The Canadian Field-Naturalist Tribute to “The Snake Man”, Francis Russell Cook, Ph.D., C.M. (1935–2020) Daniel F. Brunton1, *, Paul M. Catling2, *, and Brenda Kostiuk2, * 1 Beaty Centre for Species Discovery and Botany Section, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4 Canada 2170 Sandford Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 0E9 Canada *Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected] Brunton, D.F., P.M. Catling, and B. Kostiuk. 2020. Tribute to “The Snake Man”, Francis Russell Cook, Ph.D., C.M. (1935– 2020). Canadian Field-Naturalist 134(1): 71–84. https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v134i1.2577 The thundering, no-holds-barred belly-laugh was herpetological knowledge first through field experi- often what visitors first heard when entering the ence and by connections with other naturalists in the herpetology collection at the National Museum of local young naturalists’ club (Cook 2010a). A decade Canada (NMC), now the Canadian Museum of Nature later he was appointed Curator of Herpetology, thus (CMN)—hereafter, “the Museum”. That ringing wel- commencing a 60-year professional herpetological come was from a man who not only sounded like association with the Museum. He would hold that po- Santa Claus but could easily have been his slimmed- sition until 1991. Subsequently he continued to work down double, twinkling eyes and all. Indeed, one win- almost daily as a Researcher Emeritus / Research As- ter’s day in a suburban mall, he was actually identi- so ciate for another decade and a half (Figure 1) un- fied by an excited little boy as being the grand old til illness confined him to his rural heritage stone man himself in civilian clothes (Frank Pope pers. home in the country near Bishops Mills, ON. Francis comm. 15 June 2020). This jovial personality was died in Kemptville, ON on 3 January 2020 after a especially appreciated during the time (1964–1993) short period of hospitalization (OFNC Publications when the collection and its associated offices were Committee 2019). His happy laugh and twinkling housed in mundane, rented commercial space in west smile were with him to the end. end Ottawa, Ontario (ON) before they were trans- Early History and Family ferred to the magnificent Natural Heritage Campus Francis was born in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (NS) in Gatineau, Quebec (QC). Much more than just the on 3 March 1935. His father, Thomas William Cook, laugh of this life-long herpetologist and long-time was a Professor of Psychology and also worked at Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) editor was larger the Defence Research Board in Ottawa, ON. Tho- than life, however. mas’ wife Dorothy (Cochrane) was a stay-at-home Francis Russell Cook (3 March 1935–3 January mother, looking after the home as well as son Francis, 2020), was one of those fortunate people who very his brother Edmund Cochrane (Ned) Cook, and sis- early in life knew what he wanted to do, got to do ter Florence Hazel (Smallman). The family moved it, and never regretted his choice. His passion for the considerably across Canada as required by Thomas’ study of amphibians and reptiles began in childhood academic and professional appointments, residing and before he was through he had generated and an- for periods in Wolfville, NS; then Toronto, ON; Sas- alyzed a huge quantity of herpetological data (see katoon, Saskatchewan; Victoria, British Co lumbia; Appendix 1), encouraged and inspired the research and, finally, Ottawa. and careers of numerous biological investigators, and Francis’ curiosity in nature was piqued early (at in his capacity as the longest serving Editor / Editor- age six!) when his brother, Ned hatched “a scoop of in-Chief in this journal’s 140 year history, facilitated toad eggs” (Cook 2010a). He later visited the Royal the publication of a vast amount of scientific literature Ontario Museum in Toronto and was so intrigued by (Catling et al. 2016). what he saw and by the encouragement of legendary While proud of his Maritimes roots, Francis spent herpetologist Shelley Logier, that he decided then and most of his life in Ontario. Upon arriving in Ottawa at there—at age nine—to dedicate his career to study- 15 years of age he immediately began to expand his ing reptiles and amphibians. In Ottawa as a teenager 71 ©The authors. This work is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). 