Saving the Animals

This one is for my new dog Rex.

Gharial

Do you know what I learned? That there's lots of animals that are endangered. That means they could be extinct soon. I want to save all of those animals like Jack Hannah and Jeff Corwin do. I want all these animals to be alive when I'm older, but there's not a lot a kid can do to help them. I haven't figured out how I'm going to help them yet, but I'm working on it. If somebody was around when the dinosaurs lived, maybe they could have saved them.

Here is some animals I want to try and save:

Tuatara- This one lives in New Zealand, so that's gonna be tough.
Asian python- That one's going to be tough too, since I don't get to Asia a lot.
Alligator snapping turtle- This one lives in America, so it should be easy for me to save. I live in America
Gharial- You have to watch out for this one if you're fishing in Pakistan. He'll steal the fish right out of your hands.
Saltwater Croc- I think the Crocodile Hunter's little girl is taking care of this one.

Jack Hanna and the Monotos

This one is for Jack Hanna and my two cars that can transform. One's a t-rex and one's a tiger.

I was watching Jack Hanna and there were these monato fish that were eating a dead piranha. They were swimming out of his mouth and in a giant hole they made. It was in the Amazon river where the water looks red as blood. They kind of look like mini eels. They are a little oval and they go really fast- it's so cool how fast they go. Everyboy used to think that piranhas were the top predator, but now they know that the monato is.

[Dad's Note: Ok, any Amazonian fish experts out there-- Jack maybe-- I need your help. I'm usually able to verify the things Bridger says and he's pretty much always right. But I can't find any fish called "monato" anywhere. He may just have the spelling off. So if a mini eel-looking oval fish rings a bell for anybody, let me know.]

Sunday Night Prayers

BRIDGER
Heavenly Father, please help me sleep good and have a good day at school tomorrow. Please help me have good dreams.

Heavenly Father, I sometimes wonder why Jesus made sting rays have stingers, but I already know why- because it's their protection against predators.

Please bless Jack Hanna and Stein the dolphin. Please bless West to have a good day tomorrow and bless Coulter not to break my tracks while I'm gone to school tomorrow. I love you in the stars. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

WESTON
Heavenly Father, please bless Bridger so he have a good day at school tomorrow and please bless Coulter. Bless my froggie and Ziggy and Goffy. Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

COULTER
Heavenly Father, Amen.

School Reading Contest

My school is doing this reading contest where the winner gets to fly in a hot air balloon with their teacher. Oh I want to go on that hot air balloon! A hot air balloon has this basket on it and a balloon's on a basket and you're in the basket and you go up in the air.

If I could take whoever I want up there with me I'd definately take Tiff and Tammy and my whole family. And Nigel Marven, Bear Grylls, Jack Hanna, some dinosaurs, and Alison Krauss. Oh, and Stein the dolphin without teeth. We'd have to take a big tank of saltwater up there for Stein, though. I'd also find a really good entimologist to take up there with me.

I will read 20 minutes a day so I can win. I hope I win because that would be so fun!

[Dad's Note: Bridger's school is holding a read-a-thon fundraiser. Bridger's goal is to read 20 minutes per day for the next two weeks. Students may ask people to sponsor them by making a donation of any amount as he reads. The student in each class who meets his/her reading goals and brings in the most donations for reaching their goal receives a ride in a hot air balloon.

If you see Bridger regularly and would like to sponsor him, you can make a cash or check donation in person. Anybody else in the world who would like to make a donation can do so by clicking the PayPal box in the sidebar of this blog. Those of you who live outside the U.S. may choose to donate using your national currency via PayPal.

I really don't like the idea of soliciting funds- especially from friends and family. So please understand that there are no expectations here. Bridger thought his blog would be a good way to get the word out (ever the little marketing exec) and we figured we'd throw it out there for anybody who would like to donate.

Bridger really wants to win a hot air balloon ride, and if he can earn it I think it will be really good for him. So sponsor him if you'd like- and only if you'd like- and watch for daily updates on his reading status.]

Monday Mailbag: McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and a Two-Headed Turtle

Tiff said...
I hate commercials, too. The ones I hate the most are the ones for Albertsons with Patricia Heaton, and all of the Low Book Sales and Welch's Grape Juice commercials. Do you think you could bust those commercials right out of the TV?

BRIDGER RESPONDS: I would love to bust those commercials right out of the TV but then I would bust the TV. TV's are expensive and I would have to go Wal-Mart to buy another one. Do you know what I was thinking? McDonalds is like Wal-Mart. It never ever closes and that's why I like it so much. Tiff, did you know there are sometimes McDonalds's in Wal-Mart? How cool is that?

Katie said...
I wanted to tell you about a turtle. It is a two headed red eared slider turtle. There is only one in the whole big world. You can have your dada help you find it on the computer. There is a video that you can watch with David Letterman and Jack Hanna. When I saw this I thought of you. I hope you like this turtle. I love your blog and you.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: I love you too, Katie. We looked up that video and here it is!



I do love that two-headed turtle! I bet if turtles could talk, one head on that turtle would talk to the other one and they would be friends. If I had to have another head on my body I would choose Silas' head, because we're best of friends.

Monday Mailbag: Black Eyed Peas, Needles, and the British

Grammy Darla said...
Happy New Year Bridger boy! Here in Texas, they eat black eyed peas for good luck. They are peas who got punched in the eyes, and they taste like it too.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Do they have eyeballs in them? If they do I would never like to eat them. I don't eat peas because they are green food, and I don't eat green food. Dadda tries to make me eat broccoli. He says it's what dinosaurs eat, but I know dinosaurs didn't eat broccoli. I never saw that in any of my books, so I can see right through that.

