That it was a line didnt make it untrue. And there was Treadwell, crouched in the grass, talking to bears in his soft singsong voice: Hey there, little bear. He gave them cute namesCupcake, Mr. Chocolate, Ms. Goodbearand spent much of his time with Booble, a female whose golden fur matched her disposition. A short sunny streak is still on the horizon, Treadwell wrote in his journal on July 25, 2003, having just returned to the Maze, alone. And I will care for her. Rain and dusk fell faster. Before going on, Treadwell phoned his friend Warren Queeney, whom he called 25 (after the number on Queeneys softball uniform). By then Treadwell was familiar to the quarrelsome agglomeration of scientists, naturalists, and lay enthusiasts known collectively as Bear People. Those who believe men are men and beasts are beasts will always view the recent attacks as a cautionary tale whose quixotic antihero caused four violent deaths. Thank you so much for risking everything and coming out and helping us that day. But one time, when she wasnt looking, Treadwell taped her anyway. After all, just about every wild kingdom worth exploring was assayed by obsessive lunatics who laughed at danger: Dian Fossey, Thor Heyerdahl, Ernest Shackleton. Tracking through the jungle paths, many areas you can not see more than a few feet ahead, Treadwell had written to Bill Sims. Palovak has since admitted that she did not destroy the tape, instead choosing to store it in her safe deposit box; she claims to have never listened to the recording and hopes that she never does. Except he wasnt. Before meeting Treadwell in Alaska, Huguenard had quit her job, landed a new one at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and set up their new place in Malibu. He knew this better than most, having seen it happen year after year to victims bigger and tougher than he was. Neither was Alaskan, except in their minds, which had become tuned to that strange frequency that pulls a rare few into the deep wilderness, and ever closer to the line separating humans and animals. Treadwell contemplated the Downey situation and the forecast, which called for heavy rain, which meant fuller creeks, which meant he needed to call Palovak to reschedule their departure. They can run 35 miles an hour, jump 11 feet in the air, and smell carrion from miles away. Emerging from the creek, banjo-eyed, Downey slopped right up to Treadwell, like a spooked dog that had found its master. The most infamous time grizzlies preyed on humans was August 13, 1967, in Montanas Glacier National Parkthe Night of the Grizzlies, when, in separate incidents, bears killed two young women. Wow! Now!, In his memoir, Treadwell briefly acknowledged what Bear People call the 25th Grizzly: one that tolerates no man or bear, one that will kill without bias. But he rarely gave voice to such unpleasant realities. During the production of said documentary, Herzog was granted access to the audio by Jewel Palovak (Treadwell's ex-girlfriend, who had been given the tape by authorities, along with various other possessions of his), with Herzog's reaction shown on screen (the audio itself was, of course, not included). For Timothy Treadwell, the grizzlies of Alaska werent just the worlds largest terrestrial predators. He was interviewed on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2001, during which Letterman suggested (with disturbingly accurate foresight) the possibility of one day reading a newspaper headline that Treadwell had been eaten by a bear. Actually, the difference was perfectly clear to bears; it was the slow-witted Homo sapiens who took centuries to fathom and mimic the bears simplest skills: hunting, fishing, foraging, spelunking. In 1994, after People magazine published a short profile of Treadwell, HarperCollins offered a book deal. Though still unarmed, Fulton guided them up through the alders, where Treadwell had been ripped to pieces. You are the most beautiful thing, he said, and turned back to the camera. As the Pumpkin headed back to Kodiak, Treadwell and Huguenard excitedly splashed onto the rocky shore, bushwhacked over a small hill, and set up camp in their thicket, about 500 yards from the water. With another client, Fulton probably wouldnt have flown. ! I gazed into the face of a kindred soul, a being that was potentially lethal, but in reality was just as frightened as I was.. As the sun disappeared, he moved slowly through the rain, shambling in that ungainly way of his. Treadwell wouldnt harm a fly. Sometimes he claimed membership in an old Aussie clan, the Treadwells; other times he claimed to have grown up as a poor English orphan. Heading into the town of Kodiak, Treadwell