CAREER CHOICE #1: ZOOLOGY: PRIMATOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY

“ GUY”:  MALE GRASSLANDS GORILLA, 45 – 50 YEARS OF AGE AT DEATH. INCARCERATED AT THE REGENT’S PARK ZOO, LONDON’ WEIGHT 600 – 700 POUNDS. THIS IS THE TAXIDERMISTS’S VERSION OF A FORMIDABLE 

ANIMAL  WHO I SPENT MUCH TIME WITH IN MY TEENS. I FOUND THE WORLD OF NATURE, ANIMALS AND BIRDS TO BE INFINITELY PREFERABLE AND MORE INTERESTING TO BE AROUND THAN ANY OF THE KIDS I MET.

ZOOLOGY IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF ANIMALS. PRIMATOLOGY IS THE STUDY OT THE TAILLESS MEMBERS OF THE MONKEY FAMILY, KNOWN AS APES OR PRIMATES. THEY ARE THE ONES MOST LIKE HUMANS EXCEPT THAT THEY ARE ALL NORMALLY PEACE LOVING EXCEPT WHEN PROVOKED. THEY WILL FIGHT FIERCELY WHEN THEIR FAMILIES ARE UNDER THREAT.

THE PRIMATES.  THE GENUS IS MADE UP OF TWO SPECIES OF GORILLA – PLAINS OR GRASSLANDS, AND MOUNTAIN GORILLAS. THEY ARE FOUND IN AND AROUND THE COUNTRY OF RUANDA IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

 

MALE ORANG – UTAN – AKA OLD MAN OF THE WOODS.  NATIVE TO BORNEO, SUMATRA AND OTHER ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

 

YOUNG CHIMPANZEE – NATIVE TO CENTRAL EQUATORIAL AFRICA.  GENERALLY THOUGHT TO BE THE MOST INTELLIGENT OF THE GENUS.

THE GIBBON IS THE SMALLEST, FASTEST AND MOST AGILE OF THE PRIMATE SPECIES. THEY COME FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE  EAST INDIES. THEY ARE ALL THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION DUE TO HUMAN PREDATION AND LOSS OF HABITAT, AS ARE MANY ANIMAL AND BIRDS WORLDWIDE. THEY ARE THE INNOCENT VICTIMS OF HUMAN GREED.

 

SINCE I WAS SPENDING MUCH TIME IN ZOOS, THEY TEMPORARY DISPLACED MY REGULAR MUSEUM GOING ACTIVITIES. MUCH AS I AM AGAINST INCARCERATING ANY WILD CREATURES, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THEM ULTIMATELY BRINGS GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN KIND, PROBABLY THE SICKEST ANIMALS ON THE PLANET.

THE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS OF THE NATURAL WORLD CAN SHOW US MUCH OF VALUE

ORNITHOLOGY:  THE STUDY OF BIRDS.

I AM JUST GOING TO SHOW ONE BIRD, THE PEACOCK, CLOSEST LIVING CREATURE TO THE MYTHICAL PHOENIX OR FIREBIRD.

MY EARLY TEENS ALSO INCLUDED MUCH WORK IN THEATER WHERE I COULD HIDE BEHIND OTHER CHARACTERS IN A PLAY, AND SEA CADETS, WHERE I COULD PLAY MY BUGLE, TRUMPET AND TROMBONE IN THE MARCHING BAND. AT SIXTEEN I CAME TO THE END OF FORMAL HIGH SCHOOL.  MY PARENTS WENT TO SEE THE SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL TO FIND OUT WHAT I MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR.  THE PRINCIPAL REPLIED “NOT MUCH! HE IS A DREAMER BUT HAS A GOOD TALENT IN ART THAT SHOULD BE FOSTERED” AND SUGGESTED THAT MY NEXT DIRECTION WOULD BE TO ART SCHOOL.   I HAD A FRIEND WHO WAS A LITTLE OLDER AND STUDYING AT THE LOCAL ART SCHOOL.  HE HAD GLOWING REPORTS OF NAKED WOMEN ( THE LIFE DRAWING CLASS MODELS.)  AS A HEALTHY, TESTOSTERONE CHARGED YOUNG MALE, THIS SOUNDED TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, SO I STARTED AT CROYDON COLLEGE

 OF ART THAT FALL. IT WAS 1955 AND I WAS READY FOR THE WORLD.

ME AT SIXTEEN IN 1955.

THANKS TO JAMIE KOZLOWSKI FOR THE CRYSTALLINE GLAZE PAINTING IN YESTERDAY’S POST.