Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 54

So Ernest Walker was running the zoo?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 55

Yes, he was the– De facto. Well, I mean, he was assistant director, so he was basically in charge of hiring of getting the budget and everything and Mann was at that point almost was a really old man. He was putting informed and I think he left it up… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 56

What kind of management style did Walker have?… Read More

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Who’s running the zoo, Mann or Walker?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 51

Walker, yeah. He’s running it. Yeah, and I tell you, one of the things that was going on back then is that the National Zoo even though it was under the federal government and under Smithsonian, the salaries and operating budget came from the District of Columbia. So what Walker… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 52

I mean, I remember when I started out, I think it was with GS3 and I don’t– What does that translate to?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 48

Now, you’re in a different level now, you’re a keeper, not a kid coming in with reptiles, did you have contact with the then director Mann?… Read More

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I didn’t really have that much contact because he never really came into the zoo. I think the last time I saw Dr. Mann was right after he retired and he retired, I think, I wanna say, four months after I started. And they brought him down about, I don’t… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 44

But you never got in trouble for it?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 45

I never got in trouble and Jean never reported us or anything like that. I mean, he took it and really good humor. When you started, the director was not William Mann, it became Ted Reed. No, it was William Mann. Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 46

When you started?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 47

When I started, yes, and Walker were still assistant director. Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 40

It was definitely different. I mean, some of the stuff that we did, if we’d done it 15 years later, we probably would have been fired for it because, I mean, I don’t wanna start as far as practical jokes are concerned, but I’ll tell a couple of stories in… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 41

And at the time I’m standing there and Jack says, “echidna laid an egg.” And I said, “You’re kidding me,” and I opened the door and Jean’s coming around and I take the egg out. And I say, “This is amazing, Jean, look at this.” And Jack says, “Let me… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 42

You feed it as a kind of a pancake, but it was like dough and it was brown. So we took a big chunk of this stuff and rolled it out on the table this long and put it in aardvark cage. And Jean same thing comes walking down and… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 43

And I said, “Here, it’s really dead, it’s not moving at all.” And then at that point, we just decided enough was enough. Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 37

Now, let me read you, you said something I wanna kind of jump ahead, just as a tan, you said about you play practical jokes and people seem to enjoy it and so forth. Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 38

You’ve been at the National Zoo in the profession a very long time, from a philosophical or an animal keeper point of view, do you think in your later years at the zoo, the keeper force did those kinds of things, enjoyed their job the same way from when you… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 39

Did the evolution of the keepers as you started and when you kind of finished, did you see a difference in that maybe enjoyment of the job, or was it different?… Read More

Interview 2817 – Caption Index: 33

What was your thinking as you were starting your job and progressing as a keeper?… Read More