RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Dik-Dik is the best animal in the world, because of its name. I think it is not a very cool name for an animal, especially when you start hearing people saying it in random places.
What's something you heard at a zoo or aquarium from another guest that irritated you?
- Thread starter Davdhole
- Start date
I feel like the two sentences contradict each other? Also I don't see how this fits the scope of the thread as you've currently stated this?
I think they were saying that guests say “Dik-Dik is the best animal in the world, because of its name.” and that is annoying to hear.
Lota lota
Well-Known Member
People being disgusted when carnivores are feed whole prey,for instance,a mom with her child were viewing the eurasian otters when a keeper came to feed them with chickens.This would have been a excellent moment for her to educate her child with a simple explanaition about maybe the ecosystems or the food chain.But no,she choosed to act disgusted and asked the keeper why the otters couldn't be feed chicken chicken breast instead.
God forbid letting the children know how nature works!!
ocellated_eelpout
Well-Known Member
"Look at these fishies! we're gonna have these ones for tea tonight! oh, and these ones" - Heard it at Sea Life Manchester. Extremely annoying.
Also, some family with loads of kids in fortnite t-shirts were pointing to every crab in the aquarium and shouting "MR KRABBS!! MR KRABBSS! " non stop. The family stopped at the play area thank god.
Also, some family with loads of kids in fortnite t-shirts were pointing to every crab in the aquarium and shouting "MR KRABBS!! MR KRABBSS! " non stop. The family stopped at the play area thank god.
ocellated_eelpout
Well-Known Member
As a person who sometimes travels to london at 5AM to photograph London SeaLife Aquarium, I have those noises of toddlers going "NEmO , DOOeReE BROOCE!!! TWInKle TwiNkLe LitaEl stAAER" Permanently embedded in my head.
Oh huh, I find it usually isn't so bad at my local aquarium. Of course, you do hear the occasional "Dory!" or "Mummy look, a Nemo!", but you usually don't.
Annoying as kids like that are, I can't be too irritated - I was probably just like them once!
It's not the kids fault, curiosity and excitement are great and could make things a lot better. The fault lies on the parents, who should educate their kids to not scream or do other unwanted behaviour.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
Ok, so I wasn't "irritated" by this, per say, but I have no idea of where else to put this, so for now, it's going here.
Earlier this year, I was volunteering at the Henry Vilas Zoo with a friend of mine. We were greeting people at the front gate, answering any questions they might've had, and putting animal ink stamps on the hands of anyone who wanted one. All was going well that day, until two girls and one guy (all of whom appear to be young adults) walk up to our booth with a question that one of the girls asks: "Can we wear our fursuits around the zoo?"
I had no idea of how to respond. My immediate thought was "no" because it might scare some of the animals, but then I remembered the Henry the Lion mascot costume that some volunteers wear during certain events, so "yes"? Even if I knew what the correct answer was, that question left me so shocked that I basically blue screened and my friend had to direct them to the gift shop.
After stamping their hands (one of the girls was a little disappointed that there was no fox stamp), we watched them enter the gift shop, exit the gift shop, and then exit the zoo. All was normal for like 10 minutes, until I looked out towards the entrance and saw the same guy again, only this time, he was accompanied by a white-and-orange fox(?) and a black-and-green wolf(?).
"Oh god, they're back." I said, perhaps a little too loudly, because one of the furries said "I heard that." Not wanting to interact with them again, I did the sensible thing and dropped down to the floor of the booth and played dead like an opossum (well, it sounded sensible in the moment).
My friend took over for me, keeping an eye on the furries while also greeting new visitors. I tried peeking out over the edge of the booth, but quickly cut the act when one of the furries said she could smell me. Another 3 or so minutes passed before they went off into the zoo and I returned to my normal position.
I didn't see the furries again until the end of our shift, when my friend went to the volunteer center to return the radio and stamps. When they were about to leave, I intercepted them and apologized for the less-than-normal interaction we had earlier. Thankfully, they weren't mad at me, and they even told me that they were a little socially awkward, too. All's well that ends well, I suppose.
Sorry for the chest-high wall of text, but I've been meaning to tell this story here for quite some time. And I'm well that some of the stuff I did was as weird, if not weirder than the stuff the furries did. This was just a very weird, very true story that just so happened to take place at a zoo.
Earlier this year, I was volunteering at the Henry Vilas Zoo with a friend of mine. We were greeting people at the front gate, answering any questions they might've had, and putting animal ink stamps on the hands of anyone who wanted one. All was going well that day, until two girls and one guy (all of whom appear to be young adults) walk up to our booth with a question that one of the girls asks: "Can we wear our fursuits around the zoo?"
I had no idea of how to respond. My immediate thought was "no" because it might scare some of the animals, but then I remembered the Henry the Lion mascot costume that some volunteers wear during certain events, so "yes"? Even if I knew what the correct answer was, that question left me so shocked that I basically blue screened and my friend had to direct them to the gift shop.
