Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Tags: dad, pit, wishful thinking, Evil, zoo. Add Tags

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Margueritem said, 2 months ago

Run Dad, RUN!
pouncingtiger said, 2 months ago

Dad actually does care! Who would have thunk.
Puddleglum2 said, 2 months ago

Dad snaps his fingers well. He walks well. He thinks well. He runs well. Let’s hope he finds Calvin well.
Johanan Rakkav said, 2 months ago

He well, er, will. ;)
Ivy0730 said, 2 months ago

Scaring huh? so much responsiblity to look after a kid. esp. when you love him sooo much as a parent!
kpeiyin said, 2 months ago

This dad really does know his son…
Yukoner said, 2 months ago

We are fine thinking “evil” thoughts until we realize that they might be possible …. and then it’s RUN!
baslim_the_begger said, 2 months ago

Definitely one of those, Of course he would! moments
watcha said, 2 months ago

Hope Calvins mom don’t read the Calvin & Hobbes comics otherwise Dad will find himself in the tiger pit.

errr, well said Puddleglum2
Susan001 said, 2 months ago

Let’s get this straight–the wild animals are in a PIT, and humans watch them from above?
That sounds crueler than putting them in cages!
unemandarine said, 2 months ago

See Dad run.
HAHAHA!! At least he knows where to look. Hope he finds Calvin before the little devil in the pit!
papawhale said, 2 months ago

Susan001, have you ever been to a zoo? It IS cruel!
11Wilderness11 said, 2 months ago

Susan001: The pit is not like a dark stinky hole. A pit in a zoo is an area that is made to look like the animal’s natural habitat, but it is lower and usually separated from the public by a dry moat. This way the presence of humans is made irrelevant. No, there is nothing inherently cruel about it.
madampresiden12 said, 2 months ago

I think dad is fears more for the Tigers.

Please remember that these strips were written some time ago. Most good zoos today try to provide a habitat close to that of the animals natural habitat. It’s not perfect but many of the animals we see in zoos today are either rescued or born in captivity. Some rescued animals can be returned to the wild if they are treated properly while in human care, but many cannot due to injury, etc.
Herocoder said, 2 months ago

Thats quite a few temptations in one day eh Dad? first the crocodile pit .. next the tiger pit .. not to mention there are going to be lions, leopards, panthers, bears ., Hope dad can hold out for the day .. ;-)
vibjyor said, 2 months ago

Puddlegum2 said :

Dad snaps his fingers well. He walks well. He thinks well. He runs well. Let’s hope he finds Calvin well.

Let us hope he finds Calvin well and not ‘in the’ well.
Puddleglum2 said, 2 months ago

Puddleglum2 said, (last post 2 days ago)
If Calvin’s father found Calvin hurt, or worse, would he still feel like doing the second one of those contrasting things he mentioned, especially if he found Calvin in that condition (strangled)?

Yukoner said,
“We are fine thinking “evil” thoughts until we realize that they might be possible….and then it’s RUN!”
You made a similar comment to mine, but in entirely different words so I can’t accuse you of plagiarism. You might not even have seen my post.
At any rate, you expressed a cogent thought adequately…superbly even - Snagglepuss
♠Lonewolf♠ said, 2 months ago

Like all good fathers, he cares!
kbielefe said, 2 months ago

Whether you care or not, maulings involve LOTS of paperwork.
Macushlalondra said, 2 months ago

Dad should’ve brought Hobbes! Maybe Hobbes could talk the tigers out of killing Calvin.
Carmy said, 2 months ago

That’s just what I was thinking, Macushlalondra.
I really would have liked to seen that!
N7326 Foxtrot said, 2 months ago

Maybe Hobbes could talk Calvin out of driving the tigers crazy?
bald 716 said, 2 months ago

if there is a confrontation between calvin and a tiger, my money is on calvin
skiwoods said, 2 months ago

Whenever I do anything athletic, I stick my tongue out like dad is while he’s running.
Mallicalk said, 2 months ago

I hate to say this but i thing the happy expresion on his face when the dad thinks calvin is “IN” the tigers den does not coenside with the rest of these coments.
It apears he doesn’t want to miss seeing calvin with the tigers. This sounds more morbit the more i think about it.
Stede_Bonnet said, 2 months ago

Is Dad wearing Chuck Taylors? Or are those Red Ball Flyers? I recall that RBFs do make you run faster and jump higher.
grammahotsho said, 2 months ago

Are the gonna make a movie - dancing with tigers?
LX013 said, 2 months ago

Fine, Dad is running, the better side in him has won!
Johanan Rakkav said, 2 months ago

Mallicalk, I’d argue that the expression coincides perfectly. Dad has a keen sense of irony (complete with the capability to think up and laugh at worst-case scenarios), which he then apparently passed on to his son.

