ZooChat Challenge North America 2021

Roger Williams Park Zoo:

24. Pronghorn- Antilocapra americana

 

Bronx Zoo 21 Nov
56. California Mouse Peromyscus californicus
57. Cactus Mouse Peromyscus eremicus
58. North American Deer Mouse Peromyscus maniculatus

No antelope squirrels now

 

There goes any hope I had of passing you. I'll probably get a few more additions before the end of the year but I'm not getting to 59. GG.

 

It's been a fun challenge! There's one more I could get really easily, but I don't really feel like going there this year (bottlenose at national aquarium; expensive and parking is a pain). I've had two no-shows, as well, that I didn't get elsewhere.

 

Three no shows, forgot about that elephant seal

Between the three of us, we've seen 75 species. 38 were seen by all three. 23 were seen by only one of us - 9 by you, 8 by me, and 6 by thylo.

All 3:
American Badger
American Bison
Arctic Fox
Baird's Tapir
Beaver
Bighorn Sheep
Black-footed Ferret
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Bobcat
Brown Bear
California Sea Lion
Canada Lynx
Common Vampire Bat
Cougar
Coyote
Elk
Fisher
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
Gray Fox
Gray Wolf
Harbor Seal
Jaguar
Nine-banded Armadillo
North American Black Bear
North American Deer Mouse
North American Porcupine
North American River Otter
Polar Bear
Pronghorn
Raccoon
Red Fox
Red Wolf
Reindeer
Seba's Short-tailed Bat
Striped Skunk
Virginia Opossum
White-nosed Coati
White-tailed Deer

By two of us:
American Marten
Beluga
Cactus Mouse
California Mouse
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Gray Seal
Groundhog (a no show for me)
Kinkajou
Northern Fur Seal
Ocelot
Ringtail
Sea Otter
Southern Flying Squirrel
Steller's Sea Lion

By one of us:
American Mink (bnb)
Central American Red Brocket (me)
Collared Peccary (bnb)
Dall Sheep (bnb)
Derby's Woolly-Opossum (thylo)
Eastern Chipmunk (bnb)
Eastern Cottontail (bnb)
Greater Bulldog Bat (bnb)
Greater Grison (bnb)
Greater Spear-nosed Bat (bnb)
Harris's Antelope Squirrel (thylo, no longer on exhibit on my visit)
Jamaican Fruit Bat (me)
Lowland Paca (me)
Moose (thylo)
Mountain Goat (bnb)
Muskrat (me)
Northern Flying Squirrel (thylo)
Pallas's Long-tongued Bat (me)
Short-tailed Weasel (me)
Spotted Seal (thylo, no show for me)
Swift Fox (thylo)
Tayra (me)
White-throated Woodrat (me)

 

I wasn't going to get into the stats until the end of the challenge, but since you brought it up...

Here are the 19 species that none of the current top 3 participants have gotten yet:

Muskox
Mule Deer
Kit Fox
Island Fox
Wolverine
Hawaiian Monk Seal
Walrus
Harp Seal (only seen in Canada)
Ord's Kangaroo Rat
Merriam's Kangaroo Rat
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Wyoming Ground Squirrel
West Indian Manatee
Bottlenose Dolphin
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Big Brown Bat
Desert Cottontail
Antelope Jackrabbit
Snowshoe Hare (only seen in Canada)

You should all consider copying whatever @Ituri is doing in December if you want a chance at being the ultimate champion as they have 7 of the 19 species you lot are missing.

 

