WEBVTT - Terri Irwin 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:28.639 That's okay, becaus no one here is Hello. Hello, Hello, 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:33.960 and welcome to the newest episode of teen Beat. I 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:39.200 am your adult host Danielle Fischel, podcaster, TV director, recent 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:43.360 ballroom competitor, mom of two, and a former child actor 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.000 who spent all of her teenage years in front of 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.360 cameras and a live studio audience as Topanga Lawrence on 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:54.400 the nineties TV show Boy Meets World. From my first 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.120 kiss to my first haircut. You saw it all every 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.880 Friday night on your local ABIES affiliate, and now, more 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:05.560 than thirty years later, it's time I turn the tables. 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.399 Every week, I'm sitting with a celebrity, someone who has 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:13.480 made their wildest dreams come true, hoping I can now 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:17.600 expose their childhoods to the world in an almost tip 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.080 for tat situation, assuming it will give us a glimpse 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.399 into the person they are today. Since their first pimple 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:28.240 wasn't also broadcast as part of a TGIF block of programming, 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.240 the least they can do is share it with me. Now, 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.360 I gave you my childhood, it's time we hear yours. 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:39.120 And on this episode, as a teenager who spent most 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.680 of her free time shopping at the mall, carrying a 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:46.640 vanilla I splendid extra vanilla and complaining about boys. I'm 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:50.640 ready to finally walk a little on the wilder side. 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.080 My guest was raised in Eugene, Oregon, the youngest of 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:56.560 three daughters in a family that was concerned about the 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.840 environment at a time when most people figured that was 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.800 as Captain Planet's job. Her father owned a trucking company, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.200 bringing home wild animals he would find injured on the 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.960 highway in order to nurse them back to health, and 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.360 from that moment on, she'd dedicate her life to conservatism 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.720 and preserving all forms of wildlife, eventually becoming one of 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.840 the world's most beloved zookeepers. Her interests and related travels 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.720 would bring her to Australia at the age of twenty seven. 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.200 Her interests in related travels would bring her to Australia 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.720 at the age of twenty seven, where she would meet 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.520 her future husband, Steve Irwin, in a chance encounter at 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.320 a wildlife rehabilitation center you know where we all hang 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:44.280 out on vacations. They would marry eight months later, film 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:48.640 their first documentary during their honeymoon, and the rest is history. 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.720 They'd have two children, Bindi and Robert, before Steve's death 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.200 from an injury sustained while filming their wildly popular TV 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:00.680 series The Crocodile Hunter. Overnight, she would become a single 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:05.080 mother and single zoo keeper, taking over every aspect of 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.000 the family business, the Australia Zoo in bear Walk, Queensland, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.000 making sure her husband's legacy continued well beyond not only 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:17.239 his life, but for generations to come. Today I will 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.240 talk to her not only about her own backstory, but 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.520 also how she navigated the teenage years of her own children, 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:28.480 two absolute gems who have now individually captured the hearts 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.480 of both Australia and the United States, reminding the world 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.040 not only of her mission statement on conservatism, but also 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.720 just pure kindness. To say she is impressive is a 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:45.520 gross understatement, But I know, deep down, somewhere inside there 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.400 might just be an awkward teenager. Let's find out with 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.720 my teen beat guest this week, the Pride of Australia, 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:58.240 Missus Terry Irwin. Terry, thank you so much for talking 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:02.560 to me. I really don't think there is a single 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.400 human being in the world that wouldn't jump at the 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.360 opportunity to learn more. About you. So I consider myself 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:10.160 to be very lucky. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.760 Well that's very kind because I was thinking, who wouldn't 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.120 jump at the opportunity to have a chat with you? 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.760 Because this is really special. So thank you very much 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:20.920 for thinking of me. 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.440 Really, of course, you were truly one of the very 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.120 first people I thought of, especially after getting to know 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.400 your family just the tiniest bit during Dancing with the Stars, 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:36.080 I thought to myself, Wow, that is a woman who 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.680 should be studied. That's somebody who has a perspective to 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.560 share that everyone can benefit from. So I would like 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.719 to start by talking about your dad a little bit, 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:51.840 and yeah, yes, and your life in Oregon. So he 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.280 owned a trucking company, right, and he would bring home 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:59.520 wounded animals that he would encounter on the highway for rehabilitation. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:05.720 Can you describe what this like makeshift VET scenario looked 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.000 like at your home where you would rehab these animals? 