1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, we want to let you know and remind 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,279 Speaker 1: you that our first ever Stuff you Should Know episode 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: on Vinyl a podcast LP is out an available for purchase. 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the episode is vinyl. Our episode on Vinyl 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 2: is now available on vinyl. If you can wrap your 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 2: heads around that. 7 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: That's right. And they're beautiful. They look amazing. 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Welcome to Stuff you 18 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 19 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: Hey everybody, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 2: There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Jerry's here too, and this 21 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 2: is Stuff you Should Know. Let's go. How do you 22 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 2: like that one? 23 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: I did? I'd also like his title that Livia gave 24 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: this one. Yes, it's very fun. Can I read it? 25 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: Sure? 26 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: The Night that Transformed Bear human relations. 27 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 2: It's pretty straightforward and says everything you need to say. 28 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's actually sadly very accurate. 29 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 2: Yeah. And yet despite it being that straightforward, there's a 30 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 2: pretty interesting story hidden amid those letters. 31 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,199 Speaker 1: Sounds like a crossword clue it does. 32 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 2: I feel like we should tell that story now or else? Really? 33 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 2: What are we doing here? Chuck? 34 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: All right, well, I think this is one of those 35 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: Unfortunately we can't just sort of play out as a 36 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: teaser to reveal what happens. I think we kind of 37 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: need to say what actually happened and then tell that story. Yeah, 38 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: all right, did you want to tease this thing out? 39 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 2: No, and justult. 40 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: Because what we're talking about is a very sad night 41 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: August of nineteen sixty seven when two young women, two 42 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: nineteen year old women were killed by two and here's 43 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: the kicker, two different bears in two different places in 44 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: the same National park. If it was one bear that 45 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: just went crazy or something and they were all camping together, 46 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: that would be obviously tragic, but not like, Hey, we 47 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: need to really look at what's going on here. And 48 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: that's what happened, because it was two bears in two places. 49 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, And the reason why it was such a kicker 50 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 2: is because in the fifty seven years leading up to 51 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 2: that that Glacier National Park was a national park, only 52 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 2: three other people had ever been killed by grizzly bears. 53 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, it went from three 54 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 2: people in fifty seven years to two women in two 55 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 2: separate incidents in one night. That is crazy, and it 56 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 2: really did kick off this a national conversation about should 57 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 2: grizzly bears stay alive as a species because we like 58 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 2: living in national parks? Do we have the right to 59 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 2: do that kind of thing. It's a pretty interesting story. 60 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 2: It's got a lot of facets to it. And I 61 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 2: feel like we should talk a little bit about grizzly 62 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 2: bears first, because I didn't realize that they were just 63 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 2: a subspecies of brown bear, although that makes a lot 64 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: of sense. 65 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, grizzlies are brown bears. They are generally darker than 66 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: brown bears in coloring. They're generally smaller. They can be 67 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: you know, a couple hundred pounds up to about six hundred, 68 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: but they And it's interesting here because I think it 69 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: depends on where you live and here you ask. Like, 70 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: usually brown bears are called brown bears. When they're more coastal, 71 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: like the ones you see like grabbing that salmon out 72 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: of the river, you would call a brown bear. I 73 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: thought that was a grizzly, whereas if you live inland 74 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: and you're a bear, a brown bear, you're called a grizzly. 75 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: But then I also saw people talking about coastal grizzlies, 76 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: so it may be one of those names is just 77 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: sort of been tacked onto a lot of kind of 78 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: brown bears. 79 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's just, you know, it's confusing. 80 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, but they're brown bears. 81 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're brown bears, which makes them, you know, and 82 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 2: they're relatively small brown bear. There's a type of brown 83 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 2: bear called a kodiak that gets up to ten feet 84 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 2: tall when it's standing on its hind legs. 85 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: No, thank you. 86 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 2: Grizzlies are not nearly that big, but they're still big enough. 87 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 2: I mean, the males can get up to about six 88 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 2: hundred pounds, and there used to be a lot more 89 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 2: of them than there are today. The early nineteenth century, 90 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 2: I think, I think around the time of Lewis and 91 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 2: Clark there was an estimated fifty thousand to one hundred 92 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 2: thousand grizzly bears. They went all the way from Canada 93 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 2: down to Mexico. They were in every what's now states 94 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 2: along the West, all the way over to the Great Plains. 95 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 2: There was a ton of them. And then as we 96 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 2: started to move out there, we meaning white American settlers 97 00:04:54,520 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 2: and colonists. Part of what that whole West were expansion 98 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 2: included was not just wiping out Native Americans, it was 99 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 2: also wiping out large carnivores too. 100 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, like when they talk about taming the West, that's 101 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: what they mean. It's like, let's go out there and 102 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: kill things. And they did this for a few reasons. 103 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: Sometimes it was because they had cattle that they wanted 104 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: to take care of, or you know, occasionally if they 105 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: thought they were in harm's way, they might kill a bear. 106 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: But a lot of it was just that sort of 107 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: I was about to say human nature, but really man's nature, 108 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: at least some men, not me or you, to want 109 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: to kill big, beautiful animals because they're big and beautiful, 110 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: and you know, I guess could be considered dangerous. 111 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, you got to keep an eye on those people 112 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 2: because they can very quickly become real like most dangerous 113 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 2: game types. 114 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: Right, that's right. 115 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 2: So by the time nineteen sixty seven rules around, when 116 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 2: the two nineteen year old women who died lost their lives, 117 00:05:58,240 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 2: and I'll just go ahead and say their names are 118 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 2: Julie Helgeson Man and Michelle Coon's. By the time they 119 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 2: died in August of nineteen sixty seven, grizzly bears had 120 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 2: been wiped out so thoroughly that they had a territory 121 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 2: that was about two percent of what it had once been. 122 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 2: Mostly they were in national parks because those were protected areas, 123 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 2: and there was something like under a thousand of them 124 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 2: in the entire continental United States. 125 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's two percent is great when you're talking milk. 126 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: It's not great when you're talking about animal populations. 127 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 2: Did you write that one down? 128 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: I didn't. It just gained. 129 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 2: I mean it still present. 