Mother Nature Is A Bitch!

(MEERKAT MANOR SPOILER ALERT)

For once I mean that literally.

While walking through the office today, one of my favorite coworkers comes up to me and asks me if I had seen the most recent episode of Meerkat Manor. My answer was No because of the move, I really hadn't had the time to catch up with my TiVo and I had noticed last night that the Meerkat Manor episode from Friday night had already deleted (no doubt to make room for Heroes and Weeds). He had this "cat ate the canary" look on his face and he said "yeah, something bad happens to Flower" and kind of stops. Now - if you want me to pester your ass, never EVER tell me something like that because there is nothing more I enjoy doing than getting to the bottom of something. I go into his office and he eventually fesses up what happens. I kind of don't believe him because - well...lets just say that I actually gasped when he told me what happened. I didnt get the details from him - oh no, for that I went to Wikipedia. There, the truth was laid before me...FLOWER WAS DEAD!

For those of you who don't watch the show, Flower is (was) the leader of the Whiskers who is the family of meerkats that this show mainly revolves around. They track the developments of the family, the fights with other meerkat sects over territory, and their ability to survive in the Kalahari Desert.

I was literally in shock. If this was a scripted show, it would be like killing Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie, off on Sex and the City. Ok, maybe not that extreme but its huge.

Earlier this evening, I was able to sit down and see if anything interesting was on my TiVo. Low and behold, it had recorded this episode again (I swear, I love this thing). I started watching it and soon Jake joined me as well. Time is winding down in the episode and the cameras show a Cape Cobra snake slither into the burrow where Flower's newborn pups were in. As soon as she went in to check on her pups, Jake says, "Uh-oh, I think Flower's going to die." Sure enough, she gets bitten in the face by the snake and she eventually dies from her wounds. Now - I know that I knew about this when I started watching the show and I know this is a show about some meerkats half-way around the world...but....I still teared up a bit. I think it was this bit of dust from all the boxes...

So here I'm thinking, gee - that was a bit silly of me to kind of react that way. I mean its just a tv show - right? I went to the Animal Planet website to see if I could find a picture of Flower to post on the blog and I see this obituary on the website:

Gone, But Not Forgotten

Flower, star of Animal Planet's popular series, Meerkat Manor, is survived by loving mate Zaphod and many children including Mozart, Mitch, Buster, Suggs and Izzy. Flower leaves behind a devastated meerkat mob now without its fearless leader. From humble beginnings, she created one of the largest, most close-knit families on the Manor. Affectionately referred to as the "Kalahari Desert Rose" by those who knew her best, she was a formidable leader and a noble mother.

Flower, born in 2000 and the matriarch to her family, the Whiskers, lived large for a 12-inch-tall meerkat. Under her reign, the Whiskers endured trials and tribulations, ranging from sibling rivalries to violent clashes with the Commandos and the Zappas, their neighboring rival families. Despite the chaos, Flower remained a source of stability for her family, often making life-or-death decisions without breaking a sweat or cracking a claw. An inspiration to her tribe, this fearless female was no "girly-girl." Flower ruled her family with an iron paw but still revealed her softer side when indulging in cuddles with her newborns or playing in the dirt.

Flower might have lived to see future generations of Whiskers if her life wasn't cut tragically short when she came face-to-masked-face with the snake that tragically dealt her final and fatal blow. Sadly, the Whiskers have felt the stinging bite of tragedy before, having lost Shakespeare, the heroic and valiant son of Flower, last winter.

The family has asked that all donations be made in Flower's name to the Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center.

~Whew - its not just me.