Book Review - Bears Without Fear

In 2002, Charlie Russell made waves when his book Grizzly Heart postulated that bear aggression toward humans was often linked to human aggression toward bears...and presented solid evidence in support. In the decade since, a few others have picked up on the same connection but typically one would have to go outside the world of scientists and biologists (who often have their own interests to protect considering that many of them work for agencies who have adopted the "shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out" mentality of wildlife management) to hear the idea expressed. With more and more researchers now risking careers to promote more and more "unorthodox" views about bears, this way of thinking may no longer be relegated to obscurity.

Biologist Kevin Van Tighem spent 40 years studying wild bears in western Canada and serving as the superintendent of Banff National Park in Alberta. In 1983, his sister was severely mauled by a grizzly and suffered debilitating PTSD until she committed suicide in 2005. Van Tighem barely even makes mention of this in the book, except to note that it set him on a path to better understand what makes bears tick rather than on a path of hatred and negativity. His findings are among the most common sense ever presented.

Throughout the book's roughly 300 page length, Van Tigham tears down the myths, legends, and monster imagery surrounding bears and shows the animal underneath. He goes into great detail about the lives, social structures, habits, and behaviors of black bears, polar bears, and grizzlies (along with stunning photos). In doing this he shows bears for what they really are, what they do, how they think, how they act, and systematically removes the paranoia that over-exaggerated danger warnings promote. He has been face-to-face with bears of many different temperaments and drew upon those experiences to conclude that trust is the critical piece missing in the puzzle of coexistence. In closing he states that "the most dangerous thing about a bear is not its claws, teeth, or disposition; it's how we react to it."

To see this coming from someone active in the scientific community, in defiance of the more accepted way of thinking, is refreshing and will hopefully bring the possibility of what a bear without fear can truly be into the mainstream consciousness. As far as I know, the book is only widely available in Canada so opt for Amazon rather than your local bookstore.

A ReturnTrip to Glacier Offers New Insights and Experiences

Apologies for my neglecting this blog of late. I've just returned from my second summer in Glacier National Park and even though there has been plenty of news to report, I've been so overwhelmed with things the last few months that I haven't been able to keep all of this info current.

First, some details. Where the Bear Walks has been selling very well, around 200 copies since May. Thanks to all of you who bought a copy and thanks also to Linda Jo Hunter, author of Lonesome For Bears, who wrote a very thoughtful review on Amazon. My retrospective on the 45th anniversary of the night of the grizzlies was published this past spring by The Inside Trail, publication of the Glacier Park Foundation. That actually led me into contact with the family of Michele Koons, which has been delightful; very genuine, real, down to earth people. For those interested, a short piece I wrote on Fortress of the Bear was also printed in the July/August issue of Alaska Magazine.

Now on to the bears, and there were plenty of them in Glacier this summer! I can hardly recall any hike I undertook the entire time that did not have one of those "Bear Frequenting Area" signs posted at the trailhead. A couple of encounters in particular have given me much to think about in relation to my earlier writing. A friend and I were hiking early on a steamy August day when we rounded a blind corner and came literally within feet of a very large grizzly coming straight towards us...a textbook mauling scenario. The bear was clearly as startled as we were, jumped away, retreated a few feet back, and then turned to assess the situation. He seemed to identify us as human (he fled so quickly that I can't be sure he knew what we were at first), relaxed a little, then ambled off into the woods. Some days later, on the Highline trail, we encountered another large grizzly foraging at close range on the hillside just above the trail. We watched him as he munched on wildflowers, throwing us the occasional disinterested glance, then he walked into the trail and actually followed us for several feet until the brush on the opposite side of the path opened up enough to allow him to turn off and continue on down the hill. His behavior towards us, even from a distance no greater than ten feet, was completely passive and docile; we were clearly just part of the scenery, not something to be feared and reviled.

When a co-worker told me that he mostly hikes outside of the park in a high-hunting area and that every bear he encountered aggressively charged him, I couldn't help but think of those two grizzlies coming so close and yet behaving so passively. While I have no doubt that there are aggressive bears in the park, the fact that those animals are protected, are not hunted, and are not exposed to human violence definitely influenced how they reacted to our presence. Grizzlies tend to be volatile, more naturally confrontational than black bears, so their tolerance was extraordinary and to be calmly followed only a few feet away by one down a trail was a once in a lifetime experience. As for the bear that we surprised so closely that we probably could have reached out and touched the tip of his nose? Come that close from out of nowhere in a place like Alaska and you will likely get your head bashed in. Some very good food for thought in these encounters!

Some of you may recall reading - either from my book or from posts last fall - about the West Glacier black bear, a large 400 pounder who has been a local resident in the area for a few years and who clearly enjoyed the close company of people. Well, this bear made his return appearance in July of this year and spent more than one night sleeping outside the back door of my cabin...right outside my bedroom. While I admittedly find it strange that, of all the cabins in that area, he decided to spend his time curled up at the door of the bear man, I nonetheless wrote it off as coincidence. My co-workers, however, saw something deeper in it and insisted he could sense something and was drawn to me. When I took an extra job in the fall, moved to a different location, and found out he had followed me, I was perplexed but still wrote it off as coincidence. When I looked out the window of my apartment - located on the roof of the establishment in which I worked - late one night and watched him actually walk up onto the roof and curl up for a nap outside my door, my jaw hit the floor. I was officially mindblown! Yes, I knew this bear felt safe being around people because he knew no other bears would come near him, but I had to concede at this point that maybe he was drawn to me, that maybe he did see me as a benefactor and wanted to keep such company. It's a mind-boggling story and my fascination and interest in him has definitely piqued due to this unusual behavior. I can't wait to meet him again next year and see if this persists.

