In 1996, at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, a 3-year-old boy fell 25 feet into a gorilla enclosure, injuring himself severely. The boy’s mother screamed, and seven gorillas were inside, including Binti Jua, a 160-pound female. Amid the panic, Binti Jua’s maternal instincts kicked in. She gently approached the unconscious child, shielding him from harm,…
I can still feel the way that cheap plastic badge pressed into my chest, and how the oversized blue costume sagged well below my knees. I was just five years old. It was Halloween. And I knew—with the kind of fierce certainty only children possess—that one day, I’d grow up to be a cop. Of…
At this point in the fourth inning, I must admit that I was more concerned with keeping Baxter calm than I was with the score. With his ears perked, tail thumping, and nose working overtime, my golden retriever was enjoying every second of the Bark at the Park night. He took in all the attention…
Every morning, I’d head out to check the garden—and come back fuming. Nibbled carrots. Uprooted lettuce. A bean vine chewed clean through. I even installed a motion-activated light and a trail cam, convinced that if I could catch the sneaky thief in the act, I could scare it off for good. I was prepared for…