An interview with America's foremost environmentalist.
Peacock's War
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Doug Peacock, the model for Hayduke in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, has been a legendary figure in the US environmental movement for the last 25 years.
Doug served in Vietnam as a Green Beret medic, trying to preserve life on the edge of the battlefield. He came home an emotional and spiritual wreck. Running for refuge to the last islands of uninhabited wilderness in the American West, Peacock discovered a fellow creature who had also been driven back to the same mountain sanctuary, among the tarns and granite peaks. This was the endangered grizzly bear. Living on the hunting grounds of this beast--a beautiful, playful, intelligent, fiercely dangerous animal--led Peacock back to a sense of his own humanity, and humility before nature.
He wrote a bestselling book, The Grizzly Years, based on his experiences, and made this incredibly moving film that tells the story of one man's determination to resist the destructive forces which threaten our world and the survival of the wild creatures who live in it.
'Peacock...is a man in whom the connection between heart and mind is unimpaired by the petty diversions of what passes, with most of us, for life in post-industrial urban America. He has eyes to see with, a nose to smell with, feet to walk on and courage to see him through... He is a remarkable man.' Tucson Citizen
'Douglas Peacock's war is one of wilderness and wildlife preservation... Definitely recommended.' **** Video Rating Guide for Libraries
'Zoology, psychology, and philosophy classes would all be enriched by a discussion following the screening of this film. Any groups concerned with endangered species would be moved.' Media Network
Citation
Main credits
McBride, Robert G (Producer)
McBride, Anne S (Producer)
Peacock, Douglas (Narrator)
Other credits
Director of photography, Joan Churchill; editor, Thomas Marcyes; music, Arthur Steed.
Distributor subjects
American Studies; Animal Behavior; Animal Rights; Animals; Biography ; Endangered Species; Environment; Values; Western US; WildlifeKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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I came back in 1968 after the said offensive.
But I got to a lot of places in Vietnam
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before the war did and it
wasn’t a terrible place.
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I, I love the people, I love the country. It’s a wonderful
country. There were tigers there, there were bear there.
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I was a medic
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and was under the illusion that
at least I’m doing some good
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along the way.
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But after the offensive
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it was all together too much.
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I was (inaudible) case
when I got out of there.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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When I started filming
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grizzlies in 1975, whole
time, that time I had,
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I had to move to either glacier, Yellowstone national park essentially
because those were the only places you had any bears left.
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[music]
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I came up here late in September
from the north cascades
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and uh… I walked up to the Apcar(ph) mountains and
I stood on the top of the highest peak there.
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I spotted 114 grizzly bears and I looked off at a distance
there in the top of the mountain was a fire lookout.
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So the next year, I put one application
for one job in the whole world
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and it happened to be Huckleberry lookout and
they were stupid enough to give it to me.
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[music]
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I’m not, how to take the greatest
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chances that I can take. I’m simply out
to finish this project with the grizzly.
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It’s, it’s a great hunk of my life when
I’m close to wrapping about in some way.
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But that involves an element of risk.
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[music]
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My range was filled with
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dangerous encounters with bears.
Sometimes a bear was ferocious
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and even a little unnatural. It gets
curious but it’s also very practical.
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I work out all my fears and my dreams and
then when I get out there in the real world,
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I, I don’t have to bother with them much. A couple
of times a week, sometimes I’ll dream of bears.
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[music]
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The grizzly
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especially among the plains Indians, there
is always something more than a bear.
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The symbol more than
anything else of courage,
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of power, a sort of awesome being
who was sent down on earth
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to humble men, to make men humble.
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[music]
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I have a relationship with this one bear.
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I’m very drawn to the bear. He’s my most important
grizzly bear but he’s also the most dangerous animal,
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I know and uh… he’s the one
that keeps destroying my gear.
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He’s the one that ate my T-shirt for example.
He’s the one that ate my sleeping bag.
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He’s the one that, he essentially chewed the pieces, everything
that smelled of me while ignoring lots of other things.
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And the, the quintessence of
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the grizzly year for me comes when I go out and I see
this one animal. Some years, I don’t feel, maybe,
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sometimes I but I make sure he’s there.
