My aunt, Bonnie, said, “Mildred, Mildred, you’re gonna hurt him.” She said, “I’m not gonna hurt him, I’m going to kill him.” (laughs) Well, now, when did you start to think about, I wanna work with animals?… Read More
My mother had a broom stick and she got down and she tried to get me under the bed. Read More
Then a little later on, I was at the house in the basement and I had the snake in my pocket. I said, “Mom, do you wanna see the snake again?” And she looked at me funny and she said, “Okay.” I pulled that snake out and showed it to… Read More
I had a horse then, and I was over feeding the horse. I had an oatmeal box that I put the feed in for the horse, and it was just a round paper can. I left the horse, I fed him and left the horse and I was going back… Read More
The first zoo I saw was at Knoxville, Tennessee, and they had a big bull elephant there. That was the first zoo I saw in my life, and had some other animals too and had a very famous old African bull. I had a very tolerant mother, I would bring… Read More
And as you were growing up, were you able to see, what was the first zoo that you saw as you were growing up?… Read More
Yes. Read More
So in your youth, you were a collector of animals?… Read More
So we’re not vegetarians, we’re omnivorous, we eat meat and grass. So it’s a long history between with man and animals. And thank God we have people that care about it and many of them have been sacrificed trying to protect that. Read More
I think about $4 million or more per day goes into the federal budget from hunters and fishermen. Every time you buy a gun or buy a shell or buy a fish hook, a bow and arrow, all those things, there is a bill that a portion of that money… Read More
Why?… Read More
Yes, I think it’s essential. Read More
Can you be both or are they opposed?… Read More
How do you balance being a hunter and being a conservationist?… Read More
I had flying squirrels in my drawer and my mother would go take the laundry out and go outside in a big pot and put the dirty clothes in there. I remember Crispy the squirrel coming up out of the clothes, out of my underwear drawer and bubbles coming out… Read More
Yeah. I hunted most of my life and I’ve supported hunting and I’m very passionate about conservation. My real passion is ending poaching of elephant and rhino, I’ve concentrated on that for many, many years. I helped raise money for the first helicopter for Ted Ghost to anti-poaching in Tsavo… Read More
So your hunting was to bring food into the family?… Read More
I ran rabbit traps in the morning, all went along. Grandma, Sarah said, “Go check the rabbit traps, see if we have anything for dinner.” So we ate a lot of game and bear, I ate boar, bear, possum, rockoon, frog legs, and lived off the fat of the land. Read More
I can hear a squirrel bark a mile away. So it was interesting being raised up in the hills there. I remember one of the best lessons I learned, I had some baby ducks and we had a spout that caught all the rain to go into the big tub. Read More
Wonderful. Tell me about it. Wonderful. I was always very inquisitive about things, and particularly natural things. I’d get up in the morning and I’d notice the sun, the moon at night, I’d notice the cloud formations, I listened to bird songs when I got up in the morning. In… Read More