Stories of the Stupid

Posted on October 9, 2003 by Gene

Phil writes:
I have been reading your blog for a while and am often in agreement with you
on many of the issues that you take on. What do you think about this one?

“BEAR ACTIVIST KILLED BY GRIZZLY”

The actual story was listed on msn.com. I would love to hear your take on
this. Does it fall into a “Lack of common sense” category or is there a
different dimension that you would assign it to.

Well, Phil, I’d definitely place that under the “lack of common sense” category, having read more about it now:

The graphic sounds of a deadly bear attack in the Alaska wilderness were captured on tape, revealing a wildlife author’s final screams as he tried to fend off the beast, authorities said yesterday.

…The remains of Treadwell, 46, and Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at Katmai National Park. Treadwell was known for approaching bears in the wild.
Timothy Treadwell, the common-sense-lacking instigator here, was “a self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska’s brown bear harmless party animals.” The article neglects to add to that description the phrase “complete moron.”

The two went out to deliberately make contact with dangerous, wild animals – and brought their videocamera to document it. Instead, they documented their own deaths.

And can I just add one little quote from an article – you can read into it what you like: “In his book, Treadwell said he decided to devote himself to saving grizzlies after a drug overdose, followed by several close calls with brown bears in early trips to Alaska.”

This sort of thing reminds me of why I can watch shows like “Trauma in the ER” with no problem, but get upset at “Emergency Vets.” Animals have infinitely more common sense than any human I’ve ever met.