with his trainer Lester Hilton. Young says Hilton was out of town visiting relatives, and a temporary caregiver might have seen Bamboo Harvester rolling on the ground, struggling to get up. Young said Harvester was a heavy horse, and he was not always strong enough to get back on his feet without struggling. He suggests that the caregiver thought the horse was in distress, administered a tranquilizer and, for unknown reasons, the horse died within hours. The remains were cremated and scattered by Hilton in the Los Angeles area at a spot known only to him. Another story claims that Bamboo Harvester, suffering from age-related ailments, was euthanized in 1970 with no publicity and buried at Snodgrass Farm in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. A third story claims that after Mister Ed, Bamboo Harvester's health was failing. He suffered from arthritis and kidney problems, and had to be euthanized at the age of 19. A different horse who died in Oklahoma in February 1979 was widely thought to be Bamboo Harvester, but this horse was, in fact, a horse that posed for the still pictures of Mister Ed used by the production company for the show's press kits. The death of this horse, unofficially known as "Mister Ed," led to death reports in the mainstream press, as well as a mock interview of the grieving Mrs. Ed on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment. Theme song The theme song, titled "Mister Ed," was written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and sung by Livingston himself. The first seven episodes used only instrumental music to open the show; thereafter the version with lyrics was used. Livingston agreed to sing the song himself until a professional singer could be found; the producers liked the songwriter's vocals and kept them on the broadcast. During most of the show's run the ending theme song used only instrumental music. In some episodes, however, the theme song is sung during the closing credits. The theme was actually sung at the end in all but the first seven episodes. The severely shortened end credits imposed by the current distributor necessitated the use of a shortened instrumental version. The theme song received renewed publicity twenty years after the show went off the air when Jim Brown, a preacher from South Point, Ohio, claimed in May 1986 that it contained "satanic messages" if heard in reverse. Brown and