Manny Puig
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- This article is about the animal wrangler. For the Argentine author, see Manuel Puig.
| Manny Puig | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 13, 1954 Cuba |
| Other name(s) | Sharkman, Tarzan |
| Official website | |
Manny "Sharkman" Puig (b. 1954 in Cuba)[1] is an American wildlife educator and entertainer. Puig is known for his hands-on approach in dealing with dangerous animals such as sharks, black bears, and American alligators. He has made frequent appearances on the television shows Jackass and Wildboyz.
Born in Havana, Cuba and then moving to Miami at the age of 6, Manny Puig has always been surrounded by the water and its predators. In fact, he was catching alligators by the tail in his childhood.[citation needed]
“I have always had a unique interest in animals,” Puig said. He learned they had a unique reaction to him also. Manny believes that his “non-threatening” approach allowed him to interact with predators in a way that can only be described as “by God’s Graces.”
Submerged into manhood early, Manny had his first close encounter with a shark at the age of 18. “I was spear fishing in the Bahamas and had a Grouper in my hands. The shark was on the surface next to the boat and I didn’t even see him coming. He grabbed me from behind, bit the fin I was wearing off my foot and then pulled me backward in the water. He missed my toe by an inch. Without the fin he would have gone halfway up my calf! I had to let go of the Grouper and the spear gun,” Manny said.
But later he returned to the water for his speargun. An encounter that would have left most anyone landlocked proved to spark yet another of many fascinations with wild animals.
“I believe I almost convinced a shark that I’d be like a remora (shark hitchhiker) on it so it wouldn’t feel threatened,” Manny said when asked about riding on the back of a Great Hammerhead.
Although, all sharks and predators have varying dispositions, Manny relates to each using varied approaches appropriate to the animal’s disposition. Once, when attacked by a pack of six bullsharks, he acted with animal instinct and surprised the sharks by charging them.
Alligators in the Black Swamp seem to react to Manny as though they are hypnotized, and even allow him to raise them to the surface with his bare hands. “It is a combination of things I developed over the years..I went into the swamp and into the sea and brought together two aquatic worlds and I learned a great deal from both. I like to bring what I have learned about the behavior of various sharks and alligators to the public,” Puig said.
Manny is quick to raise the reminder that you are always at the animal’s mercy. “The more you know, the safer you are, never forget to have respect for the beautiful predators of the world. These are the risks we are willing to take in order to learn more.” Manny said.
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[edit] Wildboyz and Jackass
Manny has appeared on the Jackass TV show and in both Jackass The Movie and Jackass Number Two. In the Jackass projects, he is credited as a predatory animal expert. One of Manny’s most famous Jackass-related stunts appears during the second film, where Puig dives with Steve-O around Hammerheads and various other very dangerous sharks. Manny states that Steve-O was very lucky not to lose his foot after kicking a shark.
Puig is also featured on the MTV show Wildboyz, where he again plays the role of predatory expert. Some of Puig's most dangerous and memorable pieces on Wildboyz include having a snapping turtle lock onto his hand (Chris Pontius states on the special features of one of the Wildboyz DVDs, "This was the first time I had heard Manny scream").
[edit] Lifestyle
Puig advocates a back-to-basics approach on wildlife, which denounces--or at least, discourages--the use of safety gear such as cages, protective clothing or even diving apparatus[2]. Puig has stated that he has a great respect for the Native Americans because of their interaction with the land and their survival skills[3]. His interests also include history and geography documentaries. Puig has said that his hero would be Tarzan, and he likes to think of himself as a bit like Tarzan[4].
[edit] Current projects
After finishing the second Jackass movie, and with the final season of Wildboyz having been filmed, Manny has produced his own film titled Ultimate Predator. The film shows Manny’s experience with various species of animals, particularly sharks. The film also features adventures with Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and Jeff Tremaine.
Other recent television projects include Diary of a Sharkman (filmed for the Discovery Channel) and Extreme Contact (filmed for Animal Planet).
Because of Manny’s hands-on approach to wildlife, he has developed his own Manny Puig Signature Pole Spear and The Predator knife for aquatic hunting.
Manny also appeared on Feeding Time – Discovery Channel Shark Week 2007
[edit] References
- MannyPuig.com - Official Site
- Manny Puig at the Internet Movie Database
- Wildboyz - Official Site
- Manny Puig's Myspace
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