Alaskan "Bear Farm": Former Science Teacher Tamed Wild Bear!

Posted by Alex in Animal, Pictures, Travel & Places on June 15, 2007 at 11:56 am


That’s Charlie "Bear Man" Vandergaw, a 68-year-old former science teacher who tamed wild bears in Alaska by plying them with food!

Vandergaw says his relationship with bears dated to his retirement from teaching in 1985. Over the years he has fed bears, befriended bears, nursed injured bears back to health, and allowed bears inside his cabin; now it is not unusual to find several black and brown bears lounging around his "Bear Farm" yard on any given day.

If the bears didn’t get him in the end, the law may:

As of April 2007, Alaska news sources reported that the state attorney general’s office was considering bringing criminal and civil actions against Vandergaw for his continuing to violate state laws by feeding wild bears.

Link – via Spluch


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8 comments to "Alaskan "Bear Farm": Former Science Teacher Tamed Wild Bear!"

  1. Solo
    June 15th, 2007 at 2:03 pm

    Alaska has a state law that forbids people to feed wild bears?

    I'd think there was a need for a law that prevents bears to rifle through picnic baskets...

  2. Hula
    June 15th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    He obviously hasn't seen .

  3. Hula
    June 15th, 2007 at 5:01 pm

    okay so no html in the comments...
    last part of the above comment was Grizzly Man
    http://imdb.com/title/tt0427312/

  4. kerozene
    June 15th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

    I dunno...if the bears are smart they won't eat him. He looks like old mutton.

    anyway from the pictures theres 1 brown bear and the rest look like black bears. Black bears ares still going to kick your ass, but they're less inclined to do so.

  5. Lester
    June 15th, 2007 at 10:23 pm

    Brown bears are more vicious than grizzly bears... I'd be more scared of wolverines than black bears, though.

  6. Bunk
    June 16th, 2007 at 2:27 am

    A year or so ago, Alaska Magazine printed a warning for those who were venturing into bear territory. The article advised hikers to wear jingle bells to avoid surprising any bears they might encounter, and to bring pepper spray just in case.

    The article continued, that it was important to recognize the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat. Black bear scat is about the size of golf balls, greenish, and is usually found in a small pile near the trail. Grizzly bear scat is significantly larger, is in the middle of the trail, smells like pepper spray and has jingle bells in it.

  7. Cindi & Dona
    May 2nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    What a law for "US to "BEAR" viewing tv in the early a.m. we were astounded by the program, The Bear man it seems as our Alaska with all its beauty as a new state have enforced laws unbeknown to voters as well as myself, and friend that I am writing this with. After 20 years were going to electrically shock bears, and enclose ourselves in a wilderness of beauty without all it's natural inhabitats because our Government has imposed a law on us the bears, and Charlie Vandergaw a senior citizen 68 years of age that had adopted the bears of the Alaskan wilderness as they also adopted him as family. Charlie loved his family the bears, as they did him they played together, and ate together for 20 years, and now our Government forced Charlie to put up and electric fence around his property, to stop feeding, and to keep the bears away from their home. Threatening imprisonment, and outrages fines to Charlie. Our Government should focus on issues such as pedophiles, murderers, rapists, and crooked politicians, and blue collar crimes.There is something seriously wrong with this picture ya THINK!!! Shame on the U.S. Government. There is no exception to the ignorance of the law however,how can we not be ignorant of the law before it's passed if we are not informed of such. Has our Government become a dictatorship!!!!!!

  8. Ken
    June 23rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    I have met Charlie. He is a gentle and cool guy. He is the #1 authority on bears in the world and is treated like he is retarded or something by the media and gov't, when in fact they should use him as a biologist for the state and cull as much knowledge as they can from him.

    Kerozene and Lester, you two are ignorant. Black bears attack far more often than grizzlies and either one will kill with one slap. Grizzlies are far more dangerous than Brown bears because though they are the same species, grizzlies have no salmon so they are pissed off and "grizzly" Wolverines don't attack humans unless you were in their yard or something.

    Charlie should be left alone but I am sad to hear about all the trouble he has gotten into. I knew about him 10 years ago when I met him, it is too bad someone spilled the beans on him.


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