If I ever get mauled
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or seriously hurt or killed by a
grizzly, it would probably be by him
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and yet uh… the high point of
my year comes when I find him.
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[music]
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I personally think that, that’s the way, he wants to
go. I mean, his idea of going is being mauled by a big
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alpha bear and you know,
that’s end of the chapter.
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No. I think so. I sometimes think that.
You know,
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it’s an hour and 15 minutes. You know,
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Doug is one of the that have,
have a baby on the, on the trail,
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you know with the Indian woman.
Just fall behind,
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squad have their kid and then catch up. It is true.
No, it’s not true. This is gonna… One of these.
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Yeah, but he was joking. It was a lot
different. He’s changed quite a bit.
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I don’t think he’s changed
since Laurel was born to me,
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he’s changed. Oh, yeah, of course he has.
You want to be talking about the dead man.
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But he ain’t back yet. Come on.
He’s not here.
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No. He’s not here. How late is he? Oh, God.
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It’s the most dangerous time of year.
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No he’s, he’s coming up. He’s fine. For
him not to… to get out without seeing.
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When I and he were sitting in
the cabin and he told me that,
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how much, he, he was, how he fell
in love with you and I just,
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I knew that this guy, you know, from
that point on, I knew that you know,
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he had a real strong appreciation of love for
life. Even though he acts like a madman.
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I didn’t know that. And we worry about him. Oh, God, I couldn’t believe it and this
year… Yes, you were sitting right there and he was going… There he is. All right.
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Oh, finally. Great.
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Oh, glad to see you.
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Hi, hi. I had a little trouble with a bear.
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[music]
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Get that boy a beer.
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[music]
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I guess the uh… incredibly
hypocritical for me
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to uh… go out and pretend that I’m making
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a film that’s gonna better fit and help grizzlies and invade
their last territory, the last few bears we’ve got left here
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and also carry a big piece just
so if things don’t go just so so,
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is not my turf. Uh… blow him away with
a 44 magnum. I, I don’t think that be.
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Going to be poor manners.
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You don’t have the option of blowing the bear
away and therefore you have to deal with the bear
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and that teaches you a lot. You learn a lot
about bears. You learn a lot about yourself by
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having this tear down grizzly.
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[sil.]
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I always thought, I was too active to take a job as a
fire lookout but it turns out it was a perfect job.
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It’s just contemplated
enough to suit my needs.
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I get a lot of reading and writing done. We get
looked down in the backs of bears and eagles
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and if you like your own company, it’s like getting children
to buy your patch and you know, it’s run by grizzly bears.
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[music]
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In past year, they had a lot of trouble.
They had a lot of trouble with people
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that uh… didn’t like bears
applying for jobs as fire lookouts
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and lookouts would often quit and leave because
they were afraid of bears. Go back to Chicago.
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[music]
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Mostly, it was a quiet.
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Once the radio got turned off, there was
nothing making a sound for 20 miles
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in any one direction and at night, you could
see little lights. You can see their lights
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of (inaudible) from the falls 50 miles away. But
you look out and on one side of the lookout
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was dark as far as the eye could
see and all that space has very,
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very stronghold of wilderness
its left in the lower 48.
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Stronghold of the last grizzlies anyway.
And all that,
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that darkness uh…, it mean a lot to me.
Setting that blank spot on the map.
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The absolute void of any
human activity whatsoever.
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[sil.]
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Welcome to Montana. This way,
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I got my pickup, it wouldn’t start.
Sorry, I’m late.
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[sil.]
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My windshield wiper. Hi, hon. Hi.
Hi. This is Dane Williams
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from New York. Hi. Hi. You get arrested
right in the bug grizzly bears.
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But I’m gonna take her up the mountain some place.
Who is this? This is Laura. So this is home.
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Yup. Come on in. Okay.
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I bought a dead drunk from a
bar in Tusa at 400 bucks.
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And you’re still living in it right. Here, this way, I
ran into irrigation out, out of Santa Fe, one night.
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We dug in too? No, no.
