emeralds, please give your pal, jamie colby, a call. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and, remember, you can't take it with you. [ cow moos ] >> a montana cowboy inherits a barren patch of prairie. >> this place isn't big enough to starve to death on. >> but beneath the parched soil, he finds prehistoric treasure. >> this is one of the most important discoveries in this century. >> i've got a year to try to see if i can survive with our ranch and selling dinosaur fossils. this is a jaw bone to a tyrannosaurus rex that i found. >> will this cowpoke's strange inheritance lead him to boom... >> whoo! >> [ laughs ] >> ...or bust? >> lightning doesn't strike the same place very often. [ chuckles ] maybe never. ♪

>> i'm jamie colby. and today, i'm driving in the badlands of eastern montana. it's rugged, big-sky, cattle-ranching country. i'm on my way to meet a lifelong resident whose father left him a chunk of this land. >> nice to have you here. >> thanks for having us. >> my name's clayton phipps. and in 1997, my father passed away, and i inherited from him a small portion of the family ranch. and along with that came a few pretty exciting surprises. >> 41-year-old clayton phipps is like a character out of "red river" or "lonesome dove." [ horse neighs ] >> most of the time, i'm on my own. i'm happy that way. this ranch had been in our family since my great-grandfather homesteaded here. and it's a part of me that i just didn't feel like i wanted to ever part with.

>> clayton grew up and learned to cowboy here on the ranch his father shared with three brothers. he describes the operation as cash-poor but reasonably successful. >> my dad worked us hard, but that was a good thing, too. >> after clayton's father dies in 1997, the ranch is split up. at age 24, clayton inherits 1,100 acres and 30 cows. that may sound like a lot. but to make a decent living these days, clayton would need 10 times that much land and about 500 head of cattle -- at least 40 acres for each cow. >> [ whistles ] i always tell people this place isn't big enough to starve to death on. but it's every cowboy's dream to have their own place. >> okay, we're saddling up. >> just step on my knee with your right leg. >> okay. >> there you go. >> clayton insists i wear a

helmet. >> yeah, that's pretty smooth. >> good girl! somebody must have told him i'm a lawyer. ♪ i can see why clayton loves being out here. i also learn why he calls ranching a big gamble. >> there is a big gamble in ranching. wintertime can be hard. you can have some big storms. there can be death loss. you can buy a bull for $10,000, and he can go wreck himself or break his leg or something, and you may not get any return out of him. >> for years, clayton works a second job, hoping to make enough money to build up his own herd. getting the ranch to pay off becomes more urgent when he falls in love with lisa landwehr, who teaches at the local one-room schoolhouse. >> love at first sight. [ laughs ] my mom said she could see why i fell for him. my dad said, "are you sure you shouldn't wait?" [ laughs ] he's always been very good to me. we've had a lot of fun together. >> my wife's from minnesota.

the whole thing's been a culture shock for her. [ chuckles ] you know, it's 120 miles to the nearest movie theatre. the old timers would say, you know, "this country's hard on horses and women." >> in 1998, the couple's first child, julie, is born. she'll grow up to be a cowgirl, through and through. >> julie came along, and, yeah, there's another mouth to feed, and a little more responsibility. and you have to start, you know -- "what am i gonna do?" >> it all ratchets up the pressure on clayton to make the ranch financially viable... now. >> got to figure out a way to try to buy more land, enough land to raise enough cows to provide a living. >> then one day, clayton runs into a stranger who'd been prospecting in the badlands near clayton's ranch. >> he started pulling these things out of his car. he started saying, you know, "this piece here might sell for $500," you know, and it was a fragment of bone. and i'm like, "what?" >> they were fossils, remnants of giant beasts who lived here eons ago.

