#Ecosystem damage

[themorningnewsinformer]

Alligator Alcatraz: Everglades Become Florida’s Swamp Detention Hub

Introduction Alligator Alcatraz, a migrant detention facility under construction deep in the Florida Everglades, is stirring fierce backlash. Built at the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, the camp leverages natural wildlife barriers—alligators and pythons—to prevent escapes, drawing criticism for its environmental and human rights implications. What Is “Alligator…

[garyconkling]

Climate Change Impacts Getting Harder to Ignore

Climate Change Deniers Should Visit with Disaster Victims For Americans directly impacted by hurricanes, floods, tornados, wildfires, heat waves and droughts, the handiwork of climate change is getting painfully harder to ignore. According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the number of billion-dollar natural disasters per year in America is rapidly increasing.…

[cacomixle]

I have a rant about people and planetary care.

Hear me out and bear with me for a minute or two, if you have the time and patience -

I eat meat

And I like eating meat

And when it's possible I prefer to be the one to kill an animal *myself* if I'm going to eat it.

BUT

That absolutely does NOT give me the right to kill shit unnecessarily.

And it does NOT give me the right to cause other animals pain or suffering.

There is a REASON for humane euthanasia practices.

An animal you're eating should be given the respect and consideration of a quick death that does not follow a fearful interaction.

You don't just get to make other animals suffer because you're going to eat them.

And certainly not just because you consider them a pest in your way.

Very little separates you, as a "human", reading this in our little made up society, from everything else as an "animal" - killing and fucking without thought for consequences beyond success or death. Consideration for HOW one kills is a huge part of maintaining that imaginary construct we sometimes call "society".

This thing we're all doing together? Living like "humans"?

That can only happen if we can all be something more than animals together.

It doesn't happen on its own, we have to *decide* to do it *together* or else we ARE just animals who put on clothes.

Respect your food.

Use humane practices.

Don't poison pests.

If you can handle it, maybe even put spiders and centipedes and moths back outside if you find them - they have jobs to do also.

Everything in this world has a place in our ecosystem, that's WHY it exists in the first place.

Not everything belongs to "humanity"

Quick fucking up our planet - we don't own it, we just work here.

[dipperscavern]

was having some robb stark thoughts last night trying to fall asleep… sigh

you and robb usually rise in the mornings at the same time. queen & king in the north, you have duties to attend to that force you both out of bed earlier than you’d like. but sometimes, robb has to be up before you.

his weight dips down on the bed as he sits beside your sleeping form, fully clothed & ready to leave. he wants to let you sleep, knows you need your rest—but you’d kill him if he left without waking you up to say goodbye.

his hand comes to tuck your hair behind your ears, soft murmurs of your name rousing you from sleeps hold. he pulls his hand back as you open your eyes, both of you smiling at the sight of the other. you reach out, still half asleep, hand finding robb’s. he brings your hand to his mouth, kissing it as you look up at him—love etched in your pupils. you pull him closer, & robb chuckles at your neediness, voice warm & dripping like honey. he leans in, pressing chaste kisses to anywhere he can reach. he starts at your cheek, trailing down to your jaw and eventually your neck. each kiss grounds you firmer and firmer to the present, pulling you out from the hazy state sleep puts you in.

he eventually stops, resting his head in the crook of your shoulder. he closes his eyes, soaking up your presence before he has to become king in the north. right now he’s just robb, the man you grew up with at winterfell. your hand comes to run through his curls, as your other thumb massages lightly at his temple. he relaxes further into your touch, a groan rising from deep in his chest. robb’s body had been wound up tight during his time at war, as to be expected. the weight of his burdens sit heavy on his shoulders, long days of fighting not only lannister armies, but sometimes his own men—clouding his mind with headaches that only you seem to be able to relieve in the slightest.

