Grizzly Adams dies

[exMember]

:no: :no: 

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/grizzly-adams-star-dan-haggerty-dies-74-161424622.html

I remember when I first moved out into the boonies we had a huge old dish got maybe 3 channels and after looking through about 60 blank channels, I found the old grizzly adams tv series on. That was my first introduction to a mountain man and then later that winter, Jeremiah Johnson came out on TV Land that that got me wide eyed.

What a shame. All the good ones are dying off.

 

[Muley Hunter]

I watched all those shows. I loved his pet grizz.

 

[Whokalouie]

Wasn't he an animal activist and anti-hunter?

 

[patocazador]

When I saw that series, all I thought was, "I wonder where Hollywood got that tame grizzly bear." It seemed kind of Disney-like to me .. like Lassie, only a bear. Flipper out of water.

 

[exMember]

thats the deal though, Dan was an animal trainer in his earlier years.

 

[Muley Hunter]

When I saw that series, all I thought was, "I wonder where Hollywood got that tame grizzly bear." It seemed kind of Disney-like to me .. like Lassie, only a bear. Flipper out of water.

When I lived in Big Bear there was a guy who had animals he rented to the movie industry. Bears, lions, tigers etc. It was kind of weird if I was out hunting, or hiking near his property. I'd hear lions and other cats growling, and it was like being in Africa.

I'd also be thinking if one got out i'd be screwed.

 

[patocazador]

I live a mile from a place that used to be called Savage Kingdom. It was not open to the public but the owner was a retired French lion tamer. Every evening at feeding time, it sounded like lions were in the yard. Lions are unbelievably loud. The can be heard as far as 5 miles away.
I had a 22 yr. old horse that went down and I couldn't get him up. I called the guy and he came over and gave him a lethal injection and then loaded him to take to his place for the cats. He told my wife and I to come over that Saturday and he'd give us a show. And he sure did. He put 5 lions in a cage and got in with a chair, whip, and a blank-firing pistol. Those lions were barely controllable and one tried to attack him. He cracked his whip at him and shoved the chair in his face and ordered them all back into their individual cages. It was scary.

Then he let 6 leopards into a fenced pen surrounding a huge live oak tree. The fence was only 8 ft. high with no top. He started throwing small strips of meat up into the tree and the leopards all jumped up into the tree and almost flew through the air from branch to branch going after the meat. They were faster than any squirrel I ever saw and were almost a blur as the leaped. All of this was going on way above the height of the fence and I was scared - BAD!

It seems that he had trained all of the leopards from the time they were cubs to stay away from fences by electrifying all the fences they were exposed to. They all were certain they would get zapped if they passed near or over any fence. They thought the zap traveled upwards to infinity.

When I went to Africa, one of the places we hunted had a fenced grave in front of the house that held the patriarch of the family. He was killed and partially eaten by a leopard. I was spooked the whole time I was on that farm.

 

[Muley Hunter]

I don't mess with big cats. Way too dangerous.

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

All the good ones are NOT dying. We are all here! :scratch: