I use a social media site called Nextdoor that is designed to connect people who are in the same geographic area. There are many people on there who give away many useful items for free. While I’m on there, I almost always see one or two posts where someone has posted a photo of a plant/animal/fungu…

Many people, if you challenge their “ID”, you have to remember that they are not thoughtful nature detectives who are trying to get to subspecies. They have some role in life (father, wife, etc.), and a fragile ego, and they cling to this idea of being the authority or “the smart one” when their ki…

Where I’m from, for the majority of people any snake in the water is a moccasin, any snake on land is just “a snake” and automatically assumed to be venomous, and all are to be killed on sight

[image] dlevitis: What common misidentifications do you see from non-naturalists in your area? Most of the non-naturalist people I know identify any long thin fish (gunnels, pricklebacks, etc) as eels, despite the fact that there are no true eels in Alaska. Also, they commonly misidentify th…

What motivates people to state and defend [things] when they really have zero idea I have news for you about literally any other topic discussed on Nextdoor. A shout-out to the heroes in my area a few years ago who weighed in on the hotly-argued “fox vs coyote” debate with “white rhinoceros”.

I think a lot of people are just unaware of how many species of spiders, snakes, fish, etc. there actually are. They’ve only ever heard of three kinds of spiders: brown recluse, black widow and tarantula, so when they see a small, black one, they “know” it must be a widow. If it’s big and hairy, …

I generally only read the posts on Nextdoor that are giving away something I could use or have a photo of an organism. But I agree, it is not a hub of careful thinking. [image] papernautilus: They’ve only ever heard of three kinds of spiders: brown recluse, black widow and tarantula, so when th…

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - as I learn, again and again on iNat. Always, always another rabbit hole to explore!

Sounds like you’re just experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect in which confidence is highest in those with the least knowledge.

[image] papernautilus: I think a lot of people are just unaware of how many species of spiders, snakes, fish, etc. there actually are. In the plant world, a lot of non-naturalists I encounter believe that “moss” is a species (that apparently includes a lot of lichens), and sometimes “fern” is…

I think your answer is the solution. On the flip side, there are a lot of people who know a lot about nature: farmers to start with, gardeners with ornamentals and veggie patches, animal lovers, hikers, photographers. Proper identification is probably not their primary concern.

Persistent Misidentifications by Non-naturalists

Nature Talk

wayne_j May 3, 2025, 12:32pm 8

I found that the best thing to do with Nextdoor was to delete the app, free junk didn’t make up for the amount of stupidity found there.

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Persistent Misidentifications by Non-naturalists

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