After stamping their hands (one of the girls was a little disappointed that there was no fox stamp), we watched them enter the gift shop, exit the gift shop, and then exit the zoo. All was normal for like 10 minutes, until I looked out towards the entrance and saw the same guy again, only this time, he was accompanied by a white-and-orange fox(?) and a black-and-green wolf(?).
"Oh god, they're back." I said, perhaps a little too loudly, because one of the furries said "I heard that." Not wanting to interact with them again, I did the sensible thing and dropped down to the floor of the booth and played dead like an opossum (well, it sounded sensible in the moment).
My friend took over for me, keeping an eye on the furries while also greeting new visitors. I tried peeking out over the edge of the booth, but quickly cut the act when one of the furries said she could smell me. Another 3 or so minutes passed before they went off into the zoo and I returned to my normal position.
I didn't see the furries again until the end of our shift, when my friend went to the volunteer center to return the radio and stamps. When they were about to leave, I intercepted them and apologized for the less-than-normal interaction we had earlier. Thankfully, they weren't mad at me, and they even told me that they were a little socially awkward, too. All's well that ends well, I suppose.
Sorry for the chest-high wall of text, but I've been meaning to tell this story here for quite some time. And I'm well that some of the stuff I did was as weird, if not weirder than the stuff the furries did. This was just a very weird, very true story that just so happened to take place at a zoo.
I would've been concerned more about the reaction of other people to these furries
I'm afraid that producing a smell is one of the defence tactics of playing possum
In their case, they were dead inside (referring to Corangurilla
Lota lota
Well-Known Member
Many times at my local zoo people seem to not understand the simple rule that you can't pet the ringtail lemurs.No matter how many signs that says "DO NOT PET THE LEMURS THeY CAN BITE!" in several languages i almost always see atleast one child trying to pet or petting the lemurs and not being corrected by their parrent.
Whenever people call a sub-adult individual animal a "baby" just because it isn't fully grown, irregardless of the fact that said animal is clearly no longer an infant, is moving and exploring on its own, can eat on its own, etc. This is especially irritating if said animal is a primate or ESPECIALLY a great ape.
An individual is either a baby or an adult; there's no in-between, apparently.
Also whenever people are spouting incorrect "facts" even in the presence of signage that debunks said "facts" (like calling great apes "monkeys", for example).
An individual is either a baby or an adult; there's no in-between, apparently.
Also whenever people are spouting incorrect "facts" even in the presence of signage that debunks said "facts" (like calling great apes "monkeys", for example).
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Lota lota
Well-Known Member
People saying that certain animals such as rats or snakes are gross.At my local zoo they have section where you can pet boa constrictors an chilean rose tarantulas and i have witnessed countless cases of children being curious and their parents leading them away.I have also seen similar behaviour when visitors have been offered to pet and interact with domestic rats
Oh yes, I visited the Cairns Aquarium yesterday and some visitors were getting grossed out by the terrarium exhibits. People being squeamish over the Giant Burrowing Cockroaches I can understand, but I don't get what's so gross about a juvenile Mangrove Monitor or a Leaf-Tailed Gecko!
Bintuwright (Throwaway)
Member
Guest called an Andean bear a panda (our zoo has both species but... come on, they're inverse colors - white with black eye marks vs black with whiteish eye marks).
On the bright side, I actually did get an opportunity to have a short discussion about binturongs with another person visiting them and their kid (who said that it was his new favorite animal). While I ultimately have better things to do than get angry at guests who are just having a nice day (unless they're actively harming animals or other guests obviously) it always warms my heart to see guests get invested and learn something new.
On the bright side, I actually did get an opportunity to have a short discussion about binturongs with another person visiting them and their kid (who said that it was his new favorite animal). While I ultimately have better things to do than get angry at guests who are just having a nice day (unless they're actively harming animals or other guests obviously) it always warms my heart to see guests get invested and learn something new.
cloudedleopard611
Well-Known Member
Ugh, I have so many. One time I was watching the red panda and a little girl, about four years old, called it a fox. Her mom berated her and told her that it wasn't a fox, and that it was actually a red panda. While I don't think the mom was in the wrong for correcting the kid, she did not need to yell at the kid. I've also seen a lot of bad conduct at the Kansas City Zoo. I'm not sure what it is but I feel like I always see more bad behavior there than any other zoo. For example, there was a little kid who kept swinging his monkey stuffed animal around in the antelope enclosure (it's structured so that the visitors walk on an elevated trail and overlook the animals), and the dad not only didn't try to stop him but seemed to be actively encouraging it. I saw a guy once shaking hands with a baby orangutan, people trying to feed monkeys human food through the mesh, all kinds of really unideal stuff. The Kansas City Zoo is a good zoo but its always really frustrating to see people disrespect the animals like that.