passed the aging canneries and commercial-fishing boats along the Gulf of Alaska, whose waters teemed with halibut, shrimp, and crab, not to mention sea lions and spouting killer whales. For some reason, Treadwells video camera taped the first six minutes of his attack (on audio only, since the camera was packed in a bag, with its lens cap on). Pieced together from Timothy Treadwell's actual video footage, Werner Herzog's remarkable documentary examines the calling that drove Treadwell to live among. I am grizzly. I dont have a good shot! Gilliland replied. That firearms were prohibited here was beside the point, because his shotgun was back in Kodiak. In February, the Park Service acknowledged that the structure had indeed been a skinning post constructed by poachers. At the airport, Treadwell discovered that their tickets cost more than expected. Kevin Sanders' Yellowstone Outdoor Adventures page on Timothy Treadwell. 2023 Cond Nast. He died on October 6, 2003 in Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA. Hey, sweetie, hed say, and the giants would shamble away. She successfully held him offOr more likely Demon just let her be. Capable of dragging a moose up a mountain and devouring it entirely, a grizzly eats whatever he wants, whenever he wantsincluding, at times, other grizzlies. Sometimes her appearance fooled people. (His journal entries consistently indicated the best day ever or the worst day ever.), Huguenard refused to whine. Goes with the territory. Crackling underfoot, the ground was weedy and cold, not far above freezing. I saw you just walking today., Treadwell refused to leave, so Huguenard Express Mailed drugs to Bill Sims, who air-dropped them over Kaflia. With his good looks and goofy, surfer-dude demeanorhe lived in Malibu and had Hollywood benefactorsTreadwell had incessantly tempted death and fought bogeymen, both real and imagined. The members of some tribes wouldnt look a bear in the eyes; others wouldnt even say bear. And most agreed that the one thing more dangerous than a pissed-off bear was a pissed-off bear that smelled blood, specifically menstrual, specifically a girls first. White hunters used natures great leveler. When the bear moved on them, Ellis and Hill opened fire. Then the creeks slowed, the salmon run thinned, and they were gone. The latter was Treadwells new fund-raising apparatus, a decidedly grassroots operation headquartered in Palovaks kitchen; it published Treadwells work and financed his expeditions, as he now called them. Herzog's gut reaction to listening to the audio was to tell Palovak to get rid of the tapes. Timothy Treadwell had spent the past 13 summers living with the bears of Katmai National Park and had documented upwards of 100 hours of footage over the said period. Welcome to the world of grizzly bears, which some people call brown bears, he would basically say, sometimes employing an Aussie accent, which he typically dialed up for women and children. Thats when he saw them, lurking low and quiet in the alders. Sioux healers performed grizzly dances, whereas the Ojibwa saw bears as shape-shifterssometimes bear, sometimes shaman. Herzog started with 100-plus hours of footage Treadwell shot of his time in the park. The rest became gods. ! they yelled over and over. Each year 30,000 tourists pour into Kodiak, and most desire either to see bears or to shoot bears. It was raining now and foggy. There they found one of the flattened tents unzipped and facing a five-foot-by-four-foot pile of dirt, grass, leaves, and sticks. Herzog noted that Treadwell repeatedly broached a desire to die during a fight with a bear but didnt think a bear would kill him. Everything is bigger in Alaska, except the population, which is roughly on a par with Vermonts; the 49th state is bigger than Texas, California, and Florida combined; it has 17 of the countrys 20 highest peaks and a glacier the size of Switzerland. They're challenging everything, including me. Nelson encouraged him to read it because they were going to make a movie about it. When the investigators arrived, the smaller bear had already been torn apart and cached by other grizzlies. When she and Treadwell were around other people, he did the talking. He made sure Huguenard gave the males wide berths, which usually wasnt difficult, since neither bear wanted anything to do with them. But Im really not the settling-down type. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Im hoping you can come out because you know where we are, he said. She wanted a relationship and let Treadwell know that. Only the stragglers remained here in Kaflia Bay, scrapping for what little food remained, hoping against hope that there was still a salmon or two in the creeks, or a few unpicked elderberries to be had somewhere between here and the mountains, among them a forbidding peak known as the Devils Desk. To foil the rangers, Treadwell code-named his secret locations when referring to them in letters, calling Hallo Bay Aubrey, after Bill Simss granddaughter. Anyone who questions Treadwells motives hasnt seen his tapes, in which the mere sight of bears makes a grown man spin in circles, dancing by himself. But this was Tim, and he and Amie were practically vibrating. Why should they suffer for me?, These bears just tolerate us, Sims argued. He released an hour-long edit of footage that Herzog saw during production but kept almost all of the footage within his circle of friends. The quiet suited her, and so did the bears. Hed hurt enough women, and some had hurt him. However, noted bear expert Charlie Russell defended Treadwell, particularly his innate way of connecting with the bears and the dedication it took to spend 35,000 hours over 13 years with the animals. Although smaller than the other males, the new alpha bear fought off all comers and earned his name, Demon. ' And there was some sort of hesitation, and with my thick German accent I said, 'No, I will direct this movie.' Thats when he saw the bear, or when the bear saw him. After listening to the full recording, Herzog went on to suggest to Palovak that she destroy the tape, lest it becomes the "white elephant in [her] room" for the rest of her life. This page has been accessed 220,827 times. At 3:20 p.m., carrying three armed rangers, a white-and-yellow Cessna 206 float plane headed into swirling rain, dense fog, and fading daylight. Treadwell shot endless video of Booble, who certainly seemed to like the attention. Fulton was a bush pilot, one of those souls who, using neither co-pilots nor landing strips, routinely negotiated the fiercest elements and meanest terrain. Its not me, Treadwell said. Great person, Treadwell scribbled beside Huguenards phone number. Statistics are clear since 1903 or so, there were statistics in Alaska, and more than a hundred years, not more than 12 or 14 people got killed by grizzly bears. Herzogs point is that Treadwell wrongly believed that nature could be tamed. The noise was intentional, since the last thing they wanted was a surprised bear. Treadwell never ventured far from her, always keeping a watchful eyebut rarely filming her. Im on the 44th floor of this great hotel. At first, in the Big Green, the grizzlies were a little nervous-making. In January 2000 she wrote him a letter. Timothy Treadwell was born on April 29, 1957 in Long Island, New York, USA. Even by his spotty hygienic standardsyears in the Alaskan wilderness do that to youhe was filthy. Unzipping the tent, screaming as loudly as Treadwell, Huguenard confronted a massive blur of limbs, fur, and violence. But thats pretty much all he said. The show, which premiered in 1999, was mesmerizing: Watch, amazed, as he comes face-to-face with an 850-pound bear.. His films and books took Treadwell's encounters on the Katmai coast to a national audience and earned him appearances on the David Letterman show and Dateline NBC. He dropped five yards from Fulton, struggling and groaning. Ojibwa girls were quarantined in huts during their first period cycles, and a menstruating girl was called mukowe: she is a bear., White explorers and settlers, including Lewis and Clark, were no less respectful. That said, virtually no one disputes that Treadwell had been, in one way or another, saved by the experience. Slowly, she looked back at Treadwell with an expression that read, Were O.K., right? Do you think Im crazy?, I think youre gonna do whatever youre gonna do, Palovak replied. Normally the water was so clear he could see straight to the rocky riverbed. But Treadwell proved a perfect guide, calmly repeating the safety rules. This page was last edited on 19 March 2023, at 03:27. Nor were they sure whether Huguenard was dead or alive. Treadwell and Huguenard had been killed the way grizzlies usually dispatched preyby going for their heads. His dreams were escapist, typically involving interspecies transference in which he bore claws, fangs, or wings that transported him far from Ronkonkoma, on Long Island, where he was the third of five siblings (also unnamed), and where he coveted a teddy bear named Mr. Goodbear. And it was all true, more or less. That none were harmful was beside the point, since arachnophobes tend to fear what spiders representi.e., death, disease, darknessmore than what they do (although they fear that too). She was out near the rocky shoreline, watching the bears. We