clayton figures if there are that many valuable fossils on the neighbor's land, there must be as many on his. could they help him keep his home on the range? >> as i was out fixing fence, or riding, or gathering cattle, i started watching, and, you know, started picking up fragments here and there, and then trying to learn more about it. it got me excited that, you know, this stuff's everywhere. >> it's everywhere because phipps' ranch sits right on one of the most important scientific areas on earth -- the hell creek formation. 65 million years ago, this was a warm, palm-studded forest. giants ruled the earth. peter larson runs the black hills institute, which prepares fossils for museums and collectors. >> the hell creek formation shows us the very end of the age of dinosaurs going up to the time that this giant asteroid 6 miles across crashed into the earth and actually caused the

extinction of about 70% of life forms here on this planet. ♪ >> between chores, clayton scours the gulches and ridges on his land, searching for fossils. he finds plenty of fragments -- buckets full of them, in fact -- but nothing he could sell. these bones would not put meat on the table. then one day, something in the rocky soil catches clayton's eye. >> i looked, and there was a t. rex pre-max tooth laying there in almost perfect, museum-quality condition. >> so, this tooth, for example, is a result of your inheritance? >> it is. >> clayton shows me a casting of the tooth -- his first real find -- in the back room where he prepares specimens for sale. it's a combination man cave, research library, and trophy room. >> and i went home and sold that tooth that night to a collector for $2,500, and i was back in business. [ cow moos ] >> back in the ranching business, that is. >> i used that money to buy my

first cattle to help supplement my other disease, ranching and cowboying. >> right. well, that's what kind of actually was exciting about it. we were pretty proud of being able to start our herd with something that he found, you know? that was pretty cool. >> "pretty cool" -- sure. but could such prehistoric artifacts be the cash crop they need to help them build up their herd and make the ranch a success? it's another gamble. clayton's all in. lisa, not so much. >> paychecks kind of need to be steady when you're raising a family. and it was a gamble, you know? [ chuckles ] my wife was really skeptical. >> you ever sit there and dream of another life? >> [ laughs ] >> he's not listening right now. >> i have to confess, yeah, it's crossed my mind. i wouldn't give him up for anything, but, you know, i was nervous. >> as months go by with no significant finds, even clayton begins to have doubts. >> i got to one of my sites, and my tractor tire was flat, and that was gonna be a $500, $600

bill, you know? i was thinking, "i don't even know if this is what god wants me to do," you know? i was broke. ♪ >> and then, as if by divine intervention, his luck changes. >> it was just the coolest little skull ever. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer when we return. non-valvular afib can mean a lifetime of blood thinners.

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aig proudly supports all the professionals taking care of our financial futures. >> now the answer to our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer is "c," tiggeraptor. >> in 2003, cowboy clayton phipps starts to feel that fossil hunting on his montana ranch is a bust. it's been almost a year since he's found a marketable bone. then he hits pay dirt, in the form of a skull from a 65-million-year-old stygimoloch. >> i found that stygimoloch on my wife's birthday, and i named the skull "lisa's dragon." this is the most complete skull discovered to date of this particular dinosaur. >> unearthing this horned relic of the cretaceous period instantly changes clayton's outlook. >> it's the thrill of discovery,

you're the first person to see it. it's a special feeling. it's hard to describe until you actually are in that position. >> that's amazing. amazing. wow. the real thrill comes when a collector buys the skull, netting clayton more than $40,000. his strange inheritance is finally starting to pay off. >> it was about a year's wages for what i was making on the ranch. >> it buys him, among other things, more time to make his grand plan work. >> i told lisa, i said, "i've got a year to try to see if i can survive with our ranch and selling dinosaur fossils." >> meanwhile, the phipps family is expanding. a son, daniel, arrives in 2004, and his brother luke, 3 years later -- two acorns that don't fall far from the tree. by now, dad has acquired a reputation and a new nickname, "dino cowboy." professionals begin to respect his knowledge of dinosaur bones,

and his ability to find them. >> the only way you can find fossils is with your eyes. and the only way you can do that is get out there on foot and and walk the outcrops. a guy like clayton can invent. he can solve problems. ♪ >> clayton offers to show a new york gal how it's done. he starts with a safety lecture. >> any snakes? >> there's rattlesnakes. there's mountain lions. walking along the crest of a hill, there could be a cavity, and you could step on one of those and fall 30 feet down. looks great. if you move the dirt, you might find one. >> now, what is that? >> this is a little end of a limb bone to a little plant-eater. it's pretty cool. you can see the whole end of the bone. >> oh, this is definitely bone. >> yep. that's most like a rib. i can tell by the -- >> oh, the shape. i can see why they call him the dino cowboy. >> another piece of bone washed down there. >> and i can see how you could get hooked on fossil hunting.

