THOUGHTFUL ITEMS FOR SCOUTERS

Thanks to Scouter Jim from Bountiful, Utah, who prepares this section of Baloo for us each month.  You can reach him at bobwhitejonz@juno.com or through the link to write Baloo on www.usscouts.org.   CD

Prayer
Cub Scout Roundtable Planning Guide

“Oh, Great Spirit, we come to you with love and gratitude for all living things. We ask for a blessing on all creatures, and the human creatures who care for them in zoos, shelters and homes. Fill our hearts with respect for all living things. Amen.

“The Ninety and Nine”
Scouter Jim, Bountiful Utah

On May 15, 2006, a wolf jumped the fence of her enclosure at Utah’s Hogle Zoo.  The Zoo was evacuated while zoo workers tracked and captured “Maddi,” an eight-year gray wolf. Had the wolf escaped the confines of the Zoo, it would have been in the mountains and a vast natural protected area with abundant wildlife.  The wolf would have been in its natural environment.

This summer I took 19 Cub Scouts to Camp, including two special needs eight-year-old Wolves. Each boy had a family member with him in addition to the two-deep leadership of the pack.  Over the two-day camp, for the Wolves and the Bears, I lost both of my special needs Scouts, twice, but not both the same time. 

Zoo Keepers care for a variety of animals.  Some do not require special diets or conditions to keep them in captivity.  Many others however, require complicated diets and environments for them to thrive in the Zoo.  The Hogle Zoo’s wolf enclosure is not far from where they keep the Siberian Tigers, a fragile and threaten species.

Our Cub Scout charges are very much the same.  Some seemingly need little attention or encouragement, while others require very intensive amounts of time.  The rule of “two deep leadership,” is “the law of the ninety and nine.”  When I left the group in search of my lost Scouts, a leader was left in charge of the rest of the group, to watch over the “ninety and nine.”  Each boy deserves the right to exhibit his skills and receive the praise and encouragement he needs to thrive.  Each Cub Scout is important, even those among the “ninety and nine.”

Quotations

Quotations contain the wisdom of the ages, and are a great source of inspiration for Cubmaster’s minutes, material for an advancement ceremony or an insightful addition to a Pack Meeting program cover.

Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings.  Evan Esar

I must say that in the last 20 years, I don't know of one zoo visitor that has been killed or maimed that bad by an animal in the zoo. Obviously, as zookeepers, our job tends to be dangerous at times.  Jack Hanna

People go to the zoo and they like the lion because it's scary. And the bear because it's intense, but the monkey makes people laugh.  Lorne Michaels

I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use our natural resources, but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.  Theodore Roosevelt, speech, Washington, D.C., 1900

You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush.  John Burroughs

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of a least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.  Rachel Carson, naturalist and author

It is our task in our time and in our generation, to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.  John F. Kennedy

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.  Mahatma Gandhi

Eagles: When they walk, they stumble. They are not what one would call graceful. They were not designed to walk. They fly. And when they fly, oh, how they fly, so free, so graceful. They see from the sky what we never see.

My favorite animal is the mule. He has more horse sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating -- and he knows when to stop working.  Harry S. Truman

The quizzical expression of the monkey at the zoo comes from his wondering whether he is his brother's keeper, or his keeper's brother.  Evan Esar

Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.  Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1984

Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.  Albert Einstein

There is an Indian legend which says when a human dies there is a bridge they must cross to enter into heaven. At the head of that bridge waits every animal that human encountered during their lifetime. The animals, based upon what they know of this person, decide which humans may cross the bridge.... and which are turned away.  Unknown

"A fool-proof method for sculpting an elephant: first, get a huge block of marble; then you chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant.  Unknown