I realize Zaphod is the oldest meerkat in the manor, but MM is really protraying him as this old geezer who can do nothing more than scent mark. It was great to see him in a battle scene last week, but then they kept referring to him as having slowed reaction time and not watching out. Is he really that frail now? I realize he will slow down (for example, I haven't seen/heard anything about him chasing down new mates), but gotta believe he is still a valuable and productive member of the group.
I just would hate to see MM do a character assassination on him like they did Youssarian (remember the "social problems").
I would think of this in the same way as you might any other TV program. "Reality" is just not when it comes to TV. There are no gray areas with MM. In order to portray "good" they have to contrast it with something "bad". Silly writers. IRL nothing is either all good or all bad - most people, animals, things, events are combinations of both good and bad.
Zaphod is what, maybe one year older than when we saw him chasing off rovers from the Whiskers and he was in top shape then. Unless he becomes ill he will stay one tough old meerkat. I hope when he goes, it is from old age with Maybs and the family comforting him.
I agree, Mitch68! Zaphod deserves better than to be treated as a decrepit old man. I personally think if they portrayed Zaphod as an experienced, hard working meerkat, it would make for better storylines. Zaphod deserves better than to be treated as a decrepit old man.
I really love Zaphod and hate seeing him portrayed in this way also. I believe he does deserve better. He has been strong and loyal as long as we have been watching the show. He is the King of the Kalahari.
Maybe I missed something along the way. Where is Youssarin? Is he still roving or he is gone also? =^..^=
Youssarion has been missing for over a year or two now, catskittens, we don't know if he's dead or left the research area. We all hope he's still out their alive.
It seemed to me that Zaphod was more than competent during the battle scene. I'm annoyed by the way he is portrayed. Do MM writers think that viewers cannot comprehend more complicated concepts than the simplistic black, and white, good, and evil?
I am glad I am not the only one seeing the same thing here.
Geniebelle, I totally agree about the storylines. I am sure Zaphod has chased off some rovers or stood up against predators. They are missing lots of opportunities to show "the old boy still has it" storylines. Heck, he could be the Jack Lalaine of the Kalahari doing pushups!!
Zettak, I had the same observation during the battle scene. It was really a stark contrast to the narration about him slowing down or being the target of an owl.
Hey, how about this for a great storyline: Zaphod goes roving and meets up with an older female (they could bring back Lola). They mate, have pups and form a new group called "The Old Ones". I think it would great to see Zaphod chasing down the ladies again.
hello burrowmates im none to happy with the portrayal of ZAPHOD neither but the one close up in last episode of him he sure looked tired in the eyes. how is he doing anyway not that anyone that knows can say much but would really like to know. snuggles, cuddles and tailwraps Mdagwoodtaz
this friday on mm.......... zaphod is mad at the aztecs after they tell him it would be a good idea for him to turn in his driver's liscense! at least they are not sending him to the retirement home just yet
Nazareth, that's great. And in a desperate attempt to keep his freedom, he jumps in a jeep and races off. He comes back later, wearing a partially buttoned white shirt, gold chains, sunglasses drining a beer. He has several young females at his side.
dagwoodtaz, according to Webdeb who recently visited the Kalahari, Zaph is doing great, she stood inches away from him as he stood next to Monkulus/Maybelline. See her post in "My visit to the Kalahari".
You know Zaph should be respected. He may be getting older but with age comes wisdom and I would love to know Zaph had my back!!
I would never underestimate Zaphod, he's the back bone of the family, I consider him the DM (DISTINGUISH MALE), who has earned the respect of the burrow and supports the DF in any family. All he needs now is some meerkat wine and a cigar while watching the sunset.
Meerkats live 8-10 years in the wild. If Zaphod is almost ten he really is a miracle at hand because it is more common for meerkats to die by predation and 'human causes' (RD + cars = ), and TB. Don't know how muck tick is in this ole' boy but i hope he lasts much longer than expected. He is the closest link, to me, of flower even if there not related.
Zaphod is pretty special and I hope he passed along those genes to his pups. Even Youssarian lived quite a long time. Maybe there is something to that Vivian bloodline.
Zaphod is right behind Flower on my list of favorite meerkats. When he goes, I hope it happens as he is surrounded by his wonderful family. He deserves no less.
I love the little guy. So much spunk inside of such a tiny body. He's large for a meerkat, but still probably doesn't even weigh a kilo (2.2 pounds).
Don't count him out just yet, folks; he's going to go as long as he can. Then, he will live on in his family's genes.