it's the feeling you get picking something out of the dirt and realizing it was part of a living, breathing behemoth 65 million years ago. >> there's spikes on this. look. >> we're gonna have a project here. >> i'm starting to think the whole phipps family has some kind of dino radar. >> looks like a rib. >> like the top of one? >> in just the first few minutes, clayton's youngest, 7-year-old luke, finds a rib. >> okay, i'm having a blast. can i get down here and keep looking? now, is this just wood or petrified wood? >> no, that's a bone. >> i found part of a leg bone. amazing! slowly but surely, this is a whole dinosaur. >> it came off this hill somewhere. you know, one of these layers is gonna produce, you know, hopefully, some more of this skeleton. >> so, we found a spot worth looking into. >> maybe. oh, for sure. >> clayton knows there is dino gold somewhere in these hills, and he aims to find it. >> the highest selling fossil that i know about sold for a little over $8 million. that was one single dinosaur.

>> that $8-million find, a 42-foot long t. rex nicknamed "sue," now stands in the main hall of chicago's field museum. >> it could buy a lot of cattle. >> it would help. [ chuckles ] >> fortunately, his reputation as a man who can find old bones leads an experienced fossil hunter named mark eatman to knock on clayton's door. >> clayton is a total modern-day mountain man or macgyver. i went to his ranch, where we started to look for fossils together. >> another chapter in this "strange inheritance" story is about to begin. >> you're always thinking, "right over the next ridge or over the next patch of badlands, it's gonna be there. i'm gonna find that big one." >> as it turns out, mark's words are prophetic. >> whoo! >> that's next, on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question for you.

the answer in a moment. ♪ here? nah. ♪ here? nope. ♪

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>> now the answer to our quiz question. which came first? the answer is "b." the oldest shark fossil is more than 400 million years old. the oldest cockroach fossil is 350 million years old. the oldest dinosaur arrived 100 million years later. >> as i listen to clayton phipps tell the story of the ranch left to him by his father, i can't help but think that his strange inheritance is not just about this 2 square miles of montana badlands filled with dinosaur bones. it's also the unexpected journey that came next -- from struggling rancher to hopeful

husband to dad worried about being a good provider, and then to renowned dino cowboy who's still hoping to find a way to make it all work financially. he gets a boost when professional fossil hunter mark eatman knocks on his door. using clayton's ranch as a base of operations, they set out to scour not only the phipps ranch, but parts of the surrounding hell creek formation on which it sits. in june 2006, mark scans a rock outcropping and spots fossil fragments from a triceratops, a 7-foot tall plant eater. this beast died right here more than 65 million years ago. [ roaring ] it's only about 60 miles from the phipps' ranch. but the remarkable journey launched by clayton's strange inheritance will transport him to a time and place he could hardly imagine.

after cutting a deal with the landowner, who will get a share of any profits, clayton starts picking away, first with a shovel, then a jackhammer, and finally a backhoe. >> i realized that there was this arm claw in there, a giant meat hook -- killer, nasty-looking creature. >> clayton has uncovered another set of bones intertwined with the triceratops. >> "what the heck did we just find?" and, you know, i knew i had a claw, but that's all i really knew. so, i run down, and i start brushing away the dirt and the sand from where i was digging with the machine. and i start to see an arm, and i start to see a leg below the arm. and, "whoo!" [ both laugh ] you know? "son of a gun. there's another dinosaur in here, and it wasn't friends with the one we just found." >> that's when i went ballistic with excitement, actually. >> it's a monster discovery. clayton's son daniel and daughter julie pose to give a sense of the enormous size of these two creatures -- predator

