INNER VIEW: RICK C. WEST
Page 2 of 3 | 2005 Interview by Michael Jacobi Photo by William Lamar
⇐ Previous Page | Next Page ⇒ | Issue 1 Contents | E-Zine Directory
MJ: You also have traveled to some areas where there is civil unrest and more than a slight element of danger. Will you share with us a story about travel in a hostile environment?
RCW: British Wildlife cameraman, Nick Gordon, and I were confined by warring Yanomami Indians in southern Venezuela in 1992. After some negotiation, we were released. In 1996, our film crew and I were in the middle of an Indian blockade and an advancing army sent to break them up in a remote Ecuadorian mountain pass Æ luckily, no shots were fired and we were eventually allowed to pass. On occasion, I've encountered local 'hunters' in the forest Æ some of which make the hairs on your neck stand up when your gut instinct tells you they're sizing you up for robbery Æ or worse. I'm not ashamed to admit that I always carry a weapon in the field and, on some occasions, my guide has carried a firearm. You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings and of the things that can harm you in the field. My worst experience in the field came in April 2004, when my best friend, Nick Gordon, and I were just starting on a new tarantula documentary. Nick suddenly collapsed and died in my arms of an apparent massive heart attack Æ he was two years younger than me! CPR attempts to revive him failed. When a colleague dies in the field, you don't abandon him. With emotions on the back burner, I spent the better part of a week taking care of his body and making sure that both he and his belongings got home safely to his grieving family and friends. It will be a long while before I get over that ordeal.
MJ: What was the first wild tarantula you collected and do you still remember the experience?
RCW: As a small child, I always dragged home creepy crawly creatures with an innate curiosity for them. When I was thirteen years old, I went to visit my relatives in Poway, San Diego County, USA. My cousin told me they had 'tarantulas' living in their orange orchard. "Tarantulas"!!! Æ no way, I thought. Those couldn't be the very same giant hairy spiders I'd only seen in horror films? Armed with a bucket and trowel Æ off we went on the 'big tarantula hunt'. A two inch silk-lipped burrow was pointed out to me. I admit that my first throught was, "That's all?" Æ I had expected a huge hole. While digging, the dirt caved in and I thought I'd lost the burrow so I gave up. All of a sudden (to me) the 'earth shook' and out popped my first tarantula Æ it was an electrifying thrill. I immediately scooped it up in the bucket then proceeded to bug the heck out of my parents to let me keep it and take it home Æ they did. The more I looked for reliable information on how to care for tarantulas, the less I found, so, I began to keep my own notes (found out years later it was Aphonopelma eutylenum). I'm not ashamed to admit, here and now, that for the first few months of handling it, I wore a heavy leather glove. That's the truth.
MJ: Where is the oddest place you have ever found a tarantula in the wild?
RCW: I found a small Ephebopus murinus, in the French Guiana city of Cayenne, living in the spout of an old gas can. Another time, I found a female Pterinochilus chordatus right at the edge of a plane runway at the Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. As my plane landed and taxied in, I refused to move while I was digging it up Æ the plane's wing went right over my head while the engine drowned out the frantic shouting of my wife and travel companions.
MJ: Are there any genera or species of tarantulas that you have yet to observe in the wild that you are particularly interested in seeking?
RCW: Yes, but I won't say what or where it is as it would divulge an extremely rare species and we all know there are people out there that will destroy sensitive tarantula populations and habitats (legally or illegally) just for the almighty dollar. What squeezes my nards is these people use the age old argument that it's for 'the betterment of the species' to have them survive in captivity. In my forty year association with tarantula spiders, I've yet to see a single species sustained in captivity without the infusion of more taken wild stock.
MJ: Other than arachnids, what animals that you observe during your travels do you have a special interest in or fondness for?
RCW: Free-living tortoises, free-flying macaws, any of the wild cat family, venomous snakes, chameleons Æ oof, that's not an easy question to answer either Æ I love and enjoy all things encountered on my field walks.
⇐ Previous Page | Next Page ⇒ | Issue 1 Contents | E-Zine Directory