I have become an Animal Planet addict. One thing I have noticed (besides the alarming number of bird owners who let their birds peck food out of their open mouths) is that almost every kind of animal likes to play with a nice big bouncy ball. Not only the usual dogs and cats, but horses, camels, elephants, cows, bears, lizards, etc. Sometimes they get the kind with a handle on it and they just go bonkers - throwing it and shaking it and banging it around. Plus there is something very cool about a big ole' elephant sitting its butt on a ball in the water until the ball comes flying out - I remember doing that with inner tubes in the pool. How neat is it that there is a simple object in this world that can cause such universal joy? BEAR BALL