I received a suprisingly low four e-mail commenting on the Friendly Bear image. I am sharing them all with you below. It is interesting to see the huge divergence of opinion.
1: Hi-larious! Well played, sir. Best, Douglas Sisk
2: Artie, having been to Katmai myself annually for each of the past three years, I agree with you 1000% on the bears. To your points I would also add that I hate when people say it’s not natural to be so close to bears, and that bears “are suppose” to have a fear of humans. Clearly, the nearly blank slate ecosystem of Katmai refutes both points. The natural relationship between humans and bears is that bears are content to ignore small groups of humans who don’t get in their way, just the way species everywhere (like humans and pigeons) will peacefully share habitat without confrontation as long as they don’t need to compete for resources.
It’s depressing to see stories about “hazing” of black bears in urban areas like in Colorado – how will the hazed bear react next time there’s an unexpected encounter with a human? Instead of each party backing away slowly, the bear is likely to totally panic and possibly turn violent in defense.
Unfortunately our fear of predators is deeply engrained in our evolutionary history, so these attitudes are unlikely to change, but since you’re probably tired of hearing from negative people on the matter, I wanted you to know you have support on the subject. Brian Zeiler
3: Artie – You rock my world. Your patience and willingness / ability to entertain the man v bear discussion without getting nasty was fabulous. I love your practical, common sense approach to what you do. We’re all animals on this big blue ball. I hope to join you and the bears one year.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to make last minute plans to join you in Bosque again this year. Work is, as usual, making that difficult, but I hope to put it together in time. Best, Dan O’Leary
4: IMO, publishing that email was unnecessary. It was a private exchange between you and JR. I’m sure that he is not the only one who had reservations about the interaction with the bears. What was even more unnecessary was your final comment about big mouths and zero guts. You have a big mouth as well, but we overlook it because you don’t get paid to run it. Take photos, talk about technique, but leave your personal commentary, including insulting remarks, to others.
I do not require a response and you can publish my name if it makes you feel better. David Kilpatrick