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Lisa was up with the grizzly hill when
she was eight and a half months pregnant
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and I thought, she was seven and a half months
pregnant. I mean, I almost blew it altogether.
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We, we were gonna have Laura with a midwife in a little
birthing room. We never made it. We had her on the roads.
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We’re not here and one day later
it bounce here, it comes.
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I’m reading a book. I’m on month sticks.
No. We got down in the grizzly hills with
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bouncing on the roads from here to Great Falls
brought out a labor. But I’m still on month six,
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trying to figure out what’s going on there. It,
we… we went into last minute breathing exercises
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and they seem to work and that’s
what we got. When was she born?
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On the 7th of October. My favorite time of
year. Libra. Is that what she is? I think so.
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At the moment, she doesn’t have my horoscope but I
don’t care. What is your horoscope? It’s all bad.
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It’s something one would prefer not to have as far as I can
tell. What is it? Well, I have this woman worked it out
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for me once and she same to tell another woman who is a
friend of mine about my horoscope and she broke down in tears
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and was sobbed, I’m sorry, I’m sorry and I never
found out the particulars but it’s like I say,
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it’s something one would
prefer not to have, I think.
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When was the first time, you ever saw a
grizzly close up? Well, it was in Alaska
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and I was a punk kid packing a 44 magnum on my hip
and we hiked across some sort of open country
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and all of a sudden, at about a hundred yards away,
grizzly sees us, stands up and immediately just charges.
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It doesn’t hesitate, nothing. I took my
44 magnum and I got him all ready to go
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and I’ve been reading all these horror stories about
griz and all these macho books and talked all kinds of
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and I knew after about two seconds, I wasn’t gonna shoot the bear anyway.
The bear keep coming. The bear kept coming up to about 15 feet away,
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then it sort of lifted up its front paws,
not really rear but sort of lifted up,
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caught our scent and veered
and ran away just as fast.
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After that I quit carrying guns in
grizz country. What would you do
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if a bear charged you? You got to stand your ground because
there is nothing else you can do. There is no trees to climb.
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There aren’t? No, and bears do this to each other
all the time. Most charges are bluff of course,
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you never know until, until it happens.
But if you stand your ground,
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the odds are the bear will stop and bear
turn off. People that killed by bears uh…
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that happens because they try to run away, are they… Well,
that’s where a lot of people get hurt because they,
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they move too quick when they should be stand in
their ground and they trigger the predator instinct
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because the grizzlies are predators part of the years and
part of that instinct is there. So if you get charged by cubs
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and she’s only 40 feet away and you make a move for a tree, she’s
likely to conclude that charge but if you, if you stand there
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and just stand your ground
like another dominant bear,
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99 times out of hundred, she won’t. So you grab your
arms out. I guess, I do because I think I make sure,
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I look larger, that’s all.
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What is this supposed to… Is this supposed
to help or what? Yeah, just, just,
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I think this helps. Smoke is a
natural uh… is a natural scent and,
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and they just don’t pick up on other
smells as much if you smoke your clothes.
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I think it sort of, I think it sort of hide
your camouflage is your human scent which is,
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the main things bear key off of, they key off movement.
Their hearing is a lot better than ours but their nose
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are just unparalleled in the animal kingdom.
They can smell a human being mile away.
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It’s true. Well, what’s uh…
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what happens if we’re up there sleeping and a bear comes along? We got
to hear the bear coming and we got to… If we knew the bear is coming.
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Yeah, he makes a lot of noise too and, and… And then
you climb a tree? No, I usually make a little noise
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and talk to him and it keeps him at bay.
But he, he’s a dominant bear.
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He never runs away very far. So all we can
do is if we hear some alerting brush,
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I’ll wake up and I’ll get up and I’ll walk around and
I’ll talk to this animal. Try to keep the fire going
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most of the night. It’s, it’s not a time of the
year when you get much sleep up there. It’s…
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Well, I don’t know, if I want
to stay up there tonight.
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I don’t blame ya. Neither do I.
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Well, I have to stand my ground
for grizzly. We’ll, okay. Honest.
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It’s just gonna be a sort of tense night.
It maybe a sleepless night, that’s all.