So now I'm back in action and working on new articles and some op-ed pieces. I almost wish I hadn't written the book due to these new discoveries this year, but there are other outlets for them and so much more to learn.

In closing, here is a link to a wonderful new article by Gay Bradshaw and Charlie Russell, who are also working on a new book, The Buddha and the Bear. More to come soon! http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bear-in-mind/201310/right-manners

A Grizzly Bear's Plea

A fantastic article in Montana's Daily Inter Lake, detailing the plight of grizzlies as they suffer the continual encroachments of human habitations, all written from the perspective of a grizzly bear. This is great to see and likely a sign that the tide is turning in favor of a greater understanding about bears and a larger tolerance for what they need. I hope to see more work like this coming out in the future.

 

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/opinion/article_7c893002-b515-11e2-a4e9-001a4bcf887a.html

"Where the Bear Walks" book now available

Despite a slight delay due to the process of settling on and creating a cover, the book version of the blog, entitled Where the Bear Walks: From Fear to Understanding, is now available for sale through Createspace. It will be listed on Amazon.com and Kindle later this week. I'll post those links when they are listed and ready to go. Until then, here is a link to the Createspace store: https://www.createspace.com/4041221 

 

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the book! It could not have been done without all of you! Now that it's completed, I fully expect to be more active on this site again with new posts.  

 

 



"Where the Bear Walks" Book April Release

Today I officially put the finishing touches on the primary text for the "Where the Bear Walks" book. Now I'll have to go back and tweak some things in the early chapters so that they read more like the latter chapters. I will also be sending individual chapters to the people profiled in the book for content review. Doug Peacock is among these and he will be out of commission for three weeks after hip replacement surgery on March 8th and cannot review the material until April. You can expect the book to be released sometime that month.

In some recent bear news, President Obama has finalized a special ruling that denies polar bears direct protection from greenhouse gases under the Endangered Species Act, in what the media is dubbing a "Polar Bear Extinction Plan." Despite the Administration's vocal concerns about the impact of global warming on polar bear populations, this new regulation is modeled after a previous Bush Administration ruling that also failed to take measures to prevent polar bear extinction. You can find more info here: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2013/polar-bear-02-19-2013.html

 

With the loss of sea ice becoming more extreme every year, more and more emaciated polar bears are turning up and some are starving to death. This has prompted a number of polar bear scientists to convene in Churchill to discuss possible options. One of those is using supplemental feeding to help stabilize the bear population should a critical point be reached. Obviously that's raised the ire of the Ministry of the Environment who are still spouting out the "fed bear is a dead bear" line but I'm pleased to hear these scientists admit that feeding wild animals during times of food shortage is not unheard of and is perfectly acceptable in these types of extreme cases. Sounds like a good step in the right direction. More info: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/is-it-time-to-feed-the-polar-bears/article8550910/?cmpid=rss1

 

Stay tuned for more updates as the book comes together. When it's finished, I'll have a link to it posted here.

Third Anniversary!

I'm two days late but no matter. This weekend marks the three year anniversary of the beginning of this blog and, as usual, it's time to reflect on how far things have come in the past year. It seems this will finally be the year when my writing efforts will be reaching a much larger audience. After the success of the Kindle publishing of my article Night of the Grizzlies, 45 Years Later (see post below), the piece has been picked up by The Inside Trial, the publication of the Glacier Park Foundation, and will appear in this winter's issue. I'm excited that something with such personal meaning for me will be getting out there in such a way.

Work on the book version of Where the Bear Walks is still chugging along. I'm around halfway through, maybe a little over, but some of the hardest sections to tackle information-wise are yet to come. I hope that my projected release date of late spring/early summer will hold true but I can't be sure; a delay is a very real possibility.

 

As challenging as the book is, recent headlines are spurring me along and keeping me working. It appears that next year, barring some miracle, grizzlies will be removed from the protections of the Endangered Species Act, making them fair game for anyone with a gun and a score to settle. Already the comments sections of related news reports are overflowing with those frothing at the mouth to take a shot at a grizzly. The truly sad thing is that many of these people have no interest in population control; they simply want the animals gone because of the reputation they've been given. I try to stay focused on this during the dark moments when I'm lost in the turmoil of writing hell. I don't honestly believe that anything I or anyone else writes will change things at this point but I know I have to do my part for the conservation of these animals and I truly hope that the book, the articles, and the posts on this blog will be sufficient enough to do even a tiny sliver of good.

 

But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Two Articles Available on Amazon Kindle

After spending a few months submitting some of my writing to magazines for publication, I decided instead to publish two of them independently as edocs on Amazon kindle. Night of the Grizzlies, 45 Years Later is the one I most sought to publish but the finished version is too outsized for magazine publication and the subject has too much personal meaning for me to just cut it down to a manageable length. I felt this was the best way to get it out there; continuing to pursue magazine publication could well take until the 50th anniversary! The essay is much more in-depth than my posting about it here and, of all my pieces, it's the one I feel the most pride in.

 

As a bonus to all of you, I've included an additional essay entitled Brown Bears World: Fortress of the Bear that details the triumphs, tragedies, pitfalls, and hardships of saving orphaned cubs in Alaska. The piece is critical of actions taken by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which many publications are unwilling to run. For $0.99 you can get them both and the funds will go into the writing and publication of my book Where the Bear Walks: From Fear to Understanding which will be available later in 2013. I also have a short article, A Summer With The Bears, that will run in the July/August issue of Alaska Magazine.

 

Here is the link for the kindle essays: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B04B0KY

 

I greatly appreciate your readership and your support! Thank you!