We went to the Museum of Natural History this weekend for the Lizards and Snakes exhibition. The exhibition itself was pretty cool, but overall, the museum is just not what I expected. What is up with those diaramas, or whatever they are called? It%26#39;s a huge amount of floor space filled with stuffed animals in front of paintings. I absolutely love science and animals, so I think I am the target audience for this museum. I just didn%26#39;t get it.
And, while I am complaining, I must say that the enclosures for the lizards and snakes were not as nice as I expected either. There was plenty of cool information to read to our kids, but I just thought the animals needed more space in each enclosure - especially that ridiculously large python at the end. Call me crazy, but I thought the animals looked a little sad and/or bored. Maybe they were just annoyed with all the brats that kept tapping on the glass. Why won%26#39;t parents notice all the signs placed at eye level that plainly state, ';Don%26#39;t tap on the glass';? Why, or why won%26#39;t they then tell their excited little ones to calm down and respect the animals while they observe them???
And the elevators! Are they hand operated or something? They were horribly slow.
OK, the food in the cafeteria was fine. And the guy checking our car before we pulled into the parking garage was super nice.
Museum of Natural History not so fabulous
Hmmm...so I%26#39;m NOT the only one. I thought maybe it was just me who was disappointed by the museum. I tried to justify my feelings by thinking that we had just spent a few hours hiking around Central Park and we were tired, sweaty , and hungry but.....I too, did not care for the diaramas with the stuffed animals. I also wasn%26#39;t impressed with the space show but the planets were really cool. I also enjoyed the dinosaurs ,but for the price, I didn%26#39;t feel it was worth it.
As for the school kids, since I teach middle school, I%26#39;m used to the hubbub of field trips with large groups of kids. I found the New York students of all ages very well behaved. We really enjoyed watching them at the museum and also at Ellis Island. The ethnic diversity was so wonderful to see. Since I live about 40 miles away from Cincinnati in John Deere country, there is absolutely no ethnic diversity!
Museum of Natural History not so fabulous
Did you think the dioramas were poorly done? It is a museum, not a zoo, so of course the animals are dead - I always thought dioramas were a nice way to showcase the stuffed animals, rather then just having them in cases (like in a taxidermy shop). I%26#39;m actually surprised that they had LIVE lizards and snakes there at all. We plan on going for the first time in 25 years but there have been lots of criticisms of it lately. Did you go to the Planetarium, too?
I forgot about the dinosaurs. I agree that those are pretty cool.
No, it wasn%26#39;t school kids and field trips. It was parents who were completely oblivious to their children%26#39;s behavior. That really annoys me to no end. We have two kids, and there is no WAY we would let them smack away at the glass.
I%26#39;m just a little tired of parents letting their kids do whatever they want in public places. Even worse than when they ignore their kids is when they smile and act like rolling around on the floor in a public place is just the cutest thing ever. Or, when they push my kids out of their way to get a closer look.
By the way, I used to teach seventh grade science.
Warmwinds - Of course it isn%26#39;t a zoo. However, I can see really great stuffed animals at FAO Schwartz. Yes, I guess I would say the displays are poorly done. It just struck me like something I would find in our local museum, not in a huge, well-known institution in NYC. Actually, come to think of it, our local museum does have better displays. I think my problem is the quality of the diaramas.
We did not check out anything planetary, so maybe that area is much better.
While we were trying to find our way out, we very quickly passed through an African area. That looked really interesting, but again, we were flying through there.
I haven%26#39;t been to the AMNH in several years, but if your complaints are about the elevators (how many floors are there even, anywway????) and that FAO has just as good of stuffed animals (keep in mind, FAO animals are completely hand-made of fake fur and AMNH are REAL animals), it seems not a good complaint. I know, not every museum is for everyone, but are you really comparing a world-class museum to a toy store?
Leslie- Of course I am joking about FAO. Have you seen the museum%26#39;s diaramas? I am simply stating my opinion of this part of the museum.
There 4 floors at the museum, I think. The building is absolutely huge, and even with a map, we were having a little trouble finding our way around. Yes, we did take the stairs after we realized the elevators were very slow. We heard others grumbling about the elevators. However, stairs can give my knee some trouble, and our son is young so his little legs can only last so long. Elevators are not a make or break variable in my analysis of this museum. They were simply an annoyance.