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We’ll make up for it later. And I think it could be beautiful
tomorrow if it snows. It’s better to have snow than rain.
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Rain is miserable up there.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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Here. See, see that large fur tree on there, the largest
one. Right there. Yeah. Yeah. Now look right over the top
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of it just over the top
of it about ten feet.
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You’ll see, there are
three bears, two kind of…
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I see it. Okay, got them. Those are
grizzlies. There are two band color
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
and the mother is white brown. I don’t see the mother.
Okay. She’s brown. Just keep looking in the area.
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
Yeah, I can see them right there.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
Yep. That’s great. They’re actually one
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
and a half years old.
There’s three all together.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
Brown and two light. I see three
light ones. Oh, do you? Yeah.
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
Oh, my God,
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
there is three of them. Oh, you
know, it’s possible there is three.
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I just, all I’ve seen is two so far.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
[sil.]
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
The three yearlings are all to the
right and the mother to the left.
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
Yeah, it was the mother, I saw.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
They are a beautiful family.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
[sil.]
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:23.000
[music]
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
It’s a really gorgeous family.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
Hi grizzly bears. I’m
really glad you’re still
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
around whether should they’ve left.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:53.000
[music]
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
Beautiful.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
And so quite…
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Look at the two cubs call each other.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:18.000
[sil.]
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
They did hear us.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
I’m on this ridge.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:48.000
[music]
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
No, they’re not.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
They’re coming up here. No.
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
[music]
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
They don’t know
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
we’re here but they did hear us. They
can’t even smell us. Just stay here,
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
until we see,
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
what they’re gonna do.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:33.000
[sil.]
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:53.000
There is another one.
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
Okay. Now watch this confrontation.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
I can’t see the (inaudible) anymore. Once
you sees him, he’s likely to charge.
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
And she will try to kill him. There is
the cubs. You see there on the side.
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
Yeah.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:23.000
[music]
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
Maybe listening to them. Yes,
that’s what you’re supposed to do.
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:43.000
[music]
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
That was a lot of drama,
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
isn’t it? It’s a, it’s a really tense time
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
of the year. It looks like
it’s gonna snow tonight.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
There is one down the water. Yeah.
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:23.000
[sil.]
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
The wind is rising. It means
that fly is coming in.
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:43.000
[sil.]
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:58.000
[music]
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
They are coming back. What? Is it coming
back? No, I think that’s another sound.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
I don’t think it will be back tonight.
He was, he was on his way out
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
and he just comes through here just to
bother the bears. But it’s, this for me,
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
there is hardly a greater even when a
helicopter, it all goes back every time,
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
I see one. I have the same feeling when they were
machinegunning me in Vietnam. What helicopter was doing that?
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
It was one of our helicopters there.
One of,
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
one of our helicopters. Sure, they shoot anything up
there. They were just shooting, because we were moving?
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
Yeah, because us, something to shoot at. They
don’t uh… those boys up there don’t care.
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
So they do all kinds of things.
Mountain yard babies,
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
water buffalo, green (inaudible)
medics all the same.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
And I get that feeling any time, I see a helicopter. The one
place, I hate most of all this year, helicopters in wilderness
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
in a wild place like this.
And if I were armed,
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
I would probably shoot at the son of a bitch.
I probably, I probably would shoot him down.
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
It’s something I… It’s almost an automatic reaction to
the sound of the blade. It’s, it’s visceral, look at me.
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
I’m shaking right now.
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
[sil.]
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
I was in the hospital during the offensive.
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
I had extended my tour twice.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
They should have gotten me out of country
about two months before I actually left.
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
By the time, I got back
out of country side,
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
the offense started to catch up with the countryside.
They came back in cities and hit the outline areas.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
I watched everything that I
believed really tried to do
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
which build dispensaries and hospitals.
Rebuild a couple of villages.
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Everything was burnt to the ground.
Everything was level.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
Unfortunately, our sergeant got a hold of
the radio when I was in the wrong stopping.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
Called air strikes on the VC who are hurting
villagers across the river and they killed
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
a couple hundred civilians and they
were all women and children, old men.
