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Viewing Samson in his baby blue tile display case at the Milwaukee Zoo, with its thick glass smeared from his pounding fists and accented by his pungent odor, remains a vivid childhood memory. Ever a performer, Samson reportedly watched and reacted to people watching him acting outrageously make spectators jump back and gasp. Samson was legendary even to Wisconsin rural kids like us. His death from a heart attack in November 1981 at the age of 32 made the news. This herbivore whose diet included bread and meat for a time suffered five major heart attacks before pounding his chest one last time and falling dead before an audience.

Water and trees surround most places in Wisconsin. These resources have become increasingly mediated in the 21st century meaning more development along shores, signage indicating dangers or attractions, and the ever present Lyme Disease (from deer ticks) in the northwoods and West Nile Virus (from mosquitoes) everywhere else. Postcards from the 1960s depict the pleasures of looking in an "Up North" seemingly free of bugs and hazards while mists of DDT linger (invisibly) in the air.