# Can this horrific news story be true?\[edited title-eaten by bear while talking. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647 "2011-08-22T12:41:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/21 "2011-08-25T00:31:38Z")
I read a story not long ago about an African native who was being attacked and possibly eaten by a giant python. He was rescued when he called for help on his cell phone. (which proves everyone in the entire world has a cell phone, except me). I assume he was near a tower near a town and not out in the jungle, which means giant pythons are lurking around just on the edge of town… ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/22 "2011-08-26T02:45:13Z")
The example of the woman in Alaska methodically eaten by a black bear I have read before in a book by a biologist. If you are attacked by a black bear, (as opposed to false-charged as intimidation, which is possible with black bears), you should fight to the finish, as the bear is likely intent on eating you, he said. Yes, it can happen and has happened before. I’m a bit surprised that a brown bear didn’t kill her outright. An (American) brown bear will maul you for being in his feeding territory or posing a threat of some kind, or sometimes just because he’s got a nasty personality, but often playing dead will cause him to move on. Many have survived by employing this strategy, however, it is not always successful. A German (?) documentarian who unwisely took up residence among brown bears in Alaska was killed and, I believe, partially eaten by one of them, as was his girlfriend. Some of this was caught on live camera as he was filming when the attack took place. A hunter with whom I went to grade school was killed and partially eaten by a brown bear in Alaska (Admiralty Island/Kootznoowoo). A recovery party killed the bear when it attacked them to defend its “kill” and recovered the body in a classic bear cache under a pile of leaves and dirt. In any bear country, you should carry a gun or a very powerful pepper spray as a minimum (or be with someone who does). If you aren’t attacked you aren’t going to shoot any bears. If you are attacked, you won’t care about whether you should be carrying bear bells as an ethical alternative. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is right across the Pacific from Alaska on the Kamchatka penninsula. I would guess bears there are generally the same as those in Alaska (Straight Dope biologists?). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/23 "2011-08-26T03:37:40Z")
The rangers who recovered the partially eaten and cached remains of[Peter Treadwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man) and his girlfriend killed two bears protecting their kill with a large caliber handgun and two twelve gauge shotguns. I don’t know what load was in the shotguns. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/24 "2011-08-26T03:54:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > … remains of[Peter Treadwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man) … It’s actually Timothy Treadwell. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/25 "2011-08-26T12:04:06Z")
I guess now I know the inspiration for the book [HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!](http://www.amazon.com/HELP-Bear-Eating-Mykle-Hansen/dp/1933929693/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314360156&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/26 "2011-08-30T15:43:55Z")
Of course it’s possible, it’s only a flesh wound. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black\_Knight\_%28Monty\_Python%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Knight_%28Monty_Python%29) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/27 "2011-08-30T16:30:12Z")
> [@wei\_ji](#): > > A German (?) documentarian who unwisely took up residence among brown bears in Alaska was killed and, I believe, partially eaten by one of them, as was his girlfriend. Some of this was caught on live camera as he was filming when the attack took place. German director Werner Herzog put together archival footage of Timothy Treadwell who, along with his girlfriend, was killed and partially eaten by a bear toward the end of the the Alaskan summer. While his videocamera was rolling during the attack, I believe it’s just the audio that was captured. That has not been, nor reportedly will it ever be, released. Apparently though, at least for Treadwell, that attack was of a nature that allowed him too to be heard talking and then moaning during its course. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/28 "2011-08-31T12:20:47Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Remember in 1977 when USGS geologist Cynthia Dusel-Bacon sent a message out on her radio […] while the bear ate both her arms. (Mmmmm, Bacon.) Straight to hell for you, to be devoured by one of Beelzebub’s brimstone bears. Same for anyone who laughed. Which I didn’t, at all. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/29 "2011-08-31T12:25:44Z")
It’s her own fault for laughing at that bald guy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/30 "2011-08-31T12:50:00Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > brimstone bears. I read those when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/31 "2011-08-31T13:00:41Z")
_Take me home. Oh Muddah, Fadduh, Take me home. I hate Granada. Don’t leave me Out in the forest where I might Get eaten by a bear._ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/32 "2011-08-31T13:21:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The rangers who recovered the partially eaten and cached remains of[Peter Treadwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man) and his girlfriend killed **two bears protecting their kill with a large caliber handgun and two twelve gauge shotguns.** Well, that’s what you get for protecting the right to arm bears. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/33 "2011-08-31T13:27:15Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Well, that’s what you get for protecting the right to arm bears. Not to mention bad sentence construction. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/34 "2011-08-31T13:27:25Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Well, that’s what you get for protecting the right to arm bears. 😛 I suspect it was just a grammatical Boo-Boo. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/35 "2011-08-31T13:33:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > 😛 > I suspect it was just a grammatical Boo-Boo. dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/36 "2011-08-31T13:37:42Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I’m more than a little dubious. > [@Malthus](#): > > I’m also dubious. The dubious brothers, “Also” and “More Than a Little” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647/37 "2011-08-31T13:39:51Z")
> [@wei\_ji](#): > > If you are attacked by a black bear, (as opposed to false-charged as intimidation, which is possible with black bears), you should fight to the finish And after [that fight to the finish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass#The_Wrestle), keep an eye on your human traveling companions as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-horrific-news-story-be-true-edited-title-eaten-by-bear-while-talking/593647.md?page=1)