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Meeting nature, face to face

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published October 11, 2005

Jeff Corwin has not seen March of the Penguins . You don't see many movies when you spend 14 months filming animals in the wilderness - and when you get back, you're not exactly itching to watch more animals.

"People say, did you see it?" Corwin says. "Did I see it? I lived it!"

Besides being the most popular animal expert this side of the Crocodile Hunter, Corwin once helped extract a human foot from a crocodile on an episode of CSI: Miami .

The Emmy-winning host of Corwin's Quest and The Jeff Corwin Experience will speak about his animal experiences at 7 tonight at the University of South Florida. He recently chatted with the St. Petersburg Times about things like his dreams about Jay Leno, how his Emmy tux got ruined and his quest to find the abominable snowman.

What's the worst that an animal has ever injured you?

Probably the most serious animal thing I've had is being bitten by a coral snake as a grad student in Central America and almost dying. (There were) things like going face to face with a giant croc that found its way into a hotel swimming pool, or jumping off a 600-foot bridge with a peregrine falcon. But give me a black mamba any day versus a bad day in the middle of a coup in Cambodia, or getting sandwiched between Maoist rebels and a democracy group in Darjeeling (India). Someone throwing a Molotov cocktail in your direction, I find much more nerve-racking than dealing with a king cobra.

Are there animals in your dreams?

I sometimes dream about animals, but not as much as I used to. I've dreamed about really awesome moments that I've experienced . . . Or I'll have a dream like, I'm supposed to be on the Tonight Show , and then the car drops me off at the wrong airport, and I'm on the wrong plane, going to the wrong place. And then the driver needs to stop and get groceries, and I'm sitting in the car waiting - and then it's like split-screen, and there's Jay Leno sitting and looking at an empty chair.

Did you thank any animals in your Emmy acceptance speech?

I didn't, but I took a penguin with me to the Emmys as my date, to highlight the environmental issues of today. People, of course, were taking pictures, because I'm with a penguin, and suddenly all the pictures are flashing. I'm like, "Wow, I must be popular." What I don't see is this big stream of penguin scat going from about mid chest level down to my shoe, all through my sleeve. A $5,000 tuxedo, just totally spoiled from penguin poop.

Is there a list of places you haven't seen, animals you haven't met?

I'm about to accomplish a big one this year. On Oct. 20, I'm going to Nepal to try to prove or disprove the presence of the yeti (abominable snowman). It's funny: two months ago, I would have just laughingly dismissed it. But there's some really incredible evidence out there.

Well, if you see him, tell him hello for me.

I don't know if he speaks. He'd probably speak Nepalese if he spoke anything . . . I don't think I'll find a yeti, but there's a very real chance I will find evidence that may lead to an unknown creature that has become known as the yeti.

Now that would be great.

Oh, that would be cool. It'd be huge.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]