General Zoo Misconceptions

Malayan Tapir said:
Another one was at chesters Rhea and Vicugna paddock:

What are they dad?
*Man looks at sign....
There common rheas
Bloke with him says:
"There not that common, never seen one of them in Crewe!!"
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And now I'm sat alone at the computer laughing like a complete tool. Well done :rolleyes:
 
'Common' having a meaning beyond 'numerous, familiar' always troubles people for some reason. I suppose the sense of 'unremarkable, nondescript' in which it is used in animal names is less, well, common!
 
Like button needed

Anyway - to DejaVuKatz, always excellent to hear a good news story like that where the child listens and learns rather than argue and remain ignorant.

I may have mentioned this already (I know I have to some zoochatters, but that may have been in the flesh) but I was photographing the pine martens at Wildwood when a school group approached. 'Oh no,' I thought as they approached, being as loud and exciteable as usual. I hadn't got my shot and thought it would get scared off. Anyway, these kids were coming out with a few, but the only one I recall was 'it's a meerkat.' So, this girl from the class actually bothers to check for herself, and finds it's a pine marten. She then goes on to tell the rest of the class. Later on the pine marten got fed and I got my shots as it FINALLY stayed still to eat

Kids always seem so willing to learn - what annoys me most of all is when parents don't encourange it. Such examples being children looking into aviaries only to be pulled away by impatient parents that want to see the elephants . I personally look forward to the day that me and AG have kids and we're trying to look at something in the zoo when our little gibbon/rhino hybrid pull on our arms and say 'come on, I wanna go and see the orange-headed ground thrush'

Anyway, pointless story over I'll attach the result of the pine marten pic
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ive never heard of a pine marten before let alone seen one. gorgeous picture! thanks for posting it!

Its kind of funny, back in high school and even middle school I use to think I knew a TON about animals. It wasn't until I started architecture and working on building a paper zoo as a sort of hobby and to potentially add to my portfolio when i realized how small of a percentage of knowledge i knew compared to the whole body. I've spent more time researching and learning animals then actually designing anything. Ive been on here a while using the photos everyone here so graciously posted to see what other exhibits look like, but only recently joined as a member and started posting. These posts will help me figure out signage maybe make them lower for children, and more children friendly. Defiantly more pictures and interactive signs, perhaps a pronunciation button for youngsters so they are far less reliant on parents for information. So thanks to all for helping me. =P And ironically one of the reason I wanted to get into this was to help species like the java rhino in my own way, ether by raising money or if we ever get them in zoos like the Sumatran rhino and start a breeding program they'll be comfortable for their stay and hopefully my designs might promote breeding. here's hoping anyways.
 
No worries :) - they are a nice species and whilst I'd been to several places that keep pine martens I'd never seen one until then. As they are a UK native, maybe they are only kept in Europe? And thanks for the compliment on the photo :)
 
About five years ago I made a visit to Regent's Park, my father was with me, his first visit there for about thirty years, In the Snowden Aviary he observed a black and white bird and was delighted to state it was a magpie(being a fan of Newcastle United). I told him not to be so ridiculous as there was no way the zoo would exhibit such a common bird in the aviary, it was a bird, probably rare that I was unfamiliar with. To my embarrassment he later informed a young lady keeper that he was pleased to see a magpie in the Snowden Aviary, the keeper didn't correct him, I thought she was just being polite to a silly old Geordie bloke. He even went on about it in the evening in the pub how nice it was for London Zoo to exhibit a magpie. Shortly after this I was reading a book about London Zoo, Mr. Barrington Johnson's book, and it stated that a magpie had somehow entered the Snowden Aviary and taken up residence there, so the old man was correct and I was wrong, "told you so", he said, a misconception in this case which was later to be proved correct!
 
Javan Rhino said:
No worries :) - they are a nice species and whilst I'd been to several places that keep pine martens I'd never seen one until then. As they are a UK native, maybe they are only kept in Europe? And thanks for the compliment on the photo :)
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If you like Pine Martens, you should go and stay in Western Scotland. Its generally thought they are very difficult to see wild, but some people in isolated houses/hotels in Pine Marten country feed them so they become regular visitors like Foxes or Badgers can be in English gardens. We stayed in one such place some years back- Pine Martens came every evening-completely fearless too and sometimes even trying to get inside the House through the Windows. The owners had devised a special 'martenmix' of food to attract them.