Keep up the good work, little guy. We love you so much.
hello burrow mates thank you so much for the info luvalltheanimals this makes me very happy. GO ZAPHOD!!!!!!!!!!!! youre # 1. cuddles, snuggles and tailwraps Mdagwoodtaz
I am delighted to see I have a lot of company who are equally irritated about Zaphod being portrayed as a senile meerman. It aggravates me to no end! My DM has even mentioned that he hopes he is that active when he is that "old" not to mention, alert! He sure is a lovin', carin' meerpapa, isn't he. Those were great scenes with the pups. I, too, would love to see him have a meerlady friend and produce pups!
With age comes wisdom, at least in the meerkat world. Our Zaphod is a survivor. I too wish he could find a lady love and leave more pups for him, and us, to love before he joins our Flower.
Ccatz, you bring up a point. Maybe Zaphod realizes life with the Aztecs is probably safer and easier than roving solo. But I bet he is still keeping his eyes open for an available female. It would be quite a tribute for him to become a father again at his age.
I would love to see Zaphod become a father now, too. He knows how to care for pups, and does a great job. If anything were to threaten his family's pups, he would be very protective.
If I were Maybelline, I would be delighted to have Zaphod as my DM. When they fought off the rival group when EJ was injured badly, he helped and didn't get any serious injuries because he's strong, smart, and experienced in battle. His children will be strong like him, I hope.
May you live out the rest of your life well, Zaphod. When you rejoin Flower, you will go with our blessings
You rule, Zaphod, literally and figuratively Maybelline and the rest of the Aztecs look to you, and you help them go in the right direction. You may not be able to have more pups, but your wisdom has helped those pups that have been born to your dear daughter Maybelline have a better chance of survival.
Your daughter Ella is now the queen of the Whiskers, and appears to strive to be like her mother. That's a tribute to both of you. You have fathered an amazing number of pups. Your genes are all over the Kalahari, and I hope that your descendants have inherited your longevity.
When you should happen to leave us, we will remember you for all of your accomplishments. Flower will greet you as you cross over, along with so many others. You will be embraced by them as you are right now with the Aztecs. Flower was the one who got me interested in the show, but you and Youssy were by her side. When Youssy disappeared, you became a very loyal partner to her.
Of course there's Maybelline but also Hawkeye, Cruise, Logan, Machu Pichu, Petra, Flo, Finn, Miles, Baker and Ningaloo were all born during the first 2 Seasons.
Don't forget about good ole Zorilla too. I just love Zorrila. I hope she's around forever!!!
Toribook, I am wondering really how bad TB is. MM never mentions it. Actually, they avoid discussing it like the plague (pardon my pun). We get trickles of info from FKMP about kats being euthanized because of it. On Comcast On Demand, there was a 3 minute blurb saying TB is spreading and the Whiskers suffered their first casualty (Murray) this year. With all of the roving (especially with infected kats like Homestar Runner) I fear this is worse than the publicly available info leads us to believe. I really hope I am wrong.
Zaphod is great, my favorite. Hes got a huge fan following and i doubt any other meerkat has acheived what he has achieved, his offspring are everywhere, hes still a successful dm, hes the oldest in the project now and has even taken the 'oldest male meerkat' title off his step-dad stinker. And, hes the only surviving meerkat (known) of the mighty vivian family... and hes just number 32 of a group that saw over 100 members.. he will always be A*M*A*Z*I*N*G one day and i hope it is years away, zaphod will set a new number of years and days for another 'oldest male meerkat' to beat.. but i doubt it will be a record that will be broken!!
Zaphod is a total stud. I am hoping Maybelline/Monkulus keeps finding rovers to mate with so Zaphod can get some more kats around him. It would be very cool, however, if he found a mate of his own. But as Zettak said, roving is a dangerous sport.
Perhaps the reason there are rumors spreading about Season 4 being the last one is the TB pandemic. Poor little Murray, and poor Homestar Runner have helped to infect the rest of the Whiskers. It's NOT their fault. They are very social creatures, and the rovers look for females because it's their instinctive behavior.
I know that if Zaphod is around TB, he is at higher risk of coming down with it due to his age. I adore the little guy, and I would hate to see him go that way. As I said in my post above this one, I know that Flower will greet him warmly. That is the only consolation, and it is not comforting enough. Yet, I bet Stinker is proud of his step-son.
I'm hoping that the rumors are wrong, and that they can get the TB under control, but in reality, it seems that it can be spread before symptoms show. An entire group could be infected rather quickly, and I hate that.
Neverforgetflower, I didn't think of that angle. That is possible. With all the roving, TB is probably spreading quickly. Homestar Runner spend a lot of time with Whiskers females (MM implied he got them all pregnant). Many of those females are in other groups. I hope I am wrong about it.