and prey, apparently locked in a battle to the death -- one the plant-eating triceratops, the other what looks like a young t. rex. phipps calls them the dueling dinos. >> i was talking to to a fossil dealer, and he said, "clayton, you're the luckiest guy i know." he said, "who could go out in the middle of nowhere with a backhoe and dig up the best meat-eater from the hell creek formation ever?" [ laughs ] i guess god was watching out for us that day. [ laughs ] >> it's one of the most fantastic dinosaur specimens that's been found ever. it's one of the few instances where we can actually find the culprit. "well, how did this animal die, and what killed it?" >> we believe they killed each other. >> wait, in battle? how can you tell that? >> clayton explains, using this model of the dueling dinos. >> we have teeth from the predator embedded in the prey. some of them are embedded still in the pelvis area, and they're also in the throat area. i'd give anything in the world to go back that day in time and

see what happened, you know, to watch that fight and see how it unfolded. >> for a cowboy and his family who have been just scraping by, the dueling dinos could be a life-changer. >> my initial thought was these things are somewhere around the value of maybe $10 million. ♪ >> that's even more than chicago's field museum paid for sue, the giant t. rex unearthed in 1990. clayton and his partners shop the fossils to a number of museums, seeking a multimillion-dollar deal that would permit access by both scientists and the public. >> i would like to be able to take my grandkids someday to a museum that it's in, say, "your old grandpappy found that dinosaur." >> seven years pass, but no public institution bites. so in november 2013, clayton moves on to plan "b." >> bonhams auction company contacted us, and they said, "would you guys be interested in putting it up for auction?" >> that's next on

"strange inheritance." we love our new home. there's so much space. we have a guestroom now. but, we have aunts. you're slouching again, ted. expired, expired... expired. thanks, aunt bonnie. it's a lot of house. i hope you can keep it clean. at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save a lot of money oh, teddy. did you get my friend request? uh, i'll have to check. (doorbell ringing) aunt joni's here! for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. hello? for bundling made easy, go to geico.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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all with no commissions. stocks by the slice from fidelity. get your slice today. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> november 2013, 16 years since clayton phipps inherited this montana ranch from his father, 10 years since he dug up the $40,000 stygimoloch skull that sealed his reputation as the dino cowboy, and it's 7 years since he made one of the most fantastic discoveries in history -- two prehistoric beasts locked in combat. now they're up for sale in new york. the bidding starts at $3 million, hits $5.5 million... then stops. that may be a fortune to a struggling rancher, but it's far below the $7 million reserve price set by clayton and his

partners. the result -- no sale. unlike the folks who cashed in on the world-famous t. rex sue, clayton walks away empty handed. >> i hope i'm not out of line expecting to get paid for, you know, what we've got into it. >> clayton believes he'll eventually get that, and more. >> we all feel the fall of the economy really, really hampered things for us, for sure. ♪ >> so, back on the range, he continues to raise cattle, search for fossils, and tinker in his lab, still waiting for his big find to pay off. if one day, however, those dueling dinos -- or perhaps other spectacular fossils yet to be unearthed on his strange inheritance -- do make him rich, i'm betting the path of clayton phipps' life still circles back to this piece of montana. >> i'm living the dream. and because i can stay outside

and have the thrill of discovery, the dinosaur hunting fits into that just perfectly. it's my hope that i can do this for as long as i'm able to do it. >> those dueling dinosaurs are now part of a pretty fierce fight among modern-day paleontologists. there are some who think the small but vicious predator is simply a young tyrannosaurus. but there are others, including clayton, who think he unearthed a specimen of a newly discovered species, a nanotyrannus. well, either way, keep that word "small" in perspective. we're talking about a dinosaur that was 8 feet tall and 35 feet long. certainly, there's no dino that would have wanted to meet the likes of that in the ring. [ chuckles ] i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for joining us on "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. do you have a strange

