Someone I kinda, sorta, vaguely know was mauled to death a couple of days ago by one of his own tigers.Ryan Easley:

Very long-term readers may remember I spent a good chunk of 2009 traveling with the Culpepper/Merriweather Circus, and that's where I met Ryan. He was one of Casey Cainan's proteges and when a painful divorce drove Casey to take himself & his tigers to Saudi Arabia, Ryan stayed on with Kelly Miller.
A very nice guy, Ryan couldn't have been kinder or more dedicated to the comfort of his animals, so if you're a PETA supporter or believe circuses exploit their animals—& I will concede: Some do—put a plug in it for now please. Thanks!
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I think what it comes down to is the old story about the frog riding across the river on the scorpion's back. The scorpion turns on the frog & stings him to death because such is the scorpion's nature.
Tigers are predators.
You don't actually have to
do anything to a tiger to get them to turn on you.
Tigers don't even have to
think you're doing something to them to get triggered and turn on you.
Tigers will just turn on you because their innate preying & territorial instincts surface unpredictably.
Thus, tiger-training is a high-risk profession. I doubt very many tiger trainers make it to a ripe old age.
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In other news, I am just rolling along on that old conveyor belt.
I
did manage to clear the afternoon so I could labor a bit on the Work in Progress—Neal & Grazia are now standing in front of the old Sampson Opera House talking about
sex—but first I must
exercise.
And speaking of sex...
The real-life Daria is back from Switzerland, & I can't tell whether our texts are flirty.
They might be.
We both like gurlZ as much as we like boyZ sexually, and real-life Daria uses seduction kinda the way I use humor. Plus, of course, she's very beautiful.
I want to know everything about you, she texted from Switzerland.
You’ve captured my imagination. Hmmmmm...
I let her read Chapter 1 of the Work in Progress, and of course,
that fascinated her—though I did go to great lengths to explain:
The character is clearly based on you. But it's not you.Most of the time, I feel like I am absolutely done with that part of my life (and good riddance!)
But every once in a while...