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A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 30 May 2010, 22:30
by husky_jim
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 30 May 2010, 23:20
by MatsP
The first animal is a "Ground squirrel", aka "Gopher".
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Mats
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 31 May 2010, 05:44
by L number Banana
Beautiful pictures on 'old rusty'!
I have the gophers in my yard but I also have the great horned owls so therefore not as many gophers...
Would trade them for the lemurs or jags

Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 31 May 2010, 06:07
by andywoolloo
first picture looks like a prairie dog to me.
awesome pics !!!
oh no wait #2 is prairie dog
the jaguar and the flower are cool.
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 31 May 2010, 11:48
by MatsP
I'm pretty sure that "Prairie dog" and "gopher" are partial synonyms - they both refer to "Ground Squirrels" of some sort or another, but I'm not sure they are exactly the same thing.
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Mats
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 31 May 2010, 17:33
by zenyfish
Not to be overly technical here, but prairie dog and gopher are different animals. I have an advantage since I have gophers in my yard
Also emu above is not an emu. Here's an emu as I know it:

Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 02 Jun 2010, 15:08
by Shane
Not to be overly technical here, but prairie dog and gopher are different animals.
The joy of common names... The first animal is what I grew up calling a rockchuck aka yellow-bellied marmot (
Marmota flaviventris) (Barbie will know all about rockchucks). Gophers to me were very small, but there are about 40 members of the family. The ground squirrel I grew up with was brown and looked like a normal squirrel but they dig nasty burrow entrances. Then again there are six genera worth of "ground squirrels" and I am sure the differences between them as are important to "squirrel nuts" as the difference between
Hypancistrus and
Panaque are to us. They were the enemy on our ranch as their holes are the exact size of a horse hoof and horses would break their leg if they stepped in one. This led to my many hours of target practice with a .22 rifle, but that is another story.
While visiting Jools he pointed out some mistletoe to me in his garden. You would think mistletoe was universal, but what he showed me was not what a person from the Americas would recognize as mistletoe. A little research turned up the fact that there are 73 genera and 900 spp (!) of mistletoe. That is a lot of kissing.
Great photos!
-Shane
PS marmot are known as varmit (or varmint) in many American dialects. This might be a combination of vermin (pest) and marmot as marmots are seen as disease carriers (like rats in Europe). Hence the American term, "You yellow-bellied varmit."
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 02 Jun 2010, 21:19
by Jools
Of course, I could have misidentified the mistletoe, which would explain quite a few awkward moments at Christmas parties past.
Jools
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 03 Jun 2010, 01:35
by Birger
This led to my many hours of target practice with a .22 rifle, but that is another story.
Hehe...pastime of many a young lad...sunny day, hillside, case of beer(or two) and guns...quite the combination
Re: A day at the zoo....ATTICA Zoo Park
Posted: 03 Jun 2010, 03:49
by Viktor Jarikov
local ground squirrels vary from small chipmunks to large fat groundhogs aka woodchucks - the latter dig impressive holes, with entrances wide enough not only for a horse but also for a human or a big foot to break a leg...