inheritance story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail, or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> a sanctuary for exotic animals... >> how's his health now? >> he's doing good. [ lion roaring ] >> call of the wild. >> yeah. >> rescued by quite an a odd duck himself. >> we use 26,000 lbs. of chicken or beef every six weeks. >> what was his reputation? >> a wild man. >> was he a guy that played by the rules? >> um... no. >> when he dies, the authorities want to shut his heir down. >> he left you with a mess. >> he did. that was when anger just hit. >> will it cost his widow her strange inheritance? >> i didn't go through everything, all those years, to just give up. ♪

[ lightning strikes ] [ bird calling ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today, i'm in south west florida, driving through the marshy flatwoods outside punta gorda. you know, not every strange inheritance offers unexpected riches. sometimes it can bring on a massive, screeching headache and a huge mess to clean up. >> i'm lauri caron. in 2005, i inherited an exotic zoo-type wildlife sanctuary from my husband and continues to be wild every single day. [ lion roars ] [ birds chirping ] >> hi, lauri. >> hi. >> i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you, jamie. >> great to meet you, too, at this animal retirement home? >> yes, it's pretty much like a nursing home/retirement village. >> we're not talking about kitty cats or puppies. i heard a roar already. can i take a look? >> absolutely. come on. >> as lauri gives me a behind-the-scenes tour, i catch

a glimpse of the 100-plus creatures that currently live at the octagon wildlife sanctuary. [ lion growls ] clearly, the sound of feeding day... >> yes. >> ...in the air. >> yes, absolutely. >> lauri tells me every animal here is a rescue, at one time abused or abandoned, that would otherwise be euthanized. animals like lily, a black leopard saved from a closed-down breeding zoo, are given a second lease on life. >> look at her eyes. she's beautiful. >> isn't she beautiful? [ black leopard purring ] >> is she purring at me? >> yeah, she's purring right now. >> or growling? >> right now, that's a purr. >> and this is onyx, an abused bengal tiger lauri personally rescued five years ago. >> they used him as a photography baby. they were gonna euthanize him. >> onyx was malnourished as a cub and continues to struggle with painful swelling and digestive issues. he's now fed a special diet to help reduce the side effects. i just hope tv host isn't on

today's menu. >> you want to be very safe. watch his mouth and watch your fingers at all times. >> note that i have 10 fingers starting, okay? >> and i still have mine after 22 years, so, you know -- >> oh, then i'm good. i'm good. >> the first one i'll do, kind of watch me here. >> sure. >> bones and all? >> bones and all. >> o-kay, my turn. aww. >> and now, if you want, just start throwing the rest in there. >> lauri assures me that her fences exceed state and federal codes, which is comforting when it's the only thing between you and a 500-pound hungry tiger. onyx.... i'm you're new best friend. >> hey, the way to an animal's heart is through their stomach. >> kind of like guys. >> yeah. >> so, you have 100 animals like this? >> yes. absolutely, and each one of these animals has a story of what they went through. >> and so does lauri. 26 years old and just divorced,

she relocates from illinois to southwest florida in 1993. a few weeks later, she shows up at octagon as a volunteer. >> when i first walked through the gates, i never looked back. >> it's then that lauri first takes note of the sanctuary's 54-year-old, eccentric owner and founder, pete caron. kevin shirley was pete's attorney and friend for over 15 years. >> he was a unique character. people recognized him by his hat and by his gruff voice. >> we use like 26,000 lbs. of chicken or beef every six weeks. you know, that's just the chicken and beef part. that's not all the rest of it. >> he was never too busy to stop and talk about his animals. this was his life. >> right here. come right here. i need to get some love. >> like lauri, pete also migrated south in search of a fresh start. >> back in 1970, the former air force pilot and his retired father move here from