130 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: Here's the weird thing, though, is, and it seems rather counterintuitive, 131 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: there were there were more even though there were fewer bears, 132 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: there were more human encounters with these bears for this 133 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: very reason. And as we'll see, this is what part 134 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: of what led to this huge mess. And it's really 135 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: hard to if you're our age and maybe obviously younger. 136 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: You don't realize that National parks weren't always these places 137 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: where they really were smart about everything they did right, 138 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: because at the time, they would do some crazy things 139 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: in national parks. They would try and get bears around, 140 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: they would leave food out, they would There was one 141 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: story here that Livia found where and luckily a park 142 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: ranger kind of stopped this in the act. But these 143 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: parents brought a bear over with some food with a 144 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: candy bar and then tried to put their eighteen month 145 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: old on this bear's back to take a picture. 146 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a story in that same article about a 147 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 2: guy who was trying to lure a bear into his 148 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 2: car to get a photo of it behind the wheel. Yeah, 149 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 2: just people interacting with giants. Again, six hundred pound grizzly bears. 150 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 2: They can just take your head clean off if they 151 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 2: want to. But that's the thing. They are really unpredictable, 152 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 2: and for the most part, they're vegetarians. I think plants 153 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 2: make up something like ninety percent of their diets, and 154 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 2: a lot of times they're I don't want to say docile. 155 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 2: But the eight month old baby survived, and so did 156 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: the mom. And so did the dad. If that bear 157 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 2: had acted any differently, they wouldn't have survived. So I 158 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 2: saw that their personalities can best be summed up as unpredictable. 159 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 2: But at the time in the sixties, that is not 160 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 2: the impression people had of bears. They were kind of 161 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 2: considered a lot more gentle. There was a park ranger 162 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: who was quoted by Jack Olsen who will meet in 163 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 2: a little while, who said that on a scale of 164 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 2: a danger scale, where a butterfly is a zero and 165 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 2: a rattlesnak is a ten, the grizzlies of Glacier Park 166 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 2: would have to rate somewhere between zero and one. That 167 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 2: is entirely wrong. He really should have said they rate 168 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 2: between a zero and a ten. And you have no 169 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 2: idea which what it's going to be at any given moment. 170 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: If you encounter a bear, yeah, and you know, like 171 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: a lot of large animals like this, when there is 172 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: a you know, their accident. So I'm gonna call it 173 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: an accidental killing. Because bears weren't like, ooh, human, let 174 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: me eat them, like you said. They're mostly vegetarian, and 175 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: even when they ate stuff that was non vegetarian, it 176 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: wasn't like oh boy, let me go chow down on 177 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: that person. It was let me go chow down on 178 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: that person's steak by the fire or the fish that 179 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: they're cooking, or something like that. And so when there 180 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: is an accident, it's usually one of a couple of things. 181 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: It's either the sort of familiar scenario where you stumble 182 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: upon a bear and scare them, or they may have 183 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: their cubs around them. I be a mama with some cubs, 184 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: or it is that bear that's like, wait a minute, 185 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: that's my food. You're eating that fish out of that river. 186 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: I want it, so let's go. Yeah. 187 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 2: Apparently they defend their food like it's like with the 188 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 2: most jealous violence that they need to like, that is 189 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 2: their food, even if it's your food. 190 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, because that bear thinks it's their food because 191 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,599 Speaker 1: it's their territory. And the other thing that Livia was 192 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,559 Speaker 1: keen to point out, which is like it sounds sort 193 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: of funny at first, but it really is a thing 194 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: that you need to pay attention to, is the Yoga 195 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:05,199 Speaker 1: Bear cartoon was a big thing, and Yogi and Booboo 196 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: as these sort of friendly bears going after the picanic 197 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: basket that came about, because that's what it was like. 198 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: It wasn't like someone said, I got this crazy idea, 199 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: let's take these ferocious animals and make them a hand 200 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: of Barbara and let's make them into a lovable cartoon character. 201 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: It was like, No, that's when you went to these 202 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: national parks. Like you said, people are luring bears around. 203 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: They're like, ooh, take my picanic basket. If I can 204 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: take a picture, pick a picture, pick a picture. Yeah, 205 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: going to make that into a cla picnic thing. Anyway, 206 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: That's how things were. So that's why they made that cartoon, 207 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: and that was just sort of what was going on. 208 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: Like they literally at Glacier at one Oh I'm sorry, 209 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: this is at Yellowstone, but they were doing similar things 210 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 1: in Glacier. At Yellowstone they put bleachers up around the 211 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: open air dumps so people could show up and watch 212 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: the bear show, which was bears wandering in to eat. 213 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. So a lot of people rightfully lay a lot 214 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 2: of the blame for the deaths in nineteen sixty seven 215 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 2: at the feet of the administrators of national parks at 216 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 2: the time, because they were using the bears as entertainment 217 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 2: and at the very least even if they weren't in 218 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 2: some of the parks, they were not instructing the public 219 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 2: on how to interact with bears and just how dangerous 220 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 2: bears were. And that was a huge problem because, like 221 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 2: you said, people were treating them like they were just 222 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 2: these docile, gentle animals that wouldn't do them any harm. 223 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 2: And then the other factor that kind of gets overlooked 224 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 2: is that this is right after the national highway system 225 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 2: had really been developed and people were hitting the road. 226 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 2: So these national parks were suddenly just swamped with tourists 227 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,839 Speaker 2: for the first time in their history. So people were 228 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 2: there were far fewer bears, but there were a lot 229 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 2: more people all up in the bear's grills than there 230 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 2: ever had been in human history. 231 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, and leading up to this specific incident, and we'll know, 232 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: we'll detail a little bit more of this after I 233 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: guess we'll take a break here in a couple of minutes. 234 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: But at Glacier there were sort of in the days 235 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: leading up, there were a lot of alarming incidences where 236 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: bears were becoming way more aggressive or if you're watching 237 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: a cartoon, way more friendly than they had been. There 238 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: were fires that came through the park in the summer 239 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: of sixty seven, so that shrank their habitat some and 240 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,719 Speaker 1: kind of squeezed them into a smaller area. And there 241 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: was one bear in particular that had been reported a 242 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: few different times. I went back, I'm sure you did too, 243 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: and read this great original Sports Illustrated article. Who was 244 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: it that wrote that? 245 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:33,959 Speaker 2: Jack Olson? 