Hello everyone, welcome to Zoo Crafting!We're building a zoo and going on lots of adventures in a beautifully modded survival world! I'm Seri, a biologist-in-training who loves sharing my passion for and knowledge of the natural world!
The goal: build an awe-inspiring, amazing zoo that will be filled with large, detailed habitats for the many animals that we'll collect from across several mods. We'll be doing this in survival so we'll have to collect everything by hand!
Along the way I'll be sharing some awesome facts about biology and the natural world, especially as we build habitats for each of the different animals. We'll also be going on lots of Side Quests as our small adventures spiral into much larger ones after we discover that this little world we spawned into houses some deep mysteries...
The series began in December 2013 and updates daily!
We celebrate our 50th episode with some delicious chocolate cake and the planting of a very special sapling we discovered! What is it about this little sapling that could change the entire layout of the zoo itself...?!
We're working in the snake exhibit again today to prepare a desert habitat for our future snake! After a bit of thought it is decided we'll try to build a desert temple to house our new snake! Now if we can just pull the design off right...
Bio-Fact of the Day! Snakes never really stop growing - they go through a process known as indeterminate growth! They will continue to grow their entire lives until death, getting a little bigger each year. So why don't we have 25m monster snakes? The older a snake grows the slower the growth rate becomes until it can reach glacial speeds of two centimeters every five years or similar rates, so even long-lived snakes won't get much larger than the species recorded record lengths despite the continual growth.
Thank you so much 10paktimbits!! That means a lot coming from one of my favorite mod authors! Your game has enhanced the entire series ten-fold! <3 I love your plants so much!!
Work continues on the black desert cobra exhibit as we get more of the hieroglyphics in place and ponder what story they are telling! Midway through construction we remember a couple very important tasks that need done and then come across a surprise guest who we quickly swaddle up in wool...
Bio-Fact of the Day! There are an estimated 36+ species of snake native to the lands of Egypt, ranging from the harmless African Egg-Eating Snake to the more deadly snakes such as the asp, spitting cobra, and horned viper! Ancient Egyptians had a complex relationship with their snakes, revering some and fearing others and turning some snakes into gods. An ancient papyrus, written by an Egyptian doctor, tells of different methods that snake bites in ancient times were addressed and treated, including detailed descriptions and measurements of the various snakes that could cause bites.
We finish up the black desert snake exhibit by wrapping up the temple, tossing around a few desert flowers, and quickly removing ourselves from the exhibit after we add our new venomous addition! We're only one snake exhibit away from finishing up the snake displays and moving onto the crocodile exhibit!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The black desert cobra is a venomous snake that lives throughout semi-desert areas of the Middle East. At an average length of 0.5 meters they may not appear too threatening, but their venom is very potent and cause cause respiratory distress and cardiovascular failure! They may look like the harmless black rat snake of North America, but they have a far more deadly bite!
We set out into Paradox Jungle to gather plant specimens for our final snake exhibit! What kind of awesome plants and animals will we find lurking in the ferns and bushes? Perhaps... the rare and elusive ocelot?!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The tall trees that grow in rainforests create distinctive layers of plant life. The emergent layer is at the top is where the tallest trees can reach and is filled with sunlight! Below the emergent layer is the canopy layer, where the thick leaves of the trees form a barrier that blocks out the sun to the layers below. Very few plants grow in the understory and forest floor layers, where little sunlight is able to filter through. The darkness of the forest floor contributes to the rapid and highly effective decay of organic matter on the ground!
Finally! We spy a little spotted feline out of the corner of our eye and hurry after it - without running to scare it away - with fish in hand! Of course, if we can tame a cat there will be that awkward introduction to the dogs... Before the day is over what other curious surprises are in store for us...?
Bio-Fact of the Day! Feral pigs are a major and serious nuance to the environment. Their rooting habits and large appetites destroy the soil and disturb plant growth. When they can they feast on small animals and the eggs of ground-dwelling species. They even create deep wallows to roll in water and mud that become prime breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Efforts to contain, reduce, or eliminate feral pig populations in key environmental areas - such as biologically unique and vital islands - are underway around the world, but they may do irreparable damage before they can be removed.
