1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,279 Hey, everyone, it's Ashley, just giving you a heads up before the 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,360 episode gets started. My audio is a little funky in this one. It 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,000 kind of sounds like I'm calling in from a cell phone from like two thousand 4 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,119 and four. But Nick and I are troubleshooting and trying to fix it, 5 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,320 so next time it will sound much better. But thanks for staying tuned and 6 00:00:16,359 --> 00:00:35,640 you love you all right. Welcome to episode five of Get Out Alive. 7 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,759 I am your host and resident animal expert, Ashley, and I'm your other 8 00:00:40,799 --> 00:00:45,439 host and definitely not an animal expert, Nick, But you do really love 9 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,759 the animal we're talking about today. Second favorite animal? Yeah, oh, 10 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,439 what's the first? Black bears? Really? You like black bears more than 11 00:00:53,439 --> 00:00:57,960 grizzlies? Yes, black bears are best classic office quote. Okay, well 12 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,439 all right, so let's dive run into it. Nick, you know the 13 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,120 number one defining characteristic to tell grizzlies and black bears a part. Hit me 14 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:14,120 with it. Grizzlies have a big hump between their shoulder blades, and that's 15 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:17,439 a good way to tell whether you have a grizzly or a black bear, 16 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,000 because even though they're called blackberries, they actually do come in you know, 17 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,359 various colors out, blonde and brown, so it's not always just like, 18 00:01:25,439 --> 00:01:27,439 oh, that bear is brown, it's obviously a brown bear. That doesn't 19 00:01:27,439 --> 00:01:30,719 really work like that. Yeah, great point. The name brown bear and 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:37,359 black bear isn't helpful because there's black bears that are white, so that doesn't 21 00:01:37,359 --> 00:01:40,280 help you. So don't assume that just because the bear is brown that is. 22 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,840 Can you imagine if you're walking around the woods of like Florida and you 23 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,840 saw a white black bear going around there, it's a poor bear. Yeah, 24 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,719 I mean in Florida, I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah. And another 25 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,920 thing too, is that grizzlies have a really disk like face or as black 26 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,319 bears have more of like a pointed face. There's also different characteristics with the 27 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:00,560 height of their legs and whatnot. So just look at side by side pictures. 28 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,200 Just make sure if you're going into bear country that you know the difference 29 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,560 between the two, because, as you will learn very soon, how you 30 00:02:07,599 --> 00:02:10,520 respond to them is very different. Yeah. One might get you killed if 31 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,479 you do the wrong thing. Yeah, one hundred percent. So Nick, 32 00:02:15,719 --> 00:02:20,039 you love bears. I love bears. Yes. Do you know the Latin 33 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:25,479 name for a brown bear? Ooh ooh, I think I do canus something 34 00:02:27,039 --> 00:02:31,719 Canus would be a dog. Really, yep. The bear family is ursus 35 00:02:31,759 --> 00:02:35,960 are yeah, because ursa major, ursa minor. Uh huh Okay, So 36 00:02:36,719 --> 00:02:39,000 I apparently I do not know it. That's fine, so for those of 37 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,159 you who don't know. So every animal has a Latin name, and that's 38 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,599 essentially so anywhere you go in the world, if you say the Latin name, 39 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:51,639 it is the same around the world, whereas especially animals like fish, 40 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:53,639 they have a different name in like every town that you go to. So 41 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,879 the Latin name is the way to tell we are talking about the same species 42 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,199 no matter what or like we were talking about last week with mountain lions and 43 00:03:01,199 --> 00:03:04,439 cougars. You know, if you use the Latin name, then you're god. 44 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,759 Yeah. And Latin names are comprised of a genus in a species, 45 00:03:07,879 --> 00:03:13,479 so it's every Latin name is two words, and then there's different specifications on 46 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:15,960 how you like write it in whatever. But anyways, so they're all pronounced 47 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 phonetically. What is your favorite Latin name of the animal kingdom? There is 48 00:03:20,039 --> 00:03:23,159 a correct answer. Oh, off the top of my head, turtis migratorius. 49 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,120 What about the gorilla. What's that gorilla? Gorilla? Gorilla? Oh, 50 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,599 let's Turtis migratorius. Come on, it's a robin. Gorillas are funny. 51 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,520 Anyways, it's gorilla, gorilla, gorilla. Pretty self explanatory, huh. 52 00:03:36,599 --> 00:03:38,719 I know. I love it. It's so simple. I remember that 53 00:03:38,759 --> 00:03:44,479 one. So the Latin name for the brown bear is Ursus arctose, which 54 00:03:44,919 --> 00:03:50,639 ursus in Latin means bear. Arctose also means bear in Greek, so it's 55 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,599 bear bear. So they are the most bear that you can get. They 56 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:58,840 are a bear's bear. So, as I'm sure you're probably wondering, we're 57 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,240 going to talk about grizzlies. Grizzlies are one of the two recognized subspecies of 58 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:09,840 brown bear. Because brown bears are they're in Europe in North America, but 59 00:04:09,879 --> 00:04:13,960 they look very different depending on where you are. So the brown bears in 60 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,079 Europe are more like black bear sized, and then you have the brown bears 61 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:23,920 in Alaska that can be upwards of like one thousand pounds during the salmon run. 62 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:27,000 They are beautiful. I love them. From when I started digging into 63 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,839 the different subspecies of brown bear, I very quickly found out it is a 64 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,199 hot topic because there's sixteen subspecies, but all two of those are recognized. 65 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,399 I could probably name a couple of the subspecies. I know, the Kodiak 66 00:04:40,439 --> 00:04:43,800 bear. That's kind definitely gonna be a subspecies. Yeah, so that one 67 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:48,600 is Ursus arctose middendorfi ooh what ant dwarfee however you want to pronounce it. 68 00:04:48,639 --> 00:04:53,959 But yeah, Basically the third word is how you identify the subspecies, and 69 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,360 the subspecies is just a further down categorization of a species. Anyways. So 70 00:04:59,399 --> 00:05:02,199 there's the Zodiac bear, which lives on Kodiak Island off of Alaska. I 71 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:09,439 want to go there one day. The other recognized subspecies is Versus arctos horrebliss. 72 00:05:09,759 --> 00:05:12,319 Oh, that's gonna be a grizzly. That is the grizzly. Who 73 00:05:12,319 --> 00:05:15,639 are you, baz? Yeah, so that's the grizzly, which it kind 74 00:05:15,639 --> 00:05:20,360 of is in the name that they're horrible. They are fucking beasts. According 75 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:26,120 to the IUCN red List, which is essentially like the people who decide which 76 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,959 kind of species are extinct in how you categorize them and blah blah blah. 77 00:05:29,959 --> 00:05:32,360 And they have a website where you can go and find very specific information on 78 00:05:32,399 --> 00:05:36,319 different species and like the status of their population. So I looked up brown 79 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:43,600 bears. There are one hundred and ten thousand individuals worldwide adult individuals, so 80 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,879 they're considered least concern in terms of like endangerment. So they're considered least concern. 