ABC's Primetime: The Outsiders

[yuckylucky]

Is anyone else watching this show right now??? They're in Eklutna, AK...north of Anchorage where this man has a cabin he visits seasonally and hangs out with Grizzlies and Black Bear. My jaw is on the floor right now!!!

[FritzG]

Thanks for reminding me! I meant to watch it.

[lauren0309]

Yes I watched it too. I hope what happened to Girzzly Man and his girlfriend doesnt happen to this man. Maybe its time for him to retire.

[CowPrincess]

I watched it too. I've got very mixed emotions about it. It ws fascinating to see the interactions between man and bears. I cannot, however, get comfortable with this man's habituation of these wild animals. In the long run, my gut is telling me he is doing the bears a grave disservice by letting them become so comfortable around humans.

 

Around here, the phrase is "A fed bear is a dead bear" :(

[PennyAgain]

A fed bear in Alaska often means a dead person and then a dead bear!

 

Having lived with bears and moose (moose actually hurt more people than bears) all I can say is......don't make this guy a hero!

[CowPrincess]

There is a place to provide feedback on this story. You do have to sign up and provide a little info.

 

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Primetime/comments?type=story&id=5288312

[PennyAgain]

Thanks. I may do so. The last thing we need is for amateurs to go to Alaska and think they can live with bears!

 

Have you ever seen a camp site that has been ravaged by bears?

 

Bears and people do not mix!

[Stout93]

I agree, the guy has no business being around them and in the long run it does no human and no animal any good.

 

I got the feeling the guy sensed this also but he cant stop himself.

[CowPrincess]

Bears and people do not mix!

 

We live in a town in the Cdn Rockies where the prevailing sentiment is people and bears (blacks and grizzlies) should be able to share space, co-habit, if you will. Not be welcome in the kitchen, or rolling around in the back yard. I feel the attitude of the vocal "appreciate the bears, they were here first, let them roam and adjust human behaviour" contingent in this town is wrong, wrong, wrong. We need bears to be wary of people, and their first instinct when they see a human to be to RUN in the opposite direction.

 

I'd like us to hold a monthly "bear scaring" where we all head out into the woods with air horns, bear bangers, pots & pans, and make so much noise the bears know to avoid us.

 

11 p.m. last night there were bear bangers going off about 2 blocks from here -- virtually in the middle of town. The cops and wildlife officers do NOT use bangers unless they know there's a bear. So probably around 11:02, there was likely a bear running through our back yard.

 

And never mind this cr*p about "it's only a black bear".... a bear is a bear, and can do SO MUCH damage to a person. We avoid the woods all summer because of the bears, and when there's LOTS of bear activity, we can be surrounded by bears in the woods, a block or less in every direction. It is, however, QUITE entertaining to see everyone doing "laps" around the block as they try to exercise their dogs :)

[mytime53]

I missed the first 20 minutes, but Charlie's part-time home is in Eklutna, outside of Anchorage. "Bear Haven" is not. It's "too close for comfort" (for me) to where thousands of residents and tourists boat and fly-in to fish every summer, and where recreational cabins are numerous. A grizzly's range can be up to 500 sq. miles, which puts "his" grizzlies in close proximity to people who are not expecting "tame" bears. We will be rafting down the creek and river close to his 40 acres, beginning tomorrow. I don't want to have an encounter with a bear habituated to humans, looking for a handout. Although I had read about this man, I didn't believe he had actually habituated so many bears to the degree he has, until watching the show last night. I'm appalled at his previous lack of realizing what he is doing to the bears and possibly to humans. At one point during the show, it appeared he realized it (well, what he was doing to the bears, anyway. I'm not sure he thought about possible consequences to humans other than himself), but it's probably too late for some of those bears, and it doesn't look like he's going to quit, anyway.

Did the program show the electric fence he has to protect his cabin and airplane?

[CowPrincess]

it's probably too late for some of those bears

 

Oh yeah, I think MOST of those bears are ruined.

 

I didn't see anything about the electric fence, though I may have just missed it. They did show muddy paw prints on the cabin where he'd shuttered the windows and the bears were still climbing up, trying to see in? get in?

 

My hope is that now that Cookie has brought her cub Coco back, he'll stop. Maybe Coco can be saved.

[yuckylucky]

Just when I thought my jaw couldn't drop any farther, it did with each passing minute. "Bear Haven" presented quite a paradox: at once I was impressed and disturbed. There is no question he deserves credit for his interactions with the bears. At the same time, I felt bad for the bears on so many levels.

 

The part about Annie being content in front of the camera man was sad indeed. If Annie were to "let her guard down" in front of a hunter, bye-bye Annie. This indeed shows the danger of habituating a wild animal.

 

I'm an animal lover...and I understand Charlie is a bear lover as well...I get that. However, it's almost selfish of him because he's doing it for his own satisfaction and not with the best intentions in mind for the bears. I'm sure they love getting food from him and I'll bet they enjoy his company, to an extent. But again,it's not good for the bears. The contradiction I find that Charlie demonstrated is that at one point during the interview, he mentioned how it might look crazy to people when taken "out of context." However, that is precisely what I believe he is doing...taking small moments out of context without looking at the ramifications down the line for the bears...and possibly himself.

 

It was a very interesting hour of television. I TiVoed it and watched it again this morning before work.

[alpLewes]

I was so sad when I was watching that story. What a disservice he is doing to the bears. Those bears are wild and need to stay that way. That is nature...and Alaska. I hope there aren't a bunch of kooks wanting to go there now to live with the bears or for that matter, kill one. Nature evolving in the last frontier needs to be left alone. As for the electric fence...I didn't see it or hear any mention of it.

[mytime53]

I didn't notice any mention of the electric fence in the TV program, either, but it is mentioned in a news article last summer. That's why I was wondering if I missed it.