With our pockets full of fish and chicken eggs we're tackling a few of the items that have been on our to-do list so we can move onto some awesome new projects!
Bio-Fact of the Day! When hens are ready to sit on fertile eggs and hatch them it is known as "going broody." Large hens can brood (roost on and hatch) up to 15-20 eggs at a time! In about twenty-one days the eggs the hen is brooding will hatch into fuzzy baby chicks, already capable of walking and following their mother as she guides them to where they can find food and water.
I'm so glad you like the extra information 10paktimbits!! I love doing the extra research to keep my skills and curiosity sharp!
Plus you never know what random bit of information is going to spark someone's curiosity and make them want to learn more - and that is totally my goal! >
Now that we have some felines running around its time to bestow upon them their official security force ranks and titles! Also we whip out our lovely jungle leaves and start getting creative in the green tree python exhibit!
Bio-Fact of the Day! Cats have a long relationship with humans, their role as mousers and companion pets stretching back into ancient civilization. Ancient Egypt has some of the most well-known examples of the relationship between cats and humans taken to high levels, to the extent that cat motifs and cat gods were created, but ancient Egypt was not the only country to have a relationship with cats. The Norse also domesticated cats and often gave a cat to a new bride as an essential part of setting up her household. Their role as companion animals and canny hunters has even kept them involved as ship cats for military vessels into the modern era!
Time to toss ourselves into a world of greenery with leaves, leaves, and more leaves to make an amazing tree-top canopy for our future green tree python!
Bio-Fact of the Day! Although the canopy of rain forests are often 30 to 50m high they are rich with life and biodiversity! The tree canopy catches the majority of the sunlight that falls onto the rain forest, soaking it into the leaves of the tallest trees and the epiphyte plants that make their home high up in the tree tops. Fauna ranging from large numbers of invertebrates, invertebrate eating specialists, and even large mammalian predators such as clouded leopards make their home in the rainforest canopies!
We're in the middle of planning some of our next big projects when our new green tree python, Jade, decides to try to make a run for it!
BIo-Fact of the Day!Did you know that crocodiles can climb trees? Although they are not built for climbing and it can take a crocodile a while to get there, a few different species have been observed by researchers climbing into trees and even up brick walls! It is thought that the crocodiles climb in order to survey their territory and get higher up to sunlight for basking.
While exploring in the new desert area we stumble on a few awesome surprises and add to the family!
Bio-Fact of the Day! There are indeed elephants in the deserts of Africa - several tens of thousands! They are known as Savannah-desert elephants and have smaller body-mass and longer legs than other species of elephant. Savannah-desert elephants can go several days without water and primarily eat vegetation that grows along riverbanks. During the dry season elephant herds migrate to large rivers where they can have a permanent source of water. However their desert-dwelling lifestyle does cause calcium decay and they typically have more brittle bones and tusks than their cousins from wetter climates. However this may protect the desert elephants as it makes their ivory less of a target for poaching.
We spend a little time "huh" and "hmm"ing with the villagers of Heartstone, trading for some goods, gathering up our new cats, and then heading back off into adventure!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The worship of snakes is an ancient practice that spreads through most of the major civilizations and religions of the world, dating back to the Aztec and lasting all that way up into the modern era with snake temples in India and Malaysia. One of the most well known modern snake-worship temples is Manarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple in India. Nestled in a forest glade, this temple has over 30,000 different snake motifs and figures, many of which are brought by worshipers who come to the temple seeking fertility, weather, prosperity, long life, and other blessings. Nagaraja means "the king of snakes" and the temple is dedicated to the god Nagaraja, who legends say helped to desalinate the land and make it possible for greenery to grow once again.
Hello everyone, welcome to Zoo Crafting!We're building a zoo and going on lots of adventures in a beautifully modded survival world! I'm Seri, a biologist-in-training who loves sharing my passion for and knowledge of the natural world!
The goal: build an awe-inspiring, amazing zoo that will be filled with large, detailed habitats for the many animals that we'll collect from across several mods. We'll be doing this in survival so we'll have to collect everything by hand!
Along the way I'll be sharing some awesome facts about biology and the natural world, especially as we build habitats for each of the different animals. We'll also be going on lots of Side Quests as our small adventures spiral into much larger ones after we discover that this little world we spawned into houses some deep mysteries...