81 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,199 But what the IUCN red list didn't consider was the different subspecies. Okay, 82 00:05:54,519 --> 00:05:57,759 like the Kodiak bear group might actually not be doing well, but because 83 00:05:57,759 --> 00:06:00,560 they don't specify, they just say in general, least concern. But the 84 00:06:00,639 --> 00:06:05,360 population is growing in Yellowstone. I've only ever really heard them referred to as 85 00:06:05,399 --> 00:06:09,040 grizzlies and Yellowstone, so that's what we're going to call them. And that's 86 00:06:09,319 --> 00:06:13,240 the type of bear we're referring to today, is a brown bear in Yellowstone. 87 00:06:13,439 --> 00:06:16,600 So please correct me if I'm wrong, But I believe that the difference 88 00:06:16,639 --> 00:06:21,040 between a grizzly and a brown bear is location, like based off how close 89 00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:26,199 they are to the ocean. So like coastal bears are considered brown bears once 90 00:06:26,199 --> 00:06:29,360 you go inland, I don't know exactly how much. That's when they are 91 00:06:29,399 --> 00:06:32,079 considered grizzlies. Yeah you're still ret me. I like bears. Yeah, 92 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,720 I love that, So yeah, it's it really depends on It's like a 93 00:06:34,759 --> 00:06:38,879 regional thing, so kind of like mountain lions, where depending where you are, 94 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,879 that's how you refer to them. That's kind of the way it is 95 00:06:40,959 --> 00:06:43,879 with grizzlies. They're brown bears if they're coastal. And like, yeah, 96 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,199 like you said, perfect, thank you. You want to get into it. 97 00:06:46,439 --> 00:06:47,920 But what the grizzly attack we're talking about today? Oh my god, 98 00:06:47,959 --> 00:06:51,240 I's get into hell. Yeah, okay, you actually don't know who we're 99 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,800 talking about today. No, you have not told me anything about the story, 100 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,800 which we discussed and we said, we're gonna, you know, share 101 00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:00,000 some information with me. But I guess that is don't get any tonight. 102 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,600 That's fine. Yeah, and I'm excited by that. Am I going to 103 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:05,720 freak out? You're going to freak out? Is this a grizzly bear attack? 104 00:07:05,959 --> 00:07:09,360 This is a grizzly bear attack. I meant to ask it was this 105 00:07:09,399 --> 00:07:13,199 attack in Yellowstone? It was in Montana? Close enough? Yeah, what's 106 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:15,839 the difference? Yeah, just kidding. Yeah, So it was in Montana. 107 00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:18,959 So today we're talking about Todd or have you heard of him? I 108 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,319 have not heard of Todd or Okay, so I actually reached out to Todd 109 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,959 and asked him if we could tell his story, because I figured it'd be 110 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,839 super weird if you were someone who got attacked by an animal and then you 111 00:07:30,879 --> 00:07:33,319 went on Apple podcasts and you were like, wait, my name is that? 112 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,639 So I want to be and his attack happened pretty recently, so I 113 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,959 wanted to be respectful and say, hey, do you mind if we tell 114 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,480 your story? If you're not comfortable, we don't have to. And he 115 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,360 was super nice. He was like, here, I wrote up the story 116 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:48,800 here, and he's been on so many podcasts. He was like on a 117 00:07:48,839 --> 00:07:54,399 meat eater podcast, so he's told this story so many times. And you 118 00:07:54,439 --> 00:07:58,439 know, although I would love to have more survivors on to tell us about 119 00:07:58,439 --> 00:08:03,040 their experience firsthand, the reason Nick and I are doing this is not for 120 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,600 clout. We're not here to say that we talked to this person who survived 121 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,240 this attack. We're here solely to tell you the stories so we can all 122 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,120 learn from them. Not because we're trying to profit off of people's trauma, 123 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,560 but the profits and the clout are nice. I love how I made this 124 00:08:18,639 --> 00:08:22,560 heartfelt point and you just have to poop on it. That is my role 125 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,439 at this podcast. Yeah, but yeah, so you know, we're here 126 00:08:26,519 --> 00:08:31,560 to give you information and be educational first and foremost, and also tell you 127 00:08:31,639 --> 00:08:35,519 interesting stories about people being attacked, because if we're being honest, people like 128 00:08:35,639 --> 00:08:39,200 to hear gruesome attack stories, probably because it's in our nature, but also 129 00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:45,240 I think because we like to feel like we're informed. So if we're in 130 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,159 that situation, we're better prepared. So yeah, it would really hard. 131 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,360 It'd be hard to push like telling people, hey, this is what you 132 00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:54,720 need to do to be safe and then listen if they didn't know what the 133 00:08:54,759 --> 00:08:58,679 consequences were if you weren't being safe, if you didn't do the right thing. 134 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,120 So it was kind of one of those being scared to do the right 135 00:09:03,159 --> 00:09:05,559 thing, like scared straight. Yeah but yeah, you know, being scared 136 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,679 straight, but like we just don't want to get eaten. So Todd Or 137 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,039 he grew up in Ennis, Montana, on a fish hatchery, which is 138 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:20,720 pretty cool and from everything I've read about Todd, he is the kind of 139 00:09:20,759 --> 00:09:24,559 person if you went to Montana and you needed like a guide to show you 140 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,320 around, you would call someone like Todd. He is just one of many 141 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,559 outdoor enthusiasts in his family grew up in Montana. He's an avid fisher hunter. 142 00:09:33,879 --> 00:09:37,679 He hikes and he also makes knives ooh sick. Yeah, and he's 143 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:43,399 also he's currently an engineer technician for the Gallatin National Forest, so he works 144 00:09:43,399 --> 00:09:46,840 outside. He has a degree in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. 145 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,080 Like, he knows what he's doing. Yeah, this is an experienced 146 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,919 person. Yeah, he knows how to deal with animals. Yeah, exactly. 147 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,720 So the fact that he was attacked makes it so much more scary. 148 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,159 It was October first, twenty six and it was a Saturday, and it 149 00:10:01,159 --> 00:10:05,360 was actually the first Saturday of bow hunting season. But because of an earlier 150 00:10:05,399 --> 00:10:09,799 injury in his life from snowboarding, he can't bow hunt, so on this 151 00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:13,600 day he was just out hiking and scouting, actually out for elk. So 152 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,720 when his hunting season came around, he knew where to go, he knew 153 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,200 where they were. So he was in Madison Valley and he began to hike 154 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,000 into the mountains in southwest Montana. It was pretty dark and he was going 155 00:10:24,039 --> 00:10:26,480 pretty fast because he wanted to get to the top of the mountain and you 156 00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:28,919 know, see as much as he could in the time that he had, 157 00:10:28,159 --> 00:10:33,480 so just three miles in he spotted a sow grizzly bear with two cubs. 158 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,759 A sow was a female bear, so and also a female pig. I 159 00:10:37,759 --> 00:10:41,000 don't know why they used the same words, but yeah, he stepped out 160 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,279 into this clearing, and he admits later on that, like, he probably 161 00:10:43,279 --> 00:10:46,679 should have been looking around and going slower. So by the time he stepped 162 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:50,600 out into this clearing and noticed the grizzly, she had noticed him too, 163 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,000 So she looked up at him and then bolted with her cubs, and he 164 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,639 was like, oh cool. So she kind of went west and over a 165 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,559 ridge. He waited a few seconds, felt comfortable, and then headed in 166 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,639 the opposite direction eastward. He takes a few steps and then hears a branch 167 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:13,159 cracking behind him, turns around and she, the mother grizzly, is gunning 168 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:20,480 it towards him like ears back bolting, And once again he's experienced. He's 169 00:11:20,519 --> 00:11:24,399 taken bear safety classes. He always has a bear spray canister on his hip. 170 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:26,440 He knows how to use it. He's practiced a lot with it, 171 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,080 which we've talked about. It's very important. And he also had a pistol 172 00:11:30,159 --> 00:11:33,120 on him that he was going to use if he saw a wolf, because 173 00:11:33,159 --> 00:11:35,919 he had a wolf tag, but it wasn't the kind like it had a 174 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:37,879 slug in it that could probably kill a bear if he hid it in the 175 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,639 right spot, but also had a scope on it. It wouldn't have been 176 00:11:41,639 --> 00:11:43,480 great to just pull out in the moment, you know what I mean, 177 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,919 for protection. So she's coming at him, he takes out his bear spray. 