“keep doin’ that and I won’t be able to get back up.”

he’s only teasing (he’s completely serious), making you laugh as you retract your thumb from his temple. his eyes flutter open, sighing at his own stupidity, wondering how he could ever ask you to stop making him feel good. his mind takes over, reminding him of his duties. if he doesn’t get up now, he surely won’t be making it out of this tent by high noon. he can already hear greywind rustling from his guard outside the entrance of the tent, warding off someone’s presence.

he gathers his wits, trailing kisses back up your neck. once he gets to your cheek, he even teases by placing a kiss at the corner of your mouth. he smiles at his own antics, proud of himself, before he presses his lips to yours. his hand comes to cradle your jaw, kissing you long & firm, as he sits up. your lips chase his, and he places a quick peck on your lips once more as he stands up. his hand leaves your jaw, and you could almost whine at the loss of his touch.

you watch him turn & walk away, he doesn’t turn around to look at you again, knowing if he does—he’s going right back into your arms. he grabs his sword, opening the flap of the tent & walking out. you stretch, content with his goodbye. you’ll get up in a few minutes, and you’ll see each other around the camp, but it’s the quiet mornings before the world wakes up that keeps you both sane. you smile, hearing robb & theons voices outside the tent as they walk away.

“what took you so long? greywind almost had me for a snack, you know.”

“would be a small meal.”

is screaming at your own writing something u shouldn’t admit cause AHHHHHHH. put me & him in a room tg & we BOTH walking out pregnant.

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Mammalia - Peramelemorphia

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

The marsupial order Peramelemorphia contains the living families Peramelidae (“bandicoots”) and Thylacomyidae (“Greater Bilby”).

Peramelemorphs all tend to have a characteristic shape: a round, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, upright ears, relatively long, thin legs, and a thin tail. They range from the size of a rat to the size of a rabbit. They are omnivorous, feeding mainly on soil-dwelling invertebrates, as well as seeds, fruit, and fungi. They possess a well-developed sense of smell and eyes that are adapted for nocturnal habits. They are are generally solitary, with females taking care of their young.

Female peramelemorphs have a pouch that opens to the rear, to protect their young while they dig for insects and their larvae. The gestation period of peramelemorphs is the shortest among mammals, at just 12-14 days. As in other marsupials, peramelemorph joeys are born as tiny, relatively undeveloped neonates and must crawl their way from the vagina to the pouch to latch on to a teat, where they will complete the rest of their development. Peramelemorph growth is fast, with bandicoots setting off on their own and becoming sexually mature at just three months of age. Female bilbies reach sexual maturity at five months of age, and male bilbies become sexually mature at eight months. This allows a given female to produce more than one litter per breeding season and gives peramelemorphs an unusually high reproductive rate compared to other marsupials.

Peramelemorphs originated in the Late Oligocene. Both the oldest modern bandicoot (Peramelid) and the oldest bilby (Thylacomyid) are known from Middle Miocene fossil deposits (around 15 million years old).

Propaganda under the cut:

The name bandicoot is based on the animal’s ratlike appearance. The name comes from an English corruption of an Indian word "pandi-kokku" meaning "pig-rat".

The smallest peramelemorph is the Mouse Bandicoot (Microperoryctes murina), which is 15–17.5 cm (5.9-6.9 in) long.

The Golden Bandicoot (Isoodon auratus) is especially adapted for life in hot, semi-arid environments. It has a low body temperature that is constantly changing, making it heterothermic. This allows the internal body temperature to fluctuate in response to extreme environmental temperatures without inhibiting and denaturing necessary proteins. Additionally, its low metabolic rate correlates to less heat being produced by the body, and a low thermal conductance does not allow the animal to capture and store heat well. A highly efficient panting mechanism allows for a low rate of evaporative water loss when cooling the body, conserving precious water.

The Northern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) is one of relatively few native Australian ground-dwelling mammals that is able to survive in urbanized landscapes, due to their generalized diet and habitat requirements.

The Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) (image 1) is the basis for the popular videogame character Crash Bandicoot, and was selected from a number of Tasmanian mammals by creators Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin for its appeal and relative obscurity.

Described in 2014, a fossil species of Miocene bandicoot found at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area was given the genus name Crash. It was given the species names bandicoot. Because paleontologists are just Like That.

