mental disorder. What a damn shame his g/f got taken down w/him. I don't put ALL the blame on him since she was an educated woman, but common sense took a dive on both parts, IMO.

http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/Tim_Treadwell.html

[lane4]

The Death Hag in me so wants it to be authentic but I don't think it is. Such a horrible way to die - this story got to me.

[Nelliebean]

His lawyer turned the audio over to a close friend of Tim's. He insists that there was never a duplicate made.


This guy was just asking for it.

All they found of his body was his skull with a portion of the spine attached.

Thosw were some hungry bears.

[Frank 'N' Howie]

Nutjob...People like that just make me mad...

[Lisamarie]

Yeah Im wondering the same thing..great find I love stuff like this just the same ! But I wonder if its real or not....cool find!~!

[lizzyann2007]

I saw that documentary also some time ago .. he should have left when he had planned on leaving the area.. what a tragic end for them..

[Miho]

That bear sounded like some bad recording. Don't know about this one.

[Ghostyhead]

Treadwell: 'Get out here. I'm getting killed'

MAULING: Sound of bear attack that killed two was captured by video camera.
By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News
Published: October 9, 2003
Last Modified: October 10, 2003 at 03:16 AM
Among the last words Timothy Treadwell uttered to his girlfriend before a bear killed and partially ate both of them were these:
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"Get out here. I'm getting killed.''
Words caught on a tape recording of the attack also reveal Treadwell's girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, shouting at him to play dead, then encouraging him to fight back.
Alaska State Troopers report that is what they heard on a videotape recovered Monday at the scene of a bear mauling in Katmai National Park and Preserve. The tape was in a camera found near the bear-buried remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37.
Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said there are no pictures on the tape, leading troopers to believe the attack might have happened while the camera was stuffed in a duffle bag or during the dark of night. Treadwell had talked to an associate in Malibu, Calif., by satellite phone around noon Sunday. He mentioned no problems with any bears.
The remains of the Southern Californians who periodically came to Alaska to live intimately with the bears were found the next day. A large but scrawny old bear with bad teeth that a pilot had seen sitting on the brush and dirt pulled over the bodies was shot and killed by National Park Service rangers at the scene after it charged them.
Troopers Wednesday refused requests to release the audiotape, but said it convinced them the two people had been killed by a bear. Speculation about whether a bear had actually done the killing had been fueled by Treadwell's oft-stated but unsubstantiated claim that he spent summers at Katmai to protect the bears from poachers and sport hunters.
"I'm their lifeguard,'' he told a reporter for The Davis (Calif.) Enterprise in 1999. "I'm there to keep the poachers and sport hunters away. I'm much more likely to be killed by an angry sport hunter than a bear.''
The Kaflia Bay area of Alaska's Gulf Coast -- where Treadwell spent most of his time in the state -- has long been closed to sport hunters, and Katmai rangers said there is no history of poachers killing bears in the area.
When bears die, they are usually killed by other brown bears, said park superintendent Deb Liggett, noting that 90 percent of the cubs each year are killed, and often eaten, by other brown bears. Adult bears sometimes kill each other there, too.
In this case, Wilkinson said, troopers are confident a bear was also responsible for killing the Malibu couple. Troopers are also convinced, he added, that the bear seen feeding on their bodies was the bear killed by Park Service rangers. There is no way, however, of knowing whether that bear or another shot by troopers at the scene did the actual killing.
The tape full of screams and rustling sounds details the attack, Wilkinson said, but adds little to explain exactly what happened or why. The tape, he said, lasts about three minutes. Scratching and dragging noises on it have led troopers to believe Treadwell might have been wearing a body mike when the attack began.
After Treadwell calls for help, Wilkinson said, Huguenard can be heard shouting "play dead.'' That is the recommended response to being grabbed by a brown or grizzly bear, but authorities stress the idea of playing dead should be abandoned if the bear continues to press the attack.
On the tape, shortly after the warning to "play dead,'' Wilkinson said, "Huguenard is heard to scream "fight back.'' Treadwell later yells "hit him with a pan,'' Wilkinson said.
After that, the tape goes dead. Because there are no pictures, troopers believe it is most likely the bear came in the night. The tent in which Treadwell and Huguenard had been camping showed no signs of being ripped open by a bear trying to attack people inside, but a friend of Treadwell's said it was common for him to leave the tent in the dark to confront bears that approached his camp.
"His way of operating was to get out of the tent immediately when he heard a bear around,'' Juneau filmmaker Joel Bennett said Wednesday. "He subscribed to the theory that the worst thing you could do was stay in the tent."
Bennett knew the flamboyant Treadwell well. Only two weeks before Treadwell's death they had spent weeks on Kodiak Island working on a Disney film about bears.
"You probably know that I've done three full-length films with him,'' Bennett said. "There's no question he had a remarkable repertoire with bears and had a remarkable ability for them to tolerate him ... (but) just so people don't get the wrong idea, Tim definitely knew there were bears out there that were bad medicine.
"This incident sounds to me like it had nothing to do with his work during the day to look at bears or photograph bears. It was a campsite situation.''
Dozens of scientists, bear guides and outdoor authorities who have spent their lives around Alaska's bruins have criticized Treadwell's daytime activities. The Californian had a seemingly overwhelming need to get close to bears.
"He was a strange dude,'' said Joe Darminio, a former guide at the Newhalen Lodge who used to take bear-viewing tourists to meet Treadwell. Many of the tourists, Darminio added, recognized Treadwell from television or his book, "Among Grizzlies -- Living with Wild Bears in Alaska.''
Opinions among the tourists were split on whether Treadwell's bear-stalking antics were crazy, but Darminio said there was agreement the blond Californian in the black Carhartt's with the bandana tied around his head like a pirate was entertaining.
It was hard to avoid being shocked or impressed by the fearless way he eased up to within feet of some of the most powerful predators on the continent. Treadwell said he could calm them by talking in his high-pitched sing-song voice and tell from their body language whether they posed any threat.
"He really was a Dian Fossey in that way,'' Bennett said. "She could have been killed by one swipe of a gorilla at any time. Dian Fossey got close to the gorillas. She touched them. Timmy did not encourage other people to do this. He says over and over in his films, 'Do not do this. Do not copy me.' It's obviously not something people should do, but it's something that he did."
Huguenard was exposed to Treadwell's daring antics at a grizzly bear presentation in Boulder, Colo. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine with a degree in molecular biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, she knew trying to get close to brown bears was dangerous, but went along with Treadwell anyway.
"It was part of her life,'' sister Kathie Stowell told The Times' newspaper in their old hometown of Valparaiso, Ind. "They had a passion and that overrode everything.
"She definitely died, according to her, in the most beautiful, pristine place on earth.''