178 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,279 He knows that she's not bluffing, like she is running like forty miles 179 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,639 an hour at him one hundred percent. So he yelled out to her to 180 00:11:56,639 --> 00:11:58,799 try to be like, hey, I'm a person, you don't want to 181 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,240 mess with me, and she was like, nope, don't care, kept 182 00:12:01,279 --> 00:12:07,120 gunning. So right as she was on him, he triggered the bear spray 183 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,720 full blast and it went out like thirty feet because if you've ever used bear 184 00:12:09,759 --> 00:12:13,440 spray before, like it sprays out quite a distance. But because she was 185 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:18,039 running so fast, she just blew right through the bear spray and was on 186 00:12:18,159 --> 00:12:22,440 him. So instinctually he threw himself on the ground, put his face in 187 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,360 the dirt, put his arms and hands around the back of his neck, 188 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,480 and locked his hands to protect his neck, and that's exactly what you want 189 00:12:28,519 --> 00:12:31,240 to do. It's kind of what Cynthia dusil Bacon did with the black bear, 190 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,200 and that's really what saved her because one, if you're wearing a backpack, 191 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,600 they can tear into that instead of your organs. And two, like, 192 00:12:37,639 --> 00:12:39,120 if you're blocking your neck and everything, you're good. You don't want 193 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,840 that bear to get access to your soft little belly. So she starts tearing 194 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,440 into his right arm and his shoulder. But after a few seconds and after 195 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,799 a few bites, she was gone because he heard her starting to make coughing 196 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:54,919 noises and wheezing, so clearly it took a few seconds, but the bear 197 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,600 spray did work. She leaves, so he's sitting there on the ground and 198 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:01,960 he's like, oh my god, I just surrect a bear attack. How 199 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,360 crazy. So he picks himself up once he realizes that she's gone. He 200 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,639 was like, oh, okay, my injuries they're not great, but it 201 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,360 was mostly just his arms and shoulder and upper back, so he was like, 202 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:13,320 great, I'm not bleeding to death. I can walk out of here. 203 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,759 I can go get my own help. Like he doesn't need to be 204 00:13:16,799 --> 00:13:18,960 sitting there waiting for parent mags to show up one hundred percent. Yeah, 205 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:24,120 and he's like totally lucid. Adrenaline's running whatever I imagine. So yeah, 206 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,679 so he's like, all right, I'll make my way back down the trail. 207 00:13:26,759 --> 00:13:28,679 So he's walking, and he had hiked in for forty five minutes, 208 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,200 so yeah, so he had quite a ways to go. So he starts 209 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:35,440 making his way back towards the trail, doing a study pace, but like 210 00:13:35,519 --> 00:13:41,120 checking himself as he's going, and his backpack had taken most of the attacks 211 00:13:41,399 --> 00:13:43,799 from the bear, but he still had like you know, puncture wounds and 212 00:13:43,799 --> 00:13:46,159 they were bleeding through his clothes. At this point, Like I said, 213 00:13:46,159 --> 00:13:50,240 it was October and in Montana, pretty cold, so he's wearing a lot 214 00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:52,919 of layers and it was bleeding through the layers, and he really just want 215 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,279 to put distance between him and the bear so that he could address his wounds 216 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,600 and whatnot, because he also was very trained up in first aid. Like 217 00:13:58,639 --> 00:14:01,159 I said, he knows what he's doing. This dude's just just a monster. 218 00:14:01,399 --> 00:14:05,480 Yeah, And as he's walking these three miles back to his truck, 219 00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:09,519 initially the adrenaline's starting to stop, and as we've talked about before, once 220 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:11,960 you're attacked and your adrenaline gets going, it's really the thing that pushes you 221 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,559 to stay alive. It is what stops you from feeling the immediate pain and 222 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,360 what keeps you from giving up. So at this point, it's subsiding. 223 00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:22,279 So he's like bash shit, Like I'm really stiff. He walks and then 224 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:28,960 hears something behind him. Oh no. He turns around and the mother grizzly 225 00:14:28,159 --> 00:14:33,200 is back. Geez, but she's within ten feet of him this time, 226 00:14:33,639 --> 00:14:35,320 and he has no more bear spray left. Not even that he didn't have 227 00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:39,799 time because he almost just caught her out of the corner of his eye, 228 00:14:41,039 --> 00:14:43,360 and then it was too late because she was so close and so fast, 229 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,320 and he didn't have time to get his pistol. So once again he turned 230 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:48,480 and the bear knocked into the ground, and he was like, oh my 231 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,879 god, I survived the first time, but how am I going to survive 232 00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:56,480 two grizzly attacks in one day? Well? You probably won't, is is 233 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,639 his first thought. Spoiler he doesn't die towards the end. God, yeah, 234 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,559 that's how I was able to talk to him. He talks about like 235 00:15:03,639 --> 00:15:07,960 he didn't even think about I'm going to die he was just thinking, here's 236 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,159 what I need to do to keep living. So once again he protects his 237 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,480 neck besides his head and just tries to put all of his vitals flush with 238 00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:18,720 the ground so she doesn't have access to them. But this time the mother 239 00:15:18,799 --> 00:15:22,320 bear was pissed. She slammed down on top of him and bit his shoulder 240 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,960 and arms again, but once again, way more aggressive this time because she 241 00:15:26,039 --> 00:15:30,000 was angry, and he says that the force of each bite was like a 242 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,919 sledgehammer with teeth, and she bit down on his forearm and it went really 243 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,320 deep and she instantly crushed his olna in his left arm. Right as she 244 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,279 crushed his olna, he couldn't feel his left hand, and then his wrist 245 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:46,559 and fingers for that hand were useless because she crushed his bones with one bite. 246 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:52,759 He understandably gasped, and that set her off even more because she was 247 00:15:52,759 --> 00:15:54,559 like, oh, he's not dead, let me keep trying to kill him. 248 00:15:54,639 --> 00:15:58,600 Yeah. Yeah, So she does a whole other frenzy of attacks on 249 00:15:58,639 --> 00:16:00,559 his shoulder up or back, and this whole time he was just thinking, 250 00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:03,600 Okay, stay as quiet as possible, don't move, don't move, And 251 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,960 that's what he had going through his head. It wasn't oh my god, 252 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,519 I'm going to die. It was do not move and she will leave. 