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I am a photography fanatic. I love taking pictures, tweaking pictures, and finding the beauty in every day items

Friday, April 25, 2008

Alaskan Bear

Okay, normally I like to throw in my two cents or have a little blib about something, but this story speaks for its self. And all I can say is that.... I would have pooped my pants!!!!!
Here is the story....

These pictures are of a man who works for the US Forest Service in Alaska, and his trophy bear. He was deer hunting last week when the large grizzly charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy emptied his 7mm Magnum semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet from him. The big bear was still alive so the hunter reloaded and shot it several times in the head. The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6" high at the shoulder, 14' to the top of his head. It is the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world.

The Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy, of course; but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport to remind tourists of the risks involved in the wild.
Analyzing contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the past 72 hours, including a hiker missing two days prior to the bear's own death. Backtracking from where the bear had originated, the US Forest Service found the hiker's emptied 38-caliber pistol. Not far from the pistol was the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found. Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with four (that the Service ultimately retrieved, along with twelve 7mm slugs, inside the bear's body), it only wounded the bear and probably angered it immensely.
Think about this: If you are an average size man, you would be level with the bear's navel when he stood upright. The bear would look you in the eye when it walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, this bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average single story house and look over the roof; or stand aside a two story house and look in the upper bedroom windows.

Well, at least we don't have poisonous spiders :)

53 comments:

  1. Are you serious?? Look at the size of that thing?? I'll take my chances with the poisonous spider any day!

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  2. Oh my goodness gracious. I am going to show this to my boys. They will love it!

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  3. Oh.My.Gawd.

    Get OUTTA there! Now!!

    :)

    Heidi

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  4. HOLY CROW...or I guess holy giant bear...WOW!

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  5. HOly Cow, I would have pooped my pants too!

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  6. Remind me not to go in the woods in Alaska. That's crazy and really scary.

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  7. Holy crap! I would have dropped dead at the sight of him!! Amazing story!

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  8. Ok, at first I was upset about these pictures (I hate blood and seeing dead wild animals), but then I read the story. My goodness that man is lucky to be alive. Is this the biggest bear on record or do they get any bigger than this? I can just see Hollywood making this into another super dumb summer horror flick.

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  9. ♥ I saw this email and my first thought was I would have died from a heart attack!!! Dead on the spot!

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  10. I think I would have pooped AND peed my pants. That is one large and in charge bear. Look at that paw. So sad about the 2 people he had just eaten. Makes you wonder how many have been his dinner over the years.......

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  11. Yeah, I'd be dead. I would have died of fright before he ever got to me. It's smart of them to have him stuffed and mounted. Seeing a bear on TV really doesn't give you the perspective you need to have when there is the potential of seeing them in real life.

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  12. That thing is ridiculously enormous! Goodness!

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  13. Yikes! I was sad that we would never be stationed in Alaska thanks to Evan's health issues, but now? Not so much. That is an enormous bear!! I think I would have frozen if that thing had come charging at me.

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  14. Holy shizzle!

    You know, it's funny you mention that poisonous spider thing. When I was honeymooning in Alaska, we were staying at this cabin up by Denali and I was bitten by a big ole furry spider IN THE BED! It was the size of a bumble bee! I thought I'd been stung by a bee, in fact. Ugh. Anyway, I had no idea if the bloody thing was venomous or not so we had to capture it and ask somebody. I wish I'd known it was aiight - I could have just killed it, rolled back over and gone back to sleep!

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  15. Whoooa! That's unreal...but I keep waiting for the "April Fools".

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  16. Okay. Here's the real scoop:

    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-grizzlybear5.htm

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  17. Good Grief! First that cuckoo bonga moose tried to get in your house and now this?! If that bear charged me I totally would have soiled myself, too!


    *shudder* look at the size of that paw and head!

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  18. Whoa! What a giant. I personally would rather be attacked by a bear than by a spider. I know I have my priorities wrong.

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  19. Holy Smokey the BEAR!
    If I had run into THAT in the woods... I would not have been able to do anything, but fall over and probably die of a massive heart-attack. (and then he would have me for lunch!) Scary. Poisonous spiders and snakes scare me too! I am a wuss!

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  20. Yikes. How terrible for the people the bear killed. :(

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  21. WOW! I just had a huge shiver go up my spine!

