Well, we got an elephant when I was there. But so the giant pandas came to the National Zoo and there was, pandas were, I mean, there hadn’t been pandas since St. Louis’s last panda died in the 40s. So it was a big deal. I know Milwaukee tried to,… Read More
And it was, so, I think, so I spent more time working with pandas than anything else. Elephants, elephants were a concern. I remember my first construction project was redoing one with the Elephant House and we ended up, that one just was basic. Just you could, we had Asian… Read More
Can you give me a general history quickly about how the pandas came there and then what your responsibility was when you got the job that involved the pandas?… Read More
I couldn’t read a blueprint to save my life. I had no idea what was going on. I went to the library and got a book on blueprints, (blows raspberry) So I’ve always had difficulty with doing a construction. Now you talked about the pandas, so let’s talk about the… Read More
I mean, it was just trying to breed, are you gonna breed pandas?… Read More
Well, I don’t know what kind of issues the, I mean, since the pandas were part of my area, I mean, I just remember pandas were front and center. Read More
How are you gonna breed pandas?… Read More
of these people?… Read More
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
(Elizabeth laughing) When you first started and as you progressed at the National Zoo to the management, what kind of issues was the National Zoo facing?… 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
What was your biggest concern when you started working at the zoo in the back of your mind?… Read More