Well, I was a student extern. So basically we tagged along with the veterinarians and we did whatever we could do to help out, basically hold anesthesia, basically what a vet student is able to do. I was very good, ’cause I’d actually been, I went to vet tech school… Read More
So what were your duties there?… Read More
I actually contacted Emil Dolensek and the staff there and begged them to take me on as an intern, or what they called an extern at that point. A student, basically, a vet student coming on. And they had a program there, it was one of the few programs at… Read More
And then I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago as a student. Oh, hold it, I’m getting ahead of the questions. Let’s just stick with New York for a minute. Okay. Read More
It was an internship at the Bronx Zoo. Yes. Read More
How did you get this start?… Read More
So that was very hard to get. Alright, so you’ve graduated from vet school. Auburn, Alabama. I’m a War Eagle. Okay. You’ve graduated and you now know a zoo veterinarian is what you’re striving to be. Read More
How did that come about?… Read More
Well, as I said, at Auburn you had a senior project that you had to do, and so you had to come up with something. Well, most people did a lit search, they took the easy way route and they did a lit search, and they spent a couple of… Read More
And so I got behind the scenes there because of that project. And I got to learn, and boy, I tell you what, I must have sacrificed 400 pigeons learning that technique before I could go to the zoo and convinced them that this little vet student could help them… Read More
Well my daddy was a school teacher, he was a science teacher, and so he was very good at teaching and helping you learn, as was all my uncles and all that kind of thing. So it was hard work. It was hard work and actually, quite frankly, I couldn’t… Read More
When did you decide, I don’t want to be a horse doctor, I think I want to work at zoos?… Read More
How’d that come about?… Read More
Well, primarily I would say my mom and dad are my biggest mentors as I was growing up. My dad was very hardworking, had a very long stride, and I spent most of my time, I walked very fast, and my people at the zoo always wanted to know how… Read More
I like to do carpentry, woodwork, and I played with that. And so each one of us kind of had a skill that we did as the three boys and myself growing up. And so we kinda learned from all of the things around the farm. So it made you,… Read More
Horses, and cows, and goats, and sheep, and dogs, and cats. Read More
Well actually I didn’t go to any zoos at all until I went down to Auburn, Alabama, where I went to vet school. And while I was at Auburn, we worked with the Montgomery Zoo and the Birmingham Zoo, and I got involved there, and those were the first zoos… Read More
Did you have any teachers, mentors that affected your life when you were doing this and at school?… Read More
Not a zoo veterinarian, ’cause I didn’t know anything about zoos, North Carolina didn’t even have a zoo at that time. But I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. Read More
We were the only kids in our school that were happy when we went back to school. All the rest of the kids were like, “Oh God, we gotta go back to school.” And we were sitting there going, “Hallelujah, I don’t have to get up at 5:30.” (Barbara laughs)… Read More