Wiped out due to predation from introduced foxes and domestic cats, as well as land-clearing for farming, the Victorian subspecies of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) was declared Extinct in the Wild. Thanks to 30 years of conservation efforts, breeding the bandicoots in human care and establishing fox and cat-safe sanctuaries, the mainlaind population was changed from Extinct in the Wild to Endangered in September 2021, a first for Australian conservation!

The Giant Bandicoot (Peroryctes broadbenti) (image 3) is more than twice the weight of other bandicoots and adult males of the species can attain weights well in excess of 4 kg (8.8 lb).

Unlike bandicoots, Greater Bilbies (Macrotis lagotis) (image 2 and gif) are excellent burrowers and build extensive tunnel systems with their strong forelimbs and well-developed claws. Burrows spiral down, making it hard for predators to get in. A bilby typically makes several burrows within its home range, up to about a dozen; and moves between them, using them for shelter both from predators and the heat of the day, as they are desert-dwelling animals.

Greater Bilbies are generally solitary, however, there are some cases in which they travel in pairs. Pairs usually consist of two females as the sole caregivers of their offspring.

Greater Bilbies do not need to drink water, as they retain all the moisture they need from their food.

Because rabbits are invasive in Australia, introduced by European settlers, bilbies have been popularised as an Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny. Haigh's Chocolates in Adelaide made 950,000 chocolate “Easter Bilbies” between 1993 and 2020, with proceeds donated to the Foundation for Rabbit-Free Australia, which does environmental work to protect the indigenous biodiversity of Australia.

Today, only the Greater Bilby survives and is vulnerable, but the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is a recently extinct relative, having possibly survived into the 1960s. Its extinction was much “quieter” than that of the Thylacine, and was likely due to introductions of invasive predators like the domestic cat and red fox. Other “quiet extinctions” include that of the Desert Bandicoot (Perameles eremiana) which appears to have disappeared between about 1943 and 1960, and the Nullarbor Barred Bandicoot (Perameles papillon) which was last collected in 1928.

Today, many peramelemorph species are still threatened and endangered due to habitat fragmentation and introduced predators, as well as from competition with introduced rabbits. Areas designated to conserve vulnerable populations of bilbies and bandicoots have predator exclusion fences built around them, and must be heavily monitored for break-ins. In Currawinya National Park in Queensland, high-salinity flood waters damaged a predator exclusion fence, allowing feral cats to enter the sanctuary, wiping out all the bilbies in the park.

[cameoliob]

Does Eriss have any hobbies outside of sports? Or a favorite subject in school?

OMG HIII THANK YOU FOR ASKINNNGGG I love having an excuse to yap about her omg

So hobby-wise, i really cannot stress how much this girl loves grav ball. I mean it's unnatural. Like Kallus and Zeb have TRIEDDD to get her into other things but she simply yearns for the court

To be fair, though, sports don't take up ALL of her time, and in the handful of hours a week she'll get to herself, she's probably just curling up in bed and reading a book or something (if you're wondering, she prefers thriller novels) In her teens onwards she's not really an extrovert by any means; she does have friends, of course, but you won't be seeing her at any social hours by any means.

Now, I can very easily imagine that Kallus and Zeb would want to instill a love for education in their kid, right? Teach them how to ask questions and find answers based in fact so that they dont make bad, ill infomed descisions that they'll have to reap the consequences of later in life? (cough cough, Kallus, cough cough). Eriss was a pretty naturally inquisitive kid, and I couldn't imagine a world where they wouldn't foster that?

So basically she's an academic fucking weapon if there ever was one. I mean, she's a competitive workaholic (hmmmm I wonder who she got that from hmmmm) who genuinely enjoys school (which, tbh, is a little bit terrifying but i made her like that so ig i cant really nitpick) so it's really a no brainer that she's an academic force of fucking nature

My girl graduates college as the Salutatorian from her graduating class with a bachelors in science for chemical engineering (RAHHHH WOMEN IN STEM RAHHHHH) (and Kallus and Zeb are obviously the proudest parents in the whole galaxy, ofc)

TLDR: Eriss Kallus-Orrelios is a woman in stem who likes grav-ball and thriller novels

[gingermintpepper]

Since you feel so strongly about Apollo in adaptations, you probably hate Lore Olympus' version 🤣

(or "Asspollo" like I call him, to distinguish the LO! Version from the actual deity)

Rightfully so btw, because he's a terrible character both morally, as a version of Apollo and even as a villain, his writing sucks.