I%26#39;ve been to the AMNH many times over three decades, and the stalest part is the dioramas. They%26#39;re old and look it. I thought the were going to be renovated or replaced.
I do enjoy the meteor, rocks and minerals area very much. That never gets old to me, especially the jewelry. The dinos are good too.
But I agree, it could use some updating.
Yes, updating is exactly what that section needs. And, in all fairness, it seems like such an enormous building that I am sure we have only seen a fraction of it.
Sorry, you were underwhelmed. Try to keep in mind that this is a museum dedicated to the *history* of nature, not the present.
Here%26#39;s some background:
';What is up with those dioramas?';
#1 During the era of Teddy Roosevelt was the genesis of what we now call ';ecology'; and ';preserving the environment';, and part of that movement involved going on safaris, and killing and stuffing animals for posterity. (notice the statue of T. Roosevelt with an African person at the museum entrance steps.)
Ok, besides that inherent contradiciton, it was a way to honor and display exotic nature, especially for those urban NYC unwashed masses who%26#39;d never get to travel to Africa, Asia, etc. Some of the specimens you see are the only ones left.
#2 The taxidermed animals are about 100 years old, and include many species that are now extinct, so they might not look so good these days....(should have used more moisturizer)
All the surrounding small animals, plants and minerals in each diorama was taken from the site of the animal%26#39;s killing.
#3 I would say that, frankly, the ';regional New York'; animals are the worst to look at! The birds, mice, bats, etc, are displayed like meat in a butcher shop! Gross.
The large mammals, insects, worms, gems, and of course the dinosaurs are the best exhibits, imho. (did you get to go to the gems or dinosaurs?)
#3 The AMNH is really, believe it or not, a research center. It is the repository of hundreds of thousands of samples and specimens from the natural world, including fossils, plants, bones, insects, minerals, worms, birds, gems, eggs, etc. It is at the center of human fossil research.
#4 The original sketches for the AMNH dioramas are displayed on the walls of The Explorer%26#39;s Club, an adventure-travel club in Manhattan started in 1904.
http://www.explorers.org/index.php
[By the way, Explorer%26#39;s Club is a great building! You can rent it out for parties. Yes, it has 100-year-old taxidermed animals like a 7-foot polar bear, but it also has a sled that went to one of the poles (can%26#39;t recall...Peary%26#39;s?)]
#5 Let%26#39;s face it, the AMNH elevators are old. I guess they%26#39;re low on the renovation priority list.
Don%26#39;t hold your breath. The dinosaur halls weren%26#39;t renovated for about 60 years. That%26#39;s when the world discovered there is no such thing as a brontosaurus.
A skull and skeleton had been mismatched in the dinosaur hall for decades, and no one realized it until the renovation in the 1990s. Thousand of texts had to be changed, not to mention Fred Flinstone%26#39;s Bronto-Burger! That%26#39;s how authoritative the AMNH is!
Know any millionaires who want elevators named after them?
#6 ';Why won%26#39;t parents notice all the signs placed at eye level that plainly state, ';Don%26#39;t tap on the glass';? Why, or why won%26#39;t they then tell their excited little ones to calm down and respect the animals while they observe them???';
OK, pardon me but was this the first time you%26#39;d been anywhere in NYC surrounded by large numbers of children?
There is no way to control NYC brats in museums, no matter how many signs and security guards. If you live here, you know that horrifying devil-children are a way of life here some days.
#7 I hope you knew that AMNH is ';pay-what-you-wish'; every day.
;o)
Give it another try someday! Go very early in the morning, and stick to gems and the dinosaurs.
I%26#39;ve got a hint for all you guys when you are in a museum, any museum...once you get on a working elevator, take it all the way to the top floor - you are then done for the day! After looking around each floor all you have to do then is walk DOWN one floor at a time - much nicer than when you%26#39;re exhausted and have to keep going UP.
I%26#39;m going to have to do a little more researching to see if we want to go to the MNH or not - we are also going to the New-York Historical Society that same day, plus doing a walk-around in the neighborhood - some great architecture right around there!
Did anyone see the Cosmic Collisions film or the IMAX on Caving?