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
So I sat there and, and pieced together
bodies for four days and after four days,
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
I didn’t have anything left.
Just the craziness.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
I was out of the country within 48 hours.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:38.000
[sil.]
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:48.000
[music]
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
My mother picked me up at this little airport
in the middle of all these cornfields
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
and uh… started to drive me back home
and the first thing I remember is,
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
I hadn’t gone that fast in two years. She was driving
probably 50 miles an hour and I was terrified.
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
I was holding on to the dashboard. I made her
drive 30 miles an hour all the way home.
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
That was my first recollection. I guess, I didn’t have much to
say to anybody. I couldn’t really talk to anybody. You remember
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
your first conversation with your father?
I just gave my father.
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
We didn’t, I, I couldn’t say anything.
I was a break. He was just
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
really overpowered to see me home.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
[music]
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
I, I went a couple of years
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
without a serious conversation
with anybody in a way.
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
It wasn’t like you are deaf
anymore but no longer concerned.
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
I am a really marginal part
of the human race right then.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
[music]
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
That’s when I first started hanging out
with grizzly bears at Yellowstone.
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:23.000
[music]
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
But the therapy, the therapy
that works for you was
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
to be in the mountains. To go back out and crawl back
into the brush. It’s just something that works for me.
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
It helps if I have other things around
like grizzly bears that force you to take
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
uh… a less myopic view of yourself.
You can’t, you can’t take yourself
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
too seriously being
confronted with big bears.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
Self-indulgence is just totally
impossible in grizzly country.
00:30:55.000 --> 00:31:03.000
[music]
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
Oh, Christ.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
That’s him no question.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
He’s a big, big stocky bear
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
but as a funny looking bear.
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
[music]
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
He’s the one that I come to see every year.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
[music]
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
Why is this bear special anyways?
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
I back him (inaudible)one time and he
let me buy. He didn’t have to do that.
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
But then he came back and simply
noticed, he ripped my T-shirt
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
and sleeping bag. So he’s always here. He’s got a
relationship with me. He doesn’t especially want me around
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
but he tolerates me part of the time.
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:48.000
[music]
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
I don’t know if he knows any other
human being but I think he knows me.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
And my position is a little
better when he’s around.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Yeah, I could because he makes me like a lot
more insecure but much more interesting.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
[music]
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
That bear might come up
and, and nose around.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
And I don’t know what he’ll do.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
If he knows we’re here, he
might, he did one time.
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
[music]
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
Is that, you’re back there on the ridge
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
and that was the night… The bear allowed
me to pass. The bear allowed you to pass?
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
Mm-hmm. But then that night was a night… All night long, I got
back up to the top. I knew, I was gonna see that bear again.
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
So I build a little tiny fire at the top. Within
20 minutes, I could hear crunch, crunch, crunch
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
here comes this big bear. I get a fire burning a
little bit. I take, I take some bear grass plumes
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
which don’t burn very well. Lace them with toilet paper, get them
burning like a torch, walk off to the side of the hill and say,
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
hey grizzly bear why don’t you back off a little
bit or something like that. And the bear does.
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
But then 20 minutes later, he’s on another side of the
mountain. Here he comes again, crunch, crunch, crunch,
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
I get more bear grass burning. Go up, he does
this till two in the morning. Two in the morning,
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
he finally leaves me alone and I go
to sleep. You were able to sleep?
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
I was so tired.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
No the pattern goes down.
00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:03.000
[sil.]
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
How’s that? Perfect.
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:18.000
[sil.]
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Well, I think the bear realizes this,
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
if your personal fight, you know. No one
else involved. Nothing to do with you.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
[sil.]
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:48.000
[music]
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
I don’t know. I just uh…
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
I keep getting those images of big uh…
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
a big claw coming through the roof,
you though. I just can’t sleep.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
I mean, if you’re in a tent and you hear, you hear the
bear, you probably hear the bear from pretty far away,
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
walking down. On a calm night, they make a lot
of noise, yeah. Can you hear them breathing?
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
Only, well yeah, but only when they
get 10, 15 feet away. Oh, God.
