[pct-l] Re: Not True. WAS: Monster bear

[kevin at antelecom.net (Kevin Corcoran)]

>In a message dated 6/7/03 12:58:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
>kevin@antelecom.net writes:
>
><< Did you check out the story before forwarding to the List?  Facts
>  surrounding the photos are at the Urban Legends website:
>  http://www.snopes.com/photos/bearhunt.asp
>  Those photos got passed around a few years ago.  Recently it seems
>  that someone added the gruesome picture of an accident victim as a
>  hiker "killed by the same bear".  After that, the email gained new
>  life and it's going around again.
>   >>
>Well, like, I went to the website you listed and it said the story itself was
>basically true except for the pictures which I did not and could not attach

	Oh yes, the photos themselves are absolutely real, no doubt 
about that. It's a monster bear (my guess is an Alaskan brown bear 
like the ones on Kodiak Island, they are even bigger than the inland 
grizzlies. Does anyone else know for sure?)  But the email narrative 
is false. Every other circumstance seems to have been fabricated or 
altered as the message got passed along, or conflated with the other 
account, all well before it got sent to Dave.
	For instance it wasn't a forest service worker who shot it, 
but a deer hunter. The airman didn't state that the bear charged, but 
that he saw the bear first and dropped it with a single shot to the 
head. The bear was then killed with two more bullets, but none the 
caliber mentioned in the email. No mention of the bear "getting 
mounted in the Anchorage Airport to remind visitors of the dangers of 
bears".  And whatever the origins of that third photo of the accident 
victim, it wasn't attached to this account so we can't label the bear 
as a "maneater"!  It was attached with the phony narrative by someone 
else later (not Dave!). Truthfully, whatever ate that guy could have 
been buzzards, for all we know.  My bet is that Snopes will update 
the page once they research the origins of the other photo, because 
it truly has regained life with that third photo. (Listers, it ain't 
for the squeamish).
	But the email account sets off BS detectors immediately 
because it is written in the third-person account.  It's not a 
genuine news story, nor was it written by the airman or by a witness. 
Urban legends are commonly written as 'story' form e.g: "There once 
was this guy...." Yet no name, specific place, sources/links, 
first-hand accounts or dates are offered. Of course any story can be 
altered as it finds its way around the world like that.  And on this 
one, person(s) unknown seem to have had themselves a fine time 
fitting the photos with a compelling story that horrifies and 
confirms our worst fears, the stuff of sucessful urban legends.
	Although not knowledgeable myself about the issue, I might 
agree that the Sierras are not big enough for grizzly bears, FWIW.
Kevin Corcoran