CHAPTER TWO
 

Pt 3

Showman Malcom Geary and his GIANT RAT Show under construction at his Florida home.

The Kissell Brothers' miniature Horse and 4-horned Sheep Shows.

Malcom Geary was soon released and is still happily in the business, but the Giant Frog show is not among his repertoire. He now exhibits live bats in his Twilight Creatures Show, (see Photo) While I was visiting him once I noticed an old, disused wooden box about three feet square and only one foot deep, with a screen cover on it and some 2x4 legs nailed on it. On the side was painted the words "Killer Frogs". I asked him if this was what the frogs had been exhibited in and he said it was. I pointed out that it was an awfully small exhibit to be held in such a large tent as the one he used and he looked at me slyly. "The big tent is not to hold the frogs," he said, gesturing with his hands. "It's to hold all the people who want to see them!"

When I decided to frame upmy own show, TERRORS OF THE AMAZON, we decided to feature Giant Frogs as part of our exhibit. The frogs, truly monsters, were acquired from Berkeley, California's East Bay Vivarium for around $450, but upon arrival we discovered they would not eat. For almost a month they refused the mice we offered and after I took them to Florida to join up with our show I began to get worried. The paint job on the show had cost $3,000 and it advertised Giant Flesh-Eating Frogs among our other horrors. What if they died?

As a last resort I bought a bag of live crickets from a local Orlando, Florida pet shop and threw them in. The frogs went after them like a kid after popcorn and the very next day they started on a steady diet of white mice. They have been good eaters ever since!

Dean Potter's 6-Legged Cow Show. Banners by Johnny Meah