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000
[sil.]
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:33.000
[music]
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
I think, I know this bear. His name,
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
1976 was happy bear when
he was a four year old.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
And he would play all of the time.
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:13.000
[music]
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
Few animals play like, that’s how they
(inaudible) this. And nobody knows they do it.
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:43.000
[music]
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
I’ve seen him every year
now and for eight years.
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
He’s almost my age. Get him right up there.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:13.000
[music]
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
Joy, bear jump with joy.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:48.000
[music]
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
[sil.]
00:39:55.000 --> 00:40:03.000
[music]
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
[sil.]
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
There is bearskin all over that snow field.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Huge bearskin.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
Yeah, a full bear that pranks around it,
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
biggest bearskin I’ve ever seen.
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
You begin down the bear?
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
No, I don’t know, that’s theirs.
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
I don’t even know.
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
I don’t go down there.
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
It’s first time.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
It’s just doesn’t belong to us. No.
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
Because you went down there?
Probably. It’s partly,
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
because I haven’t been doing a great job.
Appalachian isn’t as clean as it used to be.
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
And I got to stop this stuff.
So. In bringing new people.
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
Yeah, I haven’t been great the last few years. I’ve
been treading off. I’ve been trying to publicize bears
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
and I’ve been coming here more than I should have and
it’s a real delicate balance. There is no way to know
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
when you’re really tread in too heavily. My
feeling is maybe I’ve treaded too heavily
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
and it’s time for me to back off. It’s time to
say farewell to these bears for a good while.
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
This is it. I miss this place
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
because it is a special place.
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:18.000
[music]
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
If someone that you knew
well was, was hurt by a bear
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
would it change your feelings
at all about grizzlies? No.
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
Well, suppose, it was someone who umm… knew
what they were doing, who did everything right,
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
who hung up their food, who, who know, who knows
how to camp and despite all the precautions
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
just by some freak… Well, I think
that person would also be aware
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
of the fact that once you go into grizzly country, you are
automatically entering a system where man is not to dominate animal
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
and in the configuration of, of things
that are really possible out there
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
is a possibility that the grizzly bear can tear up
your camp for no fault of your own or tear you up.
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
It’s, it’s an element of risk and it’s an element of that
I struggle very hard to try to protect in wild places
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
because we don’t need our wild places all safe
and tamed. We need a few untamed last vestiges
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
that we can go into and enter the
conditions uh… with which that
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
our first white ancestors hit this
continent with 400, 500 years ago.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
I think, it’s something which by its very
definition is, is uh… is uncontrollable.
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
I think, it’s unmanageable. I think it’s, I
think it’s uh… uncompromisable wilderness
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
and there is nothing we can do. If we want to have that great
bear out there, I think, we have to accept him just as he is
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
with all his cantankerousness with
that indominantable quality about him
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
and we can’t have the bear on our terms. He’s not going to be
non-aggressive. He’s not gonna be shy. He’s gonna be exactly
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
what he is which is a risky proposition.
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
This won’t be a grand wine but
it will be a good little wine.
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:13.000
[sil.]
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
It looks a little thin. But what the hell.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
[sil.]
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
Last night. Is the end of our ordered bear,
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
ordered life.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
But it’s a nice good one.
00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:03.000
[sil.]
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
Want to put ears on him?
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
Yeah.
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
See old friends, we didn’t
get to see last time.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
[sil.]
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
Last night,
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
I was sad. I was getting
bumped up the last time,
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
I worked out.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
I miss this place already.
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:53.000
[sil.]
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
I don’t know if you’re coming for that. I just try to
hook up my radio. Couldn’t get it work. Like my God,
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
you know. I’m only two weeks late. You
better get job, before it gets snowed in.
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
Yeah, you bet. We got a real hot spot gear.
I figured, we’ll just load up until
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
you’re full and go on own.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
Okay, this one ought to be about the same weight.
That’s what I’m hoping. That’s a heavy son of a bitch.
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Yeah, I took them last week. Seen
any grizzlies up here this year.
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
Not too many. But he wasn’t disappointed. No, I
know, I know that. That’s not his favorite thing.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
Me too. I was up at the same
where the helicopter was.