The series began in December 2013 and updates daily!
Official Website - Etsy Store - Twitter - Facebook - Patreon - Instagram
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Episode 50 Celebration!
A Very Special Sapling
We celebrate our 50th episode with some delicious chocolate cake and the planting of a very special sapling we discovered! What is it about this little sapling that could change the entire layout of the zoo itself...?!
Bio-Fact of the Day! Although most people believe the California redwood to be tallest tree in the world, there is some evidence to show that species of Tasmanian oak are actually just as tall, if not taller! This would hold consistent with the recorded tallest trees in the world, which was actually a Tasmanian oak measured at 150 m (492 feet) in 1885!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
A Story Carved in Stone
We're working in the snake exhibit again today to prepare a desert habitat for our future snake! After a bit of thought it is decided we'll try to build a desert temple to house our new snake! Now if we can just pull the design off right...
Bio-Fact of the Day! Snakes never really stop growing - they go through a process known as indeterminate growth! They will continue to grow their entire lives until death, getting a little bigger each year. So why don't we have 25m monster snakes? The older a snake grows the slower the growth rate becomes until it can reach glacial speeds of two centimeters every five years or similar rates, so even long-lived snakes won't get much larger than the species recorded record lengths despite the continual growth.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Zombie and Mummy Relations
Work continues on the black desert cobra exhibit as we get more of the hieroglyphics in place and ponder what story they are telling! Midway through construction we remember a couple very important tasks that need done and then come across a surprise guest who we quickly swaddle up in wool...
Bio-Fact of the Day! There are an estimated 36+ species of snake native to the lands of Egypt, ranging from the harmless African Egg-Eating Snake to the more deadly snakes such as the asp, spitting cobra, and horned viper! Ancient Egyptians had a complex relationship with their snakes, revering some and fearing others and turning some snakes into gods. An ancient papyrus, written by an Egyptian doctor, tells of different methods that snake bites in ancient times were addressed and treated, including detailed descriptions and measurements of the various snakes that could cause bites.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
We finish up the black desert snake exhibit by wrapping up the temple, tossing around a few desert flowers, and quickly removing ourselves from the exhibit after we add our new venomous addition! We're only one snake exhibit away from finishing up the snake displays and moving onto the crocodile exhibit!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The black desert cobra is a venomous snake that lives throughout semi-desert areas of the Middle East. At an average length of 0.5 meters they may not appear too threatening, but their venom is very potent and cause cause respiratory distress and cardiovascular failure! They may look like the harmless black rat snake of North America, but they have a far more deadly bite!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
We set out into Paradox Jungle to gather plant specimens for our final snake exhibit! What kind of awesome plants and animals will we find lurking in the ferns and bushes? Perhaps... the rare and elusive ocelot?!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The tall trees that grow in rainforests create distinctive layers of plant life. The emergent layer is at the top is where the tallest trees can reach and is filled with sunlight! Below the emergent layer is the canopy layer, where the thick leaves of the trees form a barrier that blocks out the sun to the layers below. Very few plants grow in the understory and forest floor layers, where little sunlight is able to filter through. The darkness of the forest floor contributes to the rapid and highly effective decay of organic matter on the ground!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Wild Cat Chase, Part Three!
Finally! We spy a little spotted feline out of the corner of our eye and hurry after it - without running to scare it away - with fish in hand! Of course, if we can tame a cat there will be that awkward introduction to the dogs... Before the day is over what other curious surprises are in store for us...?
Bio-Fact of the Day! Feral pigs are a major and serious nuance to the environment. Their rooting habits and large appetites destroy the soil and disturb plant growth. When they can they feast on small animals and the eggs of ground-dwelling species. They even create deep wallows to roll in water and mud that become prime breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Efforts to contain, reduce, or eliminate feral pig populations in key environmental areas - such as biologically unique and vital islands - are underway around the world, but they may do irreparable damage before they can be removed.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Amazing!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Fish & Chicks
With our pockets full of fish and chicken eggs we're tackling a few of the items that have been on our to-do list so we can move onto some awesome new projects!
