• Suddenly unable to log into your ZooVille account? This might be the reason why: CLICK HERE!

Do you believe Animals are naturally drawn to zoos?

Have you (and or others) noticed a magnetism between yourself and animals?

  • Yes

    Votes: 125 81.7%

  • No

    Votes: 29 19.0%
  • Total voters
    153
Z

Zetaman40

Guest
Just decided to make a poll because I'm curious to see the result. I've noticed there is some sort of magnetism between myself and animals thats been there all of my life, others that know me have pointed it out as well so I'm not just "imagining" it like most anti-zoos would conclude if they heard me say that, ive been called a dog whisperer in the past multiple times. Animals are drawn to me even ones ive just met, there's countless times various dogs have chosen to run to and chill by me in a group of people, sometimes even ignoring their owner and choosing to go to me instead, curious to see how many others share the same alluring impact on animals (even with animals you've never done anything sexual with) I'm honestly just trying to figure this out. Do zoos give off a zooradar that animals pick up on lol or some sort of special attractive pheromone science hasn't discovered yet? Please tell me I'm not the only zoo that's noticed this quite frequently
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think the explanation will be much simpler. When you know how to behave around animals, you become relaxed and probably give off subtle body language that snimals recognize as friendly. You can see this when meeting an unknown dog, the dog may approach you a bit reserved, but when you reach for him/her in a confident, familiar way, the dog will relax and so will the owner in some cases.
 
Definitely, I've had plenty of crappy dog owners with untrained and untamed dogs be surprised that they're dog actually likes me. Sexual wise though, I've had ...some... dogs get lustful in my presence alone, but not many. My best guess that some dogs can smell my pheromones and understand what those pharomones mean. But that's just a guess.

Edit: This is my 1000th post! Woo!
 
Last edited:
No. Not particularly. The way you treat animals along with your demeanor can affect the way they act around you. Including what you smell like because what you are on the inside also has a sent that most animals can pick up on.
 
i don't think it's some "magnetism" thing at play... we simply know how to interact with animals better than "normals". i've been called a "dog-whisperer" or "having some sort of dog aura" (i took a dog of my friend for a single walk and he listened to me more than to his owner) before, but i really think it's just my body language towards them more than anything... or they simply smell other dogs off me, i was also told i smell like dog shelter a few times
 
I have interacted with upwards of 100 stray starved and abused dogs in my life. I have only ever been bit once. I figure I give off a non threatening demeanor that helps them to trust me. I also live with several dogs, Sleep with several dogs bathe with several dogs. in short I am sure I carry the scent of a dog on me. So they may just think I am a weird dog that walks on two legs and can get them the food, lol.
 
I do think dogs can somehow tell. Even before I realized I was a zoophile, dogs seemed to like me randomly. I definately think the at ease with animals factor others have brought up comes into play.
 
Think it is like others have said a combination of your scent, something they can smell ?? and body language in the way you interact with them.
 
I say no because animals aren't much different than us in they learn who they can trust and who they can't. Animals are naturally going to be more friendly to someone who has a calm demeanor and genuinely loves animals. They sense hatred and fear just like we do but simply do not have the ability to make their own decisions as to who they end up belonging to. It's almost a given that any bastard who beats women most likely beats his animals to and while in most cases the woman has ample opportunities to leave, the poor animal is left to fend for itself.
 
I only have my experience to go off, but I believe so. I tend to gain the trust and respect of animals pretty quickly, have had several pet owners tell me how impressed they are that I got their animals. Things like, oh wow she's usually afraid of men. Or, omg I thought he was gonna bite you but then you had him in your lap within minutes. That kinda stuff. It would make sense that other zoos would experience this as well, since we generally appreciate these animals more deeply than the average non zoo. Just my thoughts anyway.
 
I just think that most animals are crazy good at reading body language and micro expressions, much better than most humans. Because of this, I’m sure animal can pick up on humans that are interested in, or aroused by nonhuman animals. We definitely seem to have a different vibe than most mundane animal lovers.
 
I said yes, but "magnetism" is a bad word choice, there are cultural expectations animals have when interacting with other animals, zoos tend to be familiar with these more than other people, for example a proper horse greeting is to sniff the newcomer to the herd all over, the proper response is to stand perfectly still until they have finished their inspection. Zoos have a higher tendency to know these kinds of cues, and it seems to me many animals get their interest perked in the "Humans that talk like us" because most other people are pretty dense to addressing how other animals feel.

