Well, it was challenging. I mean, it was difficult, because you didn’t learn about zoo medicine in vet school. I mean, you learned medicine, but you were applying things that you’d learned for domestic animals on different kinda animals, and they weren’t always the same. The anatomy wasn’t always the… Read More
So I was a little skeptical, and was careful about how to deal with that. And like I said, I wanted to learn as much from them, but I thought, “I’m gonna stay at least two years. I’m gonna do, you know, give it a good shot, and see how… Read More
Whom did you work with?… Read More
It was a zoo, what you would call a taxonomic collection. I mean, we had bears in one area. We had the big cats in another area. The hoofstock were all together, the birds were together. So it was based on taxonomy, but it was a well-rounded collection. We had,… Read More
There were only a few women keepers in the children’s area. And a lot of the keepers were old timers, men who’d been there, some of them for years, but really pretty good animal handlers. And it was, in the beginning, you know, I learned a lot from them, and… Read More
What was your biggest concern when you first started working at the zoo?… Read More
Bill Hoff was the director. He was the director. Marlin had retired and Bill Hoff was the director at the time. Read More
Okay, what was the zoo like, that you started there in 1970?… Read More
What was the collection like, what type of zoo was it?… Read More
Well, five days later that bandage was still on the bear. They couldn’t believe it, they couldn’t understand why. You know, “Nobody is able to put a bandage on a bear that stays that long.” Well, I didn’t know what happened at the time, but what actually happened, bears have… Read More
Now you’d mentioned the director came down. Read More
Who was that?… Read More
So we loaded up another dart, figured, well maybe it hit him, but maybe it didn’t go off, maybe it didn’t fire. And so this time loaded up a two-inch needle on the end, and again, another dose of the M99 and hit the bear, then again a second time. Read More
And and of course they, the keepers and so forth were offering me advice and said, “You know, there’s no use putting a bandage on there. He’s gonna tear that off immediately.” Well, I guess I was a little stubborn and I continued to put more gauze and tape on… 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
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
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