wes_von_papineäu
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INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Indiana) 12 July 09 Salamander's surprising life comes to an end (John Carlson)
Muncie: Spend 34 years with a pet and, at its death, you're going to miss it.
Even if it is a salamander.
Thus, Marilyn Frazier admits to feeling something like grief at the passing of Sur.
"I just couldn't dig a hole and put him in the ground," she said, holding the short length of PVC pipe into which that pet was entombed.
By way of introduction, it should be noted that in a world full of crime and war and economic calamity, the story of a man who once adopted a salamander might seem unimportant. And yet, the tale of Sur and Marilyn's late husband, Gene, is not just rife with charm, but maybe also with something of what it means to be human.
It was in 1976 when a friend of Gene's brought him a tiger salamander larva from a bait shop in Indianapolis.
He's a survivor
Naming him Sur, which was short for survivor, the local biology teacher -- who was also a wildlife photographer, educational filmmaker and state park naturalist -- began caring for the little critter, feeding it tiny pieces of lunch meat.
By the time Sur had grown to a length of five inches, he was living in Gene's school classroom, nearly dying once after the furnace quit working over a Christmas break. Heading to the rescue, Gene found an apparently lifeless, frozen salamander, but dropped him into his shirt to see if he could warm him up.
Twenty minutes later, he felt a little flutter.
As the years passed, their relationship grew to where Sur would clamp his jaws onto Gene's finger and allow himself to be lifted from his terrarium. Set in the grass, the salamander followed Gene across the lawn.
"It's like a lot of things in life," he said of his pet, which was 28 years old when we did a story about the two back in March of 2003. "He was there, I took care of him and he became what he is."
But four months later, at age 73, Gene died.
"He was a joy in Gene's life," Marilyn said of Sur, when we did a follow-up story in November of 2004.
As such, Gene's widow took on caring for the beautiful yellow-and-black striped salamander, which by now had grown to more than nine inches in length on the meal worms that were his common diet.
But here was a question to ponder: Could a salamander experience grief?
Most folks, surely, would scoff at that notion. But the fact is, in the 28 years that Gene cared for him, Sur defied the natural laws governing his wilder cousins by never once going into hibernation.
Now, on a November day after her husband's death, Marilyn looked into the terrarium that was Sur's home and was shocked to see no sign of Gene's salamander.
She didn't disturb the earth inside it, however, and the following March, Sur popped back to the surface. It was a pattern that continued until 2007, when Sur quit hibernating again.
And that's how life continued until two months ago, when Sur began to make high-pitched squeaks. Then, for the first time ever, he failed to shed his skin.
"He turned completely black last month with that dead skin," Marilyn said. "I tried to feed him, but he wouldn't eat."
It was during the night, on May 24, that Sur died, at age 34, nine years past what her husband's earlier research had determined to be such a creature's optimum life span.
In a way, she said, the salamander's death was a relief, Sur having begun to struggle in his terrarium.
"It was hard on me to know he wanted out, but I couldn't let him out," she said, sadly. "It was inevitable. He wasn't going to live forever."
She's not looking for a replacement salamander, though.
"I'm looking for other things to do at my age," she said.
Still, Sur was undeniably special.
Before putting the salamander's body into the PVC pipe, she cleaned him. Then, before capping the tube and treating it with waterproof sealer, she dropped in Gene's driver's license.
Finally, she wrote the particulars of Sur's life on the tube with an indelible marker, closing with this epitaph: "What a Survivor."
http://www.indystar.com/article/200.../Salamander+s+surprising+life+comes+to+an+end
Muncie: Spend 34 years with a pet and, at its death, you're going to miss it.
Even if it is a salamander.
Thus, Marilyn Frazier admits to feeling something like grief at the passing of Sur.
"I just couldn't dig a hole and put him in the ground," she said, holding the short length of PVC pipe into which that pet was entombed.
By way of introduction, it should be noted that in a world full of crime and war and economic calamity, the story of a man who once adopted a salamander might seem unimportant. And yet, the tale of Sur and Marilyn's late husband, Gene, is not just rife with charm, but maybe also with something of what it means to be human.
It was in 1976 when a friend of Gene's brought him a tiger salamander larva from a bait shop in Indianapolis.
He's a survivor
Naming him Sur, which was short for survivor, the local biology teacher -- who was also a wildlife photographer, educational filmmaker and state park naturalist -- began caring for the little critter, feeding it tiny pieces of lunch meat.
By the time Sur had grown to a length of five inches, he was living in Gene's school classroom, nearly dying once after the furnace quit working over a Christmas break. Heading to the rescue, Gene found an apparently lifeless, frozen salamander, but dropped him into his shirt to see if he could warm him up.
Twenty minutes later, he felt a little flutter.
As the years passed, their relationship grew to where Sur would clamp his jaws onto Gene's finger and allow himself to be lifted from his terrarium. Set in the grass, the salamander followed Gene across the lawn.
"It's like a lot of things in life," he said of his pet, which was 28 years old when we did a story about the two back in March of 2003. "He was there, I took care of him and he became what he is."
But four months later, at age 73, Gene died.
"He was a joy in Gene's life," Marilyn said of Sur, when we did a follow-up story in November of 2004.
As such, Gene's widow took on caring for the beautiful yellow-and-black striped salamander, which by now had grown to more than nine inches in length on the meal worms that were his common diet.
But here was a question to ponder: Could a salamander experience grief?
Most folks, surely, would scoff at that notion. But the fact is, in the 28 years that Gene cared for him, Sur defied the natural laws governing his wilder cousins by never once going into hibernation.
Now, on a November day after her husband's death, Marilyn looked into the terrarium that was Sur's home and was shocked to see no sign of Gene's salamander.
She didn't disturb the earth inside it, however, and the following March, Sur popped back to the surface. It was a pattern that continued until 2007, when Sur quit hibernating again.
And that's how life continued until two months ago, when Sur began to make high-pitched squeaks. Then, for the first time ever, he failed to shed his skin.
"He turned completely black last month with that dead skin," Marilyn said. "I tried to feed him, but he wouldn't eat."
It was during the night, on May 24, that Sur died, at age 34, nine years past what her husband's earlier research had determined to be such a creature's optimum life span.
In a way, she said, the salamander's death was a relief, Sur having begun to struggle in his terrarium.
"It was hard on me to know he wanted out, but I couldn't let him out," she said, sadly. "It was inevitable. He wasn't going to live forever."
She's not looking for a replacement salamander, though.
"I'm looking for other things to do at my age," she said.
Still, Sur was undeniably special.
Before putting the salamander's body into the PVC pipe, she cleaned him. Then, before capping the tube and treating it with waterproof sealer, she dropped in Gene's driver's license.
Finally, she wrote the particulars of Sur's life on the tube with an indelible marker, closing with this epitaph: "What a Survivor."
http://www.indystar.com/article/200.../Salamander+s+surprising+life+comes+to+an+end
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