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Zoo visitors interpret warning signs as
suggestions rather than positive bans on any particular behavior.
Messages such as DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS, STAY ON THE PATH, STAFF
ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT are just some examples of signs which are
often ignored. Visitors wander off the walkway and into the kangaroo
area, trying to get near these animals, blissfully unaware of the
damage kangaroos can inflict with their powerful hind legs. They
ignore DO NOT PET signs and strain to reach over and beyond barriers
to touch biting animals such as donkeys and ponies, and then
complain when the inevitable happens. I often see visitors standing
directly in front of the DO NOT FEED sign blissfully tossing
cookies, crackers, and popcorn to the orangutans. When confronted,
the excuses range from "I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me."
to "I’ve always fed animals at the zoo. Why are you scolding
me now?" I once saw a young couple pause in front of adjacent
doors trying to make a decision as to which one to use. The first
door had a sign in large letters reading ENTER, while the second
door had a sign on it reading, EXIT ONLY - DO NOT ENTER!
The maintenance crew had just refinished the
expedition storage crates at the Kansas City Zoological Park,
coating them with water-resistant varnish. They were careful to put
a warning sign on each box reading WET PAINT. Unfortunately, the
signs did not always deliver the appropriate message nor deter the
skeptics.
Two young women pushing strollers walked by
the expedition crate just outside of the Australia Woodland Aviary,
when one paused and said to her companion, "Alice! What's that
sign say?"
Alice peered intently at the sign and read out
loud: "WET PAINT." Having said that, she approached the
crate and gingerly placed the tip of her finger on top of the box.
"Oh, it's not wet," she muttered derisively, as though
somebody had tried to pull a fast one on her.
"Maybe it's wet on the sides,"
offered her friend. Alice dutifully slid around beside the box to
test another location. "Hey Betty!" she exclaimed,
thrilled by her discovery, "It's sticky over here."
"Let me see," said Betty, just to
make sure her friend's assessment was correct. She too slid around
beside the box and placed her finger on the surface. "Yeah,
it's wet all right. I got it all over my hand and some of it is even
on my pants. Look at that for crying out loud. Now, how am I going
to get this stuff off?"
"I think I got some Handy Wipes somewhere
in this bag," responded her pal as she fumbled through her
belongings. "Try this, maybe it'll work."
Betty took the Handy Wipe and began rubbing
the paint spots. Alice and Betty toddled off down the path to the
aviary, pushing their strollers, one daubing ineffectively with the
Handy Wipe while the other commiserated loudly and grumbled about
"careless workmen."
"You'd think they'd put up a warning
sign, wouldn't you?" she complained.
"Yeah. You’d think so, but what can you
expect these days?"
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