Too cold for the zoo? Maybe try a museum.

Farhan Khalid

Farhan Khalid

Member
Hello,

The winters can get rough in Chicago, too cold for outdoor activities. Thankfully, we have The Field Museum here, which has a very nice collection of taxidermy. I just went on MLK day (free day at the museum) and found it quite enjoyable. Just the birds alone are amazing (spectacular colors and varieties), although I most enjoy learning about the big cats.

Animals

-Farhan
 
I've yet to visit the National History Museum here in Cleveland. I've been meaning to schedule a trip but I just haven't yet. I've been to the Smithsonian in DC which was awesome.
 
Or a public aquarium. Or one of those dedicated reptile collections they have in some countries.
 
BTW there is a very good livd arachnid display in Warsaw's Palace of Science and Culture. Mostly species I have kept but well displayed in large cubic terraria of a perfect display size. Would be a good model for a zoo invert house: usually the terraria are TOO large.
 
Bad weather days are often the best time to visit a zoo. The crowds are gone and some animals can be much more active. The lack of harsh sunlight is also better for photography. Some of my best zoo photos were taken on rainy days.
rainy day at the zoo

rainy day at the zoo

August 9, 2016
rainy day at the zoo

rainy day at the zoo

August 2, 2016
rainy day at the zoo

rainy day at the zoo

August 2, 2016
 
Also the natural history museum in my city is owned and operated by Safari Club International, the world's premier trophy hunting organization. I am very hesitant to support them and for this reason have never walked through the museum (in spite of living here over twenty years).
 
Arizona Docent said:
Bad weather days are often the best time to visit a zoo. The crowds are gone and some animals can be much more active. The lack of harsh sunlight is also better for photography. Some of my best zoo photos were taken on rainy days.
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I agree. I visited the San Francisco Zoo on a rainy day, and while over half of the animals were inside, I had an absolutely fantastic time. I didn't take photos (for fear of ruining my camera) but the animals that were out were quite active and enjoyable to watch. I had a wonderful chat with one of the carnivore keepers, and the best part of the day was seeing a black rhino running around and splashing in the mud, almost like a little kid!

Also, great shots!
 
jayjds2 said:
...I didn't take photos (for fear of ruining my camera) but the animals that were out were quite active...
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That is why you (and everyone else with an SLR) need a raincover for your camera. I used to use the cheap ones by OPTech (less than ten bucks for a set of two). They will work, but before I went to Alaska I bought the more sturdy LensCoat which is easier to use (around fifty bucks).
 
Living in Texas, I usually have the opposite problem: it's so hot! I agree with Arizona Docent, rainy days are good to visit the zoo due to lack of crowds. In my experience, sometimes the cooling rain brings more animals out and active, ha ha.

Museums are great too. I love the Houston Museum of Natural Science! It also has some great taxidermy collections, specifically African and Texas wildlife. (a lot of the African animals came from the Houston Zoo) Right now they have an Amazon exhibition with lots of South American taxidermy.

Going outside of taxidermy, the paleontology hall is fantastic!
 
SealPup said:
BTW there is a very good livd arachnid display in Warsaw's Palace of Science and Culture. Mostly species I have kept but well displayed in large cubic terraria of a perfect display size. Would be a good model for a zoo invert house: usually the terraria are TOO large.
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I have some pictures of this in the Poland - Other Gallery if anyone is interested. At the moment, they can be found on page 6 and 7. There's also a Museum of Evolution in the same building.
 
But wben I went v recently the museum of evokution was closed for refurbishment. Because of Polish-Russian ties in the Communist era lots of Mongolian dinosaur remains are stored and displayed there you won't see anywhere in W Europe or the USA ie. the infamous Deinocheirus arms. The building actully used to be named for Stalin.
 
SealPup said:
But wben I went v recently the museum of evokution was closed for refurbishment. Because of Polish-Russian ties in the Communist era lots of Mongolian dinosaur remains are stored and displayed there you won't see anywhere in W Europe or the USA ie. the infamous Deinocheirus arms. The building actully used to be named for Stalin.
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Yep, and I have pictures of the museum in the 'other' gallery as well. :)
 
I recently visited the Field Museum myself for the first time in a while, and found myself much more struck by the taxidermy than I was in the past, able to better appreciate it from a historical context. I stopped to appreciate the habitats of the dioramas, something I hadn't thought about as much viewing the displays as a kid. While in the basement of the facility, seeing specimens of species that in almost every case where not in captivity locally (manatees) or at all (wedell seals, elephant seals, narwhals) it struck me how these exhibits, nearly a hundred years ago here, filled a similar niche for the people of that era that today's modern and naturalistic zoo habitats do today.

I certainly agree one can take a good zoo trip on a cold/rainy day, but I think the value of a good museum trip shouldn't be underestimated entirely, although I sympathize with Arizona Docent's concerns. I am very lucky that the Field here has a very good track record. I don't believe any new taxidermy has been unveiled in sixty years, save a small renovation last year to the Hyena habitat.
 
SealPup said:
But wben I went v recently the museum of evokution was closed for refurbishment. Because of Polish-Russian ties in the Communist era lots of Mongolian dinosaur remains are stored and displayed there you won't see anywhere in W Europe or the USA ie. the infamous Deinocheirus arms. The building actully used to be named for Stalin.
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I was enough fortunate for see many of these authentic Mongolian dinosaur fossils (only two or three were casts, most was the true fossils) in Spain when they was exhibited in a temporary display. Including the Deinocheirus arms :-)

From my side, I enjoy natural history museums as much or even more than zoos, so when I visit a new city, I always visit both kinds of places. I usually travel in summer so there is no cold when I visit museums...
 
My favorite US museums are the AMNH,the Smithsonian and the Field. The dioramas at the AMNH are great,but the taxidermy at the Smithsonian is amazing.
In latín america México city,Havana,Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile have good natural history museums but much of the taxidermy is outdated. I have not been to museums in Spain or Brazil, oddly enough. The natural history museum is Paris is also great with a gallery of extinct and endangered species.
 
It's been very cold here in what is sometimes called "the Paris of the southeastern corner of lower eastern Michigan," Detroit. I've gone a couple of times, though. We have various indoor exhibits so you don't have to spend too much time outside and some animals, such as the lions, actually adapt well to cold weather. They recently expanded the lion exhibit and provided warming rocks up front and the lions have been hanging out there, for example.
 
I recently visited the Field Museum over winter break, and they have an enormous collection of taxidermied animals. Also the specimens gallery is very intriguing, despite it costing money to enter.
 
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carlos55 said:
My favorite US museums are the AMNH,the Smithsonian and the Field. The dioramas at the AMNH are great,but the taxidermy at the Smithsonian is amazing.
In latín america México city,Havana,Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile have good natural history museums but much of the taxidermy is outdated. I have not been to museums in Spain or Brazil, oddly enough. The natural history museum is Paris is also great with a gallery of extinct and endangered species.
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If you're ever in Los Angeles I think you would really enjoy the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (excellent new dinosaur hall, mammal evolution hall, African and North American mammal hall, mineralogy hall - this place is like Disneyland for natural history lovers). The La Brea Tarpits museum is also world-class natural history fun.
 
DavidBrown said:
The La Brea Tarpits museum is also world-class natural history fun.
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Definitely! I visited in December and I was amazed at just how many animals they had found. It was also interesting to see animals still being unearthed.
 
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