Things people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo? #2

Zoofan15 said:
It’s irritating enough hearing people doing this stuff in ignorance on the few visits a year I make to my local zoos. I can only imagine how sick keepers are of this and the people who think they’re saying something (I won’t even call it making a joke) that they think is witty and original. A Hamilton Zoo keeper said every time they do a lemur encounter, somebody sings “I like to move it move it”; and according to a Werribee Open Range Zoo tour guide, some wise guy always hums the JP theme tune as they approach the entrance gates to the paddock.
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Based on personal experience: it is irritating, but after a while, you start to blend it out. Or, depending on your quick-wittedness and rhetoric skills, you use it to your advantage to educate those fools of a took. ^^
 
birdsandbats said:
I didn't think it was irritating, but I didn't know where else to post it. Heard the Flemish Giant Rabbit at the zoo today being called Big Chungus. :)
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Sounds like it might be an actual flemmie, at least :) I've seen plenty of exhibits in zoos for them, never actually seen one in a zoo. Always other breeds.
 
I will say this, and I know it's going to come as a surprise to some, but I think it's important to say.

Some of these 'irritations' that are sometimes brought up in this thread are things that I view as a bit over-exaggerated.

For example, if a person misidentifies an animal when the sign is literally in front of their face, yes I see them as annoying (unless the person can't read or can't read the language in which the sign is in). However, I cannot get the issue when a person misidentifies an animal when the sign isn't in their direct vision. Sure, some animals like tigers are very easy to identify. However, I think misidentifying the exact species of an animal when the sign isn't in their direct vision is understandable. Maybe they just didn't want to go through the hassle of finding the sign, maybe they just made a mistake or maybe they aren't that knowledgeable on animals themselves, and are coming to the zoo to try and gain more knowledge. In the latter point, I could argue that they should then search for the sign, but I don't see it that way. If that visitor can't see the sign clearly, or the sign isn't in a clear location, then I see it as excusable.

Another example is with toddlers. I understand the annoyance when toddlers bang on the glass, scream, touch/feed the animals etc. when the parents don't interfere. However, some of the stuff toddlers do (e.g. running around, skipping some exhibits, not read signs etc.) isn't an annoyance for me, because they are toddlers. That's just what toddlers/children do, and we can't fault them or the parents for it. Hell, when I was a toddler I probably ran around, skipped exhibits, and I certainly didn't read signs. I just wanted to have a fun time, and most of the time, I did. Toddlers are drawn to the 'big ticket' animals in zoos (giraffes, gorillas, lions, tigers, bears etc.), so I don't see why people get irritated when toddlers don't look at insects, reptiles, amphibians etc. because most toddlers just aren't interested in those things. Hell, I usually skip the insects and I'm not even a kid, I just find insects boring and I would prefer to just look at everything else. Does that make me an irritating visitor? I would say no, because I don't want to look at the insects since I find them boring and I have a (admittedly, irrational) fear of most insects. If a visitor doesn't want to look at a certain animal, I can't see what is irritating about that. It's their personal choice, so I don't see the point in getting angry about it.
 
Also don't see the point of getting pissed off whenever you hear an unfunny joke be cracked, like unless it's down right offensive, it just doesn't matter as they're clearly not directed towards you.
 
I feel like a lot of mistakes over animal ID could be avoided if people just bothered to read signs. When I went to Nashville Zoo in June I was listening to the white-cheeked gibbons howling, and a girl walked up to the barrier and said, “Oh, look at the monkeys!” She had walked past a sign explaining the difference between monkeys and apes. She was standing 6 ft away from it as well!!!
 
OstrichMania said:
I will say this, and I know it's going to come as a surprise to some, but I think it's important to say.

Some of these 'irritations' that are sometimes brought up in this thread are things that I view as a bit over-exaggerated.

For example, if a person misidentifies an animal when the sign is literally in front of their face, yes I see them as annoying (unless the person can't read or can't read the language in which the sign is in). However, I cannot get the issue when a person misidentifies an animal when the sign isn't in their direct vision. Sure, some animals like tigers are very easy to identify. However, I think misidentifying the exact species of an animal when the sign isn't in their direct vision is understandable. Maybe they just didn't want to go through the hassle of finding the sign, maybe they just made a mistake or maybe they aren't that knowledgeable on animals themselves, and are coming to the zoo to try and gain more knowledge. In the latter point, I could argue that they should then search for the sign, but I don't see it that way. If that visitor can't see the sign clearly, or the sign isn't in a clear location, then I see it as excusable.