253 00:16:08,679 --> 00:16:11,679 So he was trying to go with the play dead tactic one hundred percent because 254 00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:15,039 this was a mother bear, and he knows from all of his experience the 255 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,960 whole point of her attacking is because you surprised her and she thinks you're a 256 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,440 threat. So if you play dead and she thinks the threat is gone, 257 00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:25,080 she's out of there to go check on her cubs. Maybe the first attack 258 00:16:25,279 --> 00:16:27,279 was she thought he was a threat. I think she's got mad that he 259 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,639 sprayed her. He's like, I'm gonna go kill this motherfucker. Yeah, 260 00:16:30,639 --> 00:16:33,799 And like we've kind of talked about before, bears had different personalities and different 261 00:16:33,799 --> 00:16:37,600 tolerances. So one bear, this might have been too much. If they 262 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,440 got sprayed, they'd be like, oh, I'm good forever, but this 263 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,519 particular bear was not good. Oh. She took it personally. She took 264 00:16:45,559 --> 00:16:48,879 it very personally. So at this point, you know, after he coughs 265 00:16:48,919 --> 00:16:52,600 and she's biting into him more with this new flurry of attacks, she starts 266 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,559 biting and clawing in his head, and she cut a five inch gash right 267 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,840 above his right ear that nearly tore his scalp off Jesus, and this caused 268 00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:04,839 blood to go gushing down his face and into his eyes. So he was 269 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,880 now blind and he still didn't move, still didn't make a sound. The 270 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,839 adrenaline was back. He wasn't feeling any pain, but he was feeling her 271 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:18,359 crushing his body and his bones and tearing into him. If you've ever seen 272 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,599 The Revenant, hell yeah, then if you remember the bear attack from that, 273 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,119 it's like the most famous scene from the movie. Everyone said, it's 274 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,559 pretty accurate in terms of like the bear will pick you up and shake you 275 00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:30,160 like a dog shakes a toy, and then slam you back down. And 276 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,480 that's exactly what she was doing to him. She was picking him up, 277 00:17:33,759 --> 00:17:37,440 shaking him, slamming him on the ground, and then biting him again. 278 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,519 So he was really afraid at this point that she was going to bite his 279 00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:45,039 neck because humans were soft little babies and don't have a whole lot of protection, 280 00:17:45,599 --> 00:17:48,440 so if they hit one spot, you're done. Yeah, I mean, 281 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,039 if she was able to crush his far arm with one butite, I'm 282 00:17:52,039 --> 00:17:53,480 sure she grabb him by the neck, he wouldn't really have much of a 283 00:17:53,559 --> 00:17:56,759 chance, yeah, or if she flipped him over. Oh yeah, yeah, 284 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,599 that's like you were saying, like no chance. Yeah. You know, 285 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,519 this whole time, he's thinking, don't move, don't move, don't 286 00:18:03,559 --> 00:18:07,960 move, she'll leave, stay down, block the vitals. So she suddenly 287 00:18:07,039 --> 00:18:12,000 stopped and just stood on him, and she dug her claws into his lower 288 00:18:12,039 --> 00:18:15,839 back, like right below his belt line, and just stood there breathing on 289 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,920 his neck, and he remembers she smelled like death. She smelled so bad, 290 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:23,960 either from what she was eating or like if she was rolling in something 291 00:18:25,039 --> 00:18:27,640 dead, like she just dunk, and he wanted to like gag and throw 292 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,079 up, but you know that would trigger the bear again. So she's standing 293 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,000 there pinning him down. She kind of did this thing where she would nip 294 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,599 at him, almost like a dog nips at a person, as if she 295 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,960 was trying to like test him, like are you still there? Are you 296 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,839 still alive? And then once she was comfortable and felt that he was done, 297 00:18:45,039 --> 00:18:48,559 she left just like that. Yeah, And he, like Cynthia was, 298 00:18:48,559 --> 00:18:52,720 was terrified to take a breath because he was like, she's standing right 299 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,279 there watching me. She'll know, yeah, and come right back and finish 300 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,920 the job. So he's sitting there, waited about ten secs and then nothing. 301 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,559 He reached his right hand, the functional hand down to try to grab 302 00:19:04,599 --> 00:19:08,640 his pistol and it's gone. Oh yeah, she had ripped it away from 303 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,119 his body during the attack, and his bear spray was useless. He started 304 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,799 to wipe the blood from each eye really slow. He was very hesitant, 305 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,240 just to make sure for sure that she was gone. Yeap. Once his 306 00:19:19,319 --> 00:19:22,119 eyes were wiping, he could see. He raised his head, took a 307 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,119 look around, and she was actually gone this time. But his first thought 308 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:30,200 was if she gets her cubs and comes back here to double check that I'm 309 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,200 not a threat. If I'm still here, I'm dead to eat him. 310 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:34,839 Yeah. Well that well yeah, so he was like, I have to 311 00:19:34,839 --> 00:19:37,880 get out of here. So once he looked up, he also realized that 312 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,640 ten feet away from him was his pistol. He goes over, thumbs back 313 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,359 the hammer, and now he's prepared. But something I did want to mention, 314 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:51,599 although a pistol or a firearm may feel like a good mode of protection 315 00:19:52,079 --> 00:19:56,400 against a bear, you really want to make sure that you hit that bear 316 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,160 and you kill it, because nothing is going to piss that bear off more 317 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,519 than being shot. Yeah, no, it's not gonna be happy. So 318 00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:06,160 he picks up all this stuff, grabs the bear spray, grabs the pistol, 319 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,119 cocks the hammer back, and starts moving back down the trail. So 320 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,079 blood was dripping all over him. And also, if you're thinking he's in 321 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:18,920 bear country, he's now a walking, bleeding mess. He has to get 322 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,119 out of there. Yeah, so his clothes were completely soaked with blood at 323 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:26,839 this point. Like I said before, he had first aid training. As 324 00:20:26,839 --> 00:20:29,920 he was walking like obviously wanted to put some distance between him and the bear. 325 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,519 He also was assessing himself like, Okay, although I am bleeding, 326 00:20:32,559 --> 00:20:36,440 I am not bleeding profusely. She didn't hit any major arteries. Yes, 327 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,240 I have some real messed up arms. I'm generally okay. Do you know 328 00:20:41,279 --> 00:20:44,839 how far he was from the truck when the attack happened. He was only 329 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,039 five minutes down the trail, like from the first tack. Yes, he 330 00:20:48,079 --> 00:20:51,680 walked for five minutes then she came back. Ooh. Yeah, So he 331 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,039 had a long way to go after the second attack, which was obviously the 332 00:20:55,079 --> 00:20:59,480 more devastating attack, and his hike back was not an easy one, like 333 00:20:59,519 --> 00:21:03,240 he had to cross rivers. So it was a hard hike if you're a 334 00:21:03,319 --> 00:21:08,200 normal person, let alone a two time Grizzly attack survivor. Yeah. After 335 00:21:08,319 --> 00:21:11,839 the I'm sure grueling forty five minutes, he gets back to the trailhead in 336 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,640 his truck and it was only eight am at this point, and I think 337 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,519 this goes to show you the kind of person that Todd is. One of 338 00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:22,480 his first thoughts when he was back to his truck was, Man, there's 339 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:23,920 gonna be a lot of other people coming through here. I should leave a 340 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,839 note. There was an aggressive grizzly was going to take the time to warn 341 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,079 other people, which is so sweet. But his hands were essentially useless and 342 00:21:32,079 --> 00:21:33,759 he was covered in blood, so he's like that it's not gonna happen. 