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
Boy, they just disappeared in a hurry.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
That’s why I’m gonna call a park on
this year. They got no business doing
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
surveys by helicopter, that
just drives bears just crazy.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
Because I’ve been doing this season job
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
so bloody long, it’s been… Hard
to be off like. In eight years,
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
since I’ve been working more than
six months out of a whole year.
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
I’m right down to the point where I consider
poor and excessive. He told me last.
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
You may have to get a real job. Yeah. It’s true.
I got a little girl to support, you know.
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
Baby needs new shoes and all that. I’ll
probably wrap it up with bears this year,
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
I think. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m trying to put on doing is
working on a book. Oh good. If I can get advance on a book,
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
I can, I can live through the
winter and spend the winter right.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
Yeah. I think I’ll go down there as owner. Sit
down in front of a typewriter and bang away.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
I knew, it was coming sooner or later.
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
[sil.]
00:48:55.000 --> 00:49:03.000
[music]
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:38.000
[sil.]
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
The CD and the carpet,
it’s broken the picture.
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
God damn it. It will be
taken care of today.
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
Look at this.
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
[sil.]
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
Wood rats. There is so much trouble when they’re
looking for a place to live for the winter.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
And they are so big. You’re afraid to go to sleep at night
because you know one is gonna run across your face.
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:33.000
[sil.]
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
Can you get a screw for this? Can you get a
screw for this? Yeah, I will some day, hon.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
[sil.]
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
What are you gonna do with that? We’re
putting it in a closet. You watch her.
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
All right. Okay.
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
Did the wood rat get in the closet? Thank God, they
didn’t get in the… There are some on your new pant.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
Oh nuts. Nuts. Okay. Some days they’re.
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:18.000
[sil.]
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
He’s thunder bear, he’s thunder bear.
He’s coming at you, charge, charge.
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
[sil.]
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
Here he comes. Look at him.
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
[sil.]
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Thunder bear mauls much.
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:13.000
[sil.]
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
I’m sorry wood rat. You need a new home.
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
What do you think Pam like?
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
Serials or ham?
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:43.000
[sil.]
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
We got the only human beings
who cannot touch their elbows.
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
Hi. Hi.
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
Tuck fingers together.
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
Bone sticks from the yard.
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
Oh, yes, you’ve got a lot of friends
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:30.000
to palm nails.
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
Rainbow peak. Beautiful.
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
You’re not too great
with split heavily logs.
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
You work and I supervise?
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
Sure. I love to do this.
00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
I’m no good at it. I have no finesse. Yeah,
but you can’t go too far wrong either.
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
We had to grab mom and dad and put one.
We had no money.
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
And one old friend of my mother’s say, I think she said well,
at least, it’s nice to see you and where do you live now?
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
And I said well, in the winter, we live in
around Tusa and as close to the Mexican borders
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
we can get and in the summer, we go up to
Montana, you know and live with the grizzly bears
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
and she was saying, just in her mouth, it was
like, oh, how ever do you manage two homes
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
and I was, my mouth was just hope ready to
say, oh, no I trust the help implicitly.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
You know, they, they never steal. And then
before I could even get the words out,
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
she was like, aw, you know, you live in a
tent right? I’ve been issued an ultimatum.
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
Yeah, I got a couple. I can’t
(inaudible) no more forever. Maybe.
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
Maybe, you’re too. Maybe,
one, two, three months.
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
Yeah, I have this one, yeah. Live in, you will live
inside. No, all my life I have been a sub-adult.
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
You know, I never really wanted to grow up. I
really wanted to camp out all my life. And not
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
and live on 3000 bucks a year and migrate seasonally.
I’m still gonna migrate seasonally but uh…
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
there is a time maybe. You know,
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
the whole way that we’ve been able to live
like this is, he doesn’t have a regular job.
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
Well, I mean, he’s a fire lookout and you
know, he’s a GS3 and earns $3700 a year
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
and he spends the rest of the time filming grizzly
bears which if he had a regular job with real money,
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
so we could have a house. He wouldn’t be
able to do this. So it’s real. And you know,
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
as I’m sort of asking him all,
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
okay, it’s been wonderful for seven
years but now, I want a house
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
and I want all these and you have
to earn more than $3700 a year.
