Background Music is Downloadable Here: From Daily Reflections Wav Pages.  Keep It Going - Amy Grant          The Back-Up Man     I always felt good about going into a cage with Bob Pedersen.  He was the best back-up man in the business.  I was sure that if something went wrong during a dangerous animal capture Bob would be there to do whatever was needed to bail me out.  He felt comfortable with my abilities, and we really enjoyed working together.     When it was necessary to go into a cage and capture a potentially dangerous animal, the first rule of thumb is that there must always be two or more people to handle the animal effectively.  The first man works the animal into position while the back-up man cuts off its avenues of escape.  The roles can change back and forth when the animal changes position, but we usually decided who witll  catch and who will grab before we unlock the cage door.     Bob had an excellent reaction time and he was strong.  We netted and held everything from baboons to cheetahs, and neither of us ever sustained an injury when working together.  In fact, the only time that I sustained any injuries was when I broke the cardinal rule of capture.... 1.  Never go into a cage alone, and 2.  Never work with an inexperienced back-up.     It was a lazy summer afternoon in August and I had finished all that I had been assigned around the health centre.  I needed to get down to the North American section to vaccinate the artic foxes for distemper, hepatitis, and leptospirosis.  They were overdue.  I picked up the phone to call the section, then set it down again as a young and beautiful Ph.D. candidate from a local unniversity walked into the health centre office.  She glanced around, then asked me if there  was anybody who could help her.  I told her that I would see if I could.  She  explained that she was doing a behavioral study on white-handed gibbon apes  and needed to mark them with white paint so that she could readily tell which  ape was which.     We drove down to the Eurasian section and I looked for the keeper who cared  for the gibbons.  He had already gone home for the day and I couldn't find  anyone else who worked in the section.  I noticed that the beautiful young scientist kept checking her watch.     "Running late?" I queried. "Yes, and I was so hoping that we would be able to get the marking done today," she replied.  She sounded so desperate, like maybe she wouldn't get her Ph.D. or maybe she would get an "F" on her assignment or something like that.     "It's just that I can't find anybody to do back-up and I'm not supposed to go into a capture situation alone," I explained. "Gee, I'm reaaly sorry to be putting you to so much trouble.  Your gibbons must be more aggressive than the ones at the primate centre.  Ours were easy.  I even helped.  Hey, I would be glad to help you.  I'll be your back-up." "I'm sorry, I can't let you help.  If you got bit, I'd get fired," I explained.     She sat there looking so disappointed, so dejected.  I had to prove that chivalry was not dead, so I made a stupid decision. "I guess it wouldn't hurt anything to try," I announced. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.  You're a dear."     Perhaps "dunce" would have been a more appropriate word, but just for a minute there I felt like a dear.  And it felt pretty good.   I gathered the capture equipment together and carried it to the back of the gibbon cage.  All three of the gibbons looked at the two hoop nets I was carryin and hooted their displeasure.  Hand-over-hand they quickly retreated to the far end of the cage and huddled together for mutal comfort.  They looked fairly intimidated, and I took that to be a good sign.     I entered the cage with confidence.  I had learned to act confident whether I  felt confident or not.  It gave you a slight edge if the animals were on the defensive.  I left one of the two nets leaning against the cage wall and began to make my advance.  The apes headed in different directions and it looked like it would be every gibbon for itself.  I made a beautiful pass of the net, and  whoosh!  I had a gibbon.  I knew that it must have looked impressive and I twisted the net to make sure that the gibbon didn't accomplish a premature exit.     It was about that time that the other two attacked me with vengeance.  I  couldn't have engendered more wrath if I had tried.  The two remaining gibbons seemed to be coming at me from every direction at the same time.  One got a  large handful of my hair and decided to keep it.  The other gibbon grabbed my arm with such force that he caused an impressive bruise.  I wore it for more  than a week.  There is no dignified way to exit a cage while being swarmed by  gibbons.  I just did the best I could to get out without being bitten to pieces. That was exactly what the Flying Gibbonski Brothers had in mind.  As I fell  backward into the holding cage, the beautiful young scientist had the presence of mind to push the sliding door shut.  The gibbons continued to reach through the chain link, hoping to pull me back out where they could work me over good.  But I had backed just out of their reach.     Now there is nothing clever that one can say when one has just proven himself to be a jerk, but one usually tries to say something.  I know I did.     "Well, Miss, do you think this might be why they recommend that we never go  into a cage by ourselves?" "Maybe so," she answered with a smile that convinced me that I had looked as ridiculous as I felt.     I would have been grateful if we could have left and forgotten that the whole thing had happened, but there was still the little matter of the one gibbon that I had netted.  It was still neatly twisted and bagged and lying quietly on the cool cement floor. "Be sure your sins will be found out," I thought. I had no choice.  I had to get someone to help me release the gibbon and retrieve the nets.  I managed to get my supervisor to come back with me, and together we quickly accomplished what I had failed to do alone.     "Next time you break the rules to impress somebody you may lose a finger, an eye, or your life.  Don't do that anymore, Richmond," he said sternly.  We drove back to the health centre silently, and I pondered my irresponsible actions.  I never made that same mistake again.  But I did make others.     We had just hired Dr. Reed, a brand new veterinarian who had just graduated from vet school.  Dr. Reed had never worked with wild animals, and capture was something she had seen on television but had never participated in herself.  She was nevertheless my supervisor,  and I felt obligated to indulge her requests.  She wanted to get some practice at capture, so she asked if I would please step aside to let her grab an adolescent greater kudu.  A kudu is one of the largest antelopes, and though this young male only weighed a little over a hundred  pounds, he could still accomplish some serious damage with his formidable hooves. Dr. Reed would make the initial grab and control the head, the neck, and the  front legs.  She must keep it from falling to the ground or it would be in a great position to kick somebody's head off.  I was back-up, and my job was to control the hindquarters and keep it on its hind feet.  The hindquarters are the business end, the end that can deliver the most damage.     Dr. Reed rushed in and exhibited a good deal of plikc as she grabbed the young kudu..  I grabbed the hindquarters and our veterinary intern began ti inject a large dose  of penicillin.  It was then that Dr. Reed lost her grip, and in trying to regain it she actually tipped the animal upside down.  The kudu kicked  upward with all its might and knocked me temporarily unconscious.  The hoof had passed through my open mouth and connected with the rear teeth on the opposite side of my head.  My gums were bleeding profusely and all I could hear was a loud  ringing in my ear.  When things began to make sense again Dr. Reed was saying, "Tell me where you are.  Tell me your name." After I had convinced her that I had fully returned to coherency, I was removed for medical treatment.     I made a decision that I would never again work without an experienced backup   lead.  I stuck to that decision for the last two years of my zoo career, and to my memory, I was never injured in a capture situation again.     So much of life lived at its best is a matter of surrounding ourselves with people who will provide good back-up.  They will pull us out of trouble when we get into  a mess.  They will remind us that we are out of line and need to be playing by the rules.  They will pour courage into us so that we can perform to the limits of our potential.     Because we reap what we sow it is necessary that we learn to be good back-up ourselves.  The following is a list of responsibilities that go with being a good back-up person.  If you have learned to love yourself and put yourself first, then you need not apply for this position, because it requires willingness to sacrifice and courage enough to live for others.  The Christian version of  back-up is called "one anothering."  As you read the following list, think of  people in your life who are good at watching out for and caring for others.       John 15:12                 Love one another Romans 5:13               Don't pass judgement on one another Romans 12:5               Be members of one another Romans 12:10              Be devoted and honour onr another Romans 12:16              Live in hormony with one another  Romans 14:19              Build up one another Romans 15:5                Be like-minded towards one another Romans 15:7                Accept one another 1 Corinthians 6:6         Don't make law suits against one another 1 Corinthians 12.25      Care for one another Galatians 5:13             Serve one another in love Galatians 5:15             Don't spitefully hurt one another Galatians 5:26             Don't provoke or envy one another Galatians 6:2               Bear one anothers burdens Ephesians 4:32            Be kind and forgive one another Ephesians 5:21            Submit to one another Colossians 3:9             Don't lie to one another Colossians 3:13           Teach and counsel one another 1 Thessalonians 3:12    Abound in love towards one another 1 Thessalonians 4:18    Comfort one another Titus 3:3                    Don't hate one another Hebrews 3:13             Encourage one another Hebrews 10:24           Stir up one another to love and good deeds James 4:11                 Don't slander one another James 5:9                  Don't bear grudges against one another James 5:16                 Confess your sins to  and pray for one another 1 Peter 4:9                 Offer hospitality to one another 1 Peter 5:14                Greet one another 1 John 1:7                  Have fellowship with one another     Now that you have read the responsibilities of the ideal back-up person, try to think of the people in uour life who fill their responsibility for you.  Why don't you write or call them and thank them?  They deserve it.     As you read through the list, did you see any verse that best stated some area of strength that you possess and use to support others?  Was there a weak area?     Thank God for the back-up people in your life and your area of strength, and  ask Him to help you grow in some specific area where you now show a weakness.     Author ~ Gary Richmond     All graphics © 2001 By Until Then Graphics   All right reserved.                            All other copyrights belong to their respective holders.                      This background set made and copyrighted by Until Then Graphics.                       It was made especially for "View From A Zoo - Daily Reflections",                               so please do not take any of the graphics or set.                                 Thank you for respecting the copyright laws. 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