343 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:41,160 But the reason this attack is so well known is because Todd took a video 344 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,039 of himself walking out of the woods, like with his scalp hanging down. 345 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,559 You did send me this, yeah, yeah, So the video is out 346 00:21:48,599 --> 00:21:52,160 there and after he posted it within two days, he had millions and millions 347 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,920 of views after two days and posting that video, so he went viral so 348 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,559 fast because he was just like gonna show his buddies the kind of weekend he 349 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,119 had, and he was physically a mess, Like I said, scalp hanging 350 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,400 down, blood all over him. If you follow him on Instagram, his 351 00:22:07,519 --> 00:22:10,839 profile picture is one of the pictures he took after getting attacked. I mean, 352 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,599 wouldn't you, Oh It's all I would ever talk about And same with 353 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,559 you. Oh yeah, that'd be a maniac if I got attacked by a 354 00:22:17,559 --> 00:22:21,799 bear exactly. So anyways, like I said, he took a few pictures, 355 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,559 took a video to show his buddies, ended up going, but to 356 00:22:25,559 --> 00:22:30,119 show his buddies the old man, guess brought me to to king Match again. 357 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,640 That snatchat streak for me, Like, hah, she got tack about 358 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,160 Grizzly Bear twice. I'd be so mad at you why I'd get to a 359 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,480 hospital. But Todd was not an idiot. Todd knew what he was doing. 360 00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:45,279 He got in the truck and also took the time to buckle up first 361 00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:47,359 because he was like, I'm not about to die in a car crash. 362 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,880 No. I totally support this, because if you survived two bear attacks and 363 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,319 then died in a car accing zoo with your fucking seatbelt, oh my god, 364 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,680 not a lucky day. But he did stop a rancher on the way 365 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,200 to the hospital and was like, can you please call the hospit I don't 366 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,400 let them know him coming that way. I'm not walking in and horrifying everybody 367 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,400 that's there. Hey. He also called his wife on the way there. 368 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:08,079 She was like, oh, yeah, I'm about to get coffee with a 369 00:23:08,079 --> 00:23:11,119 friend. He was like, cool, I'm on my way to the hospital. 370 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,839 I got attacked by a grizzly. I see it there. Yeah, 371 00:23:15,079 --> 00:23:18,720 super chill. So anyways, after a very long drive, he finally gets 372 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,880 to the hospital, where he's met by a doctor, a nurse, and 373 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,559 a local sheriff. At this point, like the adrenaline was gone. He 374 00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:29,480 couldn't open the door to his truck, he couldn't put the truck in park, 375 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,359 he couldn't take off his seatbelt, so the sheriff came over and helped 376 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:33,880 him out. I'm sorry, I don't know if he said this. How 377 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,640 long was the drive to the hospital. It was like an hour? Oh 378 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:38,839 my god, Yeah, it was a long drive. Like he's in the 379 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,839 middle of nowhere scouting for ELK. He said his left arm was useless and 380 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,519 there was a deep tear in his deltoid of his right shoulder, and obviously 381 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,279 so many puncture rooms. So two tendons had been severed in his left forearm 382 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,200 and they needed surgery to repair all that shredded muscle and reattach the tendons. 383 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,880 A bunch of his nerves had obviously been damaged as well, and he had 384 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,759 once he got there, seven to eight hours just of being stitched up. 385 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,960 Jesus, that's not including any of the surgeries, or that's just to get 386 00:24:10,039 --> 00:24:14,359 stitched up. That's just being stitched. And this is a really gross detail, 387 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:15,599 but I want to share it, so if you're of the faint of 388 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,680 heart, please don't listen. Give it. So the doctor that was stitching 389 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,599 him up was trying to stitch where his tendons were all fucked up, and 390 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,640 he would stitch and then the tendons would pop it back open. Oh no, 391 00:24:29,319 --> 00:24:32,079 yeah, So it took a lot of like, shove it down, 392 00:24:32,279 --> 00:24:36,119 try to stitch, pops out, do it again. And as you will 393 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:40,160 learn very quickly, Todd is a beast. So he is unbothered. He's 394 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,519 unbothered. Yeah. So, after being stitched up for seven to eight hours, 395 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:48,480 he went home and had surgery the next day, and for his surgery, 396 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,519 he opted for just a local anesthetic so he could watch the entire surgery. 397 00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:56,880 No, no way, I can't even get my blood drawn and watch. 398 00:24:57,079 --> 00:25:00,480 Oh yeah, I have to go to therapy to talk about getting my 399 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,279 blood drawn because I have such a phobia of it after a bad experience. 400 00:25:03,319 --> 00:25:07,000 So once again, he is a different breed. He is way cooler. 401 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,839 He's a bob, big old badass that's way cooler than we are. But 402 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,319 to this day, he still has no feeling in his forearm due to the 403 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:18,759 nerve and the muscle damage. And he had to do physical therapy for a 404 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:22,799 long time just to get ninety percent of the strength and use back in his 405 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,519 left arm. And like Oliverb's telling us, like he still doesn't have his 406 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,079 full strength. And the attack happened fifteen to twenty years ago, you never 407 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,240 go back to what you were. Yeah, your nerves just don't heal up 408 00:25:33,279 --> 00:25:37,359 like they used to. No, So, the day after the attack, 409 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,839 Fish and Game went in on horseback to try to find the grizzly that was 410 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:42,720 clearly so aggressive, and they never found her, so she could still be 411 00:25:42,759 --> 00:25:48,359 out there, and clearly she hasn't killed anybody that they've found or mauled anybody 412 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,279 again, so that we know of Yeah, I guess no. Anyways, 413 00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:56,319 he says, looking back, like I said before a little bit, he 414 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,279 said he would have slowed down and really taken the time to look around. 415 00:26:00,039 --> 00:26:03,240 And obviously, as I'm sure all of you would have guessed, he still 416 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,400 is out in the wilderness every day like it is such a big part of 417 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,799 his life. He couldn't let that go. But he said he's definitely more 418 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,680 anxious now, and if he sees a grizzly, he's like more on edge, 419 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,720 but he's never had another negative experience like the one that he had before. 