A tribute to Timothy Treadwell, an unsung hero, and bar-none legend. Upon beginning this piece, the goal was to bring to light some unfortunate and obvious deaths, and the clear leader was the bear whisperer, who spoiler alert, was mauled and eaten by a grizzly bear. Now stunning sarcasm aside, after reading up on this character, he really is a surreal character. Maybe not the literary American dream, but a man who was bucked by the tides of life, leading to his horrific, death-by-grizzly.

          Timothy Treadwell (actually born Timothy Dexter) spent 13 summers in the Alaskan wilderness, living amongst the wildlife of national parks. His main focus, was observing bears. He became so “friendly” with the creatures he would often name them, and narrate their emotions and actions through his personal video recordings. Now some of us are called to one thing from a young age, this did not seem to be the case with Tim Treadwell. Bears were of no concern to timothy until after he had began college and already established a drug problem, on top of alcoholism. It was not until his first session of sobriety that a friend convinced him to come see the bears at Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA. Instantly Treadwell felt a calling, and a sense of responsibility to ensure the safety of these creatures. He was often cited saying he enjoyed living with the bears much more than people, and that he felt connected to them. As far as his death goes, it was circumstantial, and an err on the part of Mr. Treadwell.

         On his 13th Season in Katmai, he decided to stay a week longer than usual. The bears he had been familiar with for summer upon summer, had already began hibernation. Timothy decided he would move his tent upstream to where Salmon were spawning, which would attract bears. This particular summer had been scarce for food, leaving the bears more aggressive, and agitated. He was now dealing with new wildlife. Earlier in the day, a bear had been filmed seeming very frustrated attempting to scrap for already dead Salmon, this was the first unusual sign. Treadwell also mentions on the tape that this behavior made him uneasy, this was his last day. That night, it seemed as if Treadwell had been preparing the camera to shoot, when the attack happened. The Camera was on, audio recording, Treadwell was even mic’d up. The camera’s lense cap remained on as the tape rolled. The Audio of Treadwell’s struggle has only been heard by few ears, and was never released publicly. Chillingly, as he is dragged away, his girlfriend who was with him at the time, cries and screams, only to be the second course of the bruin’s meal. Park rangers found the bear at the campsite in the morning, and the bear was repaid for what he had done, Hibernation came early.

       Rest in peace to Timothy Treadwell, a legend, a daredevil, and a passionate enthusiast. From all of us here at Wise™, pursue your dreams, and live fully. Just know, the kitchen gets hot.