This is a tiger Bob made and painted as a gift for Jungle Larry. Nancy gave it back to him year's later after JL's death. Baraboo would have been wise to have Bob repaint that horrid Arthur Bros. wagon in their collection. Bob, have you ever compiled a complete list of alumni who went on to have career's with animals after leaving Jungle Larry's?
Jungle Larry and Safari Jane were a very important part of my life at the start of my career with animals. When I was contracted by Ringling Bros. the first time in 1984 we were allowed 4 guest tickets for the opening night dress rehearsal. I managed to beg for one more and Larry and Nancy honored me with their presence that magical night along with David and Tim. The 5th ticket went to Andrew Kirby the manager of Clyde Bros. Circus who gave me my first job in the circus working on the prop crew.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Bobby Cline--One of A Multitude of Jungle Larry Alumni
The Tetzlaff's
Jungle Larry photographing his beloved Tiglons in Naples.
Bobby, were these cages in Sandusky? I don't recognize them as being in Naples.
Vintage Caribbean Gardens
Original "Safari train" passing the Jaguar exhibit
Later "Safari trains" were pulled by a jeep with the same zebra striped paint job. I believe this area the train is passing through is what was known as the "Orchid Cathedral." I used to make up for any lost time, during the Midnight Time Trials mentioned below, passing through this area.
The Amazon with monkey island in the middle. Amazon was inhabited by Percy the tapir, two Galapagos tortoise, and Spider monkeys on the island. Jungle Larry was a Herpetologist and was queer for those Galop's. Each afternoon in the winter he would listen to the weather report from Sanabel Island and if it was to get down into the 50's he would have us go get the Galop's and bring them into the show building with heat lamps. Miserable, miserable assignment. We would have to walk all around the muddy muck of the Amazon which stunk like rotten eggs as it was fed by a natural sulfur spring. It wasn't bad during the day but in the evening it really stunk. We would usually find the Galop's down at the water's edge someplace buried in the muck with only their heads and the tops of their shells visible. We would have to pull them out by our fingertips under their shell, with the "monster's" struggling and trying to escape crushing your fingers between their shell and legs. When you finally got them out you would have to carry them up to the 4 foot fence that surrounded the Amazon, lift them up and balance the struggling monsters there while the Datsun pickup was backed up where they were loaded for the trip to the show building. Each morning they were taken back to the Amazon and each evening the "hunt" to find them repeated it's self. What a wonderful, wonderful time I cherish to this day.
The ostrich pen behind the Horn Bill cage and across from a seldom used old lion exhibit. When the females would lay eggs, we had to go in and get them for incubation. We drew straw's to see who had to get the egg's. The rest of us would stand outside the pen to lure the male's and females so the short straw man could rush in grab a handful of eggs and get out before the birds realized what was happening. We used to enjoy goofing on each other, and we would wait until the hapless egg retriever was just at the nest in the middle of the exhibit, then we would turn around and walk away. The wing flopping, beak clacking, jumping up and down, angry as hell ostrich would wheel around, see the egg snatcher and charge after him. You would have to quick put the eggs back down and run like the wind for the gate and do a "Fosbury flop" over the top bar to escape their wrath. One pulled my boot off one time when I got hung up and couldn't get off the gate. LOL
Jungle Larry was also queer for lions and had 19 exhibit lions, in addition to the show lions when I was working for him. To justify having that many lions he had two exhibit's, on know as the Plains Lions and one known as the Bush Lions. This is the Plains Lions exhibit just down from the Commissary. Any male's born with light manes became Plains lions and any born with darker manes became Bush lions.
The Tetzlaff's
This was Jungle Larry's beautiful male lion act with Numa, Rama, Solimon, and Bakuba. This picture was taken at Cedar Point where there was a chute/tunnel built that the presenter also walked through, chasing the lions into the performance cage. The act was trained by Sonny Marine, who had worked with Pat Anthony and Bill Johnson before going to work for Jungle Larry. Sonny taught the "Cowboy" below how the work the act when he left. Does anyone know who this "Cowboy" is, excluding Bob or Dennis? Back in the day, he looked like Cat Stevens and scored with more babe's then you can imagine. Frye boot's with your jeans tucked in with either leopard or tiger print shirt with a black safari hat and print band was the "uniform 0 the day" at Jungle Larry's African Safari.
The Tetzlaff's
The old elephant pen in Naple's. In the early 70's Jungle Larry made the unwise management decision to hire three new people 2 from South Dakota and one from North Dakota to join another person from South Dakota already working at the African Safari. We all lived on the grounds of this wonderful jungle paradise in quaint housing provided by Jungle Larry's. Busch beer could only be had in Florida at the time and as we all had had our fill of Old Milwaukee, we would "sometime" over indulge. As young men tend to do, we would get stupid and do stupid things. If it was a moonless dark as pitch night we would go to the maintenance shop behind the show building and unplug the electric golf cart with a box on back that was used to deliver food to the animals as well as by the gardening crew. We would then drive over to this elephant pen and have time trial's racing the golf cart around the "jungle trails", starting and finishing at the elephants. One night Moon from South Dakota came around the corner to fast at the finish line and rolled the golf cart over, breaking the box off the back. We panicked, set he box back on the cart and took it back to the shop and plugged it back in, figuring no one would be the wiser. The next morning old Uncle Joe the black gardener who had worked at Caribbean Gardens for a couple of decades, loaded the box up with small banana trees, various other trees, shrubs, a bunch of case's of flowers and 6 buckets of grass seed. He backed out of the shop, put the cart in first gear and gunned it. The box sailed off the golf cart and slung trees, flower's, and seed all over the back lot. We all looked down at the ground, then quickly walked away to find something to do. I lowered my voice and asked Moon, "I thought you said you were going to come in early and reattach the box, you idiot." Moon alibied by saying "I did come in early, but I couldn't find a screw driver. Then the "Cowboy"(see below) wanted to go for breakfast at Lum's and I forget." Uncle Joe told Jungle Larry, "I know them boy's had something to do with this," but as there was no solid proof we were never brought up on charges. LOL
This elephant is Kiki who lived with Asian Babe when I worked for JL. The "Cowboy" trained this act which later included a chimpanzee riding with the lion.
A "handburger." Anyone who had the incredible experience of working for Jungle Larry, and a lot of future trainers did, will remember how he loved to perform and was quite a "hambone showman" with a unique schtick all his own. One of his "gags" in the lion act was to offer one of the lions a "handburger."
Jungle Larry and possibly Mark
Jungle Larry, and I believe it looks like Clark
The Tetzlaff's--Ceder Point
David Tetzlaff above and below
Bobby Cline, I am assuming these pictures were taken at Ceder Point, because I don't recall any red barred cages in Naples. Unless they were built after 1978.
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