Friday, March 28, 2008

From Wade Burck #1


Wburke01, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

For Mary Ann Howell, Thank you, and please call me Wade. Mister's make me nervous and suspicious. LOL Here is the tiger you mention. His name was Kabul, great, great, great, grandson of Hawthorns legendary Tony. Great, great, grandson of the "insane" Ari, that Mr. MaCartney mention's. They are special, and I was blessed in 1976 when John and Herta Cuneo entrusted me with the care and well being of 5 of only 8 in the United States. Mr and Mrs. Cuneo were the first ones to train a white tiger, training Bagheera to ride on an elephant in 1975
The tiger sitting on the seat is Paka, 5th generation Hawthorn, and the tiger doing the corbette is Karma 6th generation Hawthorn, and the tiger she is corbetting over is Sparticus 7th generation Hawthorn.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Burck, Greetings! I have never met or spoke with you but I saw you with the 122th edition in Philly when I was 8. In regards to Kabul, do you know if a trainer by the name of Othmar Vohringer worked with him on Tarzan Zerbini I think around '94 or '95? I have a copy of the dvd "Travels with Tarzan" and remember Kabul as one of the tigers. I have been wondering if the tigers on the dvd were Hawthorn cats. Thank you! Chris

Anonymous said...

Chris,
I appreciate you pointing out how old you were!!!! LOL
Yes, Kabul was in the act with Othmar Vohringer and is the tiger in the DVD, and yes they were Hawthorn tigers.
Wade Burck

Anonymous said...

Mr. Burck. Thanks for your response. Since I'm only a young townie when it comes to the circus I like learning bits and pieces. I had the hardest time following along the converstation when I discovered this blog. I recognized your name right away but I didn't/still don't know who 'Rebecca' was. Anyways, thanks for replying. Chris

Anonymous said...

"When a tiger comes for you, they will stop once they enter my invisble circle, for a split second, and gives me time for a count reaction, but in case of Kabul, he is hand raised, and tigers like that are actually quite dangerous, because they learn to lie. They won't hiss, they won't put their ears back, they will walk up with a smile on their face and kill you."

I remember tigers Kabul, Sahib, Icycle,Benff, Tamara, Max, Fancy, I think it was a 15 act of whites right Wade?

Anonymous said...

Chris,
I was a young townie once to, but now I am an old townie, and I am still learning. LOL My son who now has a tiger act is considered 2nd generation, and if it still around and his children do it they will be refered to as 3rd generation. Some put great store in that linage. Rebecca I have never met, and if she came up and kissed me on the cheek, I wouldn't know who she was. From what I have been told, she was in the circus for a couple of years in the 60's, but is some "type" of expert on it.
Your interest in the circus is wonderful. We sorely need fresh blood. If you pursue a career in it, that generational deal will be pointed out to you often, but don't let that discourage you. If your interest is pursuing it from a fan base, it is one the few professions in the world that encourages the public inside. Not only that they allow you to advise on what is good for it, or how it should run. Use that privilege gratefully and wisely, do not use it as a private agenda, use it to improve and aid this great thing called the circus.
Your friend,
Wade Burck

Casey McCoy Cainan said...

Anonymous,
Sadly, I don't think my cats read the "invisible circle" National Geographic magazine. I tried it, but as my thumb was trying to come off, I decided that split second was not quite enough. I am however thankful I haven't seen any of them smiling recently.

Anonymous said...

Addendum to Anonymous,
Dr. Marcan has a video from Evansville a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can get him to down load it, when he gets back from Europe. You will see just how much a tiger considers that invisible circle deal. Where do people come up with this stuff? LOL
Regards,
Wade Burck

Anonymous said...

Casey, Wade, Chris,

After digging through my dvd's i found my copy of Travel's with Tarzan. I wantched it through, and anonymous, seems to be repeating a quote from othmar Vohringer. Chris, without trying to brag, I knew it was a Hawthorne act, for several reasons. First the scissor pyramids. Second, the blue rig with the white line. Third, the star topped arena that I think all three hawthorn acts use. Othmar seemed to be good ntentioned. Mr. Burck, maybe you can confirm or deny, he lives in Canada now and is a well known outdoorsman.


DanTheBooker

Anonymous said...

Dan,
We all know what the road to hell is paved with, do we not.
Wade Burck