Damn…

Jack Palance Dies

I loved that guy *sighs(

An Interesting Day At The Rainbow Bridge

An interesting day at the Rainbow Bridge.

Rainbow Bridge is a place of both peace and anticipation as departed pets await their beloved owners. There are plenty of things to keep them contented while they wait: trees you can’t get stuck in, endless meadows, splashing streams, thickets perfect to hide in for pounce-attack games.

But one day the residents noticed some rather…unusual newcomers arrive.

The koalas and the kangaroos slipped in rather quietly, but then came the bearded dragons, the skinks and the goannas. The influx of snakes startled an entire family of cats up a tree. Pythons, cobras, tiger snakes, brown snakes and even fierce snakes. There were so many at one point, it seemed the ground itself was alive with writhing. A burly wombat shouldered his way through the crowd and plopped down in a shady spot, barely missing a Jack Russell terrier who yapped indignantly as he abandoned his position.

And then the crocodiles showed up.

Finally, a Great Dane managed to get up enough nerve to approach one of the reptilian giants.

“Um….excuse me,” he said hesitantly. “But why are you all here?”

The croc dropped her jaw and laughed. “Same as you, mate,” she said. “Waitin’ for someone who loved us.”

The dogs, cats, gerbils and other “typical pets” looked at each other in confusion, then at the plethora of weird, ugly and downright deadly creatures assembled. Who on Earth could possibly love some of those faces?

“I see him!” shouted a green mamba from his vantage point in one of the trees. A cacophony of squeaks, hisses, bellows and roars erupted as the mob surged forward toward a lone human walking across the field toward the bridge. The other animals managed to catch a glimpse of him before he was overwhelmed by the crowd.

“CRIKEY!” he shouted joyously right before he was bowled over by the wombat.

“Well I’ll be,” said a Persian as she tidied up her fur. “It’s that Aussie my human liked to watch on TV. Had to be the craziest human on the whole planet.”

“Oh, please,” remarked a echidna as he hurried by. “Is it really that crazy to passionately love something God made?”

Surreal

I’m watching The Crocodile Hunter marathon. The episode I initially caught, is one where he’s feeding his crocs in the park, and giving his show. He’s feeding Charlie, and explains to the visitors why there are other workers in the enclosure with him. how ironic his words are. When he explains that they keep watch of the pond so Steve doesn’t get a surprise strike, he said then everyone would say “we knew a croc would get him…and we can’t have that”. I have to say I’m glad it wasn’t a croc. And I’m betting Steve would be too. Crocs already have so many problems with people misunderstanding them, and poaching them. That would have just  given those types more excuses for murdering them. The way he died, was very odd. But it could have happened to ANY underwater documentary team.  It was a freak occurance. Period.

I’m always hearing how crazy he was to do what he did around the animals he dealt with. Whether it was his croc feedings at Australia Zoo, or the captures in the wild, or the way he’d show the audience the poinsonous snakes and lizards. But this wsn’t a lunatic. This wasn’t some wanna be hippie nut case that went into Katmai National Park to sing to grizzly bears he thought were his friends. This was a man with an unmatched passion, and love, for all things wild. The techniques he used, to those of us not in “the business” may seem crazy and reckless. But this was a man taught by his father from childhood, raised around the worlds deadliest predators the way some of us were raised with the family poodle. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he did it unlike any other.

I know myself, I will never look at Crocs, gators, snakes, like I did before Steve. There will never be another like him. And I doubt I’ll ever watch the shows without an ache in my heart for this amazing man, who’s passion and love for these creatures is unmatched. Sure there may come along others with shows that try to match it. But they’ll never match the spirit that he posessed. The shameless way he showed his love for his work.