When Bears Just Don’t Care
BY Herschel Smith
3 weeks ago
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Nikolayenko was a prominent Russian brown bear researcher (Asian version of the American brown or grizzly bear) who routinely and closely approached bears without a firearm. He did this for 33 years, from 1970 to December 2003. In December 2003, he followed a bear that had come out of hibernation in the winter until the bear attacked him, killed him, and ate him. His use of bear spray had failed to stop the bear. His was the first recorded fatal failure of bear spray. The killing was the culmination of several lucky escapes over the years of his association with brown bears.
It won’t be the last either. Dean also recounts the life and philosophy of Timothy Treadwell, a sorry excuse of an adventurer because he went into the bush with naivety.
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On April 6, 2025 at 8:47 pm, foot in the forest said:
Welcome to a fool’s spot on the food chain, fertilizer. Don’t be a fool carry a gun.
On April 6, 2025 at 9:42 pm, TheAlaskan said:
Wow! Timothy Treadwell! T.T. of “the bear maze” fame. I saw him once in Kodiak. He would fly into the maze from Kodiak. I lived in Kodiak at the time. He was always in the Kodiak Mirror News. He had a squeaky high voice. I remember thinking he was an idiot from California. On his fatal last trip into his famous ‘maze,’ he took his girlfriend and she was eaten too.
On April 7, 2025 at 2:33 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Commercially-available bear spray is a joke in the sense that it does nothing to actually incapacitate the bear. It depends on irritation and pain to dissuade the animal from aggression. The problem with such agents is that bears are very determined creatures, tough, and with an extremely high threshold for pain. They can take a tremendous amount of punishment yet still remain dangerous and in the fight.
Professionals do not rely on commercial off-the-shelf bear sprays; they used veterinary pharmaceutical agents, tranquilizer guns, and the like when they need to immobilize and handle/move an animal. That alone tells you all you need to know regarding the so-called “efficacy” of bear sprays, at least the commercial ones. The pros want nothing to do with them, and for good reason.
There are also other means of controlling dangerous animals, i.e., ones which fall outside of this category – when dealing with dangerous/large animals.
The Park Rangers and Fish & Wildlife people usually -not always, but usually – in an area will generally have a pretty good idea of what works against their bears and what doesn’t, so paying attention to what gear and protective devices (including firearms) they use can sometimes be useful.
Any jurisdiction which mandates the use of commercial bear spray but does not allow hikers, outdoorsmen, workers, etc. to armed when in areas known to contain dangerous animals such as moose or bear, ought to be suspect from the start. Personally, I’d find someplace else to spend my money and let the Timothy Treadwell types feed the bears instead.
On April 8, 2025 at 5:13 pm, Lori G said:
I wonder if he used harsh language as well?
On April 10, 2025 at 10:29 am, Latigo Morgan said:
Bears gotta eat, too – same as, well, bears.