Well, and I would go to meetings. One interaction I remember with Ted Reed is we had a group called Zoo East. It was Philadelphia, Baltimore, National, and New York were starting cooperative programs. And they were the most boring meetings in the world and, you know, all the guys… Read More
No, the opportunity came up and I thought, “Well, I’d like to try this. Yeah, I mean, there’s so many people who go to work in zoos who wanna work with the animals. ’cause they don’t wanna work with people. I actually liked working with people, so I thought management… Read More
Well, I supervised the keepers, did schedules, learned about, you know, responsible for the animals and the collection, breeding plans, that sort of thing. Getting new animals in, sending animals out. Did you have more relationship and interaction with Bill Xanten or- Oh yeah. Read More
What were your new responsibilities?… Read More
Same, well, taking care of, I had a wider variety of animals there, you know, and I would help out when they did, you know, you would help the vet or if we would take x-rays or whatever. All the animals went through quarantine. I do remember Mitch built a… Read More
It was just a question of how, and then this opportunity came up, or?… Read More
In the back of your mind, were you thinking, I want to move forward and higher at the National Zoo?… Read More
When you went to the hospital, you were still an animal keeper?… Read More
Responsibilities were same, different?… Read More
Yes. Read More
I didn’t have any concerns. I was just excited to get a job that I wanted. And I enjoyed it. Read More
What was your biggest concern when you started working at the zoo in the back of your mind?… Read More
And so your responsibilities were animal keeper, taking care of the animals in that area?… Read More
Did you commiserate with the other women?… Read More
I mean, did you… Well, we all knew each other and we would hang, yeah, we would probably exchange stories of what happened to you today and, you know, whatever it was, again, it just was the nature of the beast. You know, it didn’t really phase you. It wasn’t… Read More
Not many, and I was the only female in the large mammal area. And most of older men, you know, treating me like their daughters or their granddaughters, I mean, they warned me, you know, you never, you know, you never scoop out something without checking to make sure that… Read More
And when you started as an animal keeper, Miles had indicated to you that if you were a man, it’d be good, but how were you received in this position as a woman?… Read More
But you were one of few women who were working in the zoo, there weren’t many?… Read More
I didn’t, well, it was odd. I mean, I remember when I was first assigned to the hoofstock area with the sable antelope, I was working with a keeper who later left the zoo to become an Arizona State Trooper, but he informed me that I was gonna have difficulty,… Read More
Oh, you were married. Yeah. No. Now during your time, and we’ll kinda break it up, but during your time at the National Zoo, you’ve held more than just the title of animal keeper. Correct. Read More