The St. Thomas Shark

I promise this will be the last stuff about sharks for a while. Just that these past 2 weeks the Animal Planet channel has been featuring stories on sharks – all different kinds, all over the world. I remain fascinated.

Last night it was all about Great Whites, which are the most deadly of all shark species. They score the most fatal attacks on folks, everywhere. Well, there is a guy who dives and SWIMS with Great Whites. And doesn’t get bitten. He has developed a technique whereby he lightly strokes the front of their snouts and they go into a sleeplike trance called Tonic Immobility. They will roll onto their backs and lie suspended in the water.

It reminded me of how we tamed our cockatiel, Princess. She had not been hand raised by the breeder and was quite skittish, only feeling safe in her cage. We wanted more contact. One day we discovered that she liked her head scratched. We proceeded to do this by sticking our fingers thru the bars of the cage. She would go into a totally relaxed trance, closing her eyes. Gradually we coaxed her out of the cage for short periods, always including a head scratching. After several weeks of this Princess came out readily, sat on our fingers, shoulders, and liked to join us for breakfast. Now she’s Daddy’s Girl and will sit on Patrick’s forearm until she gets a treatment.

I believe that all living beings have a soft spot.

Many years ago I was visiting St. Thomas alone. It was dead winter in New York, I had a little extra money, so had treated myself to some sun. I met a gentleman (at least I thought he was) and we went dancing. At one point during the evening he isolated me and proceeded to get way too friendly. He could have overpowered me easily, and we both knew it.

Divine intervention is the only explanation for what happened next. I just started blurting out phrases such as: “I’m really worried about my daughter. She’s been misbehaving lately, and I just don’t know what to do!” He immediately stopped the physical stuff and began giving me fatherly advice. He walked me back to my hotel and very courteously said good night.

I had miraculously found his soft spot. And, since I believe in a Higher Power, I knew I’d had help.