Sign on the door of the San Francisco Zoo's "Insect Zoo" building:
No food, drink, gum, or smoking in the Insect Zoo.
No smoking I understand (an indoor space in a part of the zoo aimed at children -- and it's California). I'm less certain about the gum (but no one wants to step in it).
Why no food or drink?
Are they worried it will attract bugs?
More like this
Take a look at this video made by fellow ScienceBlogger Dr. Isis. She's talking with her son, a toddler who adorably mimics her as she says very complicated words such as "Adventures in Ethics and Science" and "Wackaloon" (but sadly, not "Cognitive Daily"):
It's cute, but it's difficult to say…
A couple of weeks ago, inspired by a somewhat drunken encounter two weeks prior, against my better judgment, I waded into the evidence supporting the contention that secondhand smoke is harmful to health, increasing the risk of heart disease and lung cancer in workers chronically exposed to it. In…
A pilot program has been launched in England to take blood samples from animals in zoos not with plastic syringes but with live, bloodsucking insects known as a kissing bugs.
You may feel a slight pinch...
As many of our zoo keeper readers can tell you, taking blood samples from animals in zoos…
Diagon Alley, London.
Image: Warner Bros. 2001.
Now that I am recovering from food poisoning, I have been making up for lost time by working extra long hours on my upcoming London trip -- thus, my blog has been rather .. quiet .. today. I have been planning my travel based on which sights I wish…
I think you said it right here, "an indoor space in a part of the zoo aimed at children"
Indoors and children dont mix when food and drink are involved. Their reasoning is probably that kids are going to be common in the building, kids are messy, and this would ruin the facilities.
Maybe it's a "do not feed the animals" thing? Any spilled soda, dropped candy is insect food.
Having worked at a hands-on science center and having visited the really cool SF Insect Zoo, I'm picturing all the glass covered with sticky little handprints.
Additionally, you don't want to encourage eating and drinking when kids are around germ-covered animals.
Perhaps they don't want their prize specimens getting stuck on some kid's candybar.
"Why no food or drink?
Are they worried it will attract bugs?"
Ah, starting my day off with a laugh - thank you!
It's not a petting zoo, is it? That might explain everything. (And of course there's my favorite New Yorker cartoon with the sign for the tasting zoo.)