havent said good-bye to them properly, they explained. By one theory, man and bear arrived in Alaska together, more or less, crossing a massive land bridge that once connected Asia and North America. Both victims were hunters whose bleeding quarry had been smelled, claimed, and defended by hungry grizzlies. Later, in Kodiak, Treadwell looked gaunt, having lost 30 pounds. Though smaller than the first bear, the young subadult was far swifter, and was silently creeping 30 feet behind the men. He weighed 1,000 pounds. And he especially loved women, who frequently loved him back. Tims not [a family] guy, she told a friend. They heard bears before they saw them, crunching along the trails and tunnels, huffing and thumping through the brush. His most enduring friendship had been with Jewel Palovak, whom hed met while working at Gullivers, a medieval-themed restaurant in Marina del Rey. Wow! Jesus! Treadwell cried, leading Bennett out. In fact, several mothers availed themselves of the new day-care service, parking the kids at Treadwells feet, heading off to run errands, then returning. David Letterman Self - Host Samuel L. Jackson Self - Guest Paul Shaffer Self - Band Director Timothy Treadwell Self Director Jerry Foley Writers Gabe Abelson Michael Barrie Carter Bays All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro Storyline Edit north america Add full plot Add synopsis Genres Comedy Music Talk-Show Certificate TV-PG The last sounds more benign than it is, for the simple reason that the chargee never thinks, Oh, hes just bluffing. Today, were it not for federal protection, grizzlies would exist only in Russia, in Canada, and in zoos, possibly under their Latin designation, Ursus horribilis. In the closing moments of Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog considers some of the last footage shot by Timothy Treadwell before a hungry bear mauled Treadwell and his girlfriend to death in Alaska's Katmai National Park on October 5, 2003.The bear in the footage, Herzog observes, could very well be Treadwell's killer: It's an old, desperate creature looking for food after the last of the summer . Kaflia Bay was surrounded by a mountainous jungleland devoid of flat, open spaces. Alaska averaged about five maulings a year, mostly defensive attacks. Over the last 100 years, the killer bears had killed only 45 people; in the last decade alone, dogs killed 21. Letterman displayed some of Treadwells photographs, including one of a big, nasty male, and later asked, Is it going to happen that one day we read a news article about you being eaten by one of these bears? The crowd roared. Even Treadwell would have agreed with that; one of his favorite quotations came from a state official who predicted that Treadwell would end up on some bears breakfast plate. Ultimately, though, Treadwells legacy hinges less on what one thinks about him than on what one thinks about intelligent animals. And he was in love. His favorite was Downey, a fluffy young female who was to the Maze as Booble was to the Big Green. Besides, it has its effect upon the ladies. And so began a century-long shooting spree that chased grizzlies out of every state except Alaska and those bordering Yellowstone or Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was arrested twice (for assault and for illegally firing a gun). He waved his arms, shook the alders, and made himself bigger. For more information, please see our One of the few people who spent extensive bear time with him, Joel Bennett, thought the interaction ran deeper. However, Kevin 'The Bearman' Sanders of Yellowstone Outdoor Adventures (who has been investigating the incident for years and who has since provided extensive documentation on his findings) claims that the aforementioned clip is fake, citing differences between it and the actual audio (which he alleges to have heard the real first two minutes of and which he has partially transcribed on his website).[2]. They had bedeviled Treadwells campsite for weeks, usually under cover of darknesssquirming between the tarps, clawing at the tent, attacking in waves. The confusion was only natural, since the distinction between Homo sapiens and Ursus arctos wasnt entirely clear, and sometimes seemed only a matter of posture. Where others would have seen a bear being a bearif confronted, grizzlies will sometimes bluff-charge humans, and almost always fleeTreadwell saw something deeper, a mutual recognition that transcended conventional assumptions about interspecies communication. Privacy Policy. As Fultons throat tightened and his limbs went numb, the bear moved away, along a coastal trail, eyes locked on the Pumpkin, as if daring Fulton