246 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, jack Olson is kind of the standard account of 247 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: this horrific event. But this bear was an emaciated female 248 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: who is underweight. Had been reported a lot going up 249 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: to people being very brazen and you not like typically 250 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: when you see a bear, if you ever watch these 251 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: outdoor shows, you start yelling at the bear, like get 252 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: out of here, and clanking a pot and the bear 253 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: usually he's gonna leave. Bears are scared and they don't want 254 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: to be around people. But this bear was not taking 255 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: any orders and not doing any of the things that 256 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: a bear would usually do. It would just come into 257 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: a camp and start eating and not leave until they 258 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: wanted to leave. This skinny lady bear right. 259 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 2: So we have in the Western National Park System a 260 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 2: situation where bears have become acclimated to humans. They're totally 261 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 2: fine with being really close to humans, kind of not 262 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 2: scared of us. And then also they had become habituated 263 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: on human food and garbage, and they now associated humans 264 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 2: with food and they were no longer scared of humans. 265 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 2: There were a huge population of bears in the western 266 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 2: parks with lots of humans coming to see them. 267 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: All right, well, that sounds like a very natural place 268 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: to stop, thanks and never come back, but we do. 269 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: We have to tell this bad story, so we'll be 270 00:13:54,679 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: back right after this, all right, So we're going to 271 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: take this one horrible incident at a time, and we're 272 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: going to start with the story of you mentioned earlier, 273 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: Julie Helguson. Man, that is really hard. For some reason, 274 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: it is I want to say a different word, but 275 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: it's Julie Helgason. She was from Minnesota, and she was 276 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: nineteen years old. Along with her friend that we're going 277 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: to meet who also lost her life, Michelle Coons. They 278 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: were both working summer jobs at Glacier. I imagine in the 279 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: late sixties at Glacier it was probably pretty great. I mean, 280 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: Glacier is an amazing place even today, but back then, 281 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: I imagine it was a pretty awesome summer job to have. 282 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think Julie was working in the laundry 283 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 2: facility and Michelle was working in a gift shop. And 284 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 2: that makes the whole thing even more bizarre to me 285 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 2: because they knew each other. They both set out on 286 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 2: separate hikes on the afternoon of Saturday, August twelfth, nineteen 287 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 2: sixty seven, and they knew each other well enough that 288 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 2: Julie and her crew invited Michelle or no vice versa. 289 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 2: Michelle and her crew of five other friends and a 290 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 2: dog named Squirt invited Julie and her friend I'm getting 291 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 2: boyfriend vibes, Roy duke It to join them. But Michelle 292 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 2: and her group were going somewhere. I think they were 293 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 2: going to Trout Lake, and Julie and Roy had been 294 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 2: to Trout Lake the weekend before, so they wanted to 295 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 2: go in a different hike to Granite Park. She La 296 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 2: and they all set out, and these were experienced hikers. 297 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 2: They knew what they were doing, and they were off 298 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 2: to have a good weekend overnight camping trip out in 299 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 2: the woods. In the back country is what they call it, 300 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 2: but the back country is another word for wild territory. 301 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: That's right, I imagine they you know, we say they 302 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: knew each other imagine it was a pretty tight knit 303 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: group back then. There are many many more employees now 304 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: at these national parks and there were back then, and 305 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: you know these they were the same age, and they 306 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: were teens working this like amazing summer job. So we're 307 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: talking about Helgeson and du Kat at this point, they 308 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: hitchhiked to the and if you've ever driven down this road, 309 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: it's amazing. It's called going to the Sun road. The 310 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: main roadways it is, but it's really great. Well it's 311 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: really not because you don't actually go to the sun 312 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: it we'd be going toward the Sun road would be 313 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: what it should be called. But they went to spend 314 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: the night at this chalet initially, but the chalet was full, 315 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: and so back in the days where when you could 316 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: be surprised by something like that, and when they got there, 317 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: they they saw it was full and they said, all right, 318 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: well we'll just go camp about five hundred yards away. 319 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: We'll go camp in the woods sort of the immediate backcountry, 320 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: and they ate dinner, they watched the sunset off that road, 321 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: and they take it. They didn't have tents because they 322 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: thought they were going to be the chalet. No, so 323 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: they just bedded down in their sleeping bags on the 324 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: ground outside. 325 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 2: I've seen sleeping bag. Oh, that's why I took it 326 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 2: to possibly be her boyfriend. 327 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: But you could have zipped them together. That'll move. 328 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 2: There's one thing that yeah, I guess so I forgot 329 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 2: you could do that. There's one thing we should say 330 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,439 Speaker 2: about the chalet Granite Park chalet that they hiked to 331 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 2: and were camping near. That was the site of a 332 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 2: purposeful feeding area that the managers of the chalet were 333 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 2: throwing out food scraps to attract the bears for the 334 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 2: entertainment of their guests. And just four days before this, 335 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 2: some rangers had visited Granite Park chalet saw what they 336 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 2: were doing and we're like, you can't do that, stop 337 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 2: doing that, And the manager were like, sure, sure, we'll 338 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,160 Speaker 2: definitely stop doing that. So these guys are open air 339 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 2: camping about five football fields away from that very shellet. 340 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: That's right. So after they're in their bags at night, 341 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: just after midnight, a bear arrived, grizzly bear to their 342 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,120 Speaker 1: camping spot. And you know, some of this stuff has 343 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: come out later in different forms, whether it was interviews 344 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: with survivors after the fact, or that sports Illustrated story 345 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,360 Speaker 1: or them writing about it years later, and they've tried 346 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: to piece it together as best they can. But I 347 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: did see some of the details kind of varied here 348 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: and there among the accounts. But what we do know 349 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: is that Ducott said later on that Julie had seen 350 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: the bear and woke him up and said, hey, there's 351 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: a bear here. And from what I read in Sports Illustrated, 352 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: it was about ten feet away, but it was definitely 353 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: a bear, and so she's like played dead. The bear 354 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: did not fall for that and began mauling Ducott got 355 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: to his arms, his legs and his back and then 356 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: left him alone and then dragged poor Julie Helgeson off. 357 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so Ducott and there were other people camping nearby, 358 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 2: and you know, the chalet was five football fields away, 359 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 2: but there was probably help there. So they were screaming there, 360 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 2: using their flashlights to flash sos and they managed to 361 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 2: get the attention of some people who called for a helicopter, 362 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 2: and they came and got Ducat and he said, well, 363 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 2: don't forget Julie. She's out there somewhere. Apparently a ranger 364 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: who would have been in charge of sending out the 365 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 2: search party waited about two hours before he finally said, okay, 366 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 2: let's go out and find her because he was concerned 367 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 2: about putting other people's lives in danger, additional lives and 368 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 2: danger searching for her because we might run into that 369 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 2: bear and that I don't know if that caused her death. 