new hampshire and buy 10 acres of secluded, undeveloped land. as they ponder what to do with the property, fate comes knocking with big, hairy paws. >> he started it, basically, with a couple of bears. >> florida wildlife officials come across two adult brown bears in a broken-down trailer but not just any bears. these were actors left behind after filming wrapped on the hit tv series "gentle ben." the state considers euthanizing them, until pete steps in. pete, who'd worked at a wildlife sanctuary a few years before, now figures he'll start his own. he tells state officials, "i'll take those bears." within 72 hours, pete and his father have an enclosure built and lure the bears into the cage with a blueberry pie. pete is soon licensed to handle exotic animals and becomes the go-to guy in southwest florida

when creatures are abandoned or removed from homes. lenny barshinger worked as a state fish & wildlife investigator for 27 years. over that time, he brought more than 60 animals to the sanctuary. >> why'd you pick here? >> at that time, there was no place in -- in collier county that i could take the animals to. >> what kind of reaction did you get when you'd call pete and say, "i got a lion, a tiger, an elephant?" >> it didn't matter what time of the day or night, he would be there, ready to help. >> i feel like i'm the ugliest surrogate mother in the world. >> but pete does not exactly have a business plan. he solicits donations and even resorts to scouring dumpsters for food. >> so, why did he do it? >> he just had a real, real care for the animals. if he ever had to put an animal down, he was genuinely upset. >> when you feed and care for an animal like this for six or seven years and then you lose them, you know, it's -- it's -- you can't describe the loss of a

friend. >> but pete doesn't share the same love for the state and federal wildlife agents checking to see that the animals are okay and the public is protected. he quickly becomes known as a loud-mouthed cowboy who's difficult to control. what was his reputation? >> a wild man. >> was he a guy that played by the rules? >> um... no. [ chuckles ] >> did pete have a problem with the government? >> he thought some of their rules were silly. so he would challenge the silly rules. >> "challenge" is putting it lightly. when pete has had enough with the inspectors, he's known to tap his holstered gun and say, "i think we're done here for today." >> was he a bully? >> he wasn't a bully, but he was very forceful. it was his way or the highway, basically. >> pete's abrasive attitude results in some inspectors being particularly tough on the sanctuary. >> we would end up in court from

time to time over minor events. a water pan in a lion's cage was dirty, or the food in the freezer was not raised off the floor. >> when you walked into court with pete, did any of the judges' faces say, "oh, here we go again"? >> well, yes. one that just shook his head and thought that the government was -- kept picking on pete. >> whether they're nitpicking or not, the sanctuary isn't without incident. >> any animals ever escape? >> back years ago, we had hippos out in our front pond, and one time, one of 'em decided to take a walk. >> after busting through the sanctuary's fencing, the hippo finds its way to a nearby swimming pool. the shocked neighbor calls authorities, claming a dinosaur had taken over her backyard. pete quickly gets the animal back home before any damage is done. but as much as pete ignored and even battled government

officials, they turn to him when an animal's in trouble. >> it sounds like you and pete... butted heads a bit. was it worth it? >> oh, absolutely. we need places like this rather than to go ahead and to euthanize them. >> there is someone who wants to tame pete -- that passionate volunteer from illinois. >> we were actually doing a lot of rescuing together, and it seemed to work really well, and then we decided, "yeah, let's take it another step." [ laughs ] >> despite their 28-year age difference and the fact that pete is twice divorced with three adult children, lauri and pete decide to start dating. then a health crisis throws the future of this wildlife refuge into doubt. >> he says, "my kids will sell this place, and the animals will be euthanized, and that will be it." >> that is, unless pete can find another heir. was it a real marriage, or was it a marriage of convenience to save the sanctuary?

>> [ sighs ] >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. is it... the answer in a moment.

