Bear Haven Alaska – To Bear Or NOT To Bear
So I was watching a program on Bear Haven Alaska the other day.
A man named Charlie Vandergaw, ventured into Alaska years ago and built a smallen haven in Alsaka that is surrounded by wild bears. Charlie has built up a great trust and repor with the bears, who even visit in interior of the house when ever they wish.
Charlies main claim is to try and get close to a grizzly bear cub from the wild in his haven in alaska, The grizzly is called Cookie and Charlie has know her since birth.
Whats fascinating about Charlie, is that he lives with the bears in bear haven tottaly alone. He leaves his wife at home almost 3 hours away, he has no phone, no television – no communication. Just him and his plane for whenever he needs reserves for him or the bears.
Read all a fans blog here
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The house itself is a beautiful wooden hut hand built by Charlie Vandergaw over the years since he has been studying and living with the bears. Every winter Charlie heads home to spend time in the milder south with his wife.
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I too watched the show about Charlie and the bears. The biggest issue that I have is that Charlie is making the bears comfortable around humans and our homes and that might end up getting the bears killed.
So the question I have is this: Is what he is doing fair to these animals?
I think Charlie is a man that does what many people wish that they could do. Several years ago I lived in Missouri and met a woman who raised black bears. She invited me out to her farm so I could meet her bears. When I drove up, there was a bear that came walking around the side of her house to greet me. I didn’t exactly know what to make of this and waited for this lady to come out and make sure that all was well. I got out of my car and she introduced me to the bear. After petting it for awhile, the bear laid down at my feet and wanted his belly scratched. Damnest thing I ever saw or did. She owned at the time about 8 bears and all of them behaved like well trained dogs. One of these days I’d like to go back there and visit her and the bears.
I personally know Charlie. The first comment is understandable, except his cabin is far from civilization or other people. It is inaccessable by car. Which is why he flys in. And bear encounters are the norm for Alaska. Ask any fisherman. I think it might be bad for the bears if they are encountered by a hunter. But realistically, a hunter will take the bear out before it even knows he is there, so mild domestication isn’t going to put them at any more risk than if they never met Charlie.
I was totally beside myself watching Charley with his bears. What a totally awesome show it was to watch. And what an experience for Charlie. I too am concerned for the Bears saftey around humans, but to see the trust and love between man and animal. I would love tohear more about Charlie and his bears.
charlie,
if you read this may i please come spend some time with you? i am begging.
i am 63,and i would give anything for some time with the bears.
write to me charlie
msbnoc@aol.com
Charlie, if you read this, your show was awesome. I plan on showing it to my students this fall. I have watched it over a couple of times and I am in Awe!
Charlie must be envied world over. Although the wilderness only has so much space for people like Charlie until it becomes to inhabited and spoiled forever.
It would be a trip of a lifetime to visit with Charlie and the bears. I am very much an animal lover and KNOW I could truly relate to Charlie and family (bears) if given the opportunity. Email me if I can fly up for a visit!
I watched the bear haven show and would like to share it with a friend, but cannot recall the network over which it was aired. If you know, please respond.
Charlie, if you read this, I’m dying to tell you how God is going to change things for us and the animals in the near future, all scriptural. I was so excited when I learned about it and when I saw the program on TV about you I wrote down your name so I might be able to tell you about it. You might be interested to know that you are one of the very few persons on earth actually doing what people are commissioned by God to do. I sure look forward to hearing from you.
Charlie .. I trust you have read “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. http://www.eckharttolle.com
The different states of consciousness you enter while with the bear are a wonderful study in love and fear. ET just gives us pointers on how to enter that state of just being conscious without fear in a way that does not require the challenges of high risk activity.. but that you have and do that in the presence of the bears actually confirms your ability to access that consciousness with compassion. Congratulations… And yes I see that your adventure is about love,fear, and the bears, not about ego enhancement like the guy that lost his life and his girlfriends life in the pursuit of fame.