When I decided I wanted to go to New York because of people like Lee Crandall and Leonard Goss, the veterinarian there, and especially William Beebe, I would do virtually anything to get there. A mammal position became available, so I applied for it. And fortunately, or perhaps fortunately I didn’t get it. I had a lot of experience with mammals, but I was more in ornithologists than mammalogist. The person who did get it was a technical mammalogist and very competent, but he knew nothing about caring for animals. And consequently, he did not last. In the meantime, a bird position became available so I applied for that, and, was absolutely delighted to get it and was delighted that the people in St. Louis were kind enough to stand behind me as wonderful references. You have this deep interest in aviculture but yet as a younger man, you’ve talked about your interest in entomology and herpetology.