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.480 Sure? Thing, Now, I was very lucky to have such 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:16.240 terrific parents, and my dad was just amazing because you know, 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.760 he's the guy who grew up in the Depression, was 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:24.320 in World War Two, was a motorcycle cop and then 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:29.480 finally landed driving heavy haul truck, so he would drive 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.679 all over the place and then come home with little 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.119 animals that may need help. But he was also very 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:41.080 good at building things, and he really gave me these 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:47.760 gifts with how to approach life, to treat other living beings, 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.200 and I felt very lucky to have that upbringing. So 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.880 I can remember one time in particular, he brought home 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:59.560 these mcganzer ducks, and just for starters, I had no 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.839 idea what a mcganzer duck was, and I'm like seven 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:03.440 years old. 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.800 I also don't know what a mcganzer duck is. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:10.760 Yes, so this duck comes in these ducklings, right, because 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:13.240 the mama was hit by a car. So he brings 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:18.280 the ducklings and they have a thin bill with kind 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:23.080 of serrated edges, so they're not like platypus bill. They're 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:27.680 like like little knives, yeah, little knives. Yeah yeah yeah 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.200 yeah yeah. So we're like, this is confusing. This is 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.359 a duck, but it's not interested in grain or anything. 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.080 What do we do? So when I was seven, the 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.240 way we googled was called the Encyclopedia Britannic. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.279 So love a good encyclopedia, set, Love a good Encyclopedia 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:47.080 set yes. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.080 So we were looking up what on earth is this 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.680 and discovered that Mcganser ducks who are really cute when 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.680 they grow up. They have this real cool haircut and 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.600 they're just darling little things. But they eat things like 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:06.880 little minnows and worms and insects. And so my dad 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.000 put something together for these ducks with a kid's wading pool, 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:14.200 and we would go down to the creek and we 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:19.640 would catch minnows, hundreds of minnows, and then we would 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.040 go out at night, and he taught me to take 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:26.840 a flashlight and put red cellophane on it, because when 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.000 the night crawlers came out of the ground at night 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.320 and you shone a light on them, the little worms 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.040 would disappear back into the earth, but the red light 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.800 they didn't see, so that you could pick up the 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.080 earth worms to feed the ducks. And the ducks were 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.320 so tiny that they would eat a worm and the 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.040 worm would like move them because they were little and 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.800 the worm was big. But I learned how to catch 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:58.200 night crawlers, how to feed these ducklings, and took care 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:01.640 of them until they were big enough to fly, which 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:02.720 was really special. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.040 It strikes me hearing you tell that story that it 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.920 seems like a lot of the most influential men in 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:15.600 your life have had such a wonderful mix of strong 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:21.280 masculinity mixed with a lot of that other like divine 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:26.560 feminine side. That's that's very empathetic and caring for animals. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:31.240 Like what what wonderful representation for a man you know 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:32.120 to have both? 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:36.240 I agree, I agree, And what great lessons to learn, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.920 like I can remember. Of course, I wanted to keep 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:43.440 them forever and ever. And he said to me, he said, 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.680 look at your bedroom. You have everything you need in here. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.440 You have toys, you have a window with a view. 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.440 He said, imagine if I brought you your food in 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.160 your room, but you never got to leave your room. 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.640 And I was like, hmmm, I'd get pretty bored. So 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:02.320 he said, that's why you have to totally let stuff go. 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:06.120 So I went, oh, I get it. Even though they're 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.559 happy and healthy, they want to fly and do their 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.840 own things. Yeah, very good at explaining things to me 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.240 as well. But I always appreciated that. And I found 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.720 his kindness a strength, you know, being willing to stop 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.680 and help and fix the problem and come to the 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.920 end solution and let them go. So it was really 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:34.120 really special. But you're right. I've always admired men who 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:38.360 are so secure in their masculinity that they can raise 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.760 everyone up. They're not like I have to be the 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.320 top dog and be all tough. I want to raise 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:50.320 you up and have you succeed and do well and 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:51.160 do what you love. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.679 I love that. What were you like in high school? 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.640 Tell me about teenage, Terry. I like to think about 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:03.160 you just walk around nursing squirrels and rabbits in the halls. 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.120 But I suspect you and I may not have been 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.040 so different in high school. What were you like? 