A ten year idea-Over a year in the planning-Almost a reality

Hi all,

So as some of you may know, I have often talked of opening a herp exhibit of some sort. Well, provided that everything goes through, I may be building a permanent exhibit in Arizona by the end of DEC/JAN.

It all started with a couple friends at the Renaissance Faire where I work. They run the Falconry show, and their pet tarantula (oklahoma brown) passed away. Knowing that I often find tarantulas while fieldherping, we made a couple excursions specifically targeting Aphonopelma chalcodes. After a couple of trips, we decided it might be fun to make a day trip to Tombstone and take in the sights, and possibly do some spidering. Its a couple hour drive, so we had time to talk about falconry and herpetology. I expressed an interest in opening a herp exhibit at the renaissance festival.

We had a great day in Tombstone, but never got any herping in. About a week later, as I walked the faire site with my blacklight in hand serching for scorpions, my friends pulled up in their truck. They told me they were just returning froma second visit to Tombstone that day to have a meeting with one of the gunfight sites about opening a falconry show there.

Thats when they told me they had also volunteered me to open a herp exhibit! They asked if I minded, and I said "heck no!" Anyways the original location fell through, and after a number of failed attempts to lease a place, we found a building that was suitable. However it was owned by a divorced couple. The ex-wife wanted to get total ownership of the abandoned property before talking lease.

I stayed in AZ an extra 2 months, living on my savings from the show, only to be bummed out that it wasn't going to happen...

...Then the day before Thanksgiving I get a call. Its my falconry friends, and the ex-wife now had the property and is ready to lease. Hence, while I am in AZ doing the faire, I will be spending EVERY MINUTE of my free time building an exhibit!

I am focusing on native AZ species, but also want some exotics. There will also be a hands-on display area for kids. I am in NC until this weekend, and I can't wait to get to AZ and build the facilities, which have to be done before I can get permits. So everyone wish me luck!