370 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 2: I mean, the bear caused her death, but that might 371 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 2: have helped seal her fate. Two hours, Yeah, that was 372 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 2: two hours they finally found her. This happened just after midnight. Remember. 373 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 2: They finally found her and got her to the chalet 374 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 2: at three forty five am, and she died at four 375 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 2: to twelve am. She we had puncture wounds to her 376 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,919 Speaker 2: throat and lungs, but she probably had died largely of 377 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 2: blood loss and it entered shock and that was it. 378 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 2: So I don't you can't really say, yes, she definitely 379 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 2: would have survived, but perhaps her chances of survival would 380 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 2: have been higher had they gone out and searched for 381 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 2: and founder a couple hours earlier. 382 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think for sure. My initial reaction was to be, 383 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: you know, like, what the heck with this ranger? But again, 384 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: this is nineteen sixty seven, it was a different time. 385 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: They didn't have the resources they do now they didn't. 386 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure now if there's any kind of bear situation, 387 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: they A they know exactly what to do and exactly 388 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: how to handle it, and B they have I would 389 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: imagine they have all kinds of tranquilizers or just more 390 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: guns and stuff to deal with this kind of thing 391 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: that they didn't have back then. I mean, it sounded 392 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: like if they would have gone after this bear, it 393 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: might have been one park ranger who maybe had a pistol, 394 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: maybe didn't, and then a bunch of other people with 395 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,400 Speaker 1: you know, baseball bats or something like. They weren't prepared. 396 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: So I tried not to judge too harshly that this 397 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: guy said, hey, let's wait, because they had never encountered 398 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: something like this before. 399 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 2: And I think rightfully so, like people don't usually make 400 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 2: decisions out of cowardice. It's normally there's some other line 401 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 2: of thinking that in hindsight proved to be a bad decision. 402 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 2: So that was the unfortunate death of Julie Helgeson. She 403 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 2: was very terribly mauled and died of blood loss and 404 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 2: wounds to her lungs and throat. Michelle Coons just hours later, 405 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 2: essentially around the same time that Julie Helguson was dying 406 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 2: in a makeshift operating room at the chalet, a bear 407 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 2: was wandering up to Michelle and her her group's sleeping 408 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 2: bags that they had set up around a campfire and 409 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 2: a beach, because that same bear had already visited them 410 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,440 Speaker 2: all the way back at eight pm and caused them 411 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 2: to split. 412 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that bear came up. This bear came back 413 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: a few times. It was it was a very kind 414 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: of one of those things. Again, in hindsight, you're like, 415 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: they should have gotten out of there, but you know 416 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: what kind of detail, all the reasons why they had 417 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: gone fishing. They set up by this great lake, not 418 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: capital great lake, but this amazing lake. No, right, they 419 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: went fishing. They're one of the guys that was with 420 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: them was just sixteen years old, like these were kids, 421 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: you know. And he caught one fish. He caught a 422 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: rainbow trout, augmented that meal with some hot dogs, grilled 423 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: it up, and that grizzly, like you said, at eight pm, 424 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,119 Speaker 1: came wandering around and they took off. They watched this 425 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 1: bear from a short distance eat that food and then 426 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: grab one of their backpacks and take it away. And 427 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: this is a point where like they could have gotten 428 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: the heck out of there, but they were like, it's 429 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: getting dark, we don't know what to do. This bear left. 430 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: It got our food, so it's probably fine now, right. 431 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: And also, if we're going to get out of here, 432 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,679 Speaker 1: we got to go through this berry bush field that 433 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,520 Speaker 1: are you know, that's tall berries or bears love those berries, 434 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: so they're you know, that bear may be there, there 435 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: may be may be more bears. So let's go down 436 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: here to the beach area. Let's build a huge fire 437 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: to try and help keep the bear away. And they 438 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 1: built a log barricade between that fire and their old 439 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: campsites and then line their sleeping bags up around this campfire. 440 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,200 Speaker 1: But very key here they did bring some food. They 441 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: brought some cookies and some cheese its so to that 442 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: new campsite. 443 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 2: So is that the idea that that that was what 444 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 2: attracted the bear back again? The food, Yeah, the cheese its. 445 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: I mean it was food and thereafter food. 446 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,440 Speaker 2: So okay, we should also say one other thing. As 447 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 2: they were before they even reached Trout Lake in the afternoon, 448 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 2: when they were on their hike to it, they passed 449 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 2: some other hikers who said that they had been recently 450 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 2: chased up a tree by a grizzly around that bear 451 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 2: nuts to that we're gonna keep going, and that that 452 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,679 Speaker 2: same bear they believe. Also, it turned out actually they 453 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 2: not even they didn't believe it, like it was that 454 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 2: same troublesome bear that had been chasing girl scouts around 455 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,919 Speaker 2: and had had been a problem all summer because it 456 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 2: was underfed and emaciated. And apparently that's a really good 457 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 2: way for a bear to start acting and behaving very 458 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 2: oddly and aggressively, is when it's underfed. 459 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: That's right. So this same bear that has been overly 460 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: aggressive toward everybody it meets, it seems like, came back 461 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: again after the eight o'clock visit, came back at three 462 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 1: am in the middle of the night. One of them 463 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: wakes up, sees that that fire is has basically died out, 464 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: and he jumped up things. The guy who caught the 465 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: trout jumped up to go start rebuilding this fire again 466 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: really quickly, and apparently set those cookies down on that 467 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: log barrier that they had between it and the old 468 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: camp site. So now it's three am. They all decide 469 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: the bear takes these cookies and goes away, and they 470 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: all decide, listen, we're gonna stay awake for the rest 471 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: of the night because now we're out here in the 472 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 1: middle of the night, we're genuinely stuck, like we can't 473 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: just hike off in the darkness, and so they decide 474 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: to all stay awake together. 