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Fox or Badger?

It sounds like a stupid question but for beginners it can be a struggle.

So we'll just run through the differences between them. On the left is a Fox and on the right is a Badger.

They look distinctly different together the differences look obvious here. But you dont always find a complete skull so some features may be missing or it may just be age related. The Badger is short, stocky and heavy with wide zygomatic arches, the Fox looks more slender and is lighter it feels less robust.

On closer examination of the snout you can see the Badger lacks the visable suture lines of the nasal bones and has fused into one solid mass. A distinct feature to note is the curve in the triangular zygomatic process the Badger lacks that curve.

How about we add a young Badger to the mix. Visable sutures, slim zygomatic arches and the zygomatic process is not yet fully formed. Trickier isnt it?

Well in the adult Badger you can note the hinged jaw, its fixed in so the powerful muscles dont dislocate the jaw. However they can get broke in high impact deaths. You can also see the huge sagittal crest. Badgers have less teeth. On the upper mandible there are only 4 molars per side and the last one is wide and flat. The canines are also shorter and chunkier but these are missing bar one.

The Fox, no huge sagittal crest, long, slender nose, no fixed jaw either. 6 molars each side on the upper mandible and visible sutures. Long thing canines.

The juvenile Badger. No saggital crest, no fixed jaw and visible sutures. The teeth are more of a give away here, shorter and chunky and the upper mandible has 4 molars each side. The shape of the zygomatic arches help too theyre quite low and flat in comparison with the Fox who again has a distinct curve as it sweeps out away from the nose.

If in doubt flip it over. The ear bones at the back of the skull are different the Foxes are domed and the Badgers look more like, well a deflating balloon. Much flatter on one side.

I also think if you look at it nose on, youll notice a circular hole either size of the zygomatic arches, this is the infraorbital foramen and the infraorbital atery, vein and nerve pass through them. Its much larger in Badgers, very noticeable

23/12/20

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Earlier today, my husband and I took a walk along the beach. There were a number of these ball-like plants, or maybe coral, on the shore. They must have broken loose and washed up on the beach during the recent Nor’easter. 

I used to live in Virginia until I was 11 and spent a lot of time on the beach, but I don’t remember seeing anything like these before. Does anyone know what they are?

edit: After hunting around the internet, we uncovered what our mystery creatures are. They’re Red Beard Sponges! 

They turn a brownish gray when they die, wash up on shore, and dry out. I had no idea we even had sponges in our area. I would have figured the waters were too cold this far north. 

While it’s sad that these little critters didn’t survive the storm, I’m grateful for the chance to learn that they live in our waters, as well as discover a little bit about sponges in general. 

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Here it is folks:

My definitive ranking of my least favorite bodies of water! These are ranked from least to most scary (1/10 is okay, 10/10 gives me nightmares). I’m sorry this post is long, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this.

The Great Blue Hole, Belize

I’ve been here! I have snorkeled over this thing! It is terrifying! The water around the hole is so shallow you can’t even swim over the coral without bumping it, and then there’s a little slope down, and then it just fucking drops off into the abyss! When you’re over the hole the water temperature drops like 10 degrees and it’s midnight blue even when you’re right by the surface. Anyway. The Great Blue Hole is a massive underwater cave, and its roughly 410 feet deep. Overall, it’s a relatively safe area to swim. It’s a popular tourist attraction and recreational divers can even go down and explore some of the caves. People do die at the Blue Hole, but it is generally from a lack of diving experience rather than anything sinister going on down in the depths. My rating for this one is 1/10 because I’ve been here and although it’s kinda freaky it’s really not that bad.

Lake Baikal, Russia

When I want to give myself a scare I look at the depth diagram of this lake. It’s so deep because it’s not a regular lake, it’s a Rift Valley, A massive crack in the earth’s crust where the continental plates are pulling apart. It’s over 5,000 feet deep and contains one-fifth of all freshwater on Earth. Luckily, its not any more deadly than a normal lake. It just happens to be very, very, freakishly deep. My rating for this lake is a 2/10 because I really hate looking at the depth charts but just looking at the lake itself isn’t that scary.

Jacob’s Well, Texas

This “well” is actually the opening to an underwater cave system. It’s roughly 120 feet deep, surrounded by very shallow water. This area is safe to swim in, but diving into the well can be deadly. The cave system below has false exits and narrow passages, resulting in multiple divers getting trapped and dying. My rating is a 3/10, because although I hate seeing that drop into the abyss it’s a pretty safe place to swim as long as you don’t go down into the cave (which I sure as shit won’t).

The Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota

This is an area in the Brule River where half the river just disappears. It literally falls into a hole and is never seen again. Scientists have dropped in dye, ping pong balls, and other things to try and figure out where it goes, and the things they drop in never resurface. Rating is 4/10 because Sometimes I worry I’m going to fall into it.

Flathead Lake, Montana

Everyone has probably seen this picture accompanied by a description about how this lake is actually hundreds of feet deep but just looks shallow because the water is so clear. If that were the case, this would definitely rank higher, but that claim is mostly bull. Look at the shadow of the raft. If it were hundreds of feet deep, the shadow would look like a tiny speck. Flathead lake does get very deep, but the spot the picture was taken in is fairly shallow. You can’t see the bottom in the deep parts. However, having freakishly clear water means you can see exactly where the sandy bottom drops off into blackness, so this still ranks a 5/10.

The Lower Congo River, multiple countries

Most of the Congo is a pretty normal, if large, River. In the lower section of it, however, lurks a disturbing surprise: massive underwater canyons that plunge down to 720 feet. The fish that live down there resemble cave fish, having no color, no eyes, and special sensory organs to find their way in the dark. These canyons are so sheer that they create massive rapids, wild currents and vortexes that can very easily kill you if you fall in. A solid 6/10, would not go there.

Little Crater Lake, Oregon

On first glance this lake doesn’t look too scary. It ranks this high because I really don’t like the sheer drop off and how clear it is (because it shows you exactly how deep it goes). This lake is about 100 feet across and 45 feet deep, and I strongly feel that this is too deep for such a small lake. Also, the water is freezing, and if you fall into the lake your muscles will seize up and you’ll sink and drown. I don’t like that either. 7/10.

Grand Turk 7,000 ft drop off

No. 8/10. I hate it.

Gulf of Corryvreckan, Scotland

Due to a quirk in the sea floor, there is a permanent whirlpool here. This isn’t one of those things that looks scary but actually won’t hurt you, either. It absolutely will suck you down if you get too close. Scientists threw a mannequin with a depth gauge into it and when it was recovered the gauge showed it went down to over 600 feet. If you fall into this whirlpool you will die. 9/10 because this seems like something that should only be in movies.

The Bolton Strid, England

This looks like an adorable little creek in the English countryside but it’s not. Its really not. Statistically speaking, this is the most deadly body of water in the world. It has a 100% mortality rate. There is no recorded case of anyone falling into this river and coming out alive. This is because, a little ways upstream, this isn’t a cute little creek. It’s the River Wharfe, a river approximately 30 feet wide. This river is forced through a tiny crack in the earth, essentially turning it on its side. Now, instead of being 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep, it’s 6 feet wide and 30 feet deep (estimated, because no one actually knows how deep the Strid is). The currents are deadly fast. The banks are extremely undercut and the river has created caves, tunnels and holes for things (like bodies) to get trapped in. The innocent appearance of the Strid makes this place a death trap, because people assume it’s only knee-deep and step in to never be seen again. I hate this river. I have nightmares about it. I will never go to England just because I don’t want to be in the same country as this people-swallowing stream. 10/10, I live in constant fear of this place.

Honorable mention: The Quarry, Pennsylvania

I don’t know if that’s it’s actual name. This lake gets an honorable mention not because it’s particularly deep or dangerous, but it’s where I almost drowned during a scuba diving accident.

Edit: I’ve looked up the name of the quarry, it’s called Crusty’s Quarry and is privately owned and only used for training purposes, not recreational diving.

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I just ran across this again and now I can't stop laughing! That's one way to educate people about snakes. 🤣

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Bar Harbor, Maine October 2020

A beautiful rock I ran across on the walk out to Bar Island. I would have loved to take it home with me, but a barnacle had already claimed it. I also think the land bridge might be part of the national park itself. So, I snapped a picture instead.

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Bull moose skull in Alaska taken by: Beck Photography 

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Here's a fun, nerdy, post to start your day! Have you ever seen a turtle skeleton??

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Schoodic Peninsula, Maine October, 2020

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Schoodic Peninsula, Maine October, 2020

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Bar Harbor, Maine October, 2020