Another drug was succinylcholine, which is a paralytic drug, and it’s even used today in human and animal medicine to stop respiration ’cause it paralyzes the muscles of the chest. And a certain dosage would be used by the anesthesiologist along with other drugs. But it was not unusual to,… Read More
One of the interesting dangers were that, in working with these early drugs was the fact that we didn’t really appreciate the potential danger or toxicity to the person preparing the drug. And it’s possible if somebody had a cut on their hand and they were handling one of these… Read More
Now, how much of that drug do you put in to safely work with the animal?… Read More
Were you one of the first veterinarians to use a tranquilizer gun?… Read More
Yes, we received as some of the earliest drugs and some of the early ones were crude compared to the later ones. Nicotine salicylates was one of the early ones that we were using, sort of like concentrated tobacco, I guess. And the problems were that we didn’t know dosages. Read More
And shoot a drug into the muscle of the animal and get it to go down. That started a whole bevy of drugs, and rifles, and pistols, and aluminum dart guns, and you name it, with which we were able to truly, almost eliminate the stress of handling with newer… Read More
And Eric thought, “What’s the big deal?… Read More
“If it’s under 20 minutes or two hours, “it’s under the anesthetic not to worry.” So he didn’t quite have the same concern that I did about stress. I think that that kinda gives you an overview in response to your query about the animal handling. There’s no question that… Read More
And one of the more stressful situations that I can recall is, I had a colleague named Dr. Eric Maskin, who was a perfectionist. And Eric’s theory on surgery was to do it meticulously perfect. Mine was to get in and get out within certain parameters. And if I scrubbed… Read More
And occasionally the little bird would be stressed out and die in your hand. I can recall a dramatic case where Marlin Perkins, who was doing some “Zoo Parade” shows at the time, was doing something with one of the gazelles. And just the fact that the cameras were focusing… Read More
At that time, we were so thrilled to be able to handle it physically and get it into this situation, no one bothered checking its sex. And of course, it arrived at the European Zoo, and the next day a cable came back, “Why did you send us X?” Meaning… Read More
And for whatever reason beyond belief, the animals invariably went behind the scratching post, which was us in the middle of a cage, and so that became a game. And the other issue was you couldn’t just get a lariat around the head of the animal. You had to get… Read More
What were the challenges and problems with transferring animals, or the medical attention of animals, or even sending an animal to another zoo?… Read More
Oh, boy, animal handling was then still is an issue, but it’s been, of course, altered dramatically by newer technology. But in the early years it was a hands-on situation. For example, if we had to go and work on one of the hoofstock, say one of the antelopes, the… Read More
In the beginning, how did animal handling go at the zoo?… Read More
Well, my memory on that is a little bit long mark, but if I were to say yes, it would be one animal. For whatever reason, in my early years as a part-time zoo doctor, I used to have to make occasional night calls to the Monkey House, the Old… Read More
And she looked at me and said, “Dr. Fisher it’ll be the same when it was 100% male.” And I said, “Okay (laughs), “I can’t argue with that point.” So I think happily, the sex as part of the zoo world has changed and will continue to change. Read More
Dr. Fisher, did you ever dream of any of the animals at the zoo?… Read More
And one time, years ago, I jokingly asked a woman student, what she thought would happen when the profession became 100% female?… Read More
Today I can walk around the zoo and feel that it really is a wondrous just extension of the garden that exists in Lincoln Park next to it. So that goal has been achieved, even though I wasn’t able to do it, I tried. And I think the fact that… Read More