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:14.640 Well, I see, I think we may have been different, Okay, 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:18.520 because I imagine you as the cool kid and I 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:23.920 was kind of kind of not quite as cool. 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:28.320 Ok I beg to differ. I imagine that people just didn't 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.320 recognize your cool. 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:31.439 That's it. 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:32.080 That's okay. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.160 I was the mysterious, veiled cool kid. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:35.680 Okay. 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:41.880 But yeah, I was really passionate about working. So from 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.360 the time I was a tiny tot, I loved to work. 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.560 And whether I had a lemonade stand or I was 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:54.400 picking beans. Robert always loves my picking bean story, and Bendy, 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:57.800 you'll say don't ask her her picking bean story, because 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:02.000 I picked beans all summer and may fifty dollars. And now, 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.720 in the real world, who would work three months for 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:09.560 fifty dollars? I mean, come on, oh my gosh. 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.160 Wait, what what kind of pick Who were you picking 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:12.800 beans for? 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.480 Well, there's you know, it's just a farm that had 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:21.320 string beans and you could be gainfully employed to pick 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.800 beans and then save a weigh them at the end 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.240 of the day, and then you got however much per pound, 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.000 and then they would sell the beans. So they had 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:34.520 a lot of I think the child labors the wrong word. 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:36.920 That they had a lot of young people that picked. 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.400 They had a lot of young people who were eager 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.160 and didn't know that maybe they were being slightly taken 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:42.760 advantage of. 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:48.600 So by high school I had this kind of work ethic, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:56.880 and I started working in the family business around that time, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:02.320 and so I was working. We had business that it 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:06.720 was primarily a pilot car company, and pilot cars are 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.080 the ones that go in front of and behind of 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:13.800 great big loads on a truck, whether it's logging equipment 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.439 or a giant boat or whatever. The truck needs help 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:22.360 getting through traffic because it's too big yes, So you'd 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.400 drive a car and help them through traffic, and we'd also, 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.240 you know, do the lollipop girl thing, directing traffic on 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:36.400 the road for road construction or a rec scene. If 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.240 there was a truck that had an accident, you'd be 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:44.079 out there directing traffic. So my high school experience was 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.800 doing school but then also working in the family business. 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.640 So I felt pretty lucky. And it was also a 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.000 transition point because I went to school with the same 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.960 kids from kindergarten through ninth grade, but then going into 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.760 high school in tenth grade, everything was new because the 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.559 school I went to didn't have ten, eleven, twelve grades, 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.440 so was new friends and all that as well. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.360 Yeah, did you date in high school? Did you ever 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:13.680 go to a school dance? 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:20.160 Yes? Well it was a funny thing because my parents 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.680 had a couple of rules. Okay, so when it was 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.960 like depression era, that was about all your entertainment. People 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.600 would have like a square dance in the barn or 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.839 everyone would get together and dancing was free. So when 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:45.040 everyone would get together and dance, if someone was dancing 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:49.760 with someone else and there was a little bit of conflict, 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:55.120 Oh my gosh, Henry was dancing with Lola and Lola's 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.920 married to Bert. You know, it was scandalous. So my 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.960 parents said, you know, nothing good comes from this. So 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:08.080 there was like no dancing, So no dancing, no dancing. 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.600 You had like a Kevin Bacon upbringing, like no dancing, 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:15.400 dancing was it was, yeah, okay, that's very interesting. I 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.439 mean I understand, I understand the perspective where I understand. Yeah, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.800 they had seen a lot of scandal come from dancing 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:24.800 and intermingling, and they decided we don't want to bring 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:25.840 the scandal into our family. 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.480 Yeah, so I respected that because instead of just saying no, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.280 it was like, here's the reason. And the other thing 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.520 I wasn't allowed to do is go to drive in movies. 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:42.120 So I've been to drive in movies obviously, but when 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.080 I was in my you know, teens, like fifteen sixteen, 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:50.880 it was like, no doube. And now I would give 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.960 anything to find a good drive in theater because the 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:58.960 nostalgia is so wonderful. But yeah, other than that, it 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:04.600 was you know, pretty much having friends and getting together 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:08.600 during the summer and doing school work together. And I 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.040 felt very blessed because I had kind of across the 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:16.360 board friends, So I didn't just hang out with the 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.800 cool girls or the sporty guys or the nerdy science club. 