Oh god; Lore Olympus.

Okay so full disclosure, I never finished LO because I do actually love myself and suffering through shitty greek myth adaptations is only fun for me if I can tell that the author has a point they're trying (and failing) to bring across. Lore Olympus was already failing on so many levels that by the time the Apollo assaulting Persephone thing came up and I realised it was going to be a recurring thing, I was so mentally checked out that I couldn't even be scandalised LOL

Nothing about him even remotely resembles the figure Smythe claimed him to be an interpretation of which honestly is a shame considering that I absolutely adore a villainous Apollo and he makes for an utterly terrifying antagonist when done correctly.

Like, in a vacuum, I don't even mind an 'Apollo who wishes to usurp Zeus as king' story! There's a legitimate case to be made for Apollo being born before Ares and therefore being Zeus' firstborn son. There is a legitimate conflict to be dug into about Zeus' two most favoured counsels being children from relationships outside of the one with his wife. And Apollo was honestly a massive asshole when he was a young god! He was rash and impulsive, he ran about treating the world like it already belonged to him and didn't particularly care about the people he displaced or inconvenienced in his rush to establish himself. He was insulting his fellow gods, had a ton of pride and was enough of a terror that I genuinely think the islands and coves had the right idea refusing Leto sanctuary because they were afraid Apollo would trash the place the moment he was born LMAO

If Lore Olympus meant to channel this rowdy Apollo into their mess of a character, then they also did a terrible job of that because, vitally, LO's Apollo isn't intimidating. He's written to be pathetic, self agrandising, cowardly and foolish - the kind of person that's meant to look bad in order for the protagonists to look good. Apollo as a villain should be so destructive so as to inspire fear - the kind of ruthless, focused destroyer that makes you remember that he's named not for light but for the very destruction that he's now bringing.

So like, yeah, I don't like LO! Apollo 😂 Frankly, I think of him more as like someone's pet who was named after the god rather than something that's meant to actually share any qualities with him. The actual worst thing about that little freak is that it introduced a ton of people to the concept of Apollo and now there's people who cannot divorce the image of Apollo from a vile, pathetic, idiotic rapist who cannot even gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss his way into a decent succession plot.

Also he's not pretty, not handsome, and has short hair. Waste of my damn time is what he is 🤨

[snakesandstone]

theres an alternate universe where the norse mythology adaptation that got really popular actually vaguely resembled the source material and odin wound up being the poster boy for tumblr sexymen. and my god do i wish i lived in that universe

[marigoldbaker]

cannot believe this has never occurred to me or to others (??) but spike should hook up with ethan to psychologically damage giles. there would be no good way out of this situation for ANYONE.

[eldritch-bf]

The real mystery of the reanimator universe isn’t how Herbert died and came back in 2/3 movies but how they managed to get that iguana through international customs

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

having now seen what mythical j sausage considers a "starter base" i am campaigning for his addition to the Hermitcraft server

[wife]

i forgor that when riot makes shows about the other seasons people are going to kin the characters. like fsr I don't think people deserve to kin any league character if they don't play the game. you have to earn it in blood.

[parasitoidism]

transmasc headcanons are always based ofc but sometimes I'm just like . he would not fucking have top surgery. yknow?

[homestucky]

jsyk if you make a post and tag characters who are not in the post you get dungeon. sorry to be the one to tell you but yeah. dungeon.

[maythray]

yeah sure vote yes on the extremely poorly worded amendment that potentially threatens the health of local ecosystems. but no yeah vote no on the extremely well worded amendment that literally ends in big bold letters that its a net economic positive. sure man whatever. my teeth in your throat. whatever.

[worldofgoo]

it seems like people are able to acknowledge that even places "corrupted" by human habitation can still count as nature but also i feel like culturally we're still at war with anything that we cant manage/own/control (lawn mowing is a big example)