This croc is very much alive. At the time of this photograph, he had not eaten once since October of 2004 (crocs “false hibernate”), but was putty in the hands of Beall (some duct tape around the mouth didn’t hurt the situation). To quote a famous television reptile handling personality — “What a beaut” (the pretty girl, not the croc).

The croc belongs to one of the most remarkable figures in the animal handling and training world, my friend Dan Breeding. A home schooling father and six-day creationist, Dan is simply unique in a field dominated by hyper-environmentalists and evolutionists.

In addition to being a professional chimp trainer with credits on several feature films, Dan has appeared many times on numerous television shows from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to Live with Regis and Kelly. Dan is now focusing his efforts on Creatures of Creation, a ministry designed to communicate a distinctively biblical message that emphasizes both the glory of the Creator of the animal kingdom, and the right relationship between man and the animals (as dominion-taking stewards, not co-equals).

Dan drove down this weekend to visit me at the North Carolina Home Educators Conference. He travelled all the way from his home in Wake Forest with an owl, a python, an ape, a lemur, and a croc. Dan’s presence certainly livened things up at the Vision Forum table.

Honor Phillips cautiously stares into the croc’s mouth.

This Monday, for my fortieth birthday, we visited Dan at his home. Dan treated us to a first-class, behind-the-scenes look into the world of exotic animal training and handling. Here your can see Blair Brown and a coterie of youngins handling a fourteen-foot albino python. Check out little Honor in the picture.

Cuteness awards went to Faith and an ultra-cuddly baby Gibbon. The Gibbon’s rotator cup allows it to turn a full 360 degrees when hanging from its arm.

“I love my Gibbon,” Dan told me, “but I would eat it if I had to. God made man to have dominion over these animals.” Dan preaches respect for God’s creation, but comes down strongly against those who would elevate or worship the creation. He explains the effects of sin on the animal kingdom (originally all animals were herbiverous), and points out that people frequently make the mistake of “anthropomorphizing” or attributing human attributes to animals.

He’s glorious, but he’s not my relative.

Jubilee is confronted by this beautiful and bizarre stick bug creature.

Dan handles these creatures brilliantly. He told the baboon (the hairy thing in the middle, not the guy with the cap) to flip, and the baboon flipped.

Step one...

...and flip.

Their beaks can snap a broomstick, but as Claudia Brown discovered, these parrots are really fascinating animals.