CM: "1969. We spent time in Mexico and Guatemala trying to get something going, but nothing clicked until we got to Honduras. Most of the money was in parrots in those days. I handled and shipped every kind of exotic of course - birds of all sorts, mammals, reptiles, arachnids. The interest in herps was just starting to pick up in the pet trade. I had a friend in the Bay area (San Francisco) who started taking good sized reptile shipments from me and helped introduce some new species into the pet trade that way."
NHM: "Who was that?"
CM: "Ron Cauble at 'East Bay Vivarium' - a great guy. We were pushing the interest of the general public in reptiles and amphibians with these new herps and it was not easy to get regular pet stores to take anything but a boa and an iguana. I remember having trouble getting sales for the 'Helmeted Iguana' at that time, the common name for a lizard I was shipping , so I did what most practical sales people do - changed the name! As 'Forest Chameleon' it became an instant hit".
NHM: "So you came up with the name 'Forest Chameleon' and a few other popular names. I know Ron Cauble too. Like me - he is out of the live animal business, but doing related things. He sold the 'Vivarium' and opened a store in Berkeley, 'The Bone Room', a very interesting and unique business. Who else did you start doing business with?"
Charlie, Boa & I looking for the 'Lost Tribe' of the Calleria.
CM: " In Miami it was 'Wild Cargo' - that was Ralph Curtis, who now sells books, 'Bill Chase', 'Safari", and Doc Levine at 'Pet Farm - who now owns 'Parrot Jungle'. In Japan the main buyer was 'Sakai Pet Center'. There was a couple buyers in Europe too."
NHM: "I remember meeting some of those people at the animal compound in Calpules (Honduras) after I went to work with you in '74. Bern Levine came down to see the operation. He was getting some big loads of birds and other stuff. Ray Van Nostrum was in charge of the reptile department at Pet Farm. And I remember Doc sending down Carson Burrows to work with us for awhile. I really admired his knowledge of all living things - plants, animals and fish. In that respect he was a role model for myself. We met Melvin Hooker from Nicaragua. Joe Fauci from Tampa said he came down there and collected the first Hog Island boas then. Kevin Smith, the 'boy wonder ' in the bird business, came calling. And you had a 17 year old Belezian working for you by the name of Henry Quin, who latter became your greatest competitor in Honduras! And let us not forget J R McDonald, an old friend of mine from Texas who got involved in all this. After you left for Europe in '76 there was several new visitors that showed up at the animal compound - Louie Porras, Doc Wilson, Bruce Kruase - mostly reptile people."
CM: "When I got back from Europe the reptiles finally took off big time. But the real money was still birds. I quarantined and sold parrots in Texas and Florida for several years after that and did good - until my Honduran wife (Thesa Leiva) took everything away from me and gave me the boot!"
NHM: "When did this take place and what did you do then?"
CM: "1987. I started traveling around, getting exports out of Nicaragua, Suriname, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. I did real well working with John Shanahan, shipping him the farm raised iguanas and boas out of Colombia. But it was still a roller-coaster ride financially. So seeing the future, I decided the way to go was 'captive breeding' in Peru. It was the right idea but in the wrong place. After years of effort and lots of money invested - nada. That project turned out to be the biggest waste of time and money in my life."
Local Beauty Pagent
NHM: "Well - that pretty much brings us up to the present, but before I ask about the ecotourism projects, let me hit you with a couple more questions about the 'old days'."
CM: "Like what?"