Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I am NOT an anteater!

 I am Goober!

 This is my good friend Kim :)

She likes when I smile at her :)

Words can not explain how much I love this guy!   He is absolutely precious.  I named my first Zoo related blog after him, goobers sfzoo friends.  He is still inspiring me with this blog, i am not an anteater!

The reason for the title is I am constantly amazed at how little people who visit the Zoo know about animals.  Ok, so maybe a Bairds Tapir, which Goober is, is not one of the main animals you learn about as a kid, but its insane and irritating when people don't even care enough to read the sign that they are standing in front of!   

It is not just with Goob, but many other animals are victim of mis-identification, not only by visitors but by San Francisco Zoo Docents as well.   I have heard people call Goob a Rhino, a Hippo and one of those extinct Dinosaur things.  Not a joke.  Come on, there are certain animals that people should know and Rhinos and Hippos are two of them.  So are Lions and Tigers, but I constantly hear people get those mixed up.  Mind boggling.  There are many people who can't even tell that the Polar Bear is just dirty from playing in the grass, they think its a different kind of Bear lol!

The other thing about getting it wrong is that its mostly adults.  They don't even care to teach their children about the animals they've brought them to see.???   I don't get it.  I stood at the River Otters one day and a gal walked up and she stood in front of the sign and then turned to her friend, "Hurry, Hamsters!"  I said, "Sea Hamsters."  When her friend arrived she told her they were Sea Hamsters.  I had to laugh.

I also hear visitors say mean things about the animals.  Why do people come to the Zoo to be mean?  To me, animals are the most beautiful beings, and when someone says one of them is ugly, I not only want to ask them if they've looked in a mirror lately, but it hurts me.

The moral here, please take your time to enjoy each of the wonderful animals that live at the Zoo.  Learn what they are for the sake of their individual greatness and as a to respect to them.



Welcome

Hello Reader!

Whether you are new to my Zoo bloggin' or a frequent guest, I'll start by saying this is new blog for 2012 is meant to eventually be my only San Francisco Zoo blog.  I am working on wrapping up my other Zoo related blogs.  My Zoo bloggin' history has run the gamut, from fun Animal Bio's and Zoo happenings, to calling out the Zoo Management on things I find curious or concerning.  ... If you want to read any of my other Zoo related blogs, as well links to my photo site and youtube channel (containing more san francisco zoo animal material than any other place!) you can find the "awesome" link to the right :)

My outline goal for this blog is for posts to share my visit as I see it.  It will be many things. photos and notations about the wonderful zoo friends. curious and ridiculous zoo issues. disturbing and evil visitor behavior.  Its all happening at the Zoo.


Why visit my blog?  One of my greatest passions is my love for the animals who call the Zoo home.  As a San Francisco native, I have been a visitor all my life.  Almost four years ago I started visiting more often, which allowed for me to learn more about the animals (and other things ;).   If you share my affection for the animals, you will feed that feeling through my photos and notes.

That said, I'm behind already lol!  I have queued up a post for each visit since New Years Eve day, but I am slowly getting to the text of it.   So, the dates will be off as they seem to be taking on the date that I've posted them, opposed to the date I started them.  Therefore I will note the visit date in the subject line until I catch up, or whenever it differs.

Hope you enjoy this new format.  

Thank you for visiting!