The crowd waited anxiously for the chance to see a world-famous water skier this weekend. After a brief introduction and  applause, Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel crawled out of her mom’s button-up shirt, hopped on a pair of water skis attached to a remote-control boat and took a lap around the six-inch deep heated pool.Twiggy is a YouTube sensation and tours all across the world promoting water safety and Progressive Boat Insurance. Spectators could see Twiggy live in action all weekend at the Baton Rouge Boat and Sports Show at the Baton Rouge River Center.Twiggy is the adopted stage name of many water skiing squirrels who have been performing for the past 27 years, traveling in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda, Paris, France and Germany. She has appeared in numerous books, magazines, newspapers, movies and commercials.Lou Ann and Chuck Best, from Deltona, Fla., rescued Twiggy I in 1978 when a hurricane blew her away from her nest. The baby squirrel quickly became part of the family, going to the roller-skating rink, camping  and water skiing with the family.Chuck Best bought his daughter, Lalainia, a remote controlled boat for her birthday, but their family friends teased him constantly since he spent all his time playing with it. He joked he had to learn to drive the boat so he could teach the squirrel to ski as a way to calm the jeers.Chuck Best made Twiggy her first pair of water skis out of Styrofoam. Soon after, the local newspaper published the first news story on the water skiing squirrel in May 1979.”The whole thing mushroomed by accident,” Lou Ann Best said. “The news media got a hold of it and went crazy.”Chuck and Lou Ann Best traveled around the world with Twiggy until 1997 when Chuck Best had a heart attack and drowned saving the life of his stepfather. Lou Ann Best canceled the other shows but started touring again with Twiggy IV when fans flooded her with phone calls.”We’ve incorporated water safety into the show,” she said. “We just want to make a difference. My goal is to get Twiggy to be the national spokesanimal for water safety like Smokey the Bear is for fire safety.”Twiggy always wears a lifejacket hand-made by Lou Ann Best to encourage children and adults to wear their lifejackets at all times when around water.”There’s a message that needs to be gotten out to the people, and Twiggy can do that,” Lou Ann Best said.Twiggy skis behind the remote-controlled boat with two plush squirrels — one “driver” and the other a “spotter.”Today, Twiggy and Lou Ann perform in about 20 shows annually in front of millions of spectators. Twiggy has been on several TV shows, including Animal Planet’s “Behind the Clip” and “The Most Outrageous Animal Acts.” She was also featured on “Good Morning America,” “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” and in the movies “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Down to Earth” and “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”Lou Ann Best said training a squirrel to ski is like training a husband — give them lots of love and affection and tell them the same thing over and over.”There are a few different steps,” she said. “But it’s usually just a lot of repetition.”Lou Ann Best begins by introducing each squirrel to the bathtub to let them get comfortable with the water.Eventually, she introduces the squirrels to the boat, getting them familiar with the noise and vibrations. Then, the squirrels start to work on riding the skis.Twiggy VI, which is on tour now, is Lou Ann Best’s “strong-willed child.””It took quite a few years [to train],” she said. “This one is eight years old. She hasn’t been skiing very long.”Lou Ann Best has had as many as 18 pet squirrels at one time. Usually the squirrels are rescued after a hurricane or bad rain storm, she said.Lou Ann said she doesn’t teach every squirrel to ski, but she has taught the trick to two French poodles, a black cat, two miniature horses, an armadillo and a toad frog. They even taught a squirrel named Ollie to jet-ski.”Twiggy just seems to capture everybody’s heart,” she said.—-Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]