♪ >> so...

it's "a," tigers. as many as 7,000 tigers are kept as pets in the u.s. while only 3,000 are found in the wild. for decades, pete caron's octagon wildlife sanctuary is one of the top spots in florida for abused and neglected animals. along with his most trusted volunteer and girlfriend, lauri, the pair take in animals that would otherwise be euthanized, like these former performance bears. >> the previous owner that had them was actually training them with a lead pipe. >> lauri uses a gentler training tool -- doughnuts. one of my volunteers actually taught him some sign language. >> really? >> and... to the point of where, if he was hungry for a sweet, he would actually let you know when he's ready for -- >> how? >> with this little gesture of "please." >> let's see if i have the magic touch, too. >> oh, that was sign language

for "doughnut, please." >> yes. >> i think i'm getting the hang of this. >> you are doing well. >> look, i still have 10. >> [ laughs ] >> but things aren't going so well for the sanctuary in the year 2000, when pete, now in his 60s, is diagnosed with coronary heart disease. the crisis forces pete to think about what will happen to his beloved sanctuary when he's gone. >> he says, "my kids will sell this place, and the animals will be euthanized, and that will be it." >> while pete doesn't bother with a will, he does have a plan. he wants to make lauri his legal heir and put octagon's fate in her hands. >> he just says, "hey, you want to get married? we really have a lot in common with this place, wanting to keep the place going, and i said, "absolutely." >> so, what did pete give you as an engagement gift -- an orangutan? >> [ laughs ] you would think. >> pete and lauri marry in may 2002. was it a real marriage, or was it a marriage of convenience to

save the sanctuary? >> [ sighs ] >> i think it was more a marriage of convenience. i had the experience. i had all the licensing. there was definitely love and respect there, but we knew at that point... anybody else would come in and try to demolish his dream and mine 'cause it had become mine, too. >> in june 2003, pete's health worsens, and he undergoes triple-bypass surgery. >> he actually was in the hospital for about a total of maybe two, three months. >> lauri takes over day-to-day operations of the sanctuary. it's then that she starts to sense the challenges that lie ahead. >> i think i always knew there was gonna be a lot of trouble when he passed just 'cause of the way that he would always handle things with fish and wildlife. >> pete has earned a reputation with government officials as confrontational and hostile. wildlife inspectors will even show up with police escorts. >> they felt that their life was in danger sometimes -- the

inspectors. >> and not 'cause of the animals. >> mnh-mnh, but of pete. >> they cite octagon time and time again. whether they're being hard on him or not, lauri tells pete he isn't helping. >> i said, "somebody else is gonna have to deal with the messes that you are deciding here, and he goes, "let it be somebody else's problem." i'm like, "hello?" [ laughs ] i'm like, "but that's gonna be me." >> on may 9, 2005, pete dies in lauri's arms. he's 66 years old. overnight, lauri becomes the leader of the octagon pack -- her strange inheritance. >> that was when the anger just hit, you know, right away. >> anger? >> just, i wasn't ready for him to go at that point. i think it was also fear because i knew... "okay, here comes the test." >> lauri is determined to carry on pete's work, but it's going to be much harder than she ever thought. >> we were one hour away from

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♪ [ birds calling ] so... it's "c," hippopotamus. they appear to be gentle grazers, but hippos are highly aggressive and have been known to attack humans without provocation. >> after her husband pete's death in 2005, lauri caron is struggling to run the florida wildlife sanctuary, with more than 200 animals, that he left behind.

money is tight, and relationships with state and federal inspectors strained. pete didn't always make friends doing this. >> no, he burned a lot of bridges. >> within days of pete's funeral, lauri is already feeling the heat. octagon is hit with a surprise visit from the u.s. department of agriculture, which enforces standards of care and treatment for animals exhibited to the public. the authorities say that lauri must fix conditions that put the public and the animals in danger. she thinks they're just are out for blood after years of butting heads with pete. one inspector, he's like, "if you don't get your fence fixed, i'm closing you now." it's a fence that they had been okay-ing for 30 years. >> lauri frantically seeks out donations so she can build a new fence. but her problems only get worse when she digs through octagon's paperwork.

