AvraShow
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
of bears and birds
On the Animal Planet cable network, they have a series called "Growing Up ..." where each show has some usually orphaned animal raised by humans. They had shows with a giraffe, a walrus, a camel... but the most touching show I think is "Growing Up Grizzly."
A big burly guy in Utah raised a tiny grizzly bear from a newborn who he named Bart. If you've seen bears in the movies or in a commercial, you've probably seen Bart or his other bears. To see him wrestling with the bears and the romping good fun they are having is something to see. I mean, the guy might be 6'5" but he looks like a hobbit next to Bart.
The program shows Doug and his wife raising two orphaned bear cubs. Brad Pitt who was in a movie with Bart visits and narrates the story of how the Seuses raised first Bart, then Tank (who was in Dr. Doolittle 2), and the 2 cubs.
In another show in the series, "Growing Up Grizzly 2" Jennifer Aniston visits the 2 cubs a few years later and they are as playful and energetic as they were when they arrived 3 years before. It's really something to see.
... and the birds
I remember some National Geographic program where a researcher had taught birds (parrots, mynah birds?) to speak.
Not so remarkable, you say, but these birds could understand simplified English questions. The researcher would hold various shapes (triangular, square, circular) in different colors (red, blue, yellow) made of different materials (wood, metal, paper) and ask the birds "Where is red square" and darned if that bird didn't grab hold of the red square with its beak! ignoring the red star and blue square.
But that's not all. She asked things like "what color triangle?" and the bird answered "Yellooo".
And (check the calender and make sure it's not April 1) she would ask "How many blue?" and the bird, seeing a blue square and blue circle and blue something else would say "threee."
I think it must have been a put-on. They had me going until the birds counted things.
On the Animal Planet cable network, they have a series called "Growing Up ..." where each show has some usually orphaned animal raised by humans. They had shows with a giraffe, a walrus, a camel... but the most touching show I think is "Growing Up Grizzly."
A big burly guy in Utah raised a tiny grizzly bear from a newborn who he named Bart. If you've seen bears in the movies or in a commercial, you've probably seen Bart or his other bears. To see him wrestling with the bears and the romping good fun they are having is something to see. I mean, the guy might be 6'5" but he looks like a hobbit next to Bart.
The program shows Doug and his wife raising two orphaned bear cubs. Brad Pitt who was in a movie with Bart visits and narrates the story of how the Seuses raised first Bart, then Tank (who was in Dr. Doolittle 2), and the 2 cubs.
In another show in the series, "Growing Up Grizzly 2" Jennifer Aniston visits the 2 cubs a few years later and they are as playful and energetic as they were when they arrived 3 years before. It's really something to see.
... and the birds
I remember some National Geographic program where a researcher had taught birds (parrots, mynah birds?) to speak.
Not so remarkable, you say, but these birds could understand simplified English questions. The researcher would hold various shapes (triangular, square, circular) in different colors (red, blue, yellow) made of different materials (wood, metal, paper) and ask the birds "Where is red square" and darned if that bird didn't grab hold of the red square with its beak! ignoring the red star and blue square.
But that's not all. She asked things like "what color triangle?" and the bird answered "Yellooo".
And (check the calender and make sure it's not April 1) she would ask "How many blue?" and the bird, seeing a blue square and blue circle and blue something else would say "threee."
I think it must have been a put-on. They had me going until the birds counted things.
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