420 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,200 Yeah, i'd be a little more on edge. Two, you know, 421 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,599 one of those just trying to get that could be the one that just 422 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,200 tried to kill me, you know, last week. So I'm gonna I'm 423 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,920 gonna be a little freaked out. Yeah, So let's get into a little 424 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:33,480 bit more of grizzly attack statistics, how we avoid them, How you should 425 00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:36,319 feel about grizzlies. Well, I'm not gonna tell you to feel about anything, 426 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:40,920 but I definitely even know about the avoidance part because whatever I'm out and 427 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:42,319 I see, you know, these big fluffy animals. I want to get 428 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:47,559 as close as possible, which I've been yelled at on this podcast already for 429 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:49,599 so I need to know and in your personal life by me, yeah, 430 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:53,440 and multiple friends. It's been a whole thank anyway. So I definitely know 431 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,200 how to not get my face eaten. Yeah, first and foremost, leave 432 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,559 them the fuck alone. How about but what if they like hugs? They 433 00:27:00,599 --> 00:27:03,839 don't? Oh, oh my gosh, speaking of hugs, you know, 434 00:27:03,839 --> 00:27:08,720 it's ironic that we're recording this Grizzly Bear episode this week because guess where I 435 00:27:08,759 --> 00:27:14,039 went this week? Oh my god, I almost forgot to mention. Yeah, 436 00:27:14,079 --> 00:27:17,519 So if you listen to our Black Bear our second episode about black bears, 437 00:27:17,799 --> 00:27:21,160 we mentioned the Ben Killem Bear Sanctuary in New Hampshire, and I went 438 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,599 there this week. I can't believe that. Like what a fucking text together. 439 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:26,640 Like I come out of work, It's like, I'm going to Ben 440 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,720 Killing's place, Like huh huh. Yeah, I got so lucky. My 441 00:27:32,079 --> 00:27:34,000 one of my coworkers had put on a trap for a orphan bear cub and 442 00:27:34,039 --> 00:27:37,119 he was like, Hey, I just got the bear cub. Do you 443 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:38,799 want to come with me to drop it at Ben's and I was like do 444 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,519 what. Yeah, So unfortunately I didn't get to meet Ben, but I 445 00:27:42,599 --> 00:27:45,759 met his nephew who now runs the Bear Center. But Ben is the very 446 00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:49,480 famous, like world famous bear biologist. But anyways, it was so cool. 447 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,559 And also I've never been that close to a bear because obviously, like 448 00:27:53,559 --> 00:27:57,079 I had to help my coworker move the trap. And let me tell you, 449 00:27:57,079 --> 00:28:00,000 you know, I said, the black bears are bfb big fat babies. 450 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:06,720 They're no joke. That's a bear cub. He was scary in that 451 00:28:06,799 --> 00:28:11,799 trap, like swiping at us, snapping his jaw like growling, was very 452 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,720 upset. How much do you think you wait, that's a good question. 453 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,759 I don't know, like twenty to thirty pounds, Like he was really tiny 454 00:28:17,839 --> 00:28:19,240 because he had been on his ohe for a few days. Even though it's 455 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,920 a baby, it's still gonna really suck to deal with, Yeah, one 456 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,200 hundred percent. So we joked about it in the bear episode, but like 457 00:28:26,319 --> 00:28:29,079 they're babies when you compare them to grizzlies, but there's still no joke. 458 00:28:29,319 --> 00:28:30,319 Yeah, so it's great, you know, we brought him there and now 459 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,160 he's gonna get taken care of and released with all the other little ones. 460 00:28:33,319 --> 00:28:37,880 But yeah, it was so cool to see eleven little bear cubs playing around 461 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,000 and like basically a jungle gym. And if you join our Patreon, that's 462 00:28:41,039 --> 00:28:45,680 where you get to see the video I took of the bears playing. There's 463 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,640 a baby little bear named Bert and he's real chunky and real cute and you 464 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,279 don't miss it. Burt so cute. But yeah, so anyways, that 465 00:28:53,319 --> 00:28:57,279 was great. That's it. That is not it. I was having a 466 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:03,319 crisis this entire time. I'm trying to know everything I can about your time 467 00:29:03,359 --> 00:29:06,039 there because I am a big fan of Ben's and I'm a big fan of 468 00:29:06,079 --> 00:29:10,000 black bears, and especially when they are in cub form because they are adorable. 469 00:29:10,519 --> 00:29:12,039 Yeah, it was. It was a good time. So anyways, 470 00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:15,640 let's get into it. So, according to Stephen Herrero's books that we mentioned 471 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:21,000 in the Black Bear episode, bear attacks causes in How to Avoid Them great 472 00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:23,720 title, Yeah, he said, most grizzly injuries occur during July, August 473 00:29:23,759 --> 00:29:29,880 and September because those are the busiest months in national parks, so more people, 474 00:29:30,359 --> 00:29:33,759 more chances for encounters. And if you're wondering, okay, we said 475 00:29:33,799 --> 00:29:37,759 in the Black Bear episode, there's like maybe one attack or death a year 476 00:29:37,799 --> 00:29:42,599 from black bears, or honestly less than that. In just North America alone, 477 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:47,920 there's like eleven grizzly attacks per year. Jesus. That being said, 478 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,920 think of how many black bears there are and how there's so fewer grizzlies, 479 00:29:52,079 --> 00:29:55,799 and not just that that black bears are living in like urban areas, like 480 00:29:55,839 --> 00:29:57,839 they're in your town. Yeah, so that goes to show like you don't 481 00:29:57,839 --> 00:30:00,920 have very much to fear from black bears. And the reason that black bears 482 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,759 their instinct is to run up trees is because they learn to do that to 483 00:30:04,839 --> 00:30:11,440 avoid grizzlies, because grizzlies will eat them. That it's a horrifying thought that 484 00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:15,960 a totter of fifty pound black bear has to run from something. Yeah, 485 00:30:15,039 --> 00:30:18,200 I mean grizzlies. We love talking about them because they're the biggest, baddest 486 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:22,400 thing out there. I mean, they're also so cool and deserve so much 487 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,279 respect, but they're scary. At some point, we definitely have to shout 488 00:30:26,279 --> 00:30:30,160 out the fat bear week over at Katmai National Park. Oh, oh, 489 00:30:30,279 --> 00:30:32,920 we'll talk about it. I mean, like we're talking about now. We 490 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,480 love talking about grizzly attacks for so many reasons. We're going to have so 491 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,240 many grizzly stories coming up, so don't you worry. We'll have plenty of 492 00:30:38,319 --> 00:30:41,880 time to talk about fat Bear week. Yes, so those when grizzly attacks 493 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,000 are the most common, just because that's there's so many people out there. 