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.080 I was really privileged to be friends pretty much with everybody, 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:26.200 So I was really lucky. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.280 I love that. That's actually very much how I feel 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.760 about my friend groups. From the time I was very 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.080 young in elementary school, junior high, and high school, there 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.720 was no one. There was like no particular group of 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:41.120 people where I didn't have at least one friend in 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.200 that group, where there wasn't somebody I could say like, Hi, 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.280 how are you and knew about them, And I really 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.920 have pretty much always gotten along with just about everybody. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.040 I find everybody fascinating in some way. Even if I 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:58.440 can't relate to someone in particular for whatever their interests are, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.120 I find their story fascinating. And I think that is 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.920 always the good foundation for curiosity, is always a good 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:05.960 foundation for friendship. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.160 I think that's a really great way to put it. 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.760 And I think you kind of miss out if you're 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:15.680 in this little clan and just keeping to these few people. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.160 You miss out on a lot of wonderful people. But 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.400 you know, I can feel that from you being that 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:27.600 inclusive and easy going, and I really respect that, and that's, 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:29.720 you know, kind of what I want to emulate is 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:33.240 being that kind of person where you know, you're approachable 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.280 and easy to get along with. So whether people were 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.760 having a great day and we're having fun, or someone 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.760 was having some kind of problem and wanted to talk 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.600 about it, it was really nice to be able to 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:52.240 just really communicate with everybody, which was great. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:00.600 It sounds like you've had many jobs. You mentioned a 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.360 lemonade stand, you picked beans, you worked for the family 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:08.479 trucking company. Did you always know deep down that what 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.160 you really wanted to do was work with animals? Did 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:12.760 you have a plan? B? 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.800 The wildlife work was kind of a thread through everything 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.359 that I did, and the family business was something that 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.200 I aspired to. And you know, a lot of kids 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.639 will be like, I want to be like my parent. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.280 So my mom was a stay at home mom, but 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.639 my dad had all these different jobs. So I was like, 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.359 maybe I'll join the navy, maybe I'll be a cop. 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.879 And he said to me, I really don't want you 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.840 riding motorcycles on the road because it's just so dangerousous. Yeah, 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:49.320 And that was ironic because driving pilot car is tremendously dangerous, 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.280 but I respected, you know that he said that, and 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.399 just really wanted to buckle down and work in the 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:01.800 family business, but also had that passion with working with 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.399 wildlife and that kind of connection. It made me feel 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:10.400 more complete. I felt very empathetic towards these animals, and 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.199 it made me more empathetic to people as well. And 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.879 I know when I was fourteen, I volunteered at a 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.360 rest home, working with older people. When rest homes were 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:29.800 stereotypical rest homes, so they weren't terribly awesome places and 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:34.359 kind of sad, and I found just that spirit of 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.520 wanting to kind of lift people up. But I remember 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.280 meeting this one man. I don't remember his name, I'm 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:44.399 so sorry, but he had like thick white hair in 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.320 a crew cut, and he was one hundred and three 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:54.440 years old. And what took me aback by him were 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:59.159 his eyes. So he had these piercing blue, beautiful eyes, 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.120 and I was like, oh my god, there's like a 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:05.320 twenty something year old man in there, like you could. 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.120 See see the child in. 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:10.159 Him in the old guy suit. You know, Yes, yes, 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:15.879 was so entertaining and interesting and fun. But when I 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.840 look back on it, I was fourteen and nineteen seventy eight, 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.760 so he was one hundred and three, which would mean 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:28.560 he was born in eighteen seventy five. Oh, that wild 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:29.560 to think about. 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.080 Gosh, so that's wild. 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.080 That was the kind of respect and appreciation I had 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:41.000 for these people because it was like meeting history. So yeah, 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:44.840 that connection with people, I loved. The connection with wildlife 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.160 kind of drew through to that, and then I loved work, love, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:49.640 love love. 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.240 Oh man, you have been a workhorse your entire life. 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.000 And it's funny you mentioned that your dad told you 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.639 he didn't want you driving motorcycles or riding motorcycles on 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.439 the road because it's dangerous, and then you said the 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.160 pilot car thing being so dangerous. When you were talking 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.280 about the pilot car and even being the lollipop girls 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.840 on the road, yes, yes, seem like two of the 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.680 most dangerous jobs one can have. 