Polar bear watching in Kaktovik (Barrow, Kotzebue: work, art, friend)

[stiffnecked]

A buddy sent me these yesterday. Seems the poor guy was tall enough but not quite fat enough to interest the bear in a tasty meal. Any one up for playing tag???

[Floyd_Davidson]

I'm not sure who's dumber, they guy pictured, or the guy taking the pictures. Anyone silly enough to play tag with a bear probably deserves what would have happened if he had so much as stumbled. But what kind of person would take pictures instead of doing something to distract that bear?

Polar bears are not cute cuddly teddy bears, they eat people.

[60-minutes-II]

this is funny because you could see that the guy was scared yet the camara man kept taking pictures. The camara man is the type that would still be taking pictures even if the person was being mauled.

[stiffnecked]

Floyd, I don't know what to tell you. I've seen some dumb stuff but nothing like that. My question was the same. Why didn't the guy taking the pictures do something??

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Floyd, I don't know what to tell you. I've seen some dumb stuff but nothing like that. My question was the same. Why didn't the guy taking the pictures do something??

Reminds me of a conversation I had with the guys at the Cape Lizburne Long Range Radar site (out near Point Hope, north of Kotzebue and southwest of Barrow) a few years ago. They were telling me about some visitor that got off the plane and wandered off across the airstrip. When someone noticed where he was they ran over and grabbed him, brought back and began to give him a lecture on polar bear safety. The guy interrupted and said something to the effect of, "There wouldn't be a bear that close..." and turned to point to where he had been. He stopped, because there was a polar bear standing right where he had been.

[Rance]

Those pictures would have been priceless had he been mauled! The camera man should have tripped or otherwise distracted that guy!

[Arcticthaw]

Hell of a time to lock your truck doors!

[rotorhead]

Some people like to think of bears as just like big furry dogs, but the reality is that as far as the bears are concerned, humans are just another prey animal.

Slower than seals, not as tasty

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by Arcticthaw

Hell of a time to lock your truck doors!

That's something I don't understand about the pictures.

Nobody locks truck doors in Kaktovik (or here in Barrow, even parked in the AC store parking lot)!

There are two vehicles there, and I just can't believe that both of them have doors the doors locked. So I have to think that, at least initially, that guy made a decision to play tag with the bear rather than get into a truck to get away from it.

I'll bet by the first once around a truck, without enough time to stop and open a door, he regretted that idea... especially if he could hear that camera clicking away and the photographer laughing.

[stiffnecked]

I don't know where the idea came up that the doors were locked. That was always a pain for us in Barrow when I worked at the police department. Someone would call in and say there vehicle had been stolen. Doors unlocked, keys in the ignition. We would track down the vehicle usually with someone driving. Report back to the victim who would then say it was okay cause the driver was their cousin, best friend, distant relative or neighbor. They just wanted us to tell who ever was driving it to put gas in it before brining the vehicle back. It was a never ending circle...