Another example is with toddlers. I understand the annoyance when toddlers bang on the glass, scream, touch/feed the animals etc. when the parents don't interfere. However, some of the stuff toddlers do (e.g. running around, skipping some exhibits, not read signs etc.) isn't an annoyance for me, because they are toddlers. That's just what toddlers/children do, and we can't fault them or the parents for it. Hell, when I was a toddler I probably ran around, skipped exhibits, and I certainly didn't read signs. I just wanted to have a fun time, and most of the time, I did. Toddlers are drawn to the 'big ticket' animals in zoos (giraffes, gorillas, lions, tigers, bears etc.), so I don't see why people get irritated when toddlers don't look at insects, reptiles, amphibians etc. because most toddlers just aren't interested in those things. Hell, I usually skip the insects and I'm not even a kid, I just find insects boring and I would prefer to just look at everything else. Does that make me an irritating visitor? I would say no, because I don't want to look at the insects since I find them boring and I have a (admittedly, irrational) fear of most insects. If a visitor doesn't want to look at a certain animal, I can't see what is irritating about that. It's their personal choice, so I don't see the point in getting angry about it.
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Spend more time watching toddlers - they LOVE ducks to an obsessive degree, along with squirrels, chickens, and goats :D If it's an animal most people are overlooking, little kids seem to love it. Nearly every zoo I go to, I manage to find at least one little kid loving the ducks, usually while a guardian tries to convince them to look at the elephants or lions or whatever.
 
TinoPup said:
Spend more time watching toddlers - they LOVE ducks to an obsessive degree, along with squirrels, chickens, and goats :D If it's an animal most people are overlooking, little kids seem to love it. Nearly every zoo I go to, I manage to find at least one little kid loving the ducks, usually while a guardian tries to convince them to look at the elephants or lions or whatever.
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I've noticed this too. When I was a toddler I would have told you my favorite animals were elephants and giraffes, but I would spend way more time looking at the small animals (inverts, reptiles, small birds, fish, or whatever else) than I ever would with megafauna.
 
TinoPup said:
Spend more time watching toddlers - they LOVE ducks to an obsessive degree, along with squirrels, chickens, and goats :D If it's an animal most people are overlooking, little kids seem to love it. Nearly every zoo I go to, I manage to find at least one little kid loving the ducks, usually while a guardian tries to convince them to look at the elephants or lions or whatever.
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I think you’re right, I have a younger cousin who is 1 year and 3 months old and I am pretty sure the only animal he knows how to say is uck (duck).
 
Javier Iniguez said:
For me it has to be when people believe that we Homo sapiens lived with D I N O S A U R S my 11 year old sisters believed that until I corrected them
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I’m glad my 10 year old sister knows bette than that. As the older between the two of us I have bothered her with a fair bit of information, some of which she has remembered.
 
Bengal Tiger said:
I’m glad my 10 year old sister knows bette than that. As the older between the two of us I have bothered her with a fair bit of information, some of which she has remembered.
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To bad my sisters aren't the same but it is good that they do want to learn
 
When anywhere up to 20 people crowd around the window into an enclosure when an animal appears. Also when too many people clog up indoor exhibits so it's difficult to get out. I get freaked out by tightly packed crowds and loud noises, so more than once I've ended up having a panic attack when stuff like this happens.
 
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Jambi said:
When anywhere up to 20 people crowd around the window into an enclosure when an animal appears. Also when too many people clog up indoor exhibits so it's difficult to get out. I get freaked out by tightly packed crowds and loud noises, so more than once I've ended up having a panic attack when stuff like this happens.
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I'm not great with crowds or noises, either, so I've learned to moderate myself. If an area starts getting busy I'll step back before it gets worse, even if it means missing a good photo or interesting moment. Sometimes this means leaving a building entirely. I try to look at zoo maps before I go so I can familiarize myself with areas that might be quieter, and if the zoo has any designated quiet/sensory zones. When I'm at a zoo I try to take note of benches in the shade and things like that, especially if it's not a one way path.
 
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