Raymond Lee Ditmars (June 22, 1876 from Newark, New Jersey â€" May 12,
1942 in New York City) was an American herpetologist, writer, public
speaker and pioneering natural history filmmaker.Ditmars was
fascinated by all animals, but primarily reptiles, obtaining his first
snakes at twelve years of age. His parents eventually allowed him to
keep all manner of venomous reptiles in the attic of their house at
1666 Bathgate Avenue in the Bronx. Ditmars left school at 16 with no
formal qualifications but nevertheless gained a deep understanding of
zoology through his own personal study of snakes and other animals in
the wild and captivity. Throughout his life, vacations were spent
searching for new specimens. Such was his interest and knowledge that
he would eventually be regarded as the country's foremost
herpetologist.In 1893, Ditmars was hired as an assistant in the
Department of Entomology at the American Museum of Natural History.
Four years later, he quit to take a better-paying job as a
stenographer. In July 1898, he began a short stint as a court reporter
for the New York Times. One of his first pieces led him to discover
the newly created New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife
Conservation Society), which was in the process of building what would
become the Bronx Zoo. On July 17, 1899 - four months before the zoo's
grand opening - Ditmars was employed as an assistant curator in charge
of reptiles. He was then aged twenty-three, and would spend the rest
of his career with the zoo. His own collection of forty-five reptiles,
representing fifteen species, formed the nucleus of the reptile house,
which proved an immediate success with visitors. A few years later he
began work on his first major publication, The Reptile Book, while
teaching himself still and motion photography. He would provide almost
all the illustrations in this and his many subsequent books, and in
1914 produced and released The Living Book of Nature, his first motion
picture to wide acclaim. Many other films followed, pioneering the
latest available techniques including stop-motion animation,
timelapse, macro photography, and by the mid-1920s, sound film.
1942 in New York City) was an American herpetologist, writer, public
speaker and pioneering natural history filmmaker.Ditmars was
fascinated by all animals, but primarily reptiles, obtaining his first
snakes at twelve years of age. His parents eventually allowed him to
keep all manner of venomous reptiles in the attic of their house at
1666 Bathgate Avenue in the Bronx. Ditmars left school at 16 with no
formal qualifications but nevertheless gained a deep understanding of
zoology through his own personal study of snakes and other animals in
the wild and captivity. Throughout his life, vacations were spent
searching for new specimens. Such was his interest and knowledge that
he would eventually be regarded as the country's foremost
herpetologist.In 1893, Ditmars was hired as an assistant in the
Department of Entomology at the American Museum of Natural History.
Four years later, he quit to take a better-paying job as a
stenographer. In July 1898, he began a short stint as a court reporter
for the New York Times. One of his first pieces led him to discover
the newly created New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife
Conservation Society), which was in the process of building what would
become the Bronx Zoo. On July 17, 1899 - four months before the zoo's
grand opening - Ditmars was employed as an assistant curator in charge
of reptiles. He was then aged twenty-three, and would spend the rest
of his career with the zoo. His own collection of forty-five reptiles,
representing fifteen species, formed the nucleus of the reptile house,
which proved an immediate success with visitors. A few years later he
began work on his first major publication, The Reptile Book, while
teaching himself still and motion photography. He would provide almost
all the illustrations in this and his many subsequent books, and in
1914 produced and released The Living Book of Nature, his first motion
picture to wide acclaim. Many other films followed, pioneering the
latest available techniques including stop-motion animation,
timelapse, macro photography, and by the mid-1920s, sound film.
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