This is not a story
about Adam and Eve, this is a story about one person they may have created.
Wildlife affects the best of us. As humans, we can only begin to
understand the lives of our wildlife. One person who appreciated this, was a
good friend to animals of all kinds. He was one in a million.
In 2009 I managed to get a work experience placement at Melbourne Zoo*.
Having to apply a year before gave me the anticipation of getting a reply, but
when I found out that I had successfully received a one week work placement, I
was thrilled. The placement turned out to be life changing…
On my first day, I arrived at the zoo after a night of no sleep and an
early start. My wonderful mother took me every morning, cutting a long hour out
of her day! My equally wonderful father bought me home every night, cutting a
slightly shorter fifty minutes out of his day. Walking through that entrance
with no one else around made me leap! I was finally going to discover how the behind
the scene of a zoo works! After orientation, I was introduced to all of the
keepers, including Adam, an exchange keeper from San Diego zoo in the United
States of America. He had been keeper of the hoofed animals and swapped with
the kangaroo keeper at Melbourne zoo for a couple of months. Naturally he
wanted to work with one of our national icons!
These were some of the beautiful creatures I worked with:
As the days went by, I managed to learn a great deal from the zoo keepers and in particular, Adam. It was only a matter of time before we became friends.
I don’t know whether it was his good natured, American charm or the fact that
we were both in a new world sharing an interest in animals, but day to day
things were fresh and exciting.
Although I make it sound like weeks and weeks, my time as a keeper at
Melbourne zoo only lasted five days. Adam and I exchanged emails and went our
separate ways. He went back to America and I went back to Gippsland, Victoria.
We continued emailing for a long time and I would often have a reply
waiting for me in the morning. We discussed things we’d read about animals and
the blogs we had written he told me his day to day life at the zoo which I
found absolutely fascinating!
Unfortunately, after about a year of continuous emails, they started to
become less and less frequent. When the invention of the controversial
‘Facebook*’ came into the line of fire, I, already a member, tried searching
for Adam. I couldn't find him and I smiled at the thought that he was just too
good for technology. Then something caught me in the corner of my eye. It was
an article reading Adam ***. I clicked on it, curious that he was in the news.
But what I was about to find out made my heart skip a beat.
The American article stated that a young, zoo keeper had been killed in a
car accident on a busy Highway. The man had parked his car on the side of the
road and walked into oncoming traffic. Several cars had hit him and the man
died at the scene. I was gob-smacked. All I could feel was a sharp pang in my
side and I was shaking. I searched and
searched until I found a picture. It was Adam alright. The happy-go-lucky zoo keeper from California had been killed by a car. adam-ruble.html
Searching through ‘Facebook*’ I found a page dedicated to him. I wasn't surprised, Adam was an upstanding man, with a true heart of gold. There was no
doubt many people loved him. I wrote a little something and wrote a blog about
him. rest-in-peace-adam-ruble.html
I was sad for the next couple of days and my birthday was coming up. I had
asked my dad, an equally kind, animal fanatic, for a python for my birthday. I
had a little spotted, children’s python on hold at the local pet shop and was
taken by him. I had a think about it and decided that it was only fitting to
name my python Adam. word-on-spotted-python adam-snake
Adam the python is a little fighter. He watches and listens like a python
should and goes about his day to day life. He has a beautiful sheen in the sun
and grows a little every day.
Little does Adam the python know, he is named after a man who lived
vicariously. It just goes to show that you really should make the most out of
every day, Adam did and he will be remembered for it.
Update 2014,
I was no longer able to keep Adam, the python and I had to give him away to a friend :( It is upsetting, but Uni, moving house and life got in the way. However, both Adam's will forever be in my heart.
RIP and forever loved
KK
Update 2014,
I was no longer able to keep Adam, the python and I had to give him away to a friend :( It is upsetting, but Uni, moving house and life got in the way. However, both Adam's will forever be in my heart.
RIP and forever loved
KK
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