Bio-Fact of the Day! When hens are ready to sit on fertile eggs and hatch them it is known as "going broody." Large hens can brood (roost on and hatch) up to 15-20 eggs at a time! In about twenty-one days the eggs the hen is brooding will hatch into fuzzy baby chicks, already capable of walking and following their mother as she guides them to where they can find food and water.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Plus you never know what random bit of information is going to spark someone's curiosity and make them want to learn more - and that is totally my goal! >
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
C.A.T. Security Team
Now that we have some felines running around its time to bestow upon them their official security force ranks and titles! Also we whip out our lovely jungle leaves and start getting creative in the green tree python exhibit!
Bio-Fact of the Day! Cats have a long relationship with humans, their role as mousers and companion pets stretching back into ancient civilization. Ancient Egypt has some of the most well-known examples of the relationship between cats and humans taken to high levels, to the extent that cat motifs and cat gods were created, but ancient Egypt was not the only country to have a relationship with cats. The Norse also domesticated cats and often gave a cat to a new bride as an essential part of setting up her household. Their role as companion animals and canny hunters has even kept them involved as ship cats for military vessels into the modern era!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Tree-Top Canopy Creation!
Time to toss ourselves into a world of greenery with leaves, leaves, and more leaves to make an amazing tree-top canopy for our future green tree python!
Bio-Fact of the Day! Although the canopy of rain forests are often 30 to 50m high they are rich with life and biodiversity! The tree canopy catches the majority of the sunlight that falls onto the rain forest, soaking it into the leaves of the tallest trees and the epiphyte plants that make their home high up in the tree tops. Fauna ranging from large numbers of invertebrates, invertebrate eating specialists, and even large mammalian predators such as clouded leopards make their home in the rainforest canopies!
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Snake Escape!!
We're in the middle of planning some of our next big projects when our new green tree python, Jade, decides to try to make a run for it!
BIo-Fact of the Day! Did you know that crocodiles can climb trees? Although they are not built for climbing and it can take a crocodile a while to get there, a few different species have been observed by researchers climbing into trees and even up brick walls! It is thought that the crocodiles climb in order to survey their territory and get higher up to sunlight for basking.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Orphaned Cougar Cub!
A routine resource gathering mission gets exciting when we find an orphaned cougar cub on the edge of a cliff!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The American mountain lion is known by several common names, including the puma, cougar, panther, painter, catamount, and mountain lion. Their range used to cover the entire continental United States, but over-hunting has reduced their numbers to isolated populations in Florida and small pockets of the Rocky mountains, poaching and being hunted as threats to livestock continues to dwindle their numbers. Mountain lions can be dangerous to humans but they do not go out of their way to intentionally hunt humans - they are opportunistic predators who have a chance of attacking an unwary human, but usually they run away instead.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Hidden Desert Gems!
While exploring in the new desert area we stumble on a few awesome surprises and add to the family!
Bio-Fact of the Day! There are indeed elephants in the deserts of Africa - several tens of thousands! They are known as Savannah-desert elephants and have smaller body-mass and longer legs than other species of elephant. Savannah-desert elephants can go several days without water and primarily eat vegetation that grows along riverbanks. During the dry season elephant herds migrate to large rivers where they can have a permanent source of water. However their desert-dwelling lifestyle does cause calcium decay and they typically have more brittle bones and tusks than their cousins from wetter climates. However this may protect the desert elephants as it makes their ivory less of a target for poaching.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!
Hearthstone Village
We spend a little time "huh" and "hmm"ing with the villagers of Heartstone, trading for some goods, gathering up our new cats, and then heading back off into adventure!
Bio-Fact of the Day! The worship of snakes is an ancient practice that spreads through most of the major civilizations and religions of the world, dating back to the Aztec and lasting all that way up into the modern era with snake temples in India and Malaysia. One of the most well known modern snake-worship temples is Manarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple in India. Nestled in a forest glade, this temple has over 30,000 different snake motifs and figures, many of which are brought by worshipers who come to the temple seeking fertility, weather, prosperity, long life, and other blessings. Nagaraja means "the king of snakes" and the temple is dedicated to the god Nagaraja, who legends say helped to desalinate the land and make it possible for greenery to grow once again.
A Biologist Adventures in Modded Survival!