brdi3s-beasties - Tumblr blog

[brdi3s-beasties]

Just a silly reminder that citizen science is SO EASY!! I strongly believe that everyone ever should have iNaturalist, even if you don't use it that often. Genuinely i think that people overestimate the amount of information or commitment they have to already have to be able to contribute, so here's a quick walkthrough of what you need to make an iNaturalist entry:

-have you seen (or heard) EVIDENCE of an organism? (the organism, the sound it makes, a feather/fur, scat, prints, or any other evidence that something has Been There)

-do you know where you are? (this can be as broad as a continent or as specific as a street address)

That's literally it. You don't have to know what species you've seen (although any ideas you have will be helpful! you can log something as a broader family, or even as just generally 'bird' or 'fungus'). You don't have to have pictures or recordings of it. You don't have to know almost anything. You can just put what you do have out there and people will add to it with what they know!!

Also, having an entry on iN bumped up to research grade is maybe one of the most affirming things a person could ever experience.

[brdi3s-beasties]

if i recall correctly honeybees are actually invasive specifically because we protect them, they out compete the native bees hewre which are more efficient at pollination

more or less true, honeybees can be a real pain for native species. I’ve not read anything from the US about their negative effects (not my interest) but I’ve skimmed a paper about how farmed bees harass other species in Europe and seen videos of them robbing honey from stingless bees in Brazil.

my main issue with them is the publicity, though. “save the bees” campaigns for honeybees is like trying to save endangered parrots and penguins by protecting chickens. there are so many more important species of bee than the one whose spit we eat

[brdi3s-beasties]

Man it is a sad state of affairs out there for casual observers of nature. I was watching birds earlier and logging things in iNaturalist so I was trying to figure out if tufted titmice were sexually dimorphic (they aren't), and this was the second search result. Highlighted and everything and it straight up gets the definition of sexual dimorphism wrong.

All this to say, try your best to find a decent field guide. They're generally not outrageously expensive, and if you can't afford one you can sometimes find them at libraries (including online copies if your library uses Libby or similar services. Sometimes they'll even have audiobooks with recordings of animal calls!). Plus, you get fun little notes like this one where a bird's call is referred to as 'complaining' and sometimes neat illustrations.

And if you can't find a field guide, just make sure you're at least triple checking your internet finding, because the enshitification is well underway and it's annoying as hell. Anyways, here's the titmouse I saw earlier :)

[brdi3s-beasties]

PETA put up more ads all over the city about how animal fibers require the death of animals, or requires ripping out their hair. This is your periodic reminder that that’s just not true. It doesn’t even make sense. It’s usually a haircut. Some of them get brushed. That’s it. That’s how we get animal hair off of the animal.

[brdi3s-beasties]

Got this article recommended to me

and I just wanted to mention something in it that raised some hairs for me

I'll admit I'm not Australian and don't personally know anyone who is, so maybe there really is an overlap of the terms locally there, but I wanted to mention it because **STRAY AND FERAL ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE TERMS!!**

STRAY animals are socialized with human interaction, and the term is often used (at least where I live) to refer to escaped pets. But the most important feature of a stray animal is that it is comfortable and able to interact with humans. If a stray cat were picked up off the street it could be adopted and would act as a "normal" pet cat.

FERAL animals are not socialized with human animals. They may be of domesticated species, but they are the closest those species can get to "wild". It is often incredibly difficult or impossible to adopt and fully integrate a feral animal into a pet lifestyle.

(you'll notice I use 'animal' because while we most often use these terms with cats, they can be technically applied to nearly any domesticated animal)

This is a crucial distinction when we talk about handling the impact of domestic animals on the environment around them because it determines how an animal's impact can be minimized. For as long as there are pets there will be strays. It is inevitable that a pet animal will occasionally escape or wander off. If an animal is a stray then the best course of action is to try and identify who it belongs to. If no one can be identified as an owner (no collar, microchip, posters, other search efforts, etc) then a stray animal can be adopted out. If an animal is feral then the best course of action is to reduce its ability to cause environmental harm as best as possible. The most common method for this is with feral cats tnr (trap, neuter/spay, release), with the goal being to sterilize as many cats as possible to minimize the population growth.

This is by no means a complete informational guide on handling the impact of domestic animals on wildlife. It's just something I typed up quickly because I had seen something about it. Thanks!!

[brdi3s-beasties]

as a huge lover of birds, 90% of the concern against wind turbines being used for energy is literally just pro fossil fuel propaganda. birds ARE at a risk however there is a lot of strategies even as simple as painting one of the blades that reduces a lot of accidental deaths. additionally renewable energy sources will do more in favor of the environment that would positively impact birds (and all of us). one study found over one million bird deaths from wind turbines. while that is a shockingly high number and we should work to drastically shrink it, at least 1.3 billion birds die to outdoor cats on a yearly basis. it was never about caring about birds

[brdi3s-beasties]

I have very temporarily relocated all the crabs to the 55gal so I can redo the 40breeder! It's getting a ton more substrate and also I'm probably moving a bunch of stuff around. Very exciting :}

[brdi3s-beasties]

Next big project is going to be moving every crab I see to the 55 gallon tank so I can fully revamp the 40breeder

[brdi3s-beasties]

DONE!!!!

Oh my god I cannot describe how rewarding it is to see him immediately rush to the background and use it exactly how I expected him to :') . I'm honestly so glad I waited until I'd had him for a while to build anything custom because I know now that it's going to be totally suited to his needs and preferences. Also can I just say Kerosene is like. The chilliest snake ever?? I just put him back in the big tank after a half a month in the 10 gallon and he is still exploring. Almost every other animal I know would immediately scurry off to hide and then come out later to poke around. He's so sweet and lovely and confident and he is my pride and joy :')))

[brdi3s-beasties]

!!!! Big things happening!!

[brdi3s-beasties]

Got started carving!!!

He has no idea:}}

[brdi3s-beasties]

Got the background installed and the first layer of grout on!!

This is going way faster than I expected lol I might even be able to move him back in this weekend!

[brdi3s-beasties]

The little man is officially in temporary housing so I can install his new background!!

[brdi3s-beasties]

Messed around with silicone and dirt tonight

[brdi3s-beasties]

the cognitive dissonance from people who want the products of modern medicine but get weird about animal research. like im sorry but this is necessary for the survival of the society we currently live in. and the scientists who work on these things are not evil cackling psychopaths. anyone you talk to in animal research has incredibly complex feelings about their work and incredibly complex relationships to the animals in their care. there are regulations and oversight and penalties in place to make the work as humane as possible and scientists are overwhelmingly the ones enforcing and advocating for better care.

[brdi3s-beasties]

It is imperative that I plague you all with the information that Tanner SerpaDesign seems to have popularized speaking in the passive voice during voice-overs in the reptile YouTube community because it drives me absolutely WILD (not /neg, it's just so funny to me)

My most impressive pattern recognition skills are being able to identify based on a YouTube thumbnail and MAYBE the first 30 seconds of their video if someone in the reptile hobby:

-is Australian

-started out keeping fish

-learned everything they know from SerpaDesign

-only keeps display animals OR only keeps interactive animals (as a principle, not a coincidence)

[brdi3s-beasties]

My most impressive pattern recognition skills are being able to identify based on a YouTube thumbnail and MAYBE the first 30 seconds of their video if someone in the reptile hobby:

-is Australian

-started out keeping fish

-learned everything they know from SerpaDesign

-only keeps display animals OR only keeps interactive animals (as a principle, not a coincidence)