475 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,879 Speaker 2: So, man, I would have been quite scared by this time. 476 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 2: This is the second time the bear visited, right. 477 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, eight o'clock PM, three am, constantly just taking this food. 478 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 2: And then now we get back to four thirty am 479 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 2: when the bear returns a final time, and this time 480 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 2: it just goes straight up aggressive. I don't know if 481 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 2: it was because they ran out of food and the 482 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 2: bear didn't like the fact that they didn't have any 483 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 2: more food or what, but it bit one of the 484 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 2: guys sleeping bags. It clowted his sweatshirt. So now we 485 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 2: get back to four thirty am when that bear returns 486 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 2: a final time, and I don't know if it was 487 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 2: because they had run out of food and the bear 488 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 2: didn't like that very much, but it became more aggressive 489 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 2: than the other times, and it actually started attacking the 490 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 2: kids in this camping group. One of them had its 491 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,919 Speaker 2: sleeping bag bitten, which if a bear's attacking you and 492 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 2: it bites your sleeping bag, that's kind of best case scenario. 493 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 2: Clawed his sweatshirt, and I think there was other bear 494 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 2: encounters in this event. 495 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, so that was Paul Donne. He starts screaming, 496 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,399 Speaker 1: He runs away and climbs a tree. This bear is 497 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: chasing him. He runs away and he climbs a tree. 498 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: This kid's sixteen, So he's up this tree in a 499 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: matter of seconds. Apparently he did get all cut up 500 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: in stuff though, because he didn't have a shirt on 501 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,880 Speaker 1: and he was, you know, climbing like a person scared 502 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: of a bear. Sure, so he gets up in this tree, 503 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,439 Speaker 1: and from up in this tree, he looks down and 504 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: this bear is sort of circling below him. His friends 505 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: are at the camp. They have obviously woken up at 506 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: this point, and they see the bear circling the tree, 507 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: so that they use that as their opportunity to get away. 508 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: They grab that dog first of all, Squirt, And yeah, 509 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: they grab Squirt when this thing first started happening. They 510 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: grabbed it and put it inside the sleeping bag and 511 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: literally like had their hand over this dog's poor dog's 512 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: mouth like to try and play dead. But so they 513 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: finally get away as well. They run away while this 514 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 1: bear is circling the tree below Paul Dunn and except 515 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: for one person, and that was Michelle Coons. She they 516 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: hear there, literally, you know, thirty forty feet away from 517 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: this bear and their friend, and they hear her screaming. 518 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: They're like, you know, get out of there, get out 519 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,159 Speaker 1: of there. They hear her yell, I can't he's got 520 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: the zipper. They hear her yell, he's ripping my arm. 521 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: He's got my arm. My arm is gone. And then 522 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 1: they finally hear her yell, oh my god, I'm dead, 523 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: and this bear carries her off in the sleeping bag, 524 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: still right right in front of them. 525 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, so they are. They have no trouble staying awake 526 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 2: for the rest of the night. At this point. They 527 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,719 Speaker 2: couple hours later, the sun came up, and after it 528 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 2: did and they saw that the bear was gone, they 529 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 2: took off for help. Right. 530 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a you know, in these parks, I'm 531 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 1: sure they still have stuff like this, said what's called 532 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: seasonal rangers that were maybe just there for the summer. 533 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: And there was a guy named Bert Gildart, and he 534 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: said at six thirty in the morning, he was at 535 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: West Glacier at this point in his little apartment, he 536 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: got a knock from another ranger named Norm Hagen, and 537 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,359 Speaker 1: Guildhart was the one who knew about that previous killing 538 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: earlier in the night. And I'm not sure how, but 539 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: somehow he managed to go back to sleep, and he's 540 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: the one that got the emergency responders there. Hagen shows 541 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: up and says that there's a young woman who is 542 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: mauled at Trout Lake. And he was like, no, no, no, 543 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: you're confused. This was over at the chalet. And then 544 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: as you know, this Hagen guy keeps going, it dawns 545 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: on him, like, my god, what has happened. This has 546 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: happened twice in a matter of hours. 547 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, So he very quickly out of himself over to 548 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 2: Trout Lake. I read that he essentially ran four miles 549 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 2: from the trailhead to the lake and there was another 550 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 2: ranger already there named Leonard Landa and two other men 551 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 2: arrived by helicopter and they formed a little search party, 552 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 2: and very quickly Leonard Landa discovered Michelle Kuhon's body. And 553 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 2: you had said earlier that like grizzly bears just generally 554 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 2: don't see humans as prey or as food, and one 555 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 2: of the things that makes them so unpredictable is they'll 556 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 2: do that sometimes sometimes they do see us as prey 557 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 2: and food. Like sometimes they'll attack one person in a 558 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 2: party see them as food, and then attack the other 559 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 2: people that defend that first person that they see as food. 560 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 2: And that seemed to be the case also with Michelle Coons, 561 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 2: because when her body was discovered, the bear had begun 562 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 2: eating it. And another dead giveaway usually is that the 563 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 2: bear will eat some and then go essentially bury the 564 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,479 Speaker 2: body under some like dirt and twigs and stuff like that, 565 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 2: and then sit around and protect it. And I don't 566 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 2: know if I don't think they found the bear around 567 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 2: her body. They just found her body, but yeah, but 568 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 2: she had been essentially partially eaten. 569 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: Man, all right, I feel like we should take another break. 570 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,959 Speaker 1: That is the sad story of what happened that night, 571 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk a little bit about the 572 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: aftermath of what happened right after this. 573 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 2: Okay, So that was a big deal, not just in Glacier. 574 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 2: That stuff made it out very quickly and one of 575 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 2: the first responses among park officials was to go find 576 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 2: these bears that did this, and not only that, we 577 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 2: might have a problem with any bear that eats human food. 578 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 2: So Gilder and Landa formed like basically a death squad 579 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 2: looking for bears, especially the one who killed Michelle Kuons, 580 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 2: and they were basically instructed to shoot any bear that 581 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 2: didn't run away from him. And the first day they 582 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 2: didn't find any bears. They stayed overnight at a patrol 583 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 2: cabin at a place called Arrow Lake, and when Gildert 584 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 2: went out to use the bathroom the next morning, he 585 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 2: saw a bear and he called for Landa to bring 586 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 2: out the rifles, and Landa did, and as they were 587 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 2: standing there, giving the bear chance right, because none of 588 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 2: these people wanted to kill bears, there wasn't like vengeance necessarily, 589 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 2: and even if there was, I think actually that's not true. 590 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 2: I think Gildert had a sense of vengeance and then 591 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 2: eventually kind of had a change of heart. But some 592 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 2: of the other rangers were not happy about this job 593 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 2: of killing bears. And even if they, however they felt 594 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 2: about it, you were supposed to still kind of give 595 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 2: the bear a chance. If the bear took a step 596 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 2: towards you, that was a dead bear. If it ran 597 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 2: away from you, that bear could live to you know, 598 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 2: be examined. Another day, this bear started coming toward them, 599 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 2: so they had to kill it. 600 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 1: That's right. And this was the bear. The bear was 601 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: seventeen years old. The bear was under three hundred pounds. 