This page last edited on

01 August, 2008

 About the Zookeeper

    I have always had a profound and strong love for animals and because of that, became a vegetarian at age 14 for ethical reasons. I am a member of the Christian Vegetarian Association. Studies have shown the health benefits of a vegetarian diet to be superior to that of a meat based diet which makes sense because when God created humans and animals he told Adam that all creatures were to be plant eaters.  I have lived with animals my entire life and as I get older seem to have more of them around.  I thoroughly enjoying having Dianes Zoo!  Having the animals gets me going in the morning and makes me feel as though I have a sense of purpose in life. I enjoy rescuing animals and giving them a second chance. I really love turtles, tortoises and guinea pigs. They are are totally cool animals in my opinion. Having all of these animals is a lot of work and expense but I wouldn't have it any other way. I would be lost with them.  In the photo to the left I am with my Russian tortoises.  The photo is a few years old so I will try to get some updated photos of me with my animals. 

    My BS degree is in biology with a minor in wildlife biology from Corpus Christi State University, now Texas A&M University Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.  One of the most influential and inspiring people I have ever known was a dynamic professor named Dr. Brian Chapman who is now Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at West Texas A & M University in Canyon, Texas. Dr. Chapman was one those rare teachers who inspired you not just because of what they taught but how they taught it and how they lived what they taught. Thank you Dr. Chapman!  I know that Dr. Chapman was by far the favorite professor of all my classmates and that he had a profound, positive influence on countless students. 

      My favorite bird is the great blue heron (ardea herodeus). I am pictured to the right in March 2007 at the Green Cay Wetland in Boynton Beach, Florida - just a few miles from where I live. You can't see it very well but my favorite bird is in the background.  It was feeding it's young.  I have a video of it on my Wakodahatchee Wetland page. It is the first video in the player.  One of my favorite things to do is to visit the two local wetlands near my house and photograph and videotape the abundance of wildlife, mostly shore birds.  I realize that I am extremely LUCKY to live so close to such amazing, gorgeous and too-cool-for-words creatures!!! When I was in college in Corpus Christi I fell in love in love with shore birds and in particular the great blue heron.  My second favorite bird is the roseate spoonbill (Ajaia Ajaja).  I have yet to see one here in Florida after 12 years of living here! They are abundant on the west coast of Florida but not on the east coast where I live. I am planning a trip to the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island this spring so that I can see the spoonbills.

  After college in I worked as a contract NOAA foreign and domestic fisheries observer in the northwest Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea in Alaska.  I was on a Korean mother ship off of the coast of California, Oregon and Washington, a Japanese mother ship in the Bering Sea, an American fishing and processing ship in the Bering Sea and three long line vessels in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. I feel blessed to have seen pod after pod of killer whales. I've been close enough to humpback whales to see their eyes staring back at me.  Sperm whales came within 20 feet of the ship.  I saw many pelagic species of birds and saw scores of bald eagles. I've had northern fur seals come to the edge of the long liner. If you have seen the Discovery channel's "World's Deadliest Catch" than you know how rough the Bering Sea is. The show features crab boats and I was not on a crab boat so my experience is different but I was on boats as short as 60 feet which were definitely NOT comfortable! I'm really glad to have lived through the experiences that I had. Alaska is everything you hear about and more. I always tell people that you MUST see Alaska before you die.

   Belize is my favorite country and I would love nothing more than to live there someday. I have visited Belize three times.

   I taught myself how to make websites. I love the entire creative aspect of web development. I also love to make graphics and put everything together. I like doing research as well.   

  Please check out my scrapbook pages from the upper top menu, on the great blue heron, Alaska, Belize and Florida. I also have information on congenital heart disease and the detached retina I had in July 2006.

About The Zookeeper Page | Congenital Heart Disease | Detached Retina

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DISCLAIMER:  This website was set up to SHARE my OWN experience with my reptiles, guinea pigs, ponds/fish, gardens and local wildlife and to post pictures and video of them. It was NOT SET UP to offer my opinion or expertise on ANY QUESTION that I am asked and what I post on this website should not be taken as "EXPERT ADVISE" or how to take care of reptiles, guinea pigs, ponds/fish, gardens or local wildlife. I AM NOT A REPTILE RESCUE GROUP, GUINEA PIG RESCUE GROUP, VETERINARIAN, REPTILE EXPERT, GUINEA PIG EXPERT, PONDS/FISH EXPERT, GARDEN EXPERT OR WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR! I have limited experience with reptiles, guinea pigs, local wildlife, ponds/fish and gardens, therefore, I am NOT QUALIFIED to give out advise or answer questions and you, as a visitor to this website, should not take anything on this website as expert advise or accurate information.  I present this website for fun and fun only - NOT as a reference website to instruct anyone on how to properly take care of reptiles, guinea pigs, local wildlife, ponds/fish or gardens.  I share how I DO THINGS for my reptiles, guinea pigs, local wildlife, ponds/fish and gardens and this is not intended for others to take as expert advise or to mimic. Furthermore, my political views are my own and not intended to offend, annoy, hurt or demean any person, entity or organization. I express my views as an American who has the right to free speech under the Constitution of the United States of America. Please feel free to set up your own website and express your views, post your pictures and video and share with the rest of us in cyberspace what your little corner of the world is like. Thank you very much for your kind understanding in appreciating the value and contents of this website.

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