By noting the variation of the yellow chest 'bib' markings I noted five different individuals visiting during the course of a week.
 
Javan Rhino said:
No worries :) - they are a nice species and whilst I'd been to several places that keep pine martens I'd never seen one until then. As they are a UK native, maybe they are only kept in Europe? And thanks for the compliment on the photo :)
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We've got Fishers in the northern bit of the united states and up into Canada. In Florida tho i don't think we have weasels like species. Only thing that comes remotely close is the north American river otter. We don't have badgers or wolverines ether. I soooo want to see a badger up close! Trufflehunter was so cute in one of the Narnia films.
 
Don't forget the Eastern Spotted Skunk, the Striped Skunk, and the Everglades mink :)

From the Martes genus in North America, we have American marten and fisher, as well as feral populations of the beech marten.

Here in Kansas we have River Otter, Striped skunk, Long-tailed Weasel, Black-footed Ferret Least Weasel, Mink, Eastern Spotted Skunk, and American Badger. The only one I've ever seen is the badger though. They are a very secretive family.
 
Malayan Tapir said:
What are they dad?
*Man looks at sign....
There common rheas
Bloke with him says:
"There not that common, never seen one of them in Crewe!!"
..
Click to expand...


This one sounds like someone having laugh to me. I do occasionally do this myself. :) I love the big monkeys (chimps), and the marmots (meerkats). It's nice to say this as you never know who's listening - prehaps one day I'll get featured on this thread! :D
 
KCZooFan said:
Don't forget the Eastern Spotted Skunk, the Striped Skunk, and the Everglades mink :)

From the Martes genus in North America, we have American marten and fisher, as well as feral populations of the beech marten.

Here in Kansas we have River Otter, Striped skunk, Long-tailed Weasel, Black-footed Ferret Least Weasel, Mink, Eastern Spotted Skunk, and American Badger. The only one I've ever seen is the badger though. They are a very secretive family.
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Poor skunks i completely forgot. .... hadn't the slightest clue we even had minks in Florida! Ill never know everything. >.< i soooo want to to tho.
 
Ocelot = Cheetah, Leopard
Sea Lion = Seal
Seal = Sea Lion
Saki Monkey = Chimpanzee
Pronghorn = Antelope
Caiman = Crocodile
Tortoise = Turtle
Wallaby = Kangaroo
 
Some problems are due to the fact that some animals have different names in different parts of the world. In the USA, dolphins are often called 'porpoises', while tortoises and terrapins are included under 'turtles'. Frogs and toads can be confusing, with one family (Pipidae) including Surinam toads and clawed frogs.

I suppose if we wanted to be technical, we should rewrite a popular song:

Oh give me a home where the bison roam. Where the deer and the pronghorns play.
 
Hi, Everyone. I'm new here, and more to the point I have heard some pretty stupid things, some by my own family.
My Granddad, who we took to Chester Zoo once called a red panda a monkey. But to be fair he could only see its tail.
Also my mum gets gorillas and chimpanzees MIXED UP! At least she's bright enough to know what an orangutan is.
But what is easily the stupidest thing I have ever heard was at London Zoo, in which the Colobus monkeys are allowed access to the gorilla enclosure and I saw a mum and her three children looking at them, the children said "Look mum, monkeys!" and the mum turned to them and said they were wrong and what they were looking at were in fact very small gorillas!!!
 
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While having my hair washed at the hair salon this morning, I mentioned my zoo visiting to the new trainee. She asked if I take my grandchildren - a) I don't have any grandchildren, and b) I am always surprised by so many people's misconception that you would only go to a zoo if accompanied by children.
 
I too wish people would get away from the erroneous notion that zoos should be only for the children, on a par with funfairs and circuses. I am always delighted whenever I see visitors, either singletons or couples, going round a zoo without children in tow.
 
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