For the fair, there were 1,000 birds that belonged to the National Zoo that were in that cage. After the fair closed, they did ship those birds to National Zoo and St. Louis had to catch a whole new collection of birds. But at that time, the flight cage was… Read More
And then can you gimme just a little capsule history of the zoo?… Read More
Because Marlin was director, but you had met the director before Marlin Perkins. Read More
So what was the zoo like when you started?… Read More
And you were working for Moody Lentz who was the curator of reptiles?… Read More
Moody Lentz was the curator of reptiles and general curator. And he reported to Marlin Perkins who was the director. And then our assistant director was Henry Sanders who also was curator of birds. So then as a result of all our exercises, Mike, Jerry Lentz and Bob Fru had… Read More
When you first started out at the zoo, can you tell me what was the zoo like when you first started out?… Read More
From the success of that program, our Zoo Friends Association outfitted a classroom. We had folding chairs with sidearm desks. We had 100 chairs, so we limited the teachers workshop to 100 students. And the first year, we had a 150 signups. So we had 100 students and 50 on… Read More
So you were then still the education coordinator?… Read More
Coordinator. Read More
And then one day, the science supervisor said, “You know, these students are getting training that our science teachers in grade schools haven’t had that training. I think we should do a teachers workshop.” And he was a graduate of Harris Teachers College as Marilyn and I had both associate… Read More
Few of ’em had vertebrate biology. If they did, they dissected a cat. They knew nothin’ about the ungulates and the carnivores. And so our animal courses were very popular. Our teachers workshop the very first year, we had 100. We only had 100. We got by then a classroom. Read More
But if you don’t mind working with the students, we’d like you to keep doin’ that. And someday I’d like you to meet with someone from the St. Louis Board of Education and help develop a more formal program.” So that was my step. To me, a big step in… Read More
That these students needed something more than the average student. So we developed a program for the gifted students. We sat down and we wanted 10-week classes, four hours every Saturday. The only place we had was a basement of the antelope house. It was a dark dingy place. So… Read More
At that time, couple of ’em were promoted to assistant curator. Jerry Lentz was assistant curator and Bob Fru was assistant curator and Mike Fleig was a bird keeper. I was a reptile keeper. Jerry and I divided the reptiles. Jerry took snakes. I took amphibians. Bob Fru took mammals. Read More
I took the fish too. Introduction to fish, introduction to amphibians, introduction to reptiles, introduction to birds so that each of us took a Saturday morning and the first two hours would be in the classroom. And the next two hours, we’d take ’em to that part of the zoo. Read More
You had a hot water valve and a cold water valve and make sure the water was just the right temperature so that it wouldn’t give ’em a chill and you wouldn’t cook ’em. Today, they have all automated systems where they don’t have to do that anymore, but we… Read More
You have a shovel, a small shovel in one hand and a snake hook in the other so that you never expose a snakebite. You have a long pair of forceps to take the water dish out, change their water every day. Give ’em fresh water, pick up the stool,… Read More
And then I’d get the alligator and they’d get to feel the armored skin on an alligator. And then I got my pet bullfrog out and hold this big bullfrog up and they’d all get to feel the wet skin and learn the difference between amphibians and reptiles. One difference… Read More
I went to the zoo on April Fool’s Day 1963. So now you’re a keeper. I started a reptile keeper. Read More