494 00:30:45,359 --> 00:30:49,240 Also, be aware of what kind of habitat you're in. So if you're 495 00:30:49,279 --> 00:30:56,079 in like a blueberry patch, maybe don't be the berries have come out. 496 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,000 Maybe avoid spaces where their natural food is good time to leave. Yeah, 497 00:31:00,039 --> 00:31:04,920 And grizzlies will eat They're omnivorous, so they'll eat berries roughage. But they'll 498 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:11,000 also hunt down elk and take down an adult elk with a swipe of a 499 00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:15,160 paw, So no joke. Like the way that grizzlies kill things is like 500 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,000 they run up on them and just hit them with brute force. Yeah, 501 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:22,000 brutal. Yeah. And it's not like elk are small animals. Deer are 502 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,519 relatively small. They're not super impressive amazon the ones I've been knowingland the least, 503 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,799 and elk is massive, a little bit smaller than a horse. Basically, 504 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,200 I think about it, if you punched an elk in the butt, 505 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,160 do you think it would do anything. It would kill you, It would 506 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,839 kick you and kill you. Well okay, yes, but also it'd be 507 00:31:37,839 --> 00:31:41,480 like whatever. But it Grizzly can knock it down and kill it with like 508 00:31:41,559 --> 00:31:45,759 the swipe of a paw. So that goes to show you how powerful grizzlies 509 00:31:45,799 --> 00:31:48,079 are. I mean, we're gonna have somebody, like I said, so 510 00:31:48,079 --> 00:31:51,119 many Grizzly episodes so we can talk about them at nauseum, but I will. 511 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,240 So. Yeah, when you're out in grizz country, just be sure 512 00:31:53,240 --> 00:32:00,279 that you're aware of be sure you're once again be bear aware, sure that 513 00:32:00,319 --> 00:32:02,400 you're not in critical habitat for them at times where they need to be there, 514 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:06,680 like berry patches when the berries are out. Be aware of walking around 515 00:32:06,759 --> 00:32:09,720 blind corners because you don't want to spook a bear because that's how they get 516 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,960 aggressive, especially if the salad with cups. You don't want to spook them. 517 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:15,480 And then just keep a line of sight with them, and you want 518 00:32:15,519 --> 00:32:19,160 them to smell you and know that you're coming that way, they have time 519 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,200 to get away from you. You probably won't even see them because they'll be 520 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:23,559 gone before you get there. If you make plenty of noise. Yeah, 521 00:32:23,599 --> 00:32:28,160 and like we've talked about, to be in groups, talk a lot. 522 00:32:28,359 --> 00:32:30,799 If you're alone, like Petros was saying in the last episode, play a 523 00:32:30,839 --> 00:32:37,279 podcast out loud, play this one a reminder. Yeah, bear bells have 524 00:32:37,519 --> 00:32:43,839 not been shown to be effective because sometimes it will intrigue a brown bear to 525 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:45,400 come check it out. Ye, and that's not what you want. So 526 00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:50,119 you know, make noise, have the bear spray on you have it somewhere 527 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,799 that's very easily accessible. Practice with it. You can get cans of it 528 00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:55,160 that are inert, so they you know, if they spray back at you, 529 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,079 they won't hurt. So just practice with it personally, like to like 530 00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:01,799 double tap. Be aware thing you keep saying, be bear aware, Yeah, 531 00:33:01,839 --> 00:33:06,200 be bear aware, because that's like the entire reason that the attack happened 532 00:33:06,279 --> 00:33:08,559 that we just talked about. If he had just caught the bear like thirty 533 00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:12,599 seconds sooner, he probably would have never even been seen. He would have 534 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,920 been able to get out of there would have been no issue. But he's 535 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,200 got a little bit too close and that's what caused it. Yeah, and 536 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:22,839 that also kind of brings us to what we've talked about with Oliver and Petros. 537 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,079 You don't really want to be listening to headphones while you're there, because 538 00:33:25,119 --> 00:33:29,559 it really takes away a lot of your senses. If you have a podcast 539 00:33:29,559 --> 00:33:31,759 playing out loud, like you can still take in what's happening around you. 540 00:33:32,119 --> 00:33:35,759 If you have headphones in, you're kind of in your own little zone, 541 00:33:35,799 --> 00:33:38,519 which is great in theory, but dangerous sometimes, yeah, one hundred percent. 542 00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:42,839 So be aware of where you're going, make noise. But if you 543 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,240 do encounter one, if you spook one, try to back away slowly and 544 00:33:45,279 --> 00:33:49,000 talk softly to the bear, just so it's aware of you and that you're 545 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,480 a person and that you're not trying to be threatening towards it. And you'll 546 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:57,640 have to know some basic bear behavior too to feel more comfortable out there. 547 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:01,119 So if you're comfortable with dogs, similar if the ears are back, that's 548 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:05,440 not great. But a lot of people mistake bears standing on their hind legs 549 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:08,480 as them being aggressive, But bears stand on their hind legs because they are 550 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:14,239 confused, and yeah, they want a better view and they want to be 551 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:16,800 able to like sniff higher up and try to figure out what you are, 552 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,960 So that's not inherently aggressive posture. If they're standing on their hind legs, 553 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:27,840 so some other aggressive warning behaviors, because typically an animal will warn you before 554 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,159 it attacks, like in my bluff chargers obviously is like the most dramatic of 555 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:34,599 the warnings, but they'll do other things like salivate, sway their head, 556 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,159 huff, pop their jaw, similar to black bears. And then if it's 557 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:43,239 a defensive attack, which they most of the attacks are sounds with cubs that 558 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,440 they're trying to defend their cubs. But there's also you know, if you 559 00:34:46,079 --> 00:34:50,920 spook a male grizzly, they'll attack you too. I think the scariest type 560 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,039 of attack besides predatory obviously that's horrifying, is if a bear has a kill 561 00:34:55,119 --> 00:34:58,840 nearby and it's protecting it. Oh yeah, do you know what story I'm 562 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,599 going to reference? No, it was either last year, like I think 563 00:35:02,599 --> 00:35:05,840 it was last year or two years ago. He was killed by a grizzly 564 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,480 that was protecting a kill. Well, so when I visited Yellowstone, yeah, 565 00:35:09,559 --> 00:35:12,800 I wanted you to talk about this. Oh good, Okay, there's 566 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,360 a hike that me and my friends had planned on doing for months. This 567 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:19,800 hike overlooked like a major attraction, So all right, cool, go do 568 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,960 that get there, you know, a big sign up trail close, Like, 569 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,320 oh that sucks. Gonna talk about for a minute, Like we all 570 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:27,760 do a lot about doors stuff, like should we just go anyway? Like 571 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,800 no, Like it was a really snowy day anyway, so we didn't really 572 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:32,320 want to be on the trail for too long. Go into the thermal pools 573 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:37,599 and there was a park ranger there who was with a documentary crewer doing a 574 00:35:37,639 --> 00:35:39,679 documentary in the park and everything, and she was just kind of like overseeing 575 00:35:39,679 --> 00:35:43,360 everything make sure they weren't doing something stupid. So we go up to like, 576 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:45,360 hey, excuse me, ma'am, just wondering, why is that that 577 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,400 trail close? Like, oh yeah, there was a grizzly just killed an 578 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,320 elk up there, and there is currently a battle going on for the carcass 579 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:58,480 between wolves, grizzly bears, black bears. I guess there's the giant mess 580 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:01,440 of predators and there yet, so like if anyone goes up there, screw, 581 00:36:01,519 --> 00:36:06,280 we're not going after him. They're dead. We're not going to risk 582 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,320 our people for them. Like the signs are there. They don't mess with 583 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,960 animals when they're hungry. Yeah, so the case I'm talking about is this 584 00:36:14,039 --> 00:36:16,360 guy was fly fishing and he was like also an outdoorsman in Montana. I 585 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:21,079 think he was a wilderness guide and he's just fishing and this male grizzly just 586 00:36:21,119 --> 00:36:24,840 comes barreling out of the woods and kills him. So once it was discovered 