Grizzly Man Movie Review

The Grizzly Man: award-winning true story.

Grizzly Man is a heart-wrenching, strange, beautiful, horrifying movie by and about Timmy Treadwell. Who is Timmy Treadwell? Director Werner Herzog attempts to show us who Treadwell was. Yes, was. Past tense.

My family members and I have seen this movie more times than we can count. We make references to it in our daily life and sometimes sing the ending song. Perhaps we are a bit strange for liking a movie this much. I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that I don't believe anyone can see this movie and not have a strong reaction.

Four Reasons to Watch Grizzly Man

It is strange. Who would want to live in the wilderness with dangerous bears for 13 summers? I do mean "with" the bears. Timmy Treadwell would. I'd love to visit and/or live in Alaska, but certainly not “with” the bears. And Timmy's passionate tirades are both moving and disturbing.


It is beautiful. Treadwell filmed the scenery and the wildlife in a way that is breathtaking. His ability to get close-ups of the Alaskan wildlife and document the gorgeous, but rugged, landscape is worth the cost of the movie alone. Grizzly Man was created posthumously - using footage from Treadwell's filming. 

It is Intimate. Treadwell's frequent and long term presence with the bears (and other Alaskan wildlife), allows him to move among them with little notice for the most part. Because of this, we are able to see the animals in a mostly undisturbed state. If you ever wanted to know what bears do naturally, this is a must-see movie. We also get a very intimate look at Treadwell through his story-telling style as well by hearing what others have to say about him.

It is about the difficulties of protecting and conserving. It is a perfect example of a rock and a hard place of conservation. There are always difficulties in the balance of protecting animals and providing for humans. It is a delicate balance that I rarely seem to find being done well. Some animal species go extinct due to human encroachment. Or at the other extreme, humans are at risk while endangered species are being protected. And misguided attempts to conserve wildlife sometimes ends up being detrimental to the very wildlife that is in the process of being protected. 

In my opinion, Treadwell's story is a beautiful and disturbing example of the difficulty of balancing the needs of humans and animals.

You can find this movie on Amazon on DVD/Blu-ray or on Amazon Video.


Warning: Those persons who have nightmares easily might not want to see this movie. I don't consider it to be visually gory. It's more of a psychological twist and the things that can be imagined that brew in your mind for awhile.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Book Review - Wild Horse Scientists

Reviewing the Wild Horse Scientists

Assateague Island is a barrier island off the coast of Maryland. On that island lives a wild pony herd. In my opinion there is nothing better than relaxing on the beach during a day off, watching the wild ponies walk by. Meanwhile, behind the scenes there are people who work hard at managing the wildlife on this island - including working to keep this beautiful herd of horses safe and healthy. Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg is an interesting and enlightening book that I recommend to everyone interested in horses, islands, or wild life management. 

Wild Horse Scientists

Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg is listed as a Junior Library Guild Selection, a part of the Scientists in the Field series, and is marketed as a book for children. The Amazon product description lists it as age 10 and up and grades 5-9. But I must say, as an adult who has spent much time on Assateague Island, feeling exhilaration at the sight of the ponies, the book enthralled me.

Wild Horse Scientists follows the journey of several people who study and attempt to preserve the Assateague wild ponies via the least intrusive means possible. Left to fend and breed on their own, their life cycle would overpopulate the island. While there is no way to predict how many horses the island would support in any given year, and any given season, it is fact that overpopulation of the island would cause the untimely deaths of the ponies; among other environmental problems.

This small, 80 page book really packs a punch. It briefly addresses things such as:

• The world history of the horse
• How wild horse populations came to be in the US
• Describing that there are two horse populations on Assateague Island; the Maryland end and the Virginia end. While the Virginia herds are the most well-known through history, the two herds are managed very differently.
• Different ways of wild horse management through the US, through the years.
• What PZP is and how it came to be
• An idea of how the study of animals is very time consuming: familiarity with travel patterns, feeding, habits, reproduction, and being able to document each individual animal in order to keep accurate records.
• Major Human Players

In Wild Horse Scientists, you will meet the following people who dedicate their lives to good works toward wild horses, wildlife, and the environment. If you have ever thought that wildlife protection and studies are easy and an enviable career, this will show you that this important work is not easy work. These talented folks have done far more than listed here, but this is a glimpse of the part they played in learning how to manage the Assateague pony population.

Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick – World renown for his advocacy of wild horses, wildlife reproductive expert, and developer of non-hormonal birth control (PZP).

Ron Keiper – An Ethologoist (studies animals in their natural habitat) who braved the weather, terrain, and flesh-eating insects on Assateague in order to provide information and begin providing individual documentation of the Assateague ponies.

Allison Turner – a 20+ year National Parks Service biological technician. She monitors the wild species, all of the wild species, on Assateague.

Dr. Lisa Ludvico – studied the reproductive strategies of wild mares – providing helpful information through reproductive behaviors and DNA analysis.

Dr. David Powell –his Doctorate consisted of exploring the social behavior and reproduction of wild horses; important information in considering birth control for wild horses.

Dr. John Turner – A research partner who led the research that resulted in improving the forms of PZP, making it longer lasting.

Robin Lyda - and had a large role in making and purifying PZP.

The “two BLM cowboys” with the Pryor Mountain Range mustangs whose request for help, in essence, was the beginning of the story.

These folks along with everyone behind the scenes worked hard at finding a way to manage the Assateague wild pony population. The controversy and issues surrounding the delicate balance of healthy horse herds in the US abound. Left alone, the book confirms that horses repopulate very quickly – causing environmental issues. Culling the herds is costly to both humans financial sources and to the emotional peace of the horses. Selling the horses for meat is distasteful in the US. And finally, removing foals from the mares in order to maintain the population has been statistically proven to make the mares produce more quickly.

Some of the beautiful ponies I've seen on Assateague

My Skepticism About Wildlife Birth Control

I bought the book with some bit of skepticism. Some years ago, after seeing newborn fawns (deer) in what seemed to me dangerously late in the season, I did a small bit of research. I thought I had read that trials of birth control being used in deer herds could cause mating season and birthing season differences. I do not recall at this time if the birth control being tried was PZP or other chemicals. And I did not follow this topic further. But I always worried about the impact of chemically altering the reproduction cycle of wild animals.

I purchased this book mainly because I loved the photographs when I had flipped through. I ended up learning quite a bit about wildlife contraception.

It appears that PZP has been created with a great deal of thought, research, and effort and seems to be doing a great job with managing the horses on the Maryland end of Assateague Island with no negative side effects. I am a believer.

This is good news and important work that may help wildlife management on so many levels.

Whether you read this for the beauty of the photographs of the ponies, to gain some Assateague Island experience from the comfort of your home, or to learn more about the science of animal birth control, I think you will love this little book.

I found this book during a day trip to Assateague Island National Seashore, I made a stop at the Barrier Island Visitor Center. I had toured the original Visitors Center, built in 1967. But I had yet to stop at the new Visitors Center that opened in the fall of 2010.

The Visitor Center is wonderful and will need it’s own review. I highly recommend that travelers to this area make time to stop and enjoy what this center has to offer. And I highly recommend this great little book called Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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5 Star Book Review: Wild Horse Scientists

Last weekend I made a day trip to Assateague Island, Maryland.  I met my oldest son and his girlfriend there for the day.  I have been there many, many times and it is one of my favorite places to be.

Luckily, during this trip, I was a bit ahead of schedule and I stopped at the “new” Visitors Center on the way.  I say new because it was built a few years ago but I just never bothered to stop. After all, I had visited the old Visitor’s Center, what more could I possibly be missing? But I stopped anyway and found a gem hiding inside.

Wild Horse Scientists  is a wonderful little book for children. However, I am quite certain that every adult who is a wild horse lover, barrier island lover, or who is interested in the process of wildlife preservation will love this book as much as I do.  This book gives an excellent explanation of how birth control is being used successfully on the ponies of Assateague Island.  I definitely would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars rating.

If you would like to see a list of more books related to that area, have a peek at my reading list.  I welcome you to help me read or review these books. Some of the books I have read and the remainder are on my to-read list. I’d love to know your thoughts about any or all of them. Angelatvs wrote a wonderful review of Assateague Island of the Wild Ponies  It was fantastic reading what she had to say about both the Island and the book I have on my to-read list.

During the times that I am not able to physically travel to the Island, I go there through the wonderful stories and photographs in books. And don’t forget that I’m your Mid-Atlantic States Travel Contributor onSquidoo.  If you want to travel this area from the comfort of your favorite chair, please come along with me.

Image Credit: Photograph ©Dawn Rae – All Rights Reserved

  

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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