Jack Thornton

In high school during the early '60s, one of my favorite films was a Disney flick called "Nikki Wild Dog of the North." I really don't remember the specifics of the movie but a fight scene with a wolverine really caught my attention and it was tough to impress a naive 17-year-old who thought football was the legacy of the gods.

Anyway, in 1977, some 15 years later, I was called to Olympic Game Farm to treat a sick wolverine, the same one used in the movie.

Even a depressed and anorexic wolverine is nasty, so treatment consisted of forcing it to the end of a wire cage and injecting it with antibiotics through the mesh. I learned that a short but very stout Brazilian named Marinho Correia, who was helping me restrain the wolverine was, in fact, the double for Brandon De Wilde in that wolverine fight. Marinho showed me the scars to his arm, neck and face that he sustained during the filming of that scene. He almost lost an eye.

Another game farm citizen became a star in the television series "Grizzly Adams" co-starring with Dan Haggerty. I never watched the show but had seen portions of a few episodes. I was surprised to find that the grizzly bear was quite small and was a female named Bozo.

Actors including Richard Burton and Robert Redford reputedly are quite short and filming angles and techniques used for smaller actors were employed to make Bozo appear larger than life.

The remarkable thing about Bozo was her disposition.

Lloyd Beebe, animal trainer and the game farm's owner, was very careful not to subject anybody to unnecessary risks with wild animals. Yet, both my stepson Shawn and I were allowed to sit quietly with a marshmallow pursed on our lips while Bozo gently picked them off with her snout. Bear breath was not an issue.

The only medical inspection I was requested to make on Bozo concerned a large balding patch over the base of her spine. She sat down every time I attempted to look at the area closely. When I finally got a good look at the area, it appeared to be a large callus that I postulated was the result of her frequent tendency to sit.

There was a great scene in an episode of the TV series "Northern Exposure" where Bozo is in a tavern, sitting on a stool at the bar with regular customers. I don't know, but this syndrome could be common to any of us who, with fame or fortune or beer, begin spending too much time sitting on our respective butts.

The showcase celebrity at the game farm for years was a large male Kodiak bear named Tag that weighed approximately 2,000 pounds and stood at just under 10 feet tall.

For years, Tag was featured in movies and commercials since he was one of the few such creatures available. Later a man in California captured the business using Kodiaks with whom he worked more intimately even after maturity. Beebe's feeling was that a bear that size cannot be completely trusted, so during filming there was always an electric hot wire (to which Tag was thoroughly conditioned) between him and any humans. Beebe thought the California trainer was courting disaster by working in too close a physical proximity with his bears. His concerns eventually proved prophetic.

The only time I dealt with Tag medically he had what appeared to be a gastrointestinal episode.

The big bear had diarrhea and appeared cramped up in his abdomen. He hadn't eaten for a few days but fortunately he still would eat marshmallows, so I fed him antibiotics twice daily hidden inside. I was impressed with the dexterity with which Tag quickly and cleanly retrieved each treat from the loose straw on the floor of his cage. The lips of his great snout seemed the equal of fingers. On one occasion while treating him, I leaned my face forward very close to the heavy chain link separating us. He quickly banged his snout forcefully against the fence only inches from my face. Whether play or aggression I was not sure, but the action nearly produced another case of diarrhea.

Remember the Mercury lynx car commercials on television?

A bobcat from the farm was employed in those advertisements. Upon returning from a shoot in California, Beebe asked what could be done about the cat's toenails. Though Bobby, the bobcat, was a great camera ham, jumping all over new cars scratched the paint jobs. He also had taken a playful swipe at a cameraman during a close-up and snagged a little skin with a dew claw. So just before a film session, we lightly anesthetized Bobby, clipped and polished the tips of his nails and cleaned his teeth.

You probably think that fame and fortune, or at least respect, go along with being doctor to the stars. It's simply just not so. On a recent visit to the farm, for example, I was rudely heckled by a gaggle of geese and mooned by a group of insolent buffaloes. Sometimes it's hard to bear.



Jack Thornton is a semi- retired veterinarian who practices in eastern Clallam County.