I say this because I’d react precisely as Dad does in this strip, front to back.
lunchwagon said, 2 months ago

Hurry Dad. By the time you get there Calvin could be all pooped out.
kab2rb said, 2 months ago

I think zoos learn from one another. Our local one the tigers are not in a pit. they have a wide are to roam. You can see the path lions, tigers, bears, and other animals use as they move. As a matter our local has a big area for the gray wulf and the wulf has a din it made far from the public in an open place. Animals get better treatment then humas especially food and health care. I do not work at the zoo.
grazer said, 2 months ago

Getting eaten by a tiger builds character.
BC13 said, 2 months ago

kab2rb
wulf? din?
OldHipster said, 2 months ago

Naw, he’s just in a hurry to see the last of Calvin being gobbled up by a real man(eater).
ratlum said, 2 months ago

No second guessing
Dad run or if you can go even faster
MatureCanadian said, 2 months ago

oldhipster- laughed so hard I nearly choked.
Dad looks like he was a real “disturber” when he was little. That’s how he knows how to find Calvin.
4deerinmyyard said, 2 months ago

Took him long enough to get really concerned.
Ronshua said, 2 months ago

If the infamous Hoa Lo Prison had a 5 star rating . Would life time incarcerations be considered humane ?

If ET comes to get specimens ( a white one , black , yellow, red and brown one ) for their 5 star version of the “Hanio Hilton”.
I pray the white one isn’t me .
Living a life where one can’t escape their own feces , until “they” get around to removing it .
For “LIFE” just doesn’t do IT for me .

Zoo’s teach children ” this is the unlucky one , so throw peanuts at IT “. Best of all , the inescapable aroma of fate in the eternal cage .

“Teach the children well” yes , for the sake of the “unlucky one” find another way .
RinaFarina said, 2 months ago

Getting eaten by a tiger builds character. (@Grazer)

Aside from choking with laughter, I can’t quite figure out how to react to this statement. Does this mean that Calvin’s soul is full of muscles? or maybe that his spirit is made up of a choice collection of balanced minerals and vitamins?

My mind has boggled, and it’s stuck!! and where is this well-built character now, anyways?

Does it matter which tiger? does the tiger that does the eating also have to have good character?

OH NEVER MIND…
11Wilderness11 said, 2 months ago

Ronshua

Silly personification aside, zoos often take in animals to preserve the species or to save an animal from certain death. Many of these animals are born in captivity and would not know how to survive any other way. Often what we learn by studying these animals provides us with the means to better protect their lives and manage the ecosystems they thrive in.

If your ET came and picked me up and placed me in a similar environment, where I had a large habitat enclosure and had my every need tended including those for socializing with my own kind and mental stimulation, that would not be a hard sell.

I am not aware of a zoo in the world that allows children to throw things at the animals (let alone peanuts–animal diets are carefully managed).
Fernando Sanchez said, 2 months ago

Calvin in the Tiger pit… oh no… Save the Tigers!!!!
shippo23 said, 2 months ago

hurry and runnnnn!!!!!
ELIUCALVINANDHOBBES said, 2 months ago

Calvin’s dad better hurry up, or there won’t be anything left of calvin or the tigers to save.
Tigger said, 2 months ago

Go Dad Go!

Apologies to the Late Great Dr. Seuss
pintcape said, 2 months ago

dad knows how his son thinks,better hurry.
mrprongs said, 2 months ago

Walk slowly, and try for a better kid.

Nah, but you know he’s considering it.
Ronshua said, 2 months ago

11Wilderness11–Unlike wild creatures you must not have a vagabond gene in your being . I’m sorry but I can’t fathom a “habitat enclosure” I could buy into . Planet earth is small enough and at the same time just the right size .

Fellow captive , zoo’s must have changed so much (according to you) I would not know them as zoo’s .
Please accept my apology for the “silly personification” & any indignation suffered . Thanks , I’m going to the zoo tomorrow & check out these VAST improvements . Hoping your right for that “unlucky one’s” sake .
cmacdoughtry said, 2 months ago

Ronshua Planet earth is small enough…have you ever even left your town, city or country home?
As for Zoo’s…I did happen to work at a zoo before I joined the military, and let me tell you, its not nearly as horrid as you think. Yes some of the animal enclousers were too small, and I watched many zoo keepers, doctors, and staff fight, and work long hard hours to raise enough money to make these enclousers better.
I have seen them work with the animals, cry over the animals when they get sick, and I have seen them love the animals usually even more so then they have loved other people.
How many animals that were almost extinct thanks to man and their view that the earth is too small, have been brought back to a thriving species thanks to zoos and other wild life protection?

Keep what ever view you like, but honestly this is a comic strip thread, enjoy the comic delight that it was meant to be.

On a side note…Dad knows his son, you cant know someone so well that you dont care about.
Ronshua said, 2 months ago

cmacdoughtry–Yes yes and yes .
I don’t recall saying a derogatory thing about zoo personal .
Most zoo workers love animals I’m sure of that . I have know many and all did . Critter hospitals , recovery sanctuaries supper ideas . No one can love wild or tame animals more than I .
So you don’t have to wonder , my view is Wild things should be Wild and at Liberty end of story .
Please accept my apology , and of course your right this is a comic . A vary good comic indeed .
Good luck in your military career , I bet they miss you at the old job .
MisngNOLA said, 2 months ago

Ron, is there some great being in nature which goes around picking up animal poop? Have you ever been near a watering hole in real life? I have, and I can guarantee there’s a lot more animal excrement there than in any legitimate zoo anywhere. I’m sure you have good intentions for animals, but it appears you have limited knowledge of what nature is really like in the animal kingdom.