Tiff said...
Bridger, that's a cool coloring book! I'm sure Jack Hanna would love to answer your questions. You know what? I bet when you are a man and can go on adventures like Jack Hanna and Bear you won't be scared of needles. I like to give blood and I don't think it's scary. Plus you get treats when you're all done and sometimes you get a shirt :)

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Dadda is a man and he's scared of needles. He passes out when he gets poked with needles. Do they give dinosaur treats when you give blood? Dadda says he doesn't know if they give dinosaur treats or not, and that makes me think he really hasn't gived blood. If he really gived blood he would know something like that.

Marcia from England said...
Bridger, I live in the UK and I found your blog while helping my son research for a paper about reptiles. I am sorry you lost your aunt. You are a very thoughtful child. Thank you for your daily thoughts.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: England?! Bear Grylls is from England and so is Nigel Marven! That's why they talk like that. Do you ever go on adventures?

A Jack Hanna Coloring Book

Do you know somethinge else cool I got for Christmas? A Jack Hanna activity book that has stickers in it. You find the place in the forest where the animals live and you put the stickers on there. I have some questions about that book- like where some animals are supposed to go. I think I'll call Jack Hanna tomorrow and talk to him about this.

Do you know what I've been thinking? That Jack Hanna is like Bear Grylls. They both go on adventures all the time. That's what I want to do when I am a man. But do you know what I don't want to do when I am a man? Give blood, because I don't like needles one bit. I don't even want to think about that.

Jack Hanna and His Snakes

This one is for my dadda.



Me and dadda were looking on the computer and we found this really cool show of Jack Hanna and some humongous snakes. You have to watch closely to the part where the snake scares the heck out of Jack Hanna!

These snakes grab you with their fangs. Some people call them teeth and some people call them fangs. They have 200 teeth. Then they squeeze you til you die.

[Dad's Note: To watch the video, click on the screen above. Depending on your Internet connection it may take anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes to buffer. The clip is from Letterman earlier this month. Note to parents- Letterman does say "oh my G**" a few times at the beginning of the clip. If you need to, you can mute the audio until Jack gets the snake onto Dave's desk.]

Monday Mailbag: Jack Hanna, Komodo Dragons, and Becoming a Man

Grammy said...
I bet there are places unexplored, just waiting for you to grow up and go find them! I think you will be famous someday like Jack Hanna or the Crocodile Hunter. Then I will tell all my friends I know you, get your autograph, and make you take me out to dinner.

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Heck yeah! We could go to Dinosaur McDonalds. Jack Hanna is in Africa. I know because he sent me a letter a couple days ago. He reads my blog, but I don't know how he does that in the jungle because there not a lot of computers in the jungle. He goes there when he's not at SeaWorld. I sure miss the Crocodile Hunter. I don't know what it's like to be with Jesus because I never been there- only when I was being made- and I don't remember that.

Sami said...
Is that real, Bridger? Is a Komodo Dragon really real? Scary!

BRIDGER RESPONDS: Yes, Sami, they are real. They are huge and gigantic. They aren't so fast, but they can still get their prey. They live on an island in Asia. They could kill a person but they could not kill dinosaurs, because dinosaurs are the most powerful creatures in the whole wide world. Sami, did you have fun at Disneyland? Did you go on girly rides?

Grammy said...
Yeah... I think I was about 43 when I started making my own food. You don't have to worry about getting to old to play. I bet dadda plays a lot during the day. I go outside at night with my boys on the trampoline and tell ghost stories and sing along to their underarm toots. We laugh so hard. So see.. you are never to old to play and have fun!

BRIDGER RESPONDS: 43? A four and a three? I can't believe that. Stein the dolphin is 43 and he doesn't even make his own food. Little kids feed him his food when they go to SeaWorld. When you're a man you always have to do work. You're an old man when you turn 94 and you get lines down your face. Then you die.

[Dad's Note: Bridger did indeed get a letter from Jack Hanna's assistant, Amy Feller, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Jack was indeed in Africa. And he does indeed read Bridger's blog.]

Halloween Costume Dilemma

This one is for my kitten, Tikety Teacup. A lot of people don't know that I have a cat named Teacup.

I wish the workers would start making dinosaur Halloween costumes that are big enough for me. I want to be a dinosaur for Halloween but all those costumes are just too little. Maybe I could be a dragon, but they are pretended and a little bit silly. I will probably be a paleontologist.

Paleontologists wear clothes like Jack Hanna and like the guys on Jurassic Park. Paleontologists find dinosaur fossils and brush the dust off them. West wants to be a Lightening McQueen race driver. Coulter wants to be a Curious George because Coulter is curious and cute like Curious George.

I asked momma if maybe I could be a Power Ranger for Halloween and she said abso-flippin-lutely not.

Hangin' with Jack Hanna

This one is for Jack Hanna. He was the Crocodile Hunter's friend. The Crocodile Hunter is with Jesus now. Jack Hanna shows animals on TV. He knows about dinosaurs too. He even wears paleontologist clothes.

Jack Hanna came and talked to me about animals like a snake and an alligator and a fox and other animals. Ooh, and an eagle and a porcupine and a 'dillo and a very old turtle. My favorite was the alligator because the alligator is prehistoric. That means very very old, even as old as the dinosaurs. A guy with a beard told me that alligators didn't even change since the dinosaurs. Even their skeletons was the same. I didn't get to hold the alligator but I got to pet him. I never even done that before.

[Dad's Note: Jack Hanna is a distinguished wildlife conservationist and the host of syndicated TV show Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures. The 'guy with a beard' is David Jackson, CEO of Conservation Ambassadors. They made a special appearance at SeaWorld San Diego, where we spent the weekend.]