lauri comes across four year's worth of property tax bills unpaid. he left you with a mess. >> he did. yeah, he did. >> the amount due is $7,400 -- money lauri doesn't have in the bank. >> i'm thinking, "what do we do?" i didn't go through everything all those years prior to that to just give up. >> with lauri unable to cover the taxes, octagon board member sherry pate and her husband graciously offer to cover the debt. when they arrive at the courthouse... we laid down the property taxes, and the woman said, "well, that's funny. we just sent this over to the lawyer yesterday." >> county officials are about to put the property up for auction. but finally, a stroke of luck. they hadn't yet gotten to octagon's paperwork. >> she just kind of shook her head and said, "you realize if you would have waited another day, this property would have been gone. >> that would have been the end right there. we would've lost the whole sanctuary. >> lauri also beats the clock

with the fencing, thanks to some timely donations from local businesses. but even with the eleventh-hour bailouts, lauri faces one more crisis when a would-be whistle-blower drops a dime on octagon. >> at times, i would shake my head, and i'd be in tears, thinking, "what am i doing? can i do this?" >> that's next. introducing stocks by the slice from fidelity. now you can trade stocks and etfs for any amount you choose instead of buying by the share. all with no commissions. stocks by the slice from fidelity. get your slice today.

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of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd. it is my vision so my plan includes preservision. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in 2005, lauri caron's husband, pete, dies and leaves her his octagon wildlife sanctuary, along with a parade of problems for her to resolve. she's already been tested by florida wildlife officials and delinquent property taxes, but the headaches of pete's past just keep coming. the irs also came knocking. >> yeah, they showed up and said, "well, we're here to do an audit." apparently, somebody called and said that, even being a

nonprofit, we weren't doing anything with our nonprofit, that we absolutely had zero animals here. >> lauri assumes the call came from an adversary of pete, looking to cause trouble for the sanctuary, but the irs finds no misuse of funds. since then, lauri has made it her mission to do all the repairs needed at octagon, including to the relationships pete damaged. >> i really strive to show that we are trying to do the best we can and get out of that shadow. she also has to keep the wolves from octagon's doorstep and her own. the animals need 700 pounds of food every day, and operating costs average $7,000 a month. and it's all on lauri's shoulders to bring in donations and grants, as well as entrance fees, from 30,000 annual visitors. none of the 40 sanctuary workers takes a salary, including lauri, who lives in a small trailer

right on the property. do you ever have a day where you think, "i'm not gonna have enough food to feed these animals?" >> absolutely. >> what's that like? >> it's horrifying. >> you think you're gonna be able to pull it off? >> yeah. [ voice breaking ] you know, it's, um... >> for you, for pete, or for the animals? >> the animals. you know, i'm not one to give up easy. [ chuckles ] >> it's a good thing that lauri is a fighter because there will always be animals like onyx, who was once near death, that need octagon. how's his health now? >> he's doing good and very vocal. [ lion roaring ] >> call of the wild. >> yeah. [ laughs ] >> wow, i'm so glad that he made it. what do you think pete's saying right now? >> you know, i'm hoping he's proud. i never expected that pete would have passed as soon as he did, but i didn't go through everything to give up and give up on pete's dream and these

animals. ♪ >> lauri and pete worked side by side for years here at octagon before they started dating, but is it possible the wild beasts were on to them before they were even on to themselves? several years before lauri came on the scene, pete had taken in a baboon named max from a circus. max instantly formed a bond with pete, then young lauri shows up, and every time max sees her working with pete, the poor guy starts acting out badly. in his jealous rage, max begins to toss, um, his droppings at lauri with impeccable aim. and lauri says that gave her pause, so to speak, to wonder if something just might be going on between pete and herself. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember, you can't take it with you.

do you have a strange inheritance story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. ♪ welcome, deals are driving the action on wall street this morning. big deals do not end there. nvida acquiring arm holdings and we have all the details on a monday merger of a day this morning. upbeat news from vaccine from pfizer and ast