[RoRo]

Just went over this thread again and listened to the you tube of the death...not real...it isn't anything like I heard when this first happened..I can not for the life of me remember what I heard it on....what I heard was much less clear, the voices on this you tube thing are too clear...it has been so long I will probably never remember where I heard it, I think it was CNN or something like that, then the ex girlfriend made them stopplaying it ....she got the watch that he was wearing when the bear got him I vividly remember that because she put it on her arm and I thought to myself yuck and gag!!!

[Lisamarie]

from what I understand someone listens to the audio during that documentry film about him and you can only kind of hear all the screaming,I feel sorry for his girlfriend...l mean can you imagine seeing your boyfriend get drug off into the woods screaming for his life and then the bear comes back for you.....or she went to find him Im not sure but I think it really must have been worse for her.

[Snudgie]

Ok...firstly I'm sad that Timothy and Amie were killed...but I swear I've never laughed at a thread so much in ages....Yes I'm going to hell......

PS...*Can I take my GHD's to Hell?? Otherwise the heat will make my hair frizz and I'll look like Diana Ross...which would make it even more scary down there*

[ozzysmom]

bump :-)


any new info on the audio, anybody find it yet?

[MoonRabbit]

Nope, Lisa. There was no video, only audio rolling. It was Treadwell's habit to tape record his encounters with bears in his camp. The audio tape was given to an ex-girlfriend of his. There was talk about her destroying it but she said she didn't want to destroy anything Timothy had made. She won't release the audio tape to the public.

I heard that the audio tape is so devastating and horrifying that is it wiser not to listen to it.

[duster]

I heard that the audio tape is so devastating and horrifying that is it wiser not to listen to it.

I heard the same thing. I think it was one of the troopers/wildlife officers who heard it and said that. The director of the documentary did listen to it and he also said it is too horrific to be made public.

There are lots of transcripts floating around though, so you can get a pretty good idea. Apparently Amie's high-piched screaming may have caused her death. I read an account that said her screams mimicked those of a frightened or wounded animal - which acts as a dinner bell to predators, such as grizzlies.

[RubySlippers]

I heard the same thing. I think it was one of the troopers/wildlife officers who heard it and said that. The director of the documentary did listen to it and he also said it is too horrific to be made public.

There are lots of transcripts floating around though, so you can get a pretty good idea. Apparently Amie's high-piched screaming may have caused her death. I read an account that said her screams mimicked those of a frightened or wounded animal - which acts as a dinner bell to predators, such as grizzlies.