HR was the DM of the Aztecs for a few weeks, as well.
I cannot help but thinking that the main reason for editing the LH reports from June (when MM was airing), and continuing (for the Whiskers) is that the number of members of the Whiskers was dramatically reduced suddenly, due to emigration of males, deaths caused by TB, and disappearances. The Whiskers are the main group on MM, and their future is uncertain. Baker Whiskers/Commandos died of TB too.
Zettak, good theory. I actually saw on a different board that someone thought the embargo on Whiskers info (even with the updates to the LH reports) was because MM would have a different group play the Whiskers. This assumed the Whiskers would remain very low in numbers or even disappear.
I read somewhere (I cant remember where) that Ella/Sophie was pregnant again. Dont know if that is true. The Whiskers are very young. The adolescents like Juno and Beaker will have to grow up real fast, as will Ella's litter for earlier in the year. But she seems to have no problems with having pups. If her and Thundercat can keep them all together, the Whiskers will get much stronger.
You may be correct, zettak. However, I still want to hold out hope for Ella and the other Whiskers. If any meerkat can increase the numbers, barring illness, she can. She went through a lot of stress before delivering the pups that were shown that fateful Friday night. Yet, she had three pups emerge from the burrow.
Well, if there was a TB-infected meerkat around Zaphod, he may succumb Zaphod has already outlived all males except the ones who are in captivity. His immune system could be compromised due to his age. I love him dearly. I know he will die, as will all of us, but I want it to be as painless as possible for him. He earned that right.
To be honest, my favorites of the ones whom I believe are still alive are Juno, Ella, Axel, Zaphod, and Zorilla. Yes, I know Zorilla is known as Nikita, but Risca, her mother, was a Whiskers. She's like a coconut: hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. She always did love Miles.
Neverforgetflower, love the coconut analogy about Zorilla/Nakita. I keep wondering if she will mellow out a little with Miles as DM. Hopefully, Baker didnt spread TB into the Commandos. I was wondering about Miles and Zorilla/Nakita getting infected when I watched those fighting scenes in the last episode. There was some blood spilled.
I like Axel. He seems to be the up and coming adventurous rover. Didnt he start roving at a relatively young age? Based on the reports, he seems to really be active. This is going to sound stupid, but is Juno a male or female? I really wish we could get some info about Beaker. He is RD's only remaining offspring (as far as we know) and I hope he can aspire to great things.
Baker was with the Commandos for many months, and he was sick. Zorilla, and Miles were still the dominant pair according to the August LH report. The Commandos are low in numbers, and I hope they are healthy, as well.
Juno, a male (Amira/Rita's son), Ella, and Nugget (RD's son) were alive in June to around the middle of July, or so, according to Earthwatch volunteers. Beaker, RD's daughter disappeared in late May/very early June.
Whoops, got Beaker and Nugget mixed up. I knew RD's daughter disappeared and there were rumors of TB.
I havent looked at the updated past LH reports on the Commandos to see if there were any deaths, but with an infected Baker there so long, TB has to be a huge concern.
I am really wondering if some of the Lazuli have developed some form of immunity to TB. They were infected so long and it kept spreading in their group, yet they continued to survive and thrive. The recent group of Lazuli rovers (including Thundercat) seemed to survive ok in that setting. I cant believe they werent exposed to TB. I just hope they arent carriers to the group they have joined.
They are not rumors. Murray, and Busta had TB. It could be others, as well.
From April on a female pup was predated (VCDF42), Whiskey (a male) was last seen, and Beatrice was evicted, aborted, and was last seen (she was probably predated) in the Commandos.
The Lazuli seems to be the only group that suffered from endemic TB, and didn't disappear.
Beaker disappeared? She is way too young to be evicted or to leave on her own. Do we know for sure that she's dead already. This would be so tragic being that she is one of only two offspring of Rocket Dog.
Unfortunately, Beaker disappeared. She was not evicted; she didn't leave either. She was only about seven months old when it happened. Nugget is (or was, until relatively recently) Rocket Dog's only remaining offspring.
Thanks for giving Zaphod the credit he deserves...I stopped watching MM this season as there were too may changes: The story lines were too fabricated and I missed Sean. But I love Zaphod and still keep up with all of the life histort reports. With age does come wisdom and the fact that he is still around and a DM shows that he has great genes. Gp Zaphod! Alyse
), and TB. Don't know how muck tick is in this ole' boy but i hope he lasts much longer than expected. He is the closest link, to me, of flower even if there not related.
