#Also they' don't do well in captivity and especially not with a prey species like the neep!

[the-busy-ghost]

Ok I know it’s the festive season so I didn’t want to bring this up, but uh maybe spare a thought for the all the poor haggis (an endangered species!!!) who have been fattened up to excessive weights just so you can have your nice Burns supper :(

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Sharks/Orcas!

I had meant RWBY ships, but I'll have some 'fun' with this.

Orcas are Immensely Intelligent creatures. They are taught by the Matriarch, the oldest and smartest Orca of their pod. That's how they learn to speak, and to hunt, and to play.

Orcas have cultures based on the pods they are in. Several Orcas that have been brought into captivity for an extended period of time forget, or cannot find their original family when released back into the ocean, even if placed near where they are captured. This leads to depression, searching for humans to replace that social need, and eventually they die alone.

There was an Orca, who either had a stillbirth, miscarriage, or what have you that caused her calf to die soon after birth.

For, I believe four days, that mother kept the body of the calf at the surface of the water, making sorrowful cries and clicks, trying to get its child to wake up.

When someone assigns Human traits to an animal, especially emotions and thought processes, it can lead to complications.

Orcas often do things that appear cruel, or evil - harrassing seals and targeting sharks for fun seems like bullying, but we can't even be certain Orcas understand that they're harming and distressing other animals.

Sharks on the other hand are generally 'Dumber' creatures, and are mostly solitary. I don't have much to analyze, other than some species targeted by orcas have been seen attempting to maneuver like their own Prey when it escapes, because if it worked for the Shark's Prey, why wouldn't it work for the shark.

If, by some miracle of God or curse of a Devil a shark and an Orca managed to live in harmony ... Well.

Sharks/Orcas Gets a Rating of Dogs and Cats Living together/Mass Hysteria

Also sharks aren't evil, only about ten people a year die to shark attacks, and most of theose aren't Great Whites, their Bull sharks swimming Upriver in Africa, because Bulls can breathe fresh water.

They also Stop eating you after one bite because you do not taste good.

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

What do tegus eat? I'd love to have one someday, but not if I have to feed it rabbits or guinea pigs or something like that.

Don't worry, tegus aren't big enough to eat whole rabbits or guinea pigs. Like other lizards, they should only ever eat pieces of food that are smaller than the space between their eyes.

Tegus love to eat, and are not picky animals. Young tegus should eat mostly meat protein to support their growth, but as adults Argentine tegus (the most common captive species) need a diet that's approximately 60% meat, 30% vegetables, and 10% fruits. Colombian tegus have difficulty digesting fruit, and shouldn't be fed fruits - they should eat mostly meat their entire lives, with vegetables making up a small part of their diets.

Whole prey is best (food like whole rodents, whole fish, and whole chicks are great), but tegus do best on a varied diet. Unseasoned ground chicken or beef, eggs in the shell, raw seafood like shrimp, and frog legs are all great staple options, and you'll be able to buy a lot of your tegu's food from the human-grade frozen food section of your grocery store! Tegus can also get additional protein from regular old dog food, especially if it's raw-ingredient dog food.

For vegetables, tegus do well with squash, carrots, and leafy greens like kale, mustard, turnip, and collard. Many of them love fruits like apples, blackberries, and blueberries, but fruits work best as a small part of their diet.

Here's a good list from ReptiFiles of safe tegu food options and feeding advice!

[tser]

hey, i was just wondering- is it actually okay to release chinese mantids in your garden? i know it's legal, but i've heard they kill monarchs, hummingbirds, and bees, and that really scares me. i don't want to hurt anything, i just kinda wanted to hatch an ootheca

This is a tricky and controversial subject. I can only speak to how it applies to mainland United States (introduced species have massively more impact on islands).

First, Chinese mantids were originally accidentally introduced to the United States -- all the way back in 1896. They were not purposefully released for biological control; their usefulness as pest control was noticed and commercialized later. They have been established as a naturalized species (that is different than invasive) for over a hundred and twenty years. They will not go extinct in the US even if we stop releasing them, though some populations might die out where the population was adventive (not self-sustaining) rather than naturalized. Their populations are especially strong and self-sustaining in California and eastern US.

Oothecae sold for gardeners are collected from the wild in the US. They are not captive bred in large quantities. That means these Chinese mantises would have been born in the wild if they weren’t collected to be released into the wild. The difference is that they are hatched somewhere else; and usually somewhere not exactly ideal. (The exception is if you purchase from a private breeder; this is far less common, as even most bug sellers sell wild-collected oothecae.)

Usually, gardens and yards are not great habitats for Chinese mantids, and a very low percentage survives. Chinese mantids do best in dense grassland or scrubby type environments, with a variety of plants that bloom at different times, thus attracting a variety of prey animals through their lives. Vegetable gardens and landscaped yards just don’t provide this, so out of hundreds released into a suburban vegetable garden, backyard, or a cleared rural habitat, only a handful of those babies will find enough to eat (and some will probably eat each other). They often leave, looking for greener pastures, as well.

While this is sad, it also means that releases don’t actually cause a big population boom of Chinese mantids, unless the habitat is ideal for them, in which case there is probably already a large population living there. That means that the environmental impact of releasing mantids is potentionally not as significant.

