Question about the Detroit zoo reptile house circa 1965.
March 14, 2023 8:51 AM Subscribe
I have a bizarre memory that I thought was an invention of my 3 year old mind but recounting it recently jogged the same memory in a relative.
I’m keeping it below the fold with a content warning for animal cruelty.
I remember a room lined with built-in display cases for larger reptiles but drawers below them that contained smaller things like coral snakes and lizards. You pulled out shallow, glass covered drawers to look at live animals.
I'd love for this not to be true and Google is no help.
I remember a room lined with built-in display cases for larger reptiles but drawers below them that contained smaller things like coral snakes and lizards. You pulled out shallow, glass covered drawers to look at live animals.
I'd love for this not to be true and Google is no help.
Response by poster: Thanks MC. It may help to know the name of the reptile house. Yeesh, the film shows clips of the ape and penguin enclosures….even to a toddler it seemed cruel, so the idea of snakes in drawers seems almost believable.
posted by brachiopod at 11:13 AM on March 14, 2023
posted by brachiopod at 11:13 AM on March 14, 2023
Tangential to your ask, but I will say that I think this is how many reptiles are still kept in breeding circumstances. There is a plethora of Instagram and TikTok reptile accounts that show this practice.
posted by kensington314 at 11:32 AM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 11:32 AM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I also visited the Detroit Zoo as a child in the 60s and definitely remember the animal drawers.
posted by millermartel at 2:20 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by millermartel at 2:20 PM on March 14, 2023
Coral snakes usually burrow or live in leaf litter, so they might not mind being in a drawer as much as one might think. It probably depends on what the drawer is like and if people are pulling it open all the time. Storing reptiles in drawers is definitely a thing that people with a lot of reptiles do. Not saying that is a good thing.
posted by snofoam at 12:27 PM on March 15, 2023
posted by snofoam at 12:27 PM on March 15, 2023
Wayne State University Digital Collections only has two interior shots, unfortunately no drawers visible.
Also hard to tell from this postcard on eBay.
You could also try contacting the zoo itself. I believe they have a historian.
posted by Preserver at 5:22 PM on March 15, 2023
Also hard to tell from this postcard on eBay.
You could also try contacting the zoo itself. I believe they have a historian.
posted by Preserver at 5:22 PM on March 15, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks all. If anyone does come up with a photo, I'd still love to see it.
To be clear, it's not so much the idea of constricted space - the stress of hundreds of people/kids opening and shutting the drawers all day, every day seems like hell.
posted by brachiopod at 8:41 PM on March 16, 2023
To be clear, it's not so much the idea of constricted space - the stress of hundreds of people/kids opening and shutting the drawers all day, every day seems like hell.
posted by brachiopod at 8:41 PM on March 16, 2023
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Access to this International Zoo Yearbook article from 1965 is paywalled, but the summary indicates it discusses the design of the reptile habitats there, for good or ill:
Some modifications have been made to displays, but only of a minor nature. Problems have been encountered with inadequate filtration of water in the display cages and temperatures in the public area have exceeded comfortable limits due to the large crowds.
This seems to have some footage of the Holden showing up around the 24:30 mark, but mainly in closeups of reptiles:
Detroit Zoological Park: A Zoo for All Seasons (1973)
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:08 AM on March 14, 2023