My memory might not be serving me correctly and I ask FR, in all sincerity, to correct me if I'm wrong:

I think I briefly touched on this example when we last spoke.
I seem to remember that when Daniel Bennett and others were emphasizing the importance of bugs in a monitor's diet, FR was strongly disagreeing.
His argument was that the correct approach is not to base our approach on what the herpetologists found when researching monitors in Africa or Australia etc., but rather to see what provides better results in captivity.
FR claimed they would do best on an all rodent diet provided they had plenty of heat. He also said, his experience was that this was pretty much true across the board.
I don't know if he still holds that opinion, but I strongly related to his ideas.
I didn't like the way he would talk about Daniel Bennett or the way he lashed into others who expressed views other than his own, but I very much agreed with his message that the results tell us more than the theoretical academics.
That having been said, of course, the theoretical research is an essential part of the process.
But this was 15 years ago; while his ideas made a strong impression on me, I might have some details wrong and his views might have shifted.

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