587 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,360 what happened, fish and game went out there and the bear tried to kill 588 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,679 them too. Jesus, Yeah, came out on fishing game and they luckily 589 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,760 had time to shoot the bear so they didn't get killed. And then they 590 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,800 realized it was protecting a kill. So like in those cases, that guy 591 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,039 didn't even know what was there. So I think that's the scariest to me, 592 00:36:43,199 --> 00:36:46,639 is when it's a super aggressive territorial bear protecting a kill that you don't 593 00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:50,960 even see. So this is something always blows my mind. Like every year 594 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,719 when the sam starts to run and you see these videos of people who are 595 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,440 out there fly fishing and the bears right next to when they're all just like 596 00:36:55,599 --> 00:37:00,760 living in harmony, I am shocked that there's not more that goes down. 597 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:05,119 I understand that the reasoning is that the bears have such an easy food source 598 00:37:05,159 --> 00:37:07,519 and are so plump that they don't have to even defend their kills. But 599 00:37:07,599 --> 00:37:12,760 still it's just insane to me. Yeah, you can literally go up there 600 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,440 in Alaska and get a guide that will bring you there and you can sit 601 00:37:15,639 --> 00:37:19,559 just feet away from the grizzlies, and you can't do it anywhere else in 602 00:37:19,599 --> 00:37:22,800 the world. Is only here that they are so fat and have so much 603 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:27,119 food that they don't even look at you or realize that you exist because they're 604 00:37:27,159 --> 00:37:30,360 so full of salmon. It's arable. And we listened to a podcast a 605 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,079 couple weeks ago in the car where someone who had been a part of one 606 00:37:35,119 --> 00:37:38,480 of these groups, and they said that a mother grizzly bear came and stashed 607 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:44,000 her cubs with the humans because she knew that the male bearers would avoid the 608 00:37:44,079 --> 00:37:46,159 humans, Like the bear is more likely to kill the cubs than the people. 609 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:51,199 Yeah, it's nuts brutal thing about nature. A lot of animals will 610 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,599 kill babies of another that don't belong to them so they can sire the babies 611 00:37:54,639 --> 00:37:59,119 with that female instead. It's awful. But nature is metal. Oh go 612 00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,400 check out the Instagram. Don't check it out. It's so brutal. I 613 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:06,800 can't do it. It is a metal page. It is unreal. I 614 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:08,679 love it. Nick. Is there anything else you want to say about Grizzlies? 615 00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,119 I mean, we're, like I said, we're gonna have so many 616 00:38:10,159 --> 00:38:13,960 Grizzly episodes that we can cover everything that we didn't cover today. But is 617 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:15,800 there anything else you want to say about them? I love them. They 618 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:22,880 are gorgeous. I want one. No Wor's shot. No, they are 619 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:27,679 just crazy cool animals. When you think about the range that used to have 620 00:38:28,159 --> 00:38:30,880 in North America especially and where is now, it's kind of disappointing to see, 621 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:34,079 you know, they used to be all the way down to Mexico. 622 00:38:34,679 --> 00:38:37,599 Not really the case anymore. You know, the entire California population has been 623 00:38:37,639 --> 00:38:39,679 killed off. So it's one of those things where it's like we would really 624 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:44,079 enjoy seeing them around more. But at the same time, I am very 625 00:38:44,079 --> 00:38:46,559 glad I don't have to worry about them in New Hampshire. Yeah, And 626 00:38:46,559 --> 00:38:51,880 that's a really contentious debate right now too, like should there be a grizzly 627 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:57,440 hunt to mitigate some of the attacks or should we just let them keep going 628 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,920 because they're still recovering. I'm sure we'll talk about that in the future too, 629 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:02,800 because there's other there's so many attacks we have to talk about. But 630 00:39:04,119 --> 00:39:07,800 yeah, that's a very hot topic currently. Also, Kodiak Island, where 631 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,880 the world's largest brown bears live. Great name for a dog. I have 632 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:14,599 reserved it and no one else can use it. Kodiak. Yeah, oh 633 00:39:14,679 --> 00:39:17,000 yeah, I'm sure there's no other dog named Kodiak that is solely or sound 634 00:39:17,079 --> 00:39:21,280 so surprised. I've been telling you this for like five years. Okay, 635 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:22,719 if you're listening to this podcast, you can't name your dog Kodiak, and 636 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:25,239 if it's already named that you have to change it. I'm so sorry to 637 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,880 tell you. Well, I'll just take the dog for you, Jesus. 638 00:39:29,119 --> 00:39:34,000 Okay, cool? Well is that it? You good? I feel pretty 639 00:39:34,039 --> 00:39:37,280 good? All right, Well, thank you so so much for listening to 640 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:42,000 episode five of Get Out Alive. To see more information and links for this 641 00:39:42,079 --> 00:39:45,159 episode, check out the episode description below, or check out our website get 642 00:39:45,159 --> 00:39:50,320 out Alive podcast dot com. You can rate us on Apple Podcasts, which 643 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,320 would be super cool, and subscribe wherever you're listening so that you can get 644 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:59,400 instant episode downloads. You can join our Patreon, where we have different tears. 645 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,400 You can grab two and get different benefits. Full of the different tiers. 646 00:40:02,599 --> 00:40:07,480 Stickers are being made as we speak. Gues stickers are being made by 647 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,199 one of my very good and very talented friends, and we post updates on 648 00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:15,400 our Patreon of the stickers. We also throw up polls of what episode and 649 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:19,599 species people want to hear from next. People are able to ask questions there 650 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,119 from the experts that we have on so it's a good time. Check it 651 00:40:22,119 --> 00:40:24,800 out Patreon dot com, slash get out Alive. There's a button to our 652 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,880 Patreon on our website get at a Live Podcast dot com. So check it 653 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,239 out. We love it, We love you. If you join. You 654 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,320 can follow us on Instagram at get Out a Live Pod, and you can 655 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,360 follow me on Twitter at the Angryologist. Nick. You know I'm going to 656 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:44,480 ask you. I am actually going to make concession here. I will answer 657 00:40:44,679 --> 00:40:47,519 anyone's emails at the email our email. How many times can I say that 658 00:40:47,519 --> 00:40:52,400 word? I will answer any questions that someone sentenced to us at get Out 659 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,159 a Live Podcast at gmail dot com. Absolutely, that would be my interaction 660 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:59,400 with the people since I refuse to give out my social media accounts. Yeah, 661 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,679 I mean we also, oh, we also started a Facebook page ye 662 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:07,519 page now I'm an old man. I'm dealing with two thousand and five things. 663 00:41:07,079 --> 00:41:12,679 Tell them kitties to aim me, pet me up on the Instagram and 664 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,639 me on MySpace? Can we make a MySpace page just for the fun? 665 00:41:15,159 --> 00:41:19,000 Is it even still there? We can definitely. I have no idea, 666 00:41:19,079 --> 00:41:21,280 but like I never had one, Well we can find out. Yeah. 667 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,639 Anyways, join our Facebook. Like it that we post episode updates there too, 668 00:41:23,639 --> 00:41:28,199 but you can also ask questions there. Thank you to my very good 669 00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,960 friend and second grade husband, Josh Walsh for making our intro music, and 670 00:41:31,039 --> 00:41:37,880 we will be back with a new Animal Attack story next Wednesday.