602 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: And I know we said their range can be a 603 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: couple of hundred and up, but I get the idea 604 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,959 Speaker 1: that this was a larger bear that was under three 605 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: hundred pounds and like clearly underfed and emaciated. They opened 606 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: this bear's stomach jaws movie style and found some a 607 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: big ball of blonde hair undigested inside the bear, and 608 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: also found this which and this is is all. It's 609 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: a tragedy for these humans. It's a tragedy for these 610 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: bears because they had been you know, fed human trash 611 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: for so long, and we're used to people. It's not 612 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: their fault. But they found glass embedded in the molars 613 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: of this bear. So this bear had been eating glass 614 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: food that was probably in glass from trash and made 615 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: it difficult for this bear to eat. Probably probably made 616 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: the bear very uncomfortable and grumpy, and that probably all 617 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: contributed to what happened to Michelle Kuhon's. 618 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's really important to remember that none 619 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 2: of this was the bear's fault. The bears were acting 620 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 2: like bears, and they were being essentially mistreated by humans 621 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 2: in the park administrators by allowing them to get habituated 622 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 2: human food, because it was destined. This was destined to 623 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,680 Speaker 2: happen essentially the way that people were behaving in the parks. 624 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 2: So they had definitively the bear that killed Michelle Kuhon's. 625 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 2: I mean, they didn't test the hair or anything like that, 626 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,960 Speaker 2: but it was just her. Yeah, they were still looking 627 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 2: for Julie Helgeson's bear, and they actually never offinitively identified it. 628 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 2: But another ranger named Dave Shay, who was among a 629 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 2: group of four who shot a bear and her cubs 630 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 2: that were feeding at the Chalet garbage pit, he was 631 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,279 Speaker 2: convinced that that was the one that killed Helgeson because 632 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 2: that bear had blood on her claws, and I don't 633 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 2: believe Julie Helguson had any feeding done to her, So 634 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 2: it's not like that could have been an innocent bear 635 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:25,680 Speaker 2: that just came along and was like, oh, I'm going 636 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 2: to have a bite of this but didn't kill her. 637 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 2: It was almost certainly the bear that killed her. And 638 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,359 Speaker 2: even if it wasn't, there an orgy of grizzly bear 639 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 2: death fell over Glacier and Yellowstone and the other national 640 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 2: parks that had grizzly bears in the ensuing weeks, months 641 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,279 Speaker 2: and years after the Night of the Grizzlies. 642 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: Absolutely, like you said, the media got hold of this 643 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,400 Speaker 1: and all of of course, all of a sudden, everyone 644 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: once got an opinion. Everyone thinks that they know exactly 645 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 1: why this happened. Some people were like, well, there were 646 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 1: thunderstorms and lightning nearby that could have agitated them. The 647 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 1: idea that bears are attracted to minstrual blood was brought up. 648 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: I think they now say that that's maybe true with 649 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: polar bears. 650 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 2: Only well, they've never experimented with They experimented with polar bears. 651 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,760 Speaker 2: Polar bears showed a preference for that and like seal 652 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 2: blood or something, and then they've never experimented like that 653 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 2: with grizzlies. But somebody that did like a once over 654 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 2: of grizzly attacks and didn't find any pattern necessary. So 655 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,239 Speaker 2: we don't know experimentally, but we do know anecdotally that's 656 00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 2: probably not true. 657 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,720 Speaker 1: Right, But at any rate, that doesn't keep the media 658 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,839 Speaker 1: from reporting something like this, sure, and then showing up 659 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: in Anchorman as a joke years later. But you know, 660 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 1: it was coincidence. There was never any like link between 661 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 1: these two. It was just a really bad coincidence, a 662 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 1: horrific example of bad human luck that night between these 663 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: two young women. Jack Olson wrote that story, the Sports 664 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: Illustrated Story, which is a really fun read parts and 665 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: three separate issues that you also get the benefit of. 666 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,799 Speaker 1: The ads of nineteen sixty seven in a magazine Whi's 667 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: always fun. I'm sorry. This is nineteen sixty nine when 668 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: it finally. 669 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 2: Came in, right, the Summer of Love, right, that's. 670 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:16,800 Speaker 1: Right, one of them. This was when everything started to change. 671 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:23,360 Speaker 1: People started. There was a biologist name Gardner Moment who said, 672 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: you know what we should And it's interesting that this 673 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: was a biologist, but this guy came out and was like, hey, 674 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,760 Speaker 1: you know what, we need to finish what our forefathers started, 675 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,520 Speaker 1: and we need to make them extinct in the United States. 676 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: And not only that, but the common rat in the 677 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,840 Speaker 1: fire ant, some kinds of sharks that seats fly this 678 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,240 Speaker 1: guy was like, let's wipe out anything that bothers humans 679 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:47,880 Speaker 1: or is a potential threat to humans. 680 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 2: If a biologist can be a hack, Gardner Moment was 681 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 2: a hack biologist. Agree, that's just a terrible idea, and 682 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 2: it's not like that was just like the zeitgeist. People 683 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,880 Speaker 2: arguing it, like Gardner Moment introduced it to the zeitgeist, 684 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 2: or at least kind of stoked any existing feelings in 685 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,719 Speaker 2: the public. And so now all of a sudden there 686 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 2: was like a push to get rid of grizzly bears 687 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:13,400 Speaker 2: because they wouldn't behave around the humans that had invaded 688 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,360 Speaker 2: their areas. 689 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, luckily that didn't happen, right. I think there were 690 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:20,839 Speaker 1: more people, or I don't know about more, but there 691 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: were people beating the drum on the other side of like, no, 692 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:25,439 Speaker 1: this is not something we should do, and they went out. 693 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, real biologists, grizzly biologists. They're known as the father 694 00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 2: of grizzly Fathers of grizzly biology. They were twin brothers, 695 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 2: Frank and John Craighead, and they became the Philischaffley of 696 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 2: the movement to eradicate bears. They just almost single handedly 697 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 2: gotten the way of that and managed to swing public 698 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 2: sentiment back toward conservation. And it was a real that 699 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,799 Speaker 2: was a real accomplishment because when Jack Olsen wrote Knight 700 00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 2: of the Grizzlies, which by the way, there it was 701 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 2: called the Grizzly Bear murder Case in Sports Illustrated. 