The best line from Tarzan is “Where are the gorillas? GO-RILL-AS” and it’s not even close.
Okay, that has absolutely nothing to do with the video we’re talking about, but I just can’t start going down the gorilla rabbit hole without bringing that up or mentioning the incredible soundtrack Phil Collins put together for the 1999 Disney film.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Undeniably, gorillas are some of the most fascinating creatures on the planet.
They’re extremely close to humans genetically, are incredibly strong, and just look the part of being the top dog of the jungle.
Every time I find myself at a zoo I spend most of the time in the primate section, watching all sorts of monkeys, apes, chimps, and gorillas meander about, which makes me contemplate how different I truly am from them (some days I land on a lot, some days not so much).
Well, a group of visitors to the St. Louis zoo back in 2012 got more than they could have expected when they saw a bunch of gorillas huddled around something they knew nothing about.
Somehow, a raccoon found its way into their exhibit and was trying to hide in some brush, but these smart beasts sniffed it out in no time and then tried to figure out exactly what it was they were looking at.
The good news is we get to see a gorillas thought process in action.
The bad news is, the poor raccoon got itself way in over its head.
At first, they appear to be friendly and curious, but things quickly change when the raccoon begins scampering around, which spooks the primates. A few of them take turns trying to catch it before a bigger one grabs a hold and fires it backwards towards the protective glass, spinning it through the air wildly until the poor animals crashes into the rocks below.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, as it tried to escape through drainage pipe, one of the gorillas snagged it by the tail and held it in place while another began whacking it in the belly.
Obviously, if they were really threatened the raccoon would have been torn up into a million little pieces, but fortunately they were just playing around and trying to learn what this unknown creature was.
The video ends before we see a true resolution, but I have to imagine it wasn’t long before the zookeepers got involved and rescued the poor trash panda.
For all of their downsides, there’s no denying zoos provide incredible learning experiences for both children and adults, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to witness something incredibly rare.
Raccoon Makes Ohio Woman Run For Her Life
This video should be hung up in the Louvre.
It’s a work of art, and we’re just fortunate someone happened to be driving by to catch it all.
Raccoons can be cute little things, scary, sneaky, and human-like as they walk up to your back sliding door on their hind legs knocking for someone to let them in.
Like this….
Back to this lady getting a face full of pavement.
So much going on here to discuss…
Is she drunk or on drugs, or perhaps both?
What is she arguing with the raccoon about?
What did she say that finally made the raccoon say “I’ve had enough of this s**t.”
She didn’t get very far as you’ll see, but the best part might be her Burnett’s Vodka drinking partner flex on the raccoon like he just stopped a running back during a goal line stand.
God bless Ohio – roll the tape.
Super Mom Saves Young Daughter From Rabid Raccoon Attack In Connecticut
Absolute chaos.
Native to just about every part of the United States except some harsh desert climates, raccoons are found pretty much everywhere across the country, up into Canada and even into Mexico. They have also been introduced, whether intentionally or not, into parts of central Europe and Japan.
Nocturnal creatures with omnivorous diets, they can usually be found snacking on a variety of insects, worms, fruits, nuts and the occasional small mammal or bird.
Interaction with humans is relatively common as an increasing number of raccoons have made their way into urban and suburban areas, and of course, it’s pretty common to find them rummaging through your trash cans.
That being said, raccoon attacks are very uncommon.
If you see a raccoon during the day, there’s a good chance it may be ill, particular with rabies. Raccoons account for a pretty good chunk of the rabid animals in the United States, and an aggressive raccoon is almost always sick, whether it’s rabies, canine distemper or feline parvovirus.
This Ashford, Connecticut family learned that the hard way.
A young girl was on her porch in the early morning when a raccoon made a run for her leg, and latched on, while the girl screamed for dear life.
The girl’s mother came out, grabbing the raccoon by the scruff and tossed it back into the yard.
The young girl wanted to share the video with the world wide web:
“Per Rylee’s request “show everyone what the racoon did” we are headed to get checked out for rabies following this unprovoked racoon attack. I can’t tell you how proud I am of this Brave girl!”
Mom later clarified that they both got their rabies shots at their local hospital shortly following the attack.
Dolly Parton’s Career Was Kickstarted By “An Old Raccoon Hunter”
Dolly Parton’s first paying gig as a musician, the one that kickstarted her career at just 10-years-old, was playing for the Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour.
Without that opportunity, who knows if the legend from small-town East Tennessee would have ever gotten her “big break.”
According to Showbiz CheatSheet, by the time Parton was playing the gig, Walker had already become a prominent grocery store mogul. Although mogul might be too complicated of a word for the man nicknamed “The Old ‘Coon Hunter.”
In her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, she described Walker with a much more entertaining description, claiming in her own words that he was just:
“An old raccoon hunter who started selling groceries door-to-door with a wheelbarrow. A real character.”
