You know, at that time we were using a product called M99 or etorphine to immobilize animals. That was relatively new at the time. It had been used, and used on bears. And so we loaded up the darts with the capture gun, and they were again, very helpful, showing… Read More
(laughing) I always remember the first day, because the Kodiak bears had got into a big fight, and one of them was bleeding and had a huge laceration on its foot, you know. And so that was my first big deal of treating any animals at the zoo. And so… Read More
Then you have the plunger behind it and the charge and the tail piece, and all that goes into the gun, and then you dart the animal. Well, I loaded it up, of a dose that we thought oughta work on it, and I used a one-inch needle on it. Read More
is when I started full time at the zoo. Read More
And do you remember your first day in the job?… Read More
No, no, at that point, after being there for those two summers, you know, it kinda got in my blood, I guess. It was like, “Wow, this is really interesting.” You know, it was challenging, it was fun. It was something that, “Yeah, I could do this,” I thought. And… Read More
And that was 1970?… Read More
I better check this all out.” So I talked to some other individuals who, you know, in the community, I said, “Well, why aren’t they offering this to somebody with a lot more experience and everything?” And they said, “Well you know, veterinary medicine in zoos, there just weren’t very… Read More
Did he come out to the base- Oh sure, no, no Marlin was a very, very, a very gentle person. I always enjoyed visiting with him, very humble person. So okay, so now you’re saying, “I can help you couple days a week doing pathology,” and you’re saying this to… Read More
Were you thinking, “Hey, I wanna work in a zoo,” or were you just trying to get a job somewhere?… Read More
After that summer doing this, and then you graduate, right?… Read More
Who was the, were you talking to the director- Bill Hoff was the director at the time. Actually, Marlin Perkins was the director, but Bill Hoff was the assistant director. And Marlin Perkins was the director, but he was also doing a lot of filming for “Wild Kingdom”, so Bill… Read More
So did you have, just ’cause you mentioned Marlin, did you ever have the opportunity to meet Marlin?… Read More
Well it was a summer job, and I was assisting with the pathology essentially. Under the same grant. The first summer, between second and third year of veterinary school, but then I went back to veterinary school for that, in the fall. And then I had the summer off between… Read More
And that meant there was no veterinarian there. Dr. Alfred Mohler was probably still on call, but wasn’t going out to the zoo. So I went to the zoo and I said, “Look, I can get off three afternoons a week and come over, and at least continue doing pathology… Read More
Who were you talking to?… Read More
Why did you go back again?… Read More
Yes. And then you went back again as soon as- Went back to veterinary school. Read More
What, oh you mean, why did I go back to the zoo?… Read More
Did he have anything to do with- Dr. Barry Commoner was the professor that actually got the huge grant, a comparative medicine grant. He was with Washington University, and Dr. Wallach was hired as part of that grant, and my summer, I got paid by that grant. Read More