72 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 134 Figure 1. Francis Cook at his desk as Canadian Museum of Nature Emeritus Researcher, striking an atypically serious tone. Photo: Peter Frank, 11 September 2007, © Canadian Museum of Nature. in 1950, he joined the Macoun Field Club (MFC), the Herpetological Research, Curation, and junior naturalists’ group co-sponsored by the Ottawa Teaching Field Naturalists’ Club (OFNC) and the Museum, and Sherman Bleakney’s return to Acadia University soon became a volunteer leader. In later years as a in 1958 had left the Museum without a staff herpetolo- Museum staff member he would serve as a leader of gist but Francis Cook was known to Museum person- the program. nel as an enthusiastic and knowledgeable—and un- During an era when institutional facilities and their employed—young man. When the offer was made in staff were substantially more publicly accessible than May 1960, he readily accepted the position as Curator now, Francis also frequented the Museum herpetol- of Herpetology. He held that post continuously there- ogy section where he made a friend—and mentor—of after except for a two-year educational leave in the fellow Nova Scotian, Dr. Sherman Bleakney. Francis late 1960s to do a Ph.D. (formally completed in 1978) assisted in Bleakney’s research for several years, first as a volunteer and then as a summer field assistant. He then attended Acadia University (1955–1960), com- pleting his B.Sc. in 1959, the same year that Bleakney moved from the Museum to Acadia University as well. Francis completed his M.Sc. there in 1960 under Bleakney’s supervision, his thesis on the herptofauna of Prince Edward Island being based substantially on specimens they collected together. Ironically, consid- ering their long history of joint field studies, research and collaboration (Figure 2), Bleakney died only two months before Francis (Bleakney 2020). Francis married Joyce Crosby on 26 October 1962, an accomplished entomologist in her own right. In 1970 they purchased an old stone farmhouse south Figure 2. Francis Cook (far right) examining specimens in of Ottawa near Bishops Mills, ON, where the family the field in eastern Ontario with Sherman Bleakney (left) (including son Thomas and daughter Wanda) lived in and two unknown associates, August 1957. Photo: courtesy a quiet and beautifully wild setting. of Joyce Cook. 2020 Brunton et al.: Tribute to Francis Cook 73 at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. of the most comprehensive, long-term herpetologi- The early focus of his research at the Museum cal monitoring projects ever conducted in Canada. stemmed from his Ph.D. work, addressing the bioge- Although unpublished, these herpetological data are ographic and taxonomic implications of the transition preserved in Museum files and are potentially availa- zone between eastern and prairie biota as expressed ble for analysis and documentation by others. through morphological variations in the native toads, Francis’ formal career at the Museum ended Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus america nus ame- abruptly in July 1993 when several dozen research- ri canus) and Canadian Toad (now Anaxyrus hemi- ers were summarily “retired” in a highly controver- ophrys). A life-long advocate for properly collected sial and widely denounced cost-cutting measure and suitably curated specimens, he collected the ma- (Mackenzie 1993). Remarkably, despite his bitterness jority of the more than 4000 study specimens from be- at this forced retirement, he continued his Museum tween the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. research without interruption. In January 1994 he From his earliest days at the Museum Francis ac- accepted the honourary title of Curator / Researcher tively encouraged and facilitated contributions to the Eme ritus and continued his work at the Museum as a herpetological specimen collection and provided ad- Research Associate until only a couple of years ago, vice and collecting materials to willing field natural- making the long drive into the Museum from the Land ists (including D.F.B. and P.M.C.) to ensure specimen O’Nod Road (the euphonically appropriate address of contributions were responsibly obtained and that they his country home) on an almost daily basis. maximized their information potential. Herpetologist Both in his research and general conversation Fred Schueler, later a Research Associate at the Mu- Francis demonstrated a quick wit, a competitive na- seum, responded most prolifically to this encourage- ture, and a refreshing direct, honest manner. He could ment and donated thousands of specimens, particu- be feisty, showing particularly limited patience for larly those of Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates byzantine bureaucracy. For Francis, however, the bot- pipi ens). As curator of the collection until 1991, tom line was one’s level of commitment to the study Francis oversaw its growth from an initial 14 000 to of nature. If you had a passion for the investigation 133 000 specimens. It became the largest assemblage and conservation of the natural world, he had all the of Canadian herpetological material anywhere in the time in the world for you, regardless of your formal world (Cook 2010a). status. And you needed ‘all the time in the world’ too, Francis’ research was always substantially field because the man could talk! Visits or telephone con- oriented, such as surveys of species distributional versations with Francis (he was constantly taking gaps across Canada, life history investigations of rare calls; Figure 3) were fascinating, informative, chal- or biogeographically significant species, and inven- lenging … and never brief.