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  22. I am pooping my pants RIGHT NOW!!! Holy crap!!! We have a cabin up north and there are many black bears, but thankfully not many grizzly bears. I am always wary when we go for walks in the woods. FREAK ME OUT!!!!

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  23. That is one big freaking bear!

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  24. We're planning a trip to Alaska this summer and believe me when I say I will not be venturing out on my own. That is one huge bear!! And to think bullets do not stop it. Wow

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  25. At first I thought that was your sweet husband!

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  26. Holy crap. That's it. Just HOLY CRAP!

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  27. Are you kidding me?? Holy CRAP is right!

    My favorite part of the story is how Anchorage is going to use the bear to scare the crap out of everyone who decides to fly there. That part is funny! "Welcome to Anchorage- we have bears that will eat you!" Great tourism slogan!

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  28. Awww, that is really sad! For the humans and for the bear. :-( I agree with my ice cream diary. Glad I read the story, pics like that always make me sad!

    PS- I have heard a lot of creepy stories lately, so made my blog private. (I post a lot of pics of my kiddos and not feeling comfortable about it anymore!) If you want to shoot me your email address so that I can add you as a viewer, my email is daxandlexi@grandecom.net.

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  29. I hate spiders but atleast I can squish them with my foot! That bear could have squished me!

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  30. Wow--that's crazy! Happy I am all the way in Texas!

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  31. Oh my freakin' gosh. How terrifying! That guy is SO lucky he lived.

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  32. Oh my gosh, is that real? Crazy! Thats the biggest bear I've ever seen! Scary!!!!

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  33. Ok, maybe this is why I don't live in Alaska. This is how such a beautiful place keeps people out :) Too crazy!

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  34. That thing is huge! I can't imagine coming against that! Wow!

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  35. Oh my word. I'm terrified just thinking about it.

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  36. Holy crap. I remember I was hiking in Denali and we saw a bear about less than half a mile away away... I must have lost about twenty pounds pooping my pants.

    I can't wait to get back to Alaska and see that thing in the airport... Fairbanks or Juneau?

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  37. http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bearhunt.asp

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  38. OMG!! I just watched Cloverfield and it scared the poop out of me. Now you're telling me that there are bears big enough to EAT hikers! Aaack! I'm not going to get any sleep tonight!

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  39. And this is why I carried Bear Mace when I lived in Montana.

    But now I see that perhaps a little mace would not have done the trick.

    That is SCARY.

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  40. Hi, I just wandered into your blog while browsing and holy SMOKES!!! I didn't know a bear could even GET that big. That is one lucky man!!

    And ps I LOVE the pictures you guys take with your little girl. I am cracking up over here!!

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  41. talking big...that bear is large!!!

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  42. I am begging you to write a new post. I can't hardly stand one more day of going to your blog and staring at a bloody bear carcass. PLEASE!

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  43. Good gracious. Are you sure that wasn't a Saschwatch? Geez!

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  44. HOLY CRAP. I'd rather see a spider and I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders.

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  45. I have seen this picture before but I just assumed it wasn't real. IT IS???

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  46. OMG!!!! That is huge.

    That forest service worker is lucky that he wasn't the first to try and defend himself against that bear. . .

    Having spent 5th and 6th grade up there, in Anchorage, I totally understand why it is so important to educate the public on the danges of bears. It is very real and now that humans and wildlife have to share even more space with each other, we need to be aware of all the potential dangers.

    I've also been watching "The Alaska Eperiment" on the Discovery Channel and it is very interesting . . . makes me want to bring my kids back so they can see what I did when I was growing up. We also spent summers there too, in Girdwood, Seldovia, etc. My Dad was in the fish processing business!

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  47. That is freaking CRAZY!!!

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  48. Insane.

    Somehow, I still feel sorry for the bear...

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  49. I'm sorry, but these exact same pictures and story went around the internet a few years ago. My sister in Valdez sent it to me and so did a friend from Wyoming at another time. Either it's one heck of an extraordinary coincidence with twins or this is an internet myth.

    Another good one going around my neighborhood right now (I live near Chitina) is a local guy got charged by a griz and he stuck a Hams beer in its mouth and got away. Alaskans sure like their tall tales, don't they?

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  50. Now, I hate spiders but this is the scariest thing I've ever seen... Bears, moose....AHHH! I wouldn't leave the house. Right now in KY, we have to worry about snakes and mosquitos! I'm just fine with that!

    Hubby and I would love to take a trip to AK sometime via train!

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