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Rating the Suburbs - North Ridgeville
Lou Gaeta, 78
wildlife photographer
wildlife photographer
by Beth Stallings, Lynne Thompson, Andy Netzel, Jim Vickers, Colleen Smitek, Francis X. Bova III, Matt Beargie, Erick Trickey, Kim Schneider, Jennifer Bowen, Beth Troy, Mike Montgomery, Chuck Bowen, Laura Adiletta, Jason Lloyd, Jennifer Gonzalez, Ilana Yerg | Jun. 4, 2009 | 4:00 AM
It’s a 600-millimeter lens mounted on a gun stock.
Everybody look sat me and says, “Nah, you’re not that old.”
Long before you were born, I was in the circus. I did a wrestling act with a 500-pound lion. I have scars.
I lived my whole life on the East Side. My wife never thought I’d cross the river. There didn’t seem to be the closeness and warmth on the East Side. I had never experienced that before I moved out here.
We wanted something where our backyard would not be looking over another house. There’s a retention basin back there and a permanent easement behind that. I can go in the sunroom, roll the window down and I’m able to photograph wild turkeys.
Two miles from my home is a bald eagle’s nest. This made it even more exciting for me to move here. For the past three years, we’ve been photographing bald eagles there.
I know when I’m too close. When I become an act of aggression, then I’m not getting the shot I want.
I’ve always worked with raptors. In the early ’70s, I was an assistant to two ornithologists at Cornell University. We did the first artificial insemination of golden eagles.
My mother-in-law alwaysused to say, “Always remember: To have a good neighbor, you have to be a good neighbor.”
We hope that some of the farmers keep their farms.
When we first moved here,we were looking for a Catholic church. We went up to the priest at St. Peter’s, and he was so excited. He said, “Look, you have a new home. I can come over and bless the home for you.” And he did.
We like the area so much we already bought our crypt.
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