Racoon hunting is deeply woven into the cultural lore of old time rural Tennessee.
The University of Tennessee’s mascot is a Blue Tick Coonhound, one of the most popular breeds for hunting the animals the dogs are named after.
In the later stages of his life, Walker managed his own dog breeding operation. At one point, he owned as many as 50 ‘coon hunting dogs. He was known for treating his dogs with an almost human like reverence. When one of his dogs died, it was respectfully buried in a special cemetery with a personalized headstone.
Walker was born and raised in Sevier County, Tennessee. The very same place where Dolly Parton was born and raised.
According to The Smokies, Walker left home at 14 to work for a paper mill in North Carolina before relocating to Kentucky to dig coal. Eventually he saved up enough money to move back home and buy a grocery store. Then he bought another. And another. And another. And another. Eventually he owned a chain of stores big enough to earn the title of mogul.
If not for Parton’s rightful claim to the crown, Walker would likely still be recognized as the most successful Sevier County native of all time.
Walker once attributed his success in life to the skills of self efficacy, determination, and discipline that he sharpened by running with his ‘coon hounds through the Great Smoky Mountains.
He was a natural born showman and an instinctively intuitive businessman known mostly for his over the top, outlandish, and hilarious marketing and advertising campaigns. For example, he was known on occasion to dump thousands of coupons out of airplanes flying over the towns where his stores were located.
His first store opened in 1924, with Walker promoting the event by throwing live chickens off the roof. The rules were, if you caught a chicken you could keep it for free. That’s just genius marketing.
Walker was also involved in politics for more than 20 years, eventually serving a brief stint as the Mayor of Knoxville. His political career was defined by being a friend of the little man and a champion of farmers and the working class.
He was apparently a real live wire his entire life though. He spoke his mind publicly and cared little about what anybody else thought about his opinions. In 1956, Life Magazine published a photo of him on the verge of landing a stiff right hook on a fellow Knoxville City Councilman while in the midst of a political debate.
That was the very same year that Walker offered Parton a gig playing on his radio show.
One of the first people to really understand the marketing value of radio, Walker purchased air time on area stations to start promoting his stores in 1929 by hosting the The Farm and Home Hour on which Parton premiered her talents. The radio show was broadcast for 54 consecutive years and provided big breaks for other acts, including the Everly Brothers, Jimmy Martin, and Roy Acuff.
Walker also reportedly used the show to regularly tell his own hunting stories.
Eventually the radio show turned into a TV show that was on air for more than 20 years.
Parton’s uncle helped manage her early music career and he was reportedly a big fan of Cas Walker’s stores and radio show. It was he who lined up the audition for Dolly.
“Uncle Bill and I went down there, me with my little guitar and him with his big ol’ guitar.
It was 1956, and I was ten years old. My two big numbers at the time were ‘I Love a Tall Man’ by Rose Maddox and the George Jones song ‘You Gotta Be My Baby,’ which was a hit that year.”
Little Miss Dolly absolutely crushed the audition with her rendition of the George Jones song.
“They just applauded and applauded. I looked back at my uncle Bill, because I didn’t know what to do.
He said, ‘Just sing it again!’ So I sang it two or three times.”
Parton apparently won Walker over with the same charmingly respectful brazenness she’s been known for ever since. When the applause subsided, little Dolly walked right up to Walker and told him she wanted a job. Because of her bold determination and magical voice, Walker had no choice but to hire her.
Dolly had landed her first radio and television gig at the age of 10… Before her family could even afford to own a television.
A scratchy, old, barely audible recording of her first appearance on the show is still housed on her website.
She would go on to perform on the show for the next 8 years of her life. She made $5 cash every time she played, and she played often until she moved to Nashville after graduating high school to pursue the next chapter of her musical career.
She returned to the show once more a few years later to do an interview with Walker and to play the sassy hit song “Dumb Blonde” from her debut album “Hello, I’m Dolly.”
It’s believed to be Dolly Parton’s first ever appearance on colorized television.
While Parton’s stories about Walker are certainly entertaining, she’s not the only one who had tales to tell about the maverick who helped launch her career.
Walker died in 1998, but legend has it that every single person born in East Tennessee prior to the 1980’s has (or had) at least a few personal stories they could tell about Cas Walker. Legend also has it that some of the stories are even true.
Thanks to the opportunities he afforded her, Parton has held Walker in extremely high regard for the duration of her life. She even had a statue of him commissioned and put on display at Dollywood.
Walker’s lifelong love for raccoon hunting was featured heavily in a book about his life, “Cas Walker, Stories on His Life & Legend.”
His passion for raccoon hunting and revelry for raccoon hunting dogs was also recounted through a video produced by the Museum of Appalachia as well.
