I had mentioned a while back about my trip to see Tim Cole and then to head on down to Del Rio, Texas to pick up some herps from a "well known Texas herper" (I didn't mention his name until I could get his permission and now that he is moved in to his new home, he gave me the green light). Well, KUDOS to Earl Turner for being such a great host and an even more generous fellow herper. The primary reason I drove all the way from the Chicago area to Earl's place (in addition to seeing Tim Cole's facility that I said was drop dead incredible) was to pick up some of Earl Turner's prized animals that, for the most part, he DONATED to my facility....probably well over $20,000 worth of stuff. His generosity was incredible and I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to keep his animals.
This was a most memorable trip as Del Rio, right on the Mexican border, is a beautiful little town and his home was amazing; it was better than any museum I have ever been to. In addition to the stunning displays and animals that he keeps, he also has one of the neatest collection of tribal artifacts that you'll ever see. Although he was moving and he apologized for the "dirty" cages, when I walked into his main herp room, I could only find myself picking my jaw off the ground as I looked at one animal after another. And, I didn't see ONE dirty cage and couldn't get one whif of a single bad odor...incredible. Earl obviously took exceptional pride in putting together one of the nicest private collections I have ever seen. Every animal was a textbook specimen. When it was all said and done, he gave us some amazing looking animals including the nicest gray banded kings I have ever seen, some locale specific C. molossus from the Huatchucan Mountains (that will turn brilliant yellow), a stunning red pygmy rattler, mexican jumping vipers, albino/het albino prairie rattlers, the nicest pair of bushmasters (stenophrys) I have ever seen, a completely striped (vertebral) southern copperhead that is now on exhibit, C. v. cerberus (one of my favorites!), hognose snakes, Goliath Bird Eating tarantulas (biggest ones I have ever seen....everything is bigger in Texas), and a few other odd and ends. Every animal is PERFECT and you can tell that these animals received the best in care. On top of that, I brought home several custom made (and very expensive) wood cages, racks, tanks, equipment, supplies, etc....thanks again Tim (Cole) for helping me load everything up! And as good as all of this was...The creme de la creme of the animals we received was a stunning male King Cobra named "Thai" that Earl raised from a hatchling (I would have drove all the way down just for this amazing animal). The relationship that these two had with one another was inspiring (though I bit nerve wracking at first as Earl has much bigger "cahoonas" than me as he could reach right into Thai's cage and lift him up...and as hard as it is to believe, there's no doubt that this snake knew him and was at complete ease with him)....before anyone takes shots at this sort of handling practice, lets just say that this snake was one of those "one in a million" animals and Earl is also one of those "one in a million" guys; you have to see it to believe it.
Now that I am back in Chicago and getting all of these new arrivals settled in, I can't help but think how fortunate we are to have gotten to know Earl. His experience runs circles around mine and I enjoyed learning some of the tricks of the trade from him; despite a terrible cold, he took the time to chat and talk about all of his animals as if they were his own kids. "Thai" the King Cobra has officially become my favorite animal in our collection. I find myself just staring at this magnificent animal. His alertness, inquisitiveness and apparent "intelligence" is second to none with any herp I have ever worked with. He now recognizes me and whenever I am in the herp room, he comes right out of his hide box and lays right at the front of the door and literally follows me from one side to the other. And the best part is, Earl got this king to accept rats (and he's a pig!). Our community is going to be very fortunate to have this animal on display and I am sure he is going to be a big draw for us (even if we are free of charge to visit!).
I'm sure there's a few of the "old timers" who know Earl well and I am sure glad that Tim Cole hooked me up with this great person. Boy, if I could only move my wildlife center to Texas!! Great place, great people and great herps!! And if that isn't enough, he has already promised a number of additional prized animals to come our way....amazing.
If anyone wants to post some pics for me I'd be happy to send a few to post; especially "Thai"...
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL
) to have worked with Pseudohaje goldii...a personal goal of mine 