Let's see...
Muskox - only in Alaska and Woodland Park
Mule Deer - on this coast, only at Buffalo
Kit Fox - only at 8 places in the southwest
Island Fox - only at two places in CA (Santa Barbara and CALM)
Wolverine - GRRRR. Would have gotten if my trip this month had happened! Closest to me is Columbus. Was my goal species for the year, along with Mink.
Hawaiian Monk Seal - only at MN and Waikiki
Walrus - another I would have gotten on my trip (Indianapolis). Beyond that, only at SW Orlando, SW San Diego, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (CA).
Harp Seal - in the US only at SW Orlando, unsigned and not always out
Ord's Kangaroo Rat - in the USA only at Fort Worth, Lee Richardson, and Kansas Wildlife Habitat, I believe
Merriam's Kangaroo Rat - only at a couple of places in AZ and NM
Yellow-bellied Marmot - only at Big Bear Alpine Zoo, no longer at Bronx (or not on exhibit, anyway)
Wyoming Ground Squirrel - only at Kansas Wetlands Education Center
West Indian Manatee - a third I would have gotten on my trip, at Columbus and/or Cinci. Outside of those two, the only places with manatee are DWA and places in Florida.
Bottlenose Dolphin - an easy one for me to get, I just don't feel like paying for parking and having to walk a distance since National Aquarium doesn't have its own parking Would also have gotten at Indy on my cancelled trip.
Pacific White-sided Dolphin - only at Shedd, Miami Seaquarium, and SW San Antonio.
Big Brown Bat - possible for me to get at NCs, but their hours always suck and many are still closed from covid.
Desert Cottontail - Only at DWA, Springs Preserve in NV, and Randall Museum in San Fran.
Antelope Jackrabbit - only at AZ-Sonora.
Snowshoe Hare - another I would've gotten on my trip At Cleveland Museum of Natural History, possibly at Lake Erie Nature Center.

So 5 of these, I would have gotten on my trip. Thylo and bnb both went to AZ/southern CA but missed those species; I'm the only one out of us that didn't do any big traveling. Haven't even done an overnight this year! But I'm also probably the only one who considers 6 hours away a day trip

 

Muskoxen are at Point Defiance, not Woodland Park .
The Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History in South Dakota has a pair of Mule Deer (which were unfortunately still in quarantine when I visited ).

 

Buffalo Zoo has mule deer? When I went this summer I saw no evidence of then having this species, were they a recent acquisition for the old reindeer exhibit?

 

I'm flattered, but somehow I'm still not in the running, so maybe I'm still not doing it right.

09/26 PUEBLO ZOO
41 Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis)

Also didn't realize Lowland Paca counted so...

03/28 Tulsa Zoo
42 Lowland Paca

 

Same place haha. And I said mule deer for this coast South Dakota is a bit of a hike from delaware!

I was totally wrong on that, I got them mixed up with something else at some point and never caught the error; I have it on several things now. Glad I mentioned it so you could catch it for me

So none on the east coast at all.

 

What I had actually meant is that they should visit the zoos you did and add to their already greater total, but I realize that doesn't really help you sorry about that!

 

Not having access to many marine mammals this year was my downfall

 

I think I would have won if I had had more time at ASDM - I had to leave early for reasons beyond my control and therefore missed most of the possible species.

 

We've all had misses, though. I had several no-shows, including two major ones, and my travel this year has been really restricted by my young dog, who can't be left alone (he cries nonstop, apartment neighbors generally don't like that). I've had to rely on days when my mom had off work + didn't have anything to do + weather wasn't awful/other reasons to not travel.

 

I was going to align my ZCCNA updates with my travel thread, but since I keep telling all of you not to wait and dump all your species near the end I won't set a bad example so here are all of the new species I've added in the last couple of weeks. I will add what institutions they came from once I've covered all of them in the travel thread.

31. Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)
32. Elk (Cervus canadensis)
33. Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargentatus)
34. Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
35. Swift Fox (Vulpes velox)
36. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
37. Seba’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia perspicillata)
38. Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
39. Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)
40. Greater Bulldog Bat (Noctilio leporinus)
41. Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus)
42. Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)

 

Cosley Zoo 12/12/21

42. Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
43. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
44. Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

And with that, what’s probably going to be my final total for the year. Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get these three.

 

Oregon Zoo 12/12
25. American Black Bear - Ursus americanus
26. Polar Bear - Ursus maritimus
27. Harbor Seal - Phoca vitulina
28. Southern Sea Otter - Enhydra lutris

 

Should be 29 since you added that Geoffroy's Spider Monkey as an edit back in April, so:

26. American Black Bear - Ursus americanus
27. Polar Bear - Ursus maritimus
28. Harbor Seal - Phoca vitulina
29. Southern Sea Otter - Enhydra lutris

 

Thanks, I missed that.