[okidoll]

There are a lot of fake recordings out there. I don't get the thrill of making a fake evidence tape?

http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/Tim_Treadwell.html

A quarter down the page is where you find the nice account of the rangers finding their bodies. They found his head with a piece of his spine attached. Yum.

Excerpt from Night of the Grizzly by Ken Sanders
...."[SIZE=+2]T[/SIZE]he audio portion of this video tape lasts roughly 6 minutes. During this period, Tim's cries and pleadings can be heard for two-thirds of that time. He did not die quickly, unlike some traumatic death victims who were lucky enough to drift off into a shock induced dream state. Tim was obviously very aware and struggling desperately to survive during the last moments of his life.

Unlike what is portrayed in the movies, the bear is nearly silent. Only low growls and periodic grunts are heard which only adds to the horror of the scene. Sounds of the bear dragging Tim off, and the fading sounds of his scream's indicate that Tim is being pulled and dragged into the brush and away from camp.

As the tape comes to an end, the sounds of Amie's high-pitched screams rise to a new level, much like what has been described as "the sound of a predator call used by hunters to produce the distress cries of a small wounded animal which often attracts bears". Biologist Larry Van Daele, for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game theorizes that Amie's screams "may have prompted the bear to return and kill her." ( Van Daele 2004 )

We can only envision the horror of what Amie had witnessed and heard. Hysterical and "paralyzed with fear, standing just outside of the tent until the bear returned and attacked her". (I'm not convinced of this. More on this below too) (Readers Digest 2005)

On Friday, October 8, 2003, two days after investigators first arrived and killed the two bears, a necropsy of the larger bear was conducted at the scene by biologist Larry Van Daele, where it was learned the stomach and digestive tract contained human remains and torn pieces of clothing. Four garbage bags containing human remains were removed and flown out by helicopter. (Egli 2004) The smaller younger bear had been eaten by other bears before the multi-agency team could return and only the head remained, so no determination could be made as to whether this young bear played any part in the deaths or the consumption of the victims."

[Lisamarie]

yea..that why I dont go study freakin bears in Alaska man!

[W Axl Rose]

There are a lot of fake recordings out there. I don't get the thrill of making a fake evidence tape?

You'd be surprised at the lengths people go to to get attention.

[Nelliebean]

You'd be surprised at the lengths people go to to get attention.

Kinda like filming yourself playing with bears.

[Nelliebean]

"I read an account that said her screams mimicked those of a frightened or wounded animal - which acts as a dinner bell to predators, such as grizzlies.[/quote]


Don't forget dogs, wolves, and many other predators.

This is why they put high pitched squeekers in dog toys.

It kicks in their prey drive.

[Lita]

I heard the same thing. I think it was one of the troopers/wildlife officers who heard it and said that. The director of the documentary did listen to it and he also said it is too horrific to be made public.

There are lots of transcripts floating around though, so you can get a pretty good idea. Apparently Amie's high-piched screaming may have caused her death. I read an account that said her screams mimicked those of a frightened or wounded animal - which acts as a dinner bell to predators, such as grizzlies.

Not to mention Tim was yelling at her at one point to hit the bear with a pan. That might make Yogi hold a grudge!

[Ruffian]

Tim had a pretty high-pitched squeal of his own.

[John Connor]

It's amazing he got as close to the bears as he did and for the most part they did seem to trust him. He was annoying, just a real misfit. It was inevitable he would be killed by a bear but he did pretty good. He showed it is possible. The bear that killed him was known to be rogue.

[1karenhb]

If I'm ever attacked by a wild animal, I'll try to remember to scream in a low pitch.

[duster]

Don't forget dogs, wolves, and many other predators.

This is why they put high pitched squeekers in dog toys.

It kicks in their prey drive.

The prey drive is really fascinating. Predators will chase anything that runs from them. They are hard wired that way, b/c if it runs away, it must be vulnerable. That's why we are taught to never run from a bear encounter - back away slowly, don't look into its eyes (that could trigger an agression response, b/c when animals are in conflict, they follow each others' eyes)

Not to mention Tim was yelling at her at one point to hit the bear with a pan. That might make Yogi hold a grudge!

Attacking the agressive grizzly was, according to everything I've read, probably not the best thng to do. When you're attacked by a black bear, the rule of thumb is to fight back. With a grizzly, the rule of thumb is to play dead. Of course the rules all change if the bear is a mother protecting her cubs (ALWAYS play dead) or a predatory or rogue bear - always fight back. Let the bear know that you are NOT prey.