to come out. Like she was my own sister. The weather was a little dicey. Many stories have surfaced of his inappropriate behavior, both on and off screen. At various times, both the Machine and Demon had qualified as the dreaded 25th Grizzly, Treadwell felt. One day Ill show this work to the public. The encounter was like looking into a mirror, Treadwell recounted. He is known for Late Show with David Letterman (1993). Actually, he wanted to leave more than she did. In fact, as the Pumpkin touched down in the water, there wasnt a single grizzly on the coast. As they did every October, the bears were heading deeper inland, toward their dark mountain lairs, where they would sleep through the long winter. Later, while defending the grizzlies unfair reputations, he blurted, Theyre kinda party animals out there. It just popped outthe way things did when he got excited. ! Huguenard shouted. Three or four times a year, he shuttled Treadwell between Kodiak and Kaflia, which was roughly 15 miles northeast of the Big Green. He approached them cautiously. Treadwell warned of gun-toting hooligans skulking in the murky Katmai nights. Youre not alone, Treadwell said.I know, she replied. Timothy Treadwell, Self: Late Show with David Letterman. For decades, poachers had run freely through the wilderness, zipping in and out aboard undetectable boats and bush planes. Pull up, back away, or do nothing. Be safe. It rained and rained. Now there was nothing there, and no one. Treadwell did what he always did in these situations. Landing at the Maze would be a nightmare, so Fulton talked the pilot through it, advising him to fly as low as possible, until he spotted the Pumpkin. The harder Treadwell fought, the louder the bear raged, taking dead aim at Treadwells head (as attacking grizzlies typically do). Every adventurer has his epiphany, and Treadwells occurred in the biggest state, whose dangerous frontier beauty had always lured adventurers and escapists, among them Chris McCandless, the doomed young soul who died trying to live off the wilderness (and who was immortalized in Jon Krakauers Into the Wild). Conversations with his best guy friend, Warren Queeney, went like this: Girls, girls, girls, bears, girls, girls, bears. Inside the tent, Huguenard heard the commotion, which lasted longer than it typically did. If a grizzly attacked, the plan was simple. That was just lack of experience., Still, unlike almost everyone who lived and worked among grizzlies, Treadwell neither carried pepper spray nor put an electric bear fence around his camp. Amie Huguenard - who was comparatively much less confident around bears than Treadwell - had apparently expressed concerns several times during their fatal trip. Sims found him interesting, in a loopy sort of way. Youre gonna think Im crazy, he told her. Treadwell had that effect on people. He ignored Bear People Barrie Gilbert and Charlie Russell after they suggested he was sending mixed messagespreaching caution while displaying little. In his chest beat the heart of a wild animal.. He never approached the bears, but sometimes they approached him. The cycle of nature is continuing.. The Indians give a very formidable account of the strength and ferocity of this anamal [sic], which they never dare to attack but in parties of six eight or ten persons, Lewis wrote in 1805, when up to 100,000 grizzlies roamed the North American wilderness. He tried, but she was shy about that. Even those who had long predicted Treadwells death granted him this: he was a believer, who walked the walk. After attending one of Treadwells lectures, Huguenard couldnt get him out of her head. Timothy Treadwell facts. If you dont mind, Ill eat it here, Treadwell said, and did just that, eating it exactly as a bear would. Either way, he always ended up pissed off and heading back to bears, who never disappointed, never judged, never tried to change him. Theyre highly intelligentafter monkeys and us, the worlds smartest animals. Timothy Treadwell (born Timothy William Dexter April 29, 1957 October 6, 2003) was an American bear enthusiast, environmentalist, documentary filmmaker, and founder of the bearprotection organization Grizzly People. Many viewers were critical of Treadwell, particularly for familiarizing bears with a human presence in a way that could potentially lead them to lose their fear for both poachers and campers. Undaunted, the bear stepped toward them. Nature, he said. Because bear hunters were prohibited and bear viewers welcome, most of the grizzlies, having been habituated to civilization, treated humans with equanimity, even curiosity. Its my bear work theyre attracted to. Silly advice born out of the