How I made friends with Humphrey the happy hippo who even gives me piggyback rides across the river

dailymail ^

[JoeProBono]

The hippo is most dangerous animal in the whole of Africa. But they're not all bad - as these incredible pictures show. A South African farmer has developed a friendship with one that is so trustworthy, the hippo helps him cross lakes on his 400-acre farmstead.

Marius Els breeds 20 different species of wildlife on land near Petrus Steynlakes, including giraffe, buffalo, rhinos and antelope.

But he has a real soft spot for Humphrey, whom he bought aged just five months and allows to roam free. He even built a dam to create a 200m wide and 18m deep lake that is perfect for wallowing in.

The gargantuan pet is now six, and as Marius, 40, explains, 'could rip a man my size apart with no problem'.

[JoeProBono]

[rockinqsranch]

Fun. Thanks for the post JPB.

[denydenydeny]

Polishing up the Darwin award.

This is an animal that can bite a human in half by mistake.

[edpc]

Or on purpose. They’re very territorial....or aquatorial.

[SnakeDoctor]

Timothy Treadwell also thought he had an understanding with the grizzly bears he spent so much time with ... until one ate him and his girlfriend alive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell

It is very easy to anthropomorphize wild animals ... but they rarely have the emotional understanding that people think they have.

This guy’s going to get bitten in half one of these days.

SnakeDoc

[Slings and Arrows]

What could possibly go wrong?

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[Slings and Arrows]

Yeah, that's what could possibly go wrong.

[mware]

Yeah, that's what could possibly go wrong.

Oh I don't know, maybe the same thing that happen to that tour bus driver who got out of the vehicle in that tiger breeding reserve.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Let me guess what happened to the driver. Did he mate for life?

[mware]

Did ya ever see any of those youtube videos of feeding time at a tiger reserve in China.

Not for the faint of heart.

They literally use a dump truck to drop off live cattle, and sheep. They are not live for long, I can tell you.

[dixiechick2000]

All that is missing is Jack Hanna. With him, nothing can go wrong.

http://www.jackhanna.com/

;o)

[Slings and Arrows]

Nothing at all.

[Silentgypsy]

Awesome jogging partner, particularly in mugger-and-gang-infested inner urban areas. Heh.

[JoeProBono]

[Silentgypsy]

Marius is looking for a tame female hippo because somebody ate his only friend (a goat.) We should let all our friends know about this (does the term “yenta” mean anything to you?)
Perhaps one of those higher-end dating services?

[ladyjane]

That’s a job for Michael Vick when he retires.

[JoeProBono]

[Silentgypsy]

They are soooooo *cute!* Thx!