Tim had a pretty high-pitched squeal of his own.

LMAO..I guess most people do, in their death throes

It's amazing he got as close to the bears as he did and for the most part they did seem to trust him. He was annoying, just a real misfit. It was inevitable he would be killed by a bear but he did pretty good. He showed it is possible. The bear that killed him was known to be rogue.

It's interestig what creates a "rogue" bear. I spoke with a bear biologist once who's theory was that male bears during the mating season often fight and will occassionally inflict such vicious blows to the head on their rivals that they do brain damage. His theory was that it's those brain damaged males that turn into rogue, human-hunting, bears.

If I'm ever attacked by a wild animal, I'll try to remember to scream in a low pitch.

..Nice one

[King Tut]

^^That's great info duster that I hadn't read in this thread until now.

Also: Yesterday I read this entire thread including the links posted and had a terrible time getting to sleep for the first time ever over something like this. And I've been a major league gore/death freak for a very long time. I think reading the second by second description of the audio tape without actually hearing it (with my imagination providing the sounds) is the most blood curdling thing I've ever encountered.

[RubySlippers]

^^That's great info duster that I hadn't read in this thread until now.

Also: Yesterday I read this entire thread including the links posted and had a terrible time getting to sleep for the first time ever over something like this. And I've been a major league gore/death freak for a very long time. I think reading the second by second description of the audio tape without actually hearing it (with my imagination providing the sounds) is the most blood curdling thing I've ever encountered.

yeah, i couldn't imagine being ripped to death by an animal. horrific.

[Milano]

I remember watching this documentary, and it scared the beegesus out of me. Tim just strikes me as someone who is very very lost, and in a way he looked at the bears as being misunderstood the same way he probably felt he was misunderstood also.

Just makes me think- what would I have done besides not going in the first place? I would have been armed. The terror the girlfriend must've felt when the bear was carrying him away- knowing she was powerless to help, yet it was still in the dark of night, it was raining, and she was very very alone with no immediate safe place. I would have crapped my pants.

[cherryghost]

There was a doumentary on Tim this weekend here in Sydney.There were dramatic reanactments of the power of the Bear and why it may attack! I wonder if its possible that bear that went after Tim took a dislike to him somehow! It seems to deliberately go for him with intention, that was scary!
They were at the airport ready to leave and changed their minds and went back to the camp apparently! Fate ya!
There is always the chance that an animal can turn on you!
I know I have a black cat on the end of my bed and she sometimes just attacks! Seriously!

[endsleigh03]

That is a srsly interesting theory about the brain-damaged bears.
For me, this was also one of the death stories that really unnerved me no end.

[Meli]

Isnt there a new guy and chick living in the wild with some sort of predator animal? I wanna say bears or wolves?????

[Cubican]

These two dipshits right here...... Pisses me off when people claim to be doing something positive with these animals, only to be drug off by one or a pack of them. I hate it when they start screwing with these animals thinking they can hang out with them and be "ONE". GTFO with that shit.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sto...5966970&page=1

[RogerV]

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as a portable electric fence that you put around your tent to keep the bears away. Of course this guy wouldn't have thought he needed to take such a precaution.

[Milano]

I recently saw a documentary on those two with the wolves, but last I heard she broke up with him and was outta there. Wolves don't scare me as much as bears do.

[beatlebaby4]

Isnt there a new guy and chick living in the wild with some sort of predator animal? I wanna say bears or wolves?????

Yeah, I don't know what his name is but I've seen him on the tv. I would rather live with wolves than with Grizzlies!!

[Meli]

I recently saw a documentary on those two with the wolves, but last I heard she broke up with him and was outta there. Wolves don't scare me as much as bears do.

She probably heard the story about The Grizzly Man and his GF and said "EFF this Im out!"

Yeah, I don't know what his name is but I've seen him on the tv. I would rather live with wolves than with Grizzlies!!

Me too, but they can still be dangerous animals. They are wild animals, and predatrors none-the-less.

[okidoll]

Me too, but they can still be dangerous animals. They are wild animals, and predatrors none-the-less.

Also wolves hunt in packs so you aren't just dealing with one sometimes.

I'm not trying to be callous nor flippant, but what good have any of these people done for the animals they are trying to protect by living in the wild with them as opposed to being in the outside world fighting for animal protection and rights?

[Fool Moon]

I'm not trying to be callous nor flippant, but what good have any of these people done for the animals they are trying to protect by living in the wild with them as opposed to being in the outside world fighting for animal protection and rights?

In Tim's case, he fed one of the bears.