The Tiger and The Camels

I find so much fodder in the Saturday Toronto Star for things to write about; every weekend is the beginning of new, incredibly bizarre, oddly endearing stories.

A few weeks ago, it was the totally weird ritual of unboxing, as applied only to the new I Pad. This week? Hijacked tigers and camels. And it's front section news!

It turns out, according to Andrew Chung, Star Quebec Bureau, that 2 camels and a tiger had been performing in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and were being transported by trailer back to their home in the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario. When their trainer and driver took a 15 minute rest break that included a fast shower, the truck and trailer, with the animals munching away inside, were stolen from the motel parking lot.

You have to wonder what kind of person this thief is, don't you? I mean, doesn't it just make you wonder what he was thinking? Was he looking to heist the truck and didn't, um, notice the tiger and the camels? Maybe you can not notice turtles or Chihuahuas, maybe not hamsters or baby kangaroos, but these are 2 dromedary camels and a Bengal tiger for Pete's sake!

So there's the thief, maybe with a buddy, booting it down the highway, congratulating himself on a smooth clean heist, when suddenly he hears.....a roar? Can you begin to imagine the expression on his face as the reality of a really terrible, really stupid mistake begins to filter through his tiny bandit-mind? Oops! I'd think that the next challenge for the tiger/camel-napper might be what to do next. Abandon the animals, leave them at the side of the road to maybe hitch another ride? Or keep going with the truck and the animals included thinking that if a truck is good, a truck and wild animals are even better?

In fact, the pirate made an entirely different choice. As of 1:10pm, still on Saturday, Quebec police had tracked down the truck which was found abandoned near a church in Central Quebec. There is no trace of the thief, nor is there any trace of Jonas, the 3 year old tiger, or Shawn and Todd, the 5 year old camels.

I bet Jonas has jumped a freight train back to Ontario, since he's scheduled, finally, for his big break to be one of the stars of the movie, ironically, Life of Pi. And I'd like to think that Shawn and Todd are munching happily beside the church, ready to greet the worshippers Sunday morning. I imagine the hymns will be sung extra loud and prayers repeated with extra devotion because of Shawn and Todd's presence.

I hope the thief is eventually able to hold his head high again after his howler of mis-judgment. Or maybe he'll become an urban legend in the style of D. B. Cooper, living in limited stardom in a tiny town outside of Sydney, Nova Scotia. I hope Shawn and Todd find happiness in rural Quebec and I hope Jonas goes on to challenge the MGM lion.

And I hope every Saturday Star is as good as this week.

©Marcia Barhydt 2010