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.320 I felt lucky, I know, when I turned eighteen, because 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.119 then I could drive at work. And one of my 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:24.639 first jobs was taking a truck from Eugene, Oregon to 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:29.400 Los Angeles. And it's a sixteen hour drive, but it's 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.800 longer than that with a truck, right, Yeah, of course 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:37.640 his dad said, Okay, here's your deal. And I remember thinking, 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:40.400 I don't know if I can do this because I've 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.280 just turned eighteen. But my dad thinks I can do it, 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.159 so I must be able to do it. So I 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.240 always appreciated that he just believed I could do stuff. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:53.880 So I took off on that trip. And keep in mind, 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:56.960 you know, no cell phones. If you wanted to call, 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:01.080 it was a payphone. And it was a huge trip, 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:05.360 and I was back in about five days I think 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:10.000 it was. I was home and everything went great. But 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.560 you're absolutely right. I mean, being on the road all 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.960 the time is tricky and has its own risks. But 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:20.240 I felt that really set me up for life to 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.280 have someone saying I believe you can do this. 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:29.639 Yes, yes, so wonderful. So when do you create Cougar Country? 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:36.199 Cougar Country? Yes, intriguing? How the old cougar has so 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:37.000 many meanings? 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:45.240 I know, Yes, why don't you tell us about Cougar Country? 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:51.960 I thought that was important to do because when I 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:56.080 turned when I turned eighteen, I had the opportunity to 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:58.440 get I had enough money saved to get a sports 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:01.720 car or put it down payment on a house, and 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:05.560 so I in talking to my dad, I went ahead 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:07.880 and put a down payment on a house. And back 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:10.680 then when you went to get a house, it's probably 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:12.359 still the same. I don't know, but you go to 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:16.240 get a house and the bank says, all right, miss Terry, 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.600 is your husband or dad with you? 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:21.359 Right? 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:22.359 Yeah? 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:26.520 So I needed my dad to help me because the 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:29.840 bank was like, you're a young woman, and that's treaty. 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.520 So he helped me by co signing on the bank 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:36.240 loan and I put the money down and got the house. 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:38.280 So now I have the house. And then I took 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.280 over the family business when I was twenty, So now 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:44.520 I have a career, right, got the house, got the career. 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.200 Then when I was about I was about Robert's age, 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:51.840 I was about twenty one twenty two. I was going 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:56.199 through the paper because again that was scrolling. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:57.720 Yes, that's how we scrolled. 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:02.400 And I was looking through the pets section and they 0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:05.880 had like exotic pets in the paper, and I saw 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:07.760 that there was a cougar for sale, and I thought, 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:11.439 how can you sell a cougar? This is really weird. 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:15.520 So I went to investigate and it was up near Portland, 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:18.120 so it was a couple hours drive, and this guy 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:24.000 had kind of a farm and he had the wildest things, 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:29.640 like he had capuchin monkeys and black bears and cougars 0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:35.200 and all the spars. Yeah, for sale. So I'm talking 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:38.960 to him about it, and he said that he got 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:45.679 cougar cubs from a movie that was called Benji the 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.520 Hunted I believe is what it was called. And Benji's 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:51.879 this little dog that goes on adventures, and there was 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:55.920 a cougar with cubs, and I hope I'm remembering this correctly. 0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:58.600 Something happened, I think, to the mother and the cubs 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:01.560 that they got separated. So Benji the dog was going 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:03.000 to get the family back together. 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:03.640 Okay. 0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:07.920 So as the movie filmed, the baby cougars got bigger, 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:11.200 so they kept replacing them with. 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:13.920 New baby things. Side right. 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:16.640 So then after the movie was over, they have all 0:24:16.640 --> 0:24:20.399 these young cougars and they put them into the pet trade. 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.680 So this guy buys them and then he was selling 0:24:24.760 --> 0:24:29.320 this cougar cub for thirteen hundred dollars. So I look 0:24:29.400 --> 0:24:31.760 at it and it's got it's in a little pen 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:34.920 and the furs rubbed off its forehead, and it's got 0:24:35.000 --> 0:24:38.560 big joints like the beginnings of rickets, and it's not happy. 0:24:39.320 --> 0:24:42.960 So it was just sitting there quietly, and I thought, 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:45.760 thirteen hundred dollars is about all the money I've got. 0:24:46.160 --> 0:24:49.240 So I called the United States Department of Agriculture and 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:52.439 reported what was going on. And I remember I talked 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:57.159 to doctor Overton, who said, to me, my jurisdiction is 0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:02.440 the ninety six thousand square miles of Ora plus northern California. 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:05.080 So he said, the reality is by the time I 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:07.240