00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.999
Ever since I started filming,
I had a certain sense of
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:54.999
a last autumn for the bears. I feel that
every time I run that movie camera,
00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.999
what I’m getting is historical record. It’s essentially,
it’s, it’s a document that’s set in the past
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.999
and I know that I’m wrapping up something
here too after eight years of filming
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
and I’m done with something but also I’m leaving
something behind which will never be there again.
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
And I see teal a little plan together
and I realized that our two daughters
00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
will probably have a chance to grow up on the fridge
of what’s left of the wild country south of Canada
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
and, and this is really a question
more than anything else because
00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
I, I have a feeling that maybe, they’re gonna be
about the last of their generation to see that.
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.999
That’s a comment.
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.999
Once, and how can you, how can
you go after the damn thing,
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:44.999
that’s the end. I mean, don’t you
have some, some hope down in there?
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
You know, I got to be strong. I’ve got uh… It’s, I feel
that our odds of making that precise of the same is,
00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:54.999
our ability to give a little bit of
grace to those last few bears out there
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:59.999
and leave the country big enough, just big
enough to support maybe one last grizz.
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.999
I feel that indeed, our odds are
precisely the same. And I feel that’s,
00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.999
that’s what we’re fighting for. That’s worth
everything. What else are we gonna do?
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.999
If I didn’t have a place
00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
to go that felt as wild as country
has to be to support a grizzly,
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.999
I will not, I wouldn’t, I can’t imagine living in this
world without knowing that place is there somewhere.
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.999
Even if you don’t get to it. It’s
big when we were 74, one last
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.999
epic journey went to grizz country. If that’s the
only trip if I ever take and it’s only in one’s mind,
00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:39.999
it’s still good enough.
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:44.999
Okay. Hi grizzly bear.
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.999
Look at that grizzly bear.
00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
[music]
00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
That magnificent critter.
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.999
Thank you bear.
00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:13.000
[sil.]
00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
Uh… let me just make a few comments about the common reason
most of us are gathered here tonight which really is wildlife,
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
which is animals and why animals seem
so central to many of our battles.
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:29.999
One of our primary task, I feel is identifying
exactly why we need such things as wild
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:34.999
and dangerous beasts? I mean, one criticism which
has been leveled of the environmental movement
00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:39.999
which sticks a lot of the time is that it
has no visceral attachment to the earth.
00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:44.999
They want to save an animal here, a plant
here and they really doesn’t know what for?
00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:49.999
[music]
00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:54.999
All we’ve got left so of Canada, what the American
Indian coexisted for at least 10,000 years of habitat
00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:59.999
is a couple of isolated non-claves is still contain it big
mega faunas such as my bears and the other big carnivores.
00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:04.999
And all the rush, we’ve transformed
in a human and economic landscapes
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:09.999
and I think this is a
pretty risky proposition
00:59:10.000 --> 00:59:14.999
because we all sprang from that habitat and
quite simply that which evolves doesn’t persist
00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.999
unless the same forces that
created it also continue.
00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:24.999
Me and these forces uh… include these large
animals who’s future existence on earth
00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:29.999
is totally dependent upon us now.
00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:38.000
[music]
00:59:40.000 --> 00:59:44.999
I see the grizzly bears as something to be learnt
from. I think it’s a great deal about with strength.
00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:49.999
I think it’s a great deal about to
be learn from the grizzly bear.
00:59:50.000 --> 00:59:54.999
The grizzly bear can be anything. It ought
to be a symbol of free men and women
00:59:55.000 --> 00:59:59.999
who themselves need to resist the
temptation to be tamed into submission
01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:04.999
and passivity when it comes to the bomb.
01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:09.999
[music]
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:14.999
The bear can be there wild
enough to resist being tamed
01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:19.999
and the submission as often we.
01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:28.000
[music]
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:08.000
[sil.]
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 60 minutes
Date: 1989
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: Grades 7-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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