This was an introduction to realistic animal puppet building, studying the movement and physiology of lemurs.

My focus on the puppet build was the body, hands and feet. The fingers and toes were individually sculpted and cast in rubber, the fur was custom milled. I went on to wrangle on the television series for Seasons 1 & 2. Wrangling essentially means assisting the puppeteer, doing repairs and maintenance of the puppet, changing arm rods and attaching props and rigging as puppets can't pick anything up on their own! On this show it also meant washing off camel spit, making sure the ostrich didn't poke at the puppets shiny eyes, and ensuring the the brave puppeteer didn't have spiders falling on to him while stuck in a barrel with his arm through a hole. Martin and Chris Kratt were very sensitive and always put the animals needs before the show, it was a marvelous experience. Where else do you get to be ten feet from bathing jaguars, watch emu eggs hatch, and make friends with capybaras? Only in Animal Junction.