702 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: Right, Oh wow, I'm. 703 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 2: Glad they switched it. When he wrote the actual book 704 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 2: in nineteen sixty nine, he was a disinterested observer, he 705 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,040 Speaker 2: was a reporter, but he concluded like that was the 706 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:20,840 Speaker 2: fate of the Grizzlies. They were goners, Like the public 707 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 2: had turned against them so much that it was all 708 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:27,479 Speaker 2: but already done. So the Craighead brothers managing to turn 709 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 2: public sentiment like that was a big deal. And they 710 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 2: did it by saying, like, there's just a few common 711 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:34,520 Speaker 2: sense things we need to do, and if we do them, 712 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:39,919 Speaker 2: you're going to basically get rid of human bear interactions 713 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 2: or deaths by grizzly bear. 714 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. And they actually had research. They weren't just saying, 715 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:46,719 Speaker 1: you know, this is what we think. They had a 716 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 1: full decade of human grizzly interaction and they could point 717 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: to actual stuff and say no, no, no, this is what 718 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:57,560 Speaker 1: we have found. And they cited this research. And this 719 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: is a great quote. I think it was John that said, 720 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,919 Speaker 1: you know, getting rid of all these bears, he said, 721 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 1: would be as tragic as the leveling of Yellowstone Canyon 722 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,800 Speaker 1: because somebody fatally fell from its brink. Yeah, like, you 723 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: don't go knocking down the mountain because someone fell off 724 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,080 Speaker 1: of it, And you don't go killing all the grizzlies 725 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 1: because they killed somebody. 726 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 2: Jack Kerouac said, you can't fall off a mountain. Did 727 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 2: he really, Yeah, it was in the Dharma Bums. 728 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 1: I read that one. It's been a while. 729 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:25,839 Speaker 2: So the common sense stuff that they pointed out, where 730 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 2: like keep humans out of some parts of the park. 731 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 2: It's like, sorry, this is bear territory. Just leave it 732 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,280 Speaker 2: to the bears. Don't go back there, it's too dangerous 733 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,680 Speaker 2: for you. Step one, at least another is just like 734 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:42,640 Speaker 2: actually monitor bears, like start tracking the bears in the park, 735 00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 2: know them, get to know who they are, and then 736 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:49,040 Speaker 2: also like when they're moving around, you should probably have 737 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 2: a good idea of where they are and win and 738 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:56,759 Speaker 2: who's around them. And basically just teach the public that 739 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,879 Speaker 2: Yogi bear is fictitious, not a real bear. He lives 740 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:04,040 Speaker 2: in Jellystone you're in Yellowstone. Big difference, right, And if 741 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,879 Speaker 2: they do that, but also teach the public like, yes, 742 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:10,239 Speaker 2: they're a risk. You're at greater risk outboating on one 743 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:12,680 Speaker 2: of the lakes. But they are still a risk, so 744 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 2: treat them as such. They're a wild animal. But yes, 745 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 2: go see them and take in their majesty, but from 746 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 2: afar like that would definitely reduce encounters and thus the 747 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,720 Speaker 2: chances of bears killing humans. 748 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, and if you've been to a national park at 749 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:33,399 Speaker 1: all in the last well, since this really then what 750 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:36,879 Speaker 1: you see are bearproof garbage cans. I actually bought these 751 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: for my camp. I have bearproof stuff at my camp. 752 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:44,240 Speaker 1: Bearproof garbage cans. You're going to see where you're cooking 753 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,520 Speaker 1: area should not be where you sleep. You're going to 754 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:51,840 Speaker 1: see these cables strung between trees or you're encouraged and 755 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,360 Speaker 1: they teach you how to do it yourself. So you 756 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,000 Speaker 1: hang up your food high off the ground, suspended between 757 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,080 Speaker 1: trees at night. You can't just loop it over a 758 00:40:58,080 --> 00:40:59,920 Speaker 1: branch because they'll climb up that tree. You gotta suspend 759 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:01,640 Speaker 1: it to pain in the butt, but you got to 760 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:04,040 Speaker 1: do it. And you know this stuff now you can't 761 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:06,200 Speaker 1: go to a national park or go back country camping 762 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: without seeing signs and just knowing everything that we know 763 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:14,160 Speaker 1: now has all been in place literally because of this 764 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,760 Speaker 1: night that all came out of this, that you shouldn't 765 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,800 Speaker 1: have food around your camp, You cannot entice bears. Don't 766 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:24,279 Speaker 1: get that candy bar near your windshield, Like this is 767 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:25,760 Speaker 1: not how we should be treating bears. 768 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:29,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think also a general idea that your 769 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,120 Speaker 2: bad behavior might not result in your death, but you're 770 00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 2: increasing the chances that it could kill someone else. So 771 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,840 Speaker 2: there was a collective responsibility that was put upon visitors 772 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:43,480 Speaker 2: to the park too, and I think that was super helpful. Yeah, 773 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 2: like we said, there was a this changeover wasn't just 774 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,680 Speaker 2: without fault. Apparently Yellowstone was just they just shut down 775 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 2: the garbage dumps like they were like no more garbage 776 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,920 Speaker 2: for bears. Smart, I mean what you would do in 777 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:01,600 Speaker 2: response to something like the Night of the Grizzlies. But 778 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:06,000 Speaker 2: the Craighead brothers had said, like, don't do that, Like, yes, 779 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,960 Speaker 2: shut them down, but do it gradually and start supplementing 780 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,840 Speaker 2: their food that you're taking away from them with actual 781 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,960 Speaker 2: food of theirs, like elk or something like that, and 782 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 2: they didn't do that, and as a result, the bears 783 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:22,000 Speaker 2: were now made more appearances at campgrounds looking for food 784 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:25,000 Speaker 2: because the dumps have been shut down, and it ended 785 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,880 Speaker 2: up in more bare deaths and the death of a 786 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:29,439 Speaker 2: camper in nineteen seventy two. 787 00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:32,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's basically saying it's basically like having 788 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,640 Speaker 1: a food store for a wild animal that they know 789 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,560 Speaker 1: is always open, and then they just shut that food 790 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:41,319 Speaker 1: store down all of a sudden. The bear doesn't know 791 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:43,600 Speaker 1: that they're going to keep coming back there. They're going 792 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,520 Speaker 1: to be confused. It will take them a long time 793 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:48,840 Speaker 1: to learn that there's not food there to go elsewhere, 794 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 1: which is why the Craighead said to do it gradually. 795 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,279 Speaker 1: It makes sense, but just rash decisions were made, Like 796 00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:59,080 Speaker 1: you said, in seventy two, another camper was killed. This 797 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:03,640 Speaker 1: was an illegal campsite I think, and you know had 798 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,719 Speaker 1: left their food out, so that's what happened. They still 799 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,239 Speaker 1: killed a lot of bears. I think one hundred and 800 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:13,000 Speaker 1: eighty nine bears were killed between sixty eight and seventy three, 801 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:17,160 Speaker 1: and by nineteen seventy five, between those killings and then 802 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,359 Speaker 1: the lack of food, there were only one hundred and 803 00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:24,000 Speaker 1: thirty six grizzlies left in Yellowstone, prompting them to be 804 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 1: placed on the Endangered Species list and covered by the 805 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:33,320 Speaker 1: Endangered Species Act. They've made a very nice recovery such 806 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:35,759 Speaker 1: I believe they have six recovery zones starting in the 807 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:39,040 Speaker 1: early nineties, one of which was in Glacier and one 808 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:42,719 Speaker 1: around Yellowstone where they you know, were trying to have 809 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:46,920 Speaker 1: reintroduced these bears. And now they are up to a 810 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,200 Speaker 1: couple of thousand I think in the US. 811 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:51,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think nearly two thousand. 