Conclusion: Humans need more training and education. Then this process will not appear like black magic.
 
A few years back when I was working at a boarding kennel, I was called up to take a customers dog one day, but the boss and the customer didn't notice me arrive so I started talking quietly to the dog standing in the back of the customer's ute. The dog came over and we greeted each other and I was patting her chest and under her chin after she had given me a sniff and determined I was no threat. I was calm, the dog was calm, all was fine until the customer noticed me and freaked out because her dog hate all men and would supposedly bite my face off!. The dog then became very tense and nervous obviously put out by the her owner's reaction to me. I stopped patting her, but did not move away. The dog then took a step towards me and gave me a lick. Almost to reassure me that it was ok, just sometime her human got crazy and made a lot of noise. This thoroughly confused her owner who just couldn't comprehend the fact her dog was acting friendly towards me. A dreaded man and all. So many animal issues are caused or made worse by the humans in their lives. All I had done was just act relaxed and quietly confident letting the dog approach me first and not touch her till she was happy with my presence. It wasn't some sort of magic or mystical zooy power, I just spoke better dog language than her own human.
 
I've had a human tell me horses don't like getting their ears rubbed, while in the process of putting a pony to sleep by rubbing gently on his ears. I've noticed that many humans project their entire understanding of animals from what they've read or been told, but are entirely ignorant of the concept of asking questions or working with the animals in their lives. Also, there is a great tendency to assume all animals are the same instead of being individuals with individual capacity. This stereotyping gets used a lot in the "X animal is dumb" argument, because they just cite one or two cases where an animal got itself in trouble and think the entire species is incapable of acting any better.

The hardest part for me in these situations is trying to tell them I can't stay.
 
I think they can smelt pheromones we give off when we're turned on, or jsu tthe stink of grool or pre, or whatever, sweat, beyond that, no.
 
I think it depends on personality, not sexual preference. Animals have often approached me, I theorise because I'm typically calm and docile, not getting worked up all that easy.
 
No magnetism, just understanding. It visibly improved after I started to pay attention and try to learn. While being a zoo has probably nothing to do with drawing animals, picking up the mentality of people here is a huge factor.
 
Yes, I think animals are able to sense when someone is empathizing with them. I think this level of empathy and the ways zoos view their partners it causes more “happy hormones” to be released which most animals can sense/smell allows zoos and animals to build stronger bonds.
 
Funny that so many people see it. I grew up on a farm and even before finding out i was attracted to animals i felt a connection. I was always drawn to animals. And many others also say there is something strange going on between animals and me. Recently (3 years ago) i started to work with horses. I did not know much about em but whenever someone had a problem others asked me and i was able to solve that issue. Some even called me horse whisperer even tho before i had no interest in them. There was a spark and after that it was like we could talk. Even family says they can understand me.
I think its because i dont expect anything of my companions i "work" with. They do their thing and i do mine. I just go about my day with them like i am a part of their world. I play with my dogs or with the horses as if i were one of them. My two dogs i adopted also chose me. The second dog wasnt even planned but after following me around all the time i had to take him with me.
 
All dogs, and animals in general love me. They just sense a kinship.
In all of my 51 years, I have always felt more kinship and closeness with my animals than I ever have with people, including my parents and siblings.
When I say that ALL dogs love me, I am not exaggerating. I don't care how mean, and viscous people want to think their dogs are, I can have them romping on the ground playing in no time at all. Once, many years ago, the neighbors across the street from us were drinking and having a good old time in their front yard, My mom, myself, and a friend of mine were in our front yard and we were invited over. The topic got around to me being so good with dogs, and the neighbor said something like, yeah, but not my dog, she'll tear him apart. (The girl was a pit bull, and with hindsight, maturity, and age I now realize that she was a very mistreated little thing.) anyway, my mom tells me to go into the back yard and show them. I don't know how many minutes passed, but I was in the back yard playing with the dog when my mom and the neighbor comes around and see us. My mom smirked and said, see, I told you. The guy got pissed off and wanted to kill the dog, all because she recognized a kindred spirit. He didn't do it by the way.
 
I don’t think so, but I definitely have dogs follow me around, and everyone around me notices it. Sometimes I won’t even notice I have a little buddy following me around until someone points it out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top