The Strangest Questions People Have Asked

After volunteering at the zoo for about two and a half years I would like to share the strangest questions and comments that people have said to me or to other docents.

ABOUT THE ZOO

I volunteer at the OC Zoo at Irvine Regional Park. As a docent I educate the public about the animals. Most of the animals at the zoo are rescues and can not be released back into the wild. I handle lizards, snakes, birds, hedgehogs and opossums for the public to see. I also bring out the discovery cart; there we display animal fur and artifacts for people to touch and ask questions.

1) It's a Toad, It's a Hippo, It's..... a Lizard?

We have two chuckwallas at the zoo named Chuck and Larry that us docents can take out for the public. They are a type of lizard that can be found in desert areas.

When Brendan, a docent, had the chuckwalla out a guy asked "is that a toad?"

I don't personally think the chuckwalla looks toad like since the scaly skin, claws and tail says lizard. But here is a stranger comment that a lady said to me, "it looks like a hippopotamus."

2) Tortoise Soup

I had out our cute desert tortoise for people to touch. A guy came up and started asking me questions about the tortoise. His questions were a bit strange though. He asked if people can eat it. I told him that it would be illegal since this animal is protected and it is unlawful to touch, harm, harass or collect a wild desert tortoise.

After telling him that he continued to ask me questions about eating it. And I clearly showed that I was uncomfortable talking about it. The guy continued to asked questions about what it would taste like, and the best way to cook it and if it would be easy to cook, and if you could eat the shell. As if I knew everything about cooking tortoise.

I was thinking, why would you want to eat a little innocent tortoise sir? And how would I even know how they taste?

3) Sedate A Snake

Rosy boas are pretty calm and docile snakes, so when I hold them some people ask if it's real or made out of rubber. One time however someone asked, "Did you sedate the snake?" No we do not sedate the snakes. And I would not feel comfortable administering a drug to the animal every time I take them out, nope.

4) Do Owls Poop From Their Mouth?

Photo of Willie the western screech owl who is blind in her right eye.

Owls eat a whole mouse, they will puke-up an owl pellet which is the fur and bones of the animal that they can't digest. One park guest with his daughter were asking about owl pellets and the parent asked "Do owls poop from their mouth." The kid said it's just throw up and they don't poop. I explained what an owl pellet is and that that all animals "poop"(excrete waste). In this case I would say the kid was more on the right track about owls than the parent.

5) Guess What This Is From.

At the discovery cart I have beaver fur and beaver tail samples and I often have people guess what animal it's from. I tell them, "this is the tail of the animal and this is the fur of the animal." Usually people guess beaver, but one time a guy guessed "Eagle!" I told him this is from a beaver and that eagles have feathers not fur.

6) Handsome Tegu

The other docent, Brendan, was holding the red tegu named Jeffery. He was explaining to one lady that male tegus have big cheeks called jowls to impress the ladies. The lady responded with, "I'm horny," and walked away.

7) Hedgehog Piglet

We bring out the hedgehog and we are used to people thinking it's a baby porcupine. When Brendan had out the hedgehog one person asked "will the hedgehog grow up to be that." The guy pointed at the collard peccary exhibit. Collard Peccaries look similar to pigs, but with fur. I don't personally see the resemblance between a collard peccary and a hedgehog. Then again I also don't see the resemblance between a porcupine and hedgehog either.

8) I Must Look Like An Animal Killer

Photo credit to Brendan

Now here is the strange question from the kids, all other questions before involved adults.

At the Discovery Cart I have animal fur and bones I show people. I am always asked once or twice by a kid if I killed them. No I did not kill the animals and skin them. The furs are donated to the zoo. However, one day I was volunteering alone and it was extremely busy. There were 10-15 people at the discovery cart at a time. Every other question was ...

"did you kill these animals?"

After getting tired of saying "no, they were donated to the zoo", I went morbid. I explained the animal died of natural causes and every animal that lives does die eventually (yes I said die, not pass away). I then gave a list of causes of death: hit by car (most common cause), illness, fight with another animal, old age etc. I even went on to say, while holding up the opossum fur, for example; opossums don't live too long out in the wild, they only live about 1.5 years (oops on my part).

I hope you enjoyed these questions and comments that people have said to us at the zoo. Hopefully after talking with the people I cleared up some misconceptions about animals. This was not written with the intent to make fun of people, but to help people gain more of an appreciation and understanding about some amazing animals.