Sunday, September 17, 2017
Robert "Bob" Mount
December 25, 1931 - September 10, 2017 Robert Hughes Mount, 85, Alabama
herpetology legend, died September 10, 2017 following two
hip-replacement surgeries and complications due to COPD. He is preceded
in death by his son, Robert Mount, Jr., sisters Katherine Greenblatt and
Luanne Cutchins, father Logan Mount, step-mother Ann Mount, and mother
Frances Mount. He leaves behind his wife Jane of 40 years; daughter Mary
Dansak and her husband Joe; granddaughters Sarah Davis (Blanton), Emma
Dansak, and Anna Dansak; great-granddaughters Annabelle and Ruby Davis;
and best friend Kenneth "Husky" Kirkwood. Bob was born on December 25,
1931, in Lewisburg, Tennessee. Following the death of his mother when he
was four, he was cared for by his father and a great aunt until the
latter's death in 1937. He then went to live with an aunt and uncle in
Waynesboro, Tennessee. His father visited weekly and taught him to
appreciate the natural world. Waynesboro, with its crystal clear streams
and surrounding forests teeming with wildlife, was an idyllic setting
for a budding naturalist. Bob's father re-married when he was ten, and
he along with his father and loving stepmother settled in Jackson,
Tennessee until moving to Albany, Georgia, where he attended high
school. Following graduation, Bob enrolled at Auburn Polytechnic
Institute, now Auburn University, where he received BS and MS degrees.
He then served in the Army as a medical entomologist for two years in
the U.S. and Korea, after which he enrolled at the University of Florida
as a Ph.D. student under the direction of the late Archie Carr. There
he studied zoology, and after graduating, spent five years teaching at
Montevallo College in central Alabama. At Montevallo, Bob began his
research on reptiles and amphibians and continued his research after
transferring to Auburn University in 1966. His research ultimately
resulted in the 1975 publication, The Reptiles and Amphibians of
Alabama. It was during his tenure that the majority of reptile and
amphibian collections at Auburn University grew. The herpetological
collection at the AU Museum of Natural History is named after him. As a
professor, Dr. Mount was known for his lab assignments which required
students to visit remote areas of Alabama's wilderness and collect
specimens of reptiles and amphibians. Largely due to population studies
conducted by Dr. Mount and his students, two Alabama species, the
Flattened Musk Turtle and the Red Hills Salamander, are now protected
under the Endangered Species Act. Bob influenced a host of youngsters
through community work with Boy Scouts and other organizations as well
as students. His own children were allowed numerous pets including dogs,
ferrets, rats and other rodents, beavers, goats, a possum, squirrels, a
very special crow, orphaned birds, an alligator, snakes, turtles,
lizards, frogs, praying mantises, horned lizards, tarantulas, a rabbit,
and once a visiting fox. His grandchildren have fond memories of time
spent at his house in the country with their Papa and Janie, going on
evening woods-walks, calling frogs from the frog-calling porch, flying
June bugs from strings in the summertime, and playing Bessie Bug
roulette. Bob retired from teaching in 1987, yet remained an advocate
for natural history education and the environment. In 2001 he began
writing newspaper columns with topics ranging from snake stories to
politics, always as a defender of the preservation of Alabama's rich
herptofauna and its natural resources. More than one reader has remarked
that they no longer kill snakes indiscriminately, a testament to Bob's
legacy. Additionally, Bob enjoyed frequent coffee and conversation with a
group of men known as the Order of the Geezers. Bob held offices in a
number of professional and environmental organizations, and received
several awards including the Dudley Beaumont Fellowship for Outstanding
Natural History Research, 1960; Outstanding Environmental Writer Award
by the Alabama Environmental Council, 1995; J. Kelly Mosely Award for
his work with the Red Hills Salamander, 1987; the Gopher Tortoise Award,
1987; and a Lifetime Environmental Achievement Award by the Southern
Appalachian Coalition, 1999. The family extends thanks to the staff of
EAMC and Bethany House, where Bob lived out his final six weeks of life
in comfort, surrounded by dedicated caretakers and family, with frequent
visits from friends, dogs, and a beautiful Eastern Indigo snake. Bob
continues to serve in an educational capacity after death by being a
whole-body donor to UAB's Medical School. A memorial gathering will take
place at Red Clay Brewery in Opelika on Monday, October 2, 2017, from
2-5. Friends are invited to attend. Contributions can be made to the
Auburn University Natural History Museum per his request. Bob's family
requests that you carry on his mission by fighting for the protection of
our environment, including the creeping, crawling, and slithering
critters with whom we share the planet.
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