This is the second of the Bubba and Cletus adventure stories, written shortly after I read about a state trooper stopping a car only to find that the driver was a chimp.  The car's owner was present but too drunk to drive.  I thought that was funny, decided to write a story where a chimp led state troopers on a high speed chase.  Someone had told me about this rodeo clown act featuring a funny chimp, and that just fit right in with my story plans.  And so I devised L.B., a zany chimp Bubba owned back in the old days.

The story also is about one of our old rodeo budies from Oklahoma, Slick Siphert.  Slick is definitely one of your good old boy types, and he's good for some good belly laughs.  The story has no real point to make, no deep underlying theme, but it does point out that the human bond with animals is an important one.  We can learn a lot about life from our animal friends . . . if we just keep our eyes and minds open to them.  This story has a bit of a sad ending because L.B. dies, but death is a part of life, even when it involves the death of an animal we have cared deeply about.

Of all the stories I've written, Last Licks may well be the most humorous.  I had good stuff to work with on this one, both with the chimp and with Slick Siphert . . . and even down to the town drunk who takes the ride of his life with L.B.in a hotrod Volkswagen.  You don't want to miss this one.