812 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean such that there are people now that 813 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,520 Speaker 1: are saying, like, hey, we should let people hunt bear 814 00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:58,400 Speaker 1: again in the US. 815 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, which is a great idea. Do it. Of course, 816 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 2: we should really get that instinct of killing a large 817 00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:08,360 Speaker 2: trophy animal for bragging rights back as soon as we 818 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:09,200 Speaker 2: possibly can. 819 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:10,719 Speaker 1: That's sarcasm. 820 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:14,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, And so that didn't do a way like it's 821 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:17,239 Speaker 2: not the end of bear killings among humans, like it 822 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:21,200 Speaker 2: does happen. Actually, twenty twenty three has seen four different 823 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:25,320 Speaker 2: deaths from three different bear attacks just this year alone 824 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,600 Speaker 2: in I think national parks in the United States. That's 825 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:33,200 Speaker 2: pretty significant because it is really really rare despite you know, 826 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 2: events like that. The National Park Service estimates that if 827 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:41,520 Speaker 2: you visit a national park you have a one in 828 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:47,280 Speaker 2: two point seven million visits chance of being injured, not killed, 829 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,480 Speaker 2: injured by a bear. But if you stay in the 830 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 2: developed areas like the roads and everything and don't go 831 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:55,960 Speaker 2: into back country, you have a one in thirty nine 832 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,200 Speaker 2: point six million chance of being injured by a bear. 833 00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:01,239 Speaker 2: But it it cuts both ways because if you do 834 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:04,000 Speaker 2: go back country camping overnight, you have a one in 835 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:08,520 Speaker 2: five hundred and fifty four thousand overnight visits chance of 836 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,040 Speaker 2: being injured by a bear. So it really depends on 837 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:12,920 Speaker 2: where you go and what you do, and if you 838 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,759 Speaker 2: put yourself out there in bear country, you have to 839 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:17,480 Speaker 2: come prepared. 840 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've done. I mean, you know, we've got my 841 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:23,000 Speaker 1: little black bears at my camp that I've caught them 842 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 1: my camp camp. But these are the you know, the 843 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,480 Speaker 1: little guys in Georgia and they No one has literally 844 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,640 Speaker 1: ever been killed by a bear in Georgia. But I've 845 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 1: done a lot of camping in back country, camping out 846 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,719 Speaker 1: west over the years, and I never saw a bear. 847 00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:40,480 Speaker 1: You know, it's if you're smart, It doesn't mean it 848 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:42,880 Speaker 1: can't happen, but like you said, the chances are very remote, 849 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:44,279 Speaker 1: but you got to be smart. You got to do 850 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,440 Speaker 1: the right thing with your food and your trash, be 851 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,200 Speaker 1: good steward of the land. Back in the late sixties, 852 00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:51,960 Speaker 1: it was I think at one point Olivia said that 853 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,719 Speaker 1: they were starting to clean up a little bit then, 854 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:58,480 Speaker 1: and they got three helicopters worth of trash just out 855 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:01,560 Speaker 1: of this one area of glacier. People. This is the 856 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,960 Speaker 1: time when people just go back country camping, not everyone probably, 857 00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:10,359 Speaker 1: and just leave their stuff another yeah, and just leave 858 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:13,600 Speaker 1: their garbage. And it's a Thankfully, we've come a long 859 00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 1: way since then, and even though that still happens, I 860 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: guarantee you every time there's a bear incident in the 861 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,680 Speaker 1: United States, it is highly scrutinized and studied, and they're 862 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:23,759 Speaker 1: still trying to learn from it. 863 00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:26,279 Speaker 2: Yep, you got anything else? 864 00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:27,560 Speaker 1: I got nothing else? 865 00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:29,439 Speaker 2: All right, Well, if you want to know more about 866 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:33,120 Speaker 2: bear attacks, go familiarize yourself, especially if you're going to 867 00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:36,000 Speaker 2: a national park. And since I said that, it's time 868 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,440 Speaker 2: for a listener mail, I'm gonna call this. 869 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:43,880 Speaker 1: One Hammond clock. Remember we talked about the Lawrence Hammond episode. 870 00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:44,920 Speaker 1: He made those clocks. 871 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:46,520 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, the tickless clock. 872 00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, Tim and Sarah have one and it's beautiful. Hey, guys, 873 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:52,440 Speaker 1: listening to the Lawrence Hammond episode and had to write in. 874 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,600 Speaker 1: My wife's parents owned a Delhi in Brooklyn and had 875 00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:58,799 Speaker 1: a Hammond electric clock hanging up for many years. When 876 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 1: they passed on, the clock came to our possession not 877 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:03,719 Speaker 1: in the greatest shape. I was able to clean it 878 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:07,120 Speaker 1: up and discovered that it also had low voltage light 879 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 1: bulbs on the inside. It took some time to find them, 880 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:13,080 Speaker 1: but I got that working too. My wife never knew 881 00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:15,799 Speaker 1: that the face lit up all those years. That's super cool. 882 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:16,160 Speaker 2: Yes. 883 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:18,799 Speaker 1: During my online searches for bulbs, I had read about 884 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:21,400 Speaker 1: the uniqueness of the Hammon electric clock. One thing he 885 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:24,440 Speaker 1: did differently from all the other electric clock manufacturers at 886 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,880 Speaker 1: that time was his clock requires a restart when the 887 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:31,560 Speaker 1: power goes out and comes back on. The other people's 888 00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:35,040 Speaker 1: clocks start right back up automatically, And Hammond designed it 889 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:37,280 Speaker 1: the way on purpose. And I agree one hundred percent 890 00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:40,080 Speaker 1: with the design decision. We know exactly what time the 891 00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:42,640 Speaker 1: power went out. Think about it. Even if the clock 892 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:45,759 Speaker 1: automatically restarts after a power outage, you still have to 893 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:48,719 Speaker 1: adjust the time. Anyway, the man really did have an 894 00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:52,319 Speaker 1: analytical mind and thought of just about everything. And I 895 00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:54,759 Speaker 1: think I agree Tim. That is from Tim and Sarah. 896 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:56,719 Speaker 2: Nice Tim and Sarah, thank you very much. So it 897 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,239 Speaker 2: was a great email. I guess they send a picture 898 00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:00,200 Speaker 2: of the clock all lit up. 899 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,480 Speaker 1: They sent a picture later because I was like, why 900 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:04,360 Speaker 1: didn't you send a picture? 901 00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:05,880 Speaker 2: Oh, I want to see it. Did they send it 902 00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:06,720 Speaker 2: to both of us? 903 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:09,560 Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but if not, I'll afford it to you. 904 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:13,680 Speaker 2: That's very kind of you. And that was Sarah and 905 00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:16,520 Speaker 2: Sarah and Tim. Yes, thank you guys again. And if 906 00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:18,359 Speaker 2: you want to be like Tim and Sarah, you can 907 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,680 Speaker 2: send us an email too. Send it off to stuff 908 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:25,360 Speaker 2: Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 909 00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:28,400 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 910 00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:32,640 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 911 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:34,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.