The amount of publications I see posting a bird fact I posted in 2021 and subsequently received relentless hate for over a month and accusations of gaslighting my followers is an attack on me personally.
So I'm leaving work and something darts in front of me, maybe 10ft away, too fast for me to see what it is. Peek around the tree blocking my path and I see this
Just like... a whole ass hawk. Dude's gotta be about 1.5ft tall. Massive fucking bird. And it's just staring me straight in my soul like this, even as I try to move ahead. It didn't budge. And there's only this path back to my car unless I want to walk on a busy highway. So I have the option of Death By Raptor or Death By Truck.
So I walk in the poison ivy filled patch off the sidewalk. Guy still isn't moving. Still staring me directly in the eyes. And I do this thing when animals are behaving strangely where I'll talk to them, so I'm just like, "Hey, man. I don't know you. You don't know me. This feels really threatening. I'm just trying to get to my car, dude. Can I get some space please? You're a big fucking bird. I see those claws. You could kill me right now, but I'd appreciate if you didn't, ok?"
It didn't move until I was about 2ft away. Again: I'm as far from it as I can be without walking into the street. It clearly wasn't going to budge. I walk past, thing flies up (silent, btw. Scary) and lands on a brick wall a little further ahead
Anyway. Weird guy. Nearly shit my pants when I noticed a bird big enough to carry off a fully grown cat was just... there, staring me in the face, unwilling to move away from me, a human, something it should see as a threat. I watched behind me the whole rest of the way to my car, just in case this bird decided to help me shed this mortal coil. 10/10 experience. Super cool guy.
This is so funny because that’s a freshly-fledged juvenile red tailed hawk.
It didn’t leave simply because it didn’t really know the giant gorilla thing walking towards it was a threat. You were menaced by what amounts to a teenager who just passed their driving test just chilling under a tree.
This thing weighs all of 1 pound and barely knows it’s a bird.
the bird got a nat20 on intimidation from a die it knocked off the desk
anywhere humid and tropical is almost guaranteed to have scarlet millipedes (Trigoniulus corallinus), a successful invasive species thought to have originated in Southeast Asia.
more so than any of the other little millipedes I come across, these seem to be constantly copulating, even out in the open in daylight like this pair in Miami. in captivity, I’ve noticed T. corallinus males will attempt mating with any millipede they can catch, including male Narceus many times their size, who are typically unimpressed with their tiny suitor’s gentle, rolling tickles.
only a pair of the same species, though, can mate successfully, and this is for mechanical reasons: millipede genitalia are often shaped so that a male’s gonopods (modified legs used to deliver sperm) can only connect with a female of the same species. this makes the gonopods a vital source of identifying characteristics for diplopodologists!
curiously, the T. corallinus I found in Sarawak—closer, probably, to their point of origin—were a much darker, duller red. no less amorous, though
Googled sharknato instead of sharknado; did not disappoint
they have many current events to discuss
They are ready to sink their teeth into global relations
In India’s Thar Desert, nomads rely so much on camels for survival that the animals are revered. Livestock owners take great pride in their camels, carving intricate patterns in their fur.
Joggins Formation, Nova Scotia 300 Million Years ago
A Denderpeton watches over her eggs hidden inside a Lepidodendron trunk while a Hylonomous (small reptile) and Weygoldtina (Tailless whip scorpion) gets swept away by the current. As a Canadian I have a soft spot for local paleofauna, especially in the maritimes.
There's a lesson here
What the hell? Is this normal? Is the snake ok?
Thanks for tagging me!
So, this isn't good, and it's not normal, but this is something that can happen in even healthy snakes, with a few big qualifiers. This only really happens on ophiophagus (snake-eating) snakes, like this kingsnake, and it happens because they think they smell food and wind up biting themselves. This snake happened to bite at just the right angle to swallow their tail, and as they kept going, any pain they felt was dismissed as being from their "prey" biting them.
This snake is probably okay. As you can see in the video, they let go as soon as some hand sanitizer got in their mouth - snakes hate the smell and taste of the stuff.
Situations like this are very rare. This snake's keeper did the right thing - it looks like they brought them to to the vet based on the table, and some hand sanitizer got them to let go with no issues.
funky lookin fella i saw leaving work. they were just standin there. stanced up. idk if i have a question here besides "is this a fledgling do i got my bird words right" and "hey lookit this dude"
Fledgling grackles are the most pathetic beasts on this earth.
What happens to a nursing vixen’s coat that would make her pelt unusable?
A number of reasons.
Firstly, all the belly hair falls out to allow the cubs to nurse. Although the back fur is the most valuable, no one wants a pelt with half the fur missing!
Foxes have cubs at the same time they start their spring moult. This causes their long winter guard hairs to fall out, leaving just the short summer fur. The molting process can take many months, during which time their fur looks very patchy and uneven. The fur is very lose and brittle during this time, so even if preserved the fur would still continue to fall out and be useless for making clothes.
Vixens also put all their energy into feeding and rearing their cubs. This means their immune systems are weakened and they're more prone to getting sick or having things like mange, which also affects their fur.
Basically, no one wants a coat made out of patchy, damaged fur that constantly falls out. Fox fur is only suitable to use for clothing when harvested during the months of October - February when it's at it's prime.
Let me examine closer *my eyes turn purple and blaze with spiritual power* oh yeah no that's an egret not a heron, it's got black legs
happy birthday to all the tbs in the southern hemisphere!
Special Event: All Horses’ Birthday (Southern Hemisphere only)
the painted tody-flycatcher is a small member of the tyrant flycatcher family. endemic to south america, they are found in the guianas and a small portion of northeastern brazil. these birds haven’t been studied extensively, and some of their behaviors are a mystery. however, as their name implies, we know they are talented at catching insects, which make up most of their diet. additionally, the species does not seem to be sexually dimorphic, with both sexes displaying primarily bright yellow plumage.
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