Harriet Tubman said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
We all have dreams. But sometimes, our dream is something that most people advise against doing, believing we won’t be successful in such endeavors. How many times have we given up a dream just because we listened to what other people are saying? It takes a lot of courage, strength, determination, and a positive mindset to keep on doing something that we love and reach for the stars, even if the odds are against us.
Today, my guest is Mike Holston, a talented young man who is reaching for the stars and changing the world against all odds. He is fondly called “The Real Tarzann” because of his exceptional love for animals and his extraordinary way of handling them. He gained notoriety for being able to communicate with deadly creatures, like tigers, crocodiles, and sharks, at what seems to be a unique frequency.
In this episode, Mike Holston will talk about how the inspiring story of the internet sensation “The Real Tarzann.” began. He will also talk about how he tamed animals and the life lessons we can learn from them. His life story is a true inspiration that you can change the world by doing what you love and make an impact on others, even if it means defying all odds. If you have a peculiar passion, you will surely love this episode. So, let the class begin.
Who is Mike Holston?
Mike Holston is an exotic animal specialist and a zookeeper at the Zoological Wildlife Foundation of Mario and Maria Tabraue in Miami, Florida. He has a knack for learning various enrichment techniques with dangerous animals, such as iguanas and snakes, from animal experts.
His passion for animals started at the young age of five, after regularly watching TV programs like PBS Kids, David Attenborough’s shows, Animal Planet, and National Geographic. When he saw his grandmother watching old movies in black and white, he thought it was pretty boring. But when he watched the Tarzan TV Series together with his grandma, he was amazed by how Tarzan communicated with the animals in the jungle. Mike began to wonder if animals communicated with each other at a different frequency from humans rather than in a different language.
So he took home a snake as a pet. The snake bit him, his brother, his mom, his aunt, and his uncle. But that didn’t stop him from taming the snake despite his family’s fear of it and their insistence that he get rid of it! Eventually, he tamed the snake, and it didn’t bite anymore. From there, the rest is history. He started taming different species of animals, from lovable pets like dogs, to fierce predators like tigers.
Mike Holston created a Youtube channel and named it The Real Tarzann, hoping to create awareness for wildlife conservation issues. When he started sharing videos of his up-close encounters with dangerous and wild creatures, many of his videos quickly gained hundreds of thousands of views, and he eventually gained millions of subscribers.
But everything changed when Will Smith called him up, supporting his cause and proposing a collaboration. After that, Mikee became an internet sensation. Within 3 hours of Will Smith’s Instagram post, Mike gained over 500,000 followers! Today, his Instagram has garnered more than 6.1 million followers and counting.
Mike Holston is changing the world through awareness of wildlife conservation. He takes advantage of his online fame to get funding support for animal charities. In 2018, he helped more than 200 iguanas, rescued from the freezing waters of South Florida, find a home. His life story is an inspiration that anything is possible — and that we can tame even the wildest of animals!
Taming Animals by Turning Fear Into Trust
For many of us, encountering a snake can grip us in fear. Some might panic and freak out, while others might freeze. We fear for our life. We fear that the snake would deliver a venomous, deadly strike. But what we don’t think about is that the snake also shares the same fear we do.
Every time we experience fear, our defense mechanism activates to either flight or fight mode. Humans usually activate the flight mode, while snakes activate the fight mode. But Mike Holston decided he wouldn’t fight or flight, and instead adopted a different mode: friendship.
Mike offers friendship instead of fear with every animal he meets, which he says replaces what would be fear with trust. When there is trust, the “fight” or “flight” defense mechanism isn’t activated, which allows the friendship to grow.
“When you’re nervous, you’re scared. You can’t trust them. They have a defense in the same way as you. If you were walking down the street and some guy came and he’s like, ‘Hey, what’s up buddy?’ You’re going to be like, ‘Yo bro, [I’ll] knock you out. I’m going to run away. I’ll call the cops.’ But if someone approaches you would say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and shakes your hand and keeps on moving, you know it’s harmless.” – Mike Holston
Establishing a friendship is not a straight path without obstacles. There will be challenges and sometimes pain. Mike Holston took a bite many times when establishing friendships with different creatures. Animals bite because they feel threatened. For many of them, they know they’re below us on the food chain and view us as predators ready to devour them for our next meal.
“They’re like, ‘Yo bro, are you trying to eat me?’ [If] you jump [and] fight me, I’m going to bite you. You just get away from me. … They’re more scared of us than we are of them. But if you walk up to a snake and you’re like, ‘Hey buddy, what’s up? How’s it going?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, all is cool.’ … You become a tree branch versus something trying to eat.” – Mike Holston
