Moose Tales/Bear Tales

Wednesday steps: 9113

First of all - yup, still plain jane - anybody out there got some ideas for me to play with? ;-)) Looks like Lessa may have an idea or two. However, if any of you come up with something that the moose falls in love with . . . well, then . . .

Yup, you could own your very own purplemoose clone and a bookmark to boot. Woo-hoo!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now to the question on everyone's mind - at least on batgrl's mind . . . do we hear about the bear incident up here? Yup, big time news, sadly. You can read today's Anchorage Daily News article here. And, there are several others in their archives.

It was only a matter of time, I'm afraid, that this would happen. Treadwell is quoted as saying that he would be "honored" to end this way - to be found in a bear's scat. And, if they had not killed two of the bears, he would have been part of the scat in a day or so. As it was, parts were found inside the bears.

Sorry to be graphic. But, here's the thing. . . . more and more people have been going out and trying to make friends with the poor, "misunderstood" (his words) bears and there have been an increasing number of maulings and/or deaths related to such shenanigans.

These are NOT teddy bears, folks! These animals can decapitate a person with one swipe of their dinner plate sized paws. Their claws are 3-6 inches long at least. Standing on their hind quarters they tower over the tallest man.

You know what I think is the saddest thing about all of this? He took his girlfriend down with him. She is shown on their videotape (camera found in their belongings) as being very frightened of the bears at their camp - they were camping, btw, right ON a game trail juncture where several bears passed by daily. The video camera (mercifully with lens cap on) caught on audio 3 minutes worth of the killing. The tape is owned by the company he worked for, and they (again, mercifully) are not releasing it to the news. They have told some of the things that were said. And, one man said he is having nightmares because of what he heard.

Is this a sad thing? Yes! Was it unexpected? No. Will it stop the next Treadwell? Probably not. He was likened to Diana Fosi in how close he came to the bears, and so will likely be made an icon.

I have never seen a grizzly outside of the Columbus (OH) and Anchorage zoos. I have lived in Alaska for 25 years and have only seen a blackie from a distance one time. And, I'm just as happy about that. Black bears are spotted every spring in our neighborhood (we live pretty much right in town) - either they, or their footprints, or their scat. That is when I worry about the grandkiddos. But, both daughters have dogs which give a warning whenever something wicked this way comes. That, and the parents' vigilance takes care of that.

So, there ya have it - probably more than you wanted, batty.
>..<

Posted by Purplemoose at October 9, 2003 06:58 PM