No I do not
Do you take notes while you zoo?
- Thread starter filovirus
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No, but I keep wanting to change this, as I'm often prone to forgetting birds and reptiles later on if they aren't notably rare or are static as opposed to very active in the exhibits. I've been taking photographs of signs to help this but in multispecies aviaries this hasn't felt like enough.
I'll just jot any changes/interesting things that happen on a visit down on my phone and then do a more detailed writeup on my laptop at home which then gets posted here.
Prochilodus246
Well-Known Member
I'm never without my black notebook when visiting any collection. I may also have my clipboard with me and therefore I almost always get mistakenly identified as a member of staff. 
In my notebook I write all the species I have already seen whilst at the collection and I write all my new species on the clipboard or tick the corresponding species off from the list on ZTL which I have printed off.
In my notebook I write all the species I have already seen whilst at the collection and I write all my new species on the clipboard or tick the corresponding species off from the list on ZTL which I have printed off.
Laboratory 7
Well-Known Member
I used to take full notes in days before digital cameras, now I take very few on a visit instead I rely on a digital picture of anything I need to remember. But back in days of taking notes it did mean I had some memories of encounters with zoo security or owners when places were concerned about a strange man walking round writing everything down, some of the places I encounter problems that stick in the mind are Jim Cronin at monkey world and the boss at five sisters,both ended very differently and one I still look forward to catching up with to this day and hopefully will be later this year again, after a number of years of not seeing each other. There are of course many other places I have had run ins because of my note taking but many of these places,now greet me as a friend and not someone to be feared entering their collection. I still have most of my notes from back in the 1970s/80s and 90s and it is a snapshot of history some of it good and some bad , but it all needs remembering so that places don't make the same mistakes of the past, because I fear a lot of collections today think everything in the past is bad and needs forgetting, it wasn't and doesn't,
I use both small notebooks and digital cameras/smartphone.
In the pre-digital time era these notebooks were my life savers. I noted time of arrival and departure, ticket food beverage prices, species seen/tagged for each exhibit,etc.
Nowadays I use my smartphone for exhibits and species designated.
However, I still use notebooks for additional information (prices, non-designated species, number of specimen, length of visit) and for drawing basic layouts of buidlings, exhibits and enclosures.
If free zoo maps are available, I pick up 2 and use one for noting specimen numbers.
When I make a zoo tour, I have a kind of roadbook next to me in the car. In it are the driving schedules for each day: motorway and road numbers, exits, distances, where the best car park is, my overnight stop, etc.
Perhaps this is no longer necessary in the digital era, but I really enjoy making this.
GPS I use only sporadically.
In the pre-digital time era these notebooks were my life savers. I noted time of arrival and departure, ticket food beverage prices, species seen/tagged for each exhibit,etc.
Nowadays I use my smartphone for exhibits and species designated.
However, I still use notebooks for additional information (prices, non-designated species, number of specimen, length of visit) and for drawing basic layouts of buidlings, exhibits and enclosures.
If free zoo maps are available, I pick up 2 and use one for noting specimen numbers.
When I make a zoo tour, I have a kind of roadbook next to me in the car. In it are the driving schedules for each day: motorway and road numbers, exits, distances, where the best car park is, my overnight stop, etc.
Perhaps this is no longer necessary in the digital era, but I really enjoy making this.
GPS I use only sporadically.
biggest_dreamer
Well-Known Member
My biggest reason for note-taking is new life list species, so those are usually just added to an iPhone notes app note, to be added to my actual spreadsheet later. Normally it suffices to just jot down the listed common name, but for reptiles and amphibians in particular that can be sort of a crapshoot so I'll often take a quick picture of the listed scientific name as well. Similarly, sometimes in aviaries it's easier to take a picture of the signage and notate which ones I didn't spot.
New species added to the zoos I most often frequent are generally few and far enough between that I just remember them without making a note.
New species added to the zoos I most often frequent are generally few and far enough between that I just remember them without making a note.
The Alligator Lad
Active Member
This maaaaaay be a hot take, but taking notes while visiting a zoo doesn't seem very appealing to me. To use an example/explanation, I used to take a ton of photos whenever I visited any zoo, but then I started to feel that i was spending more time taking photos than enjoying the animals, so I've stopped. I still take photos when visiting new zoos, just not that many. I feel if I were to take notes, it would give the same effect.
Seldom, but I'd rather like to write travel notes after visiting a zoo which I felt wonderful, that's a good way to share and discuss with others.
I vividly remember taking part in "zoo rallyes" or filling out guides for children in my earlier zoo visits as a child myself. These consisted of quizzes, stamps or checklists, which all were connected to educative stations scattered throughout the facility, conveying information in a child-appealing way.
My fond memories of eagerly carrying my pen paper with me on the lookout for the next station, constantly learning something new along the way, are exemplary of why i think these children rallyes are a great educative tool for zoos.
Such a method of making children involved with educational displays is therefore a smart and effective device for modern zoos and after all, this is a way of taking notes at the zoo, even at an early age.
My fond memories of eagerly carrying my pen paper with me on the lookout for the next station, constantly learning something new along the way, are exemplary of why i think these children rallyes are a great educative tool for zoos.
Such a method of making children involved with educational displays is therefore a smart and effective device for modern zoos and after all, this is a way of taking notes at the zoo, even at an early age.
No, I take pictures, but not notes. I tend to look at the zoos more as a wholistic experience than individual species or counts, unless it is a particular animal that I am there to see.
antilio capra
Well-Known Member
I take notes and some photos. Though mostly notes. I enjoy writing the notes, even if my hand hurts afterward. I usually also make note of interesting things I didn't know about the animal or something I saw the species do. If a plant has a label, I will write it down for further research later.
CarnotaurusSastrei
Well-Known Member
Recently, I've tended to keep track of the animals I've seen by just jotting the common names down using my phone's notes app, sometimes adding the binomial in parentheses if I think there could be any confusion later. That being said, I'm definitely considering bringing a pencil and notebook with me the next time I visit the Shedd so I don't have to constantly flip between their app and my notes. I also occasionally take photos of the signage for reference later or for keeping track of what species I've seen in multi-species enclosures.