immediate shock of hearingI mean, its the most terrifying thing Ive ever heard in my life. Palovak placed it in a bank vault instead. In this clip, Timothy Treadwell, better known as the Grizzly Man, is speaking with David Letterman. While the Machine lived in exile, Demon hovered in the creek, foaming at the mouth. Soon everyone would be gone for the [#image: /photos/54cbf812998d4de83ba39db4]year, even the grizzlies. Which Fulton couldnt. Running a 104-degree temperature and hallucinating wildly, Treadwell phoned Huguenard and Palovak, neither of whom was in Alaska. Moving fast, he turned and headed back. Doesnt seem fair to the bears, hed say. Now, it seemed, the male had taken a mate, a small, pretty female. Good Demon., Just after dawn on August 21, Treadwell awakened to the sound of bears. That said, one cant help but hear the obvious: by the end, the sounds of man, woman, and bear were one and the same. He wasnt telling lies. By the late 1990s he was somewhat of a celebrity, having attracted People magazine, David Letterman and celebrity backers such as Pierce Brosnan and Leonardo DiCaprio. He was 28 but looked older. In town, most businesses honor both the animals and the hunters who take thema phenomenon Treadwell grasped the moment he checked into the Kodiak Inn, a rustic little hotel whose lobby features a giant stuffed grizzly. Take a shot if you have one! Ellis yelled. Timothy Treadwell, Self: Late Show with David Letterman. Ad Choices. This might seem crazy, but when I was young I used to pretend I was a grizzly.. Huguenard had a large issue with small spiders, which skittered all over the Maze: wolf spiders, crab spiders, orb-web spiders. Theyre very important, she would reply. . Every spring, girlfriends asked the same questions: Whats going on? Huffing and splashing and digging the scene, thousand-pound killers strolled the beach right alongside people. It is said that giant male bears do not allow much any animal near their food source, Treadwell reported, filming near the waters edge. She was lean, fit, and windswept, as if born in Levis and fleece. David Letterman warns him of being eaten by them. Timothy, Sims frequently said, your love for these bears is going to get you in some serious trouble., If it happens, it happens, Treadwell replied. Timothy Treadwell was born on April 29, 1957 in Long Island, New York, USA. Like heaven, she later told friends. He turned to Huguenard. When Timothy Treadwell appeared on David Letterman's show in 2001, the host asked the boyish, self-proclaimed protector of Alaska's grizzly bears, "Is it going to happen that we're going to. Treadwell amassed more than 12 years worth of field research, and some of the same scientists who ridiculed him have jockeyed for his research. While investigating facts about Timothy Treadwell Audio and Timothy Treadwell Autopsy, I found out little known, but curios details like:. Wow! Kodiak Island looks like the love child of Ireland and Hawaii, especially in summertime, when sunshine makes the greens greenergreen mountains, green fjordsand the North Pacific bluer. the Late Show with David Letterman, and Dateline NBC to discuss his experiences. The bear hesitated for a couple of seconds, then retreated. Shouting and crying, but keeping her wits, Huguenard tried Plan B. Calling them furious and formidable, Lewis added, It is astonishing to see the wounds they will bear before they can be put to death.. If the facts indicated otherwiseand they didanswers remained elusive. Good heart. Treadwell, being Treadwell, kept things light and loose. Goofy. That was Wanetta Ayerss first impression of Treadwell the day he materialized in front of her desk at the Kodiak visitors bureau. Anyone who says nature is the fountain of youth hasnt lived in the wilds of southwestern Alaska, where winters test even those genetically adapted to endure themfrom the indigenous peoples, the Alutiiq, to the caribou and the killer whales, the moose and the wolves, the seals and the sea lions. Having failed to find love or sanity or God, these bereft souls drift outward and inward, essentially becoming exaggerated versions of the old shut-in down the street, with her 20 cats. On September 29, they were back in the Pumpkin, heading out for one last week in the Maze. The grizzly fled. Although he had erased his own childhood, he never quite outgrew it. One of the hunters bled to death; the other survived after stabbing the bear 20 times, then crawling for miles. Man and beast locked eyes. While it remained possible that the smaller bear (or a third bear) had initiated the attack, only to have his prey stolen by a bigger bear, logic and circumstance suggested differently.