To: Woodland Park Zoo
\nFrom: Matthew Baldwin
\nDate: Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 4:52 PM
\nSubject: Are the lights on in the nocturnal house at night?<\/p>\n
Hi! A friend and I visited your fine zoo recently. Later that night, over beers, we joked about breaking in and revisiting the nocturnal house, because we loved the bushbabies so. <\/p>\n
It was just a joke (honest), but it got us to wondering: if we had infiltrated the nocturnal house at, say, midnight, would the lights be on? Would not having a \"day\" period every 24 hours do to the nocturnal animals what living in a constantly-lighted house would do to you or I?<\/p>\n
Bonus question: for nocturnal animals in the wild, what happens during an eclipse? Does that, like, totally mess with their heads?<\/p>\n
Curious,
\nMatthew Baldwin<\/p>\n
To: Matthew Baldwin
\nFrom: Woodland Park Zoo
\nDate: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 7:24 AM
\nSubject: Re: Are the lights on in the nocturnal house at night?<\/p>\n
Dear Matthew,<\/p>\n
No need to infiltrate; the lights are indeed on during our nighttime in the Night Exhibit. We simply swap time periods. <\/p>\n
The animals would find it difficult to sleep without daytime periods. Behavioral effects of lack of sleep with animals hasn't been greatly studied in non-primates, however you'd probably expect to find situations of decreased appetites and possibly aggressiveness.<\/p>\n
An eclipse, whether solar or lunar, probably wouldn't have much of an effect on wild animals. The relatively short periods of time these occur within might cause a minor disruption of their routines but most likely nothing long term.<\/p>\n
We hope you bet a beer on this one!<\/p>\n