It would be very, very difficult to eradicate the Chinese mantis from the United States, even with concentrated effort.

Mantids are carnivorous -- primarily insectivorous -- so by nature they definitely will kill things; there is no way to keep them (or release them) without some “hurt” resulting from that. Mostly it will be small insects and other invertebrates.

Yes, a Chinese mantis might eat a bird. So will native mantids -- and so will large mantids all over the world. It’s not their main diet and relatively rare for most species, including Chinese mantids. The Audubon Society notes that they are overall beneficial (without specifying species) and we should not vilify them just because they do what nature designed them to do.

I think any increase in occurrence is more likely a result of humans feeding hummingbirds than releasing mantids into the wild. Many recorded instances I know of involved hummingbird feeders, where the mantids were likely attracted to the bees and wasps visiting the feeders and just happened to snag a hummer. Feeding birds is also controversial and tricky as a subject, as feeders can cause all kinds of health and population problems for birds. There are a few photos I’ve seen of mantids grabbing hummingbirds from garden flowers as well. As a note, because of feeders and flower gardens, many hummingbird ranges have expanded beyond their historic natural range, and hummingbirds also eat small and baby mantids.

I’ve seen sensationalist articles such as “New research documents that mantises worldwide are eating small birds; in the US, invasive mantis species are devouring hummingbirds." True, but deceptively worded. The research referenced is a single review of only 147 cases of mantids eating birds -- worldwide. And, as I mentioned, almost all of those recorded in the US were visiting artificial hummingbird food sources. However none of these articles, or the research paper, had anything negative to say about non-native garden plants, or feeding birds. They immediately jumped on the predator as the villain. 

Likely, the mantids are occupying the feeder because in general, landscaped yards are difficult places to find food. 

Chinese mantises will definitely eat monarchs if they have a chance -- as will native species of mantis.  

But the real threat to monarchs is the eradication of milkweed, habitat loss, and climate change.  Unfortunately, many people buy milkweed plants for their gardens thinking they will help monarchs, when they are actually buying the wrong species of milkweed and causing more damage to monarch populations; if you choose to plant milkweed for monarch butterflies, make sure you are getting the native species, and proper host plant.

If you plant native milkweed for monarchs, do not release mantids near it, to reduce monarch predation.

Chinese mantids do not single out these species. They eat what flies or skitters by, and that they’re able to catch. The babies eat things like aphids and ants, while the adults will eat things like moths and wasps. Some of these will be what we consider pest insects and some will be what we consider beneficial insects. Remember that “pest” is just when a human decides they don’t want it there at that time, and is very arbitrary and will vary from situation to situation, as well. 

The USDA classifies some mantids as “plant pests”, which is why they are illegal, and yet classifies naturalized species like Chinese mantids as “beneficial insects”. Earthworms are considered beneficial invertebrates, widely introduced to gardens, and yet they are causing many issues in native habitats where they are invasive, through much of the US. 

It is more complicated when you consider that what’s beneficial to agriculture isn’t necessarily beneficial to the native ecosystem and vice versa, meaning different people are going to have different opinions on what non-indigenous animals are invasive and what ones are naturalized but not invasive.

Do Chinese mantids have a significant negative impact on the populations of monarchs, other butterflies, or hummingbirds? Probably not, even at the level they’re established in the United States now.  Mantids, even with artificial population density management, generally have weak negative effects on insect population density for most taxa. One study found that Chinese mantids most negatively impact true bugs and flies on a local level, but it is unlikely they are causing a major impact on the species overall.

Another concern might be that a captive hatched Chinese mantis might carry diseases to the wild population of Chinese and other mantises. However, after many decades of raising and releasing them in the US, there’s no evidence this happens to any significant degree.

The most prominent negative effect of Chinese mantids that I know of, both their naturalized populations and released populations, is that they compete with native mantis species. Many native mantises occupy the same types of habitat as Chinese mantids, and hunt the same prey. In many cases, Chinese mantids (and other released and naturalized non-native mantids like the European mantis) out-compete native mantids. They grow larger, consume more prey, and elbow out the smaller native mantids (and sometimes just consume them). 

I do not know the extent of this impact, or how well it’s been studied. Many entomologists and other bug enthusiasts I know have no moral objection to releasing mantids, regardless of this problem. However, it’s enough to make me hesitate!

If a person only releases a single wild-collected oothecae of mantis nymphs a year, choosing not to do so is likely not going to impact Chinese mantis populations to any significant degree -- native or wild. Even if a thousand people learn of potential negative impact of releasing mantids and don’t, it’s not going to make a dent. However, it may increase local density of Chinese mantids, thus increasing competition for any native mantids.

There are also other options for raising mantids.

One is to keep a single mantis of a native or naturalized species (which is legal). Many bug breeders hatch the oothecae, separate and sell the babies, meaning you won’t have more than a hundred babies to deal with.  Single European or Chinese mantids are pretty easy to find for sale; native mantids are more difficult. 

Another is to find a native mantis oothecae and hatch that and release all the babies. 

As gruesome as it sounds, you can hatch a Chinese mantis oothecae in an enclosure and allow the babies to reduce their own population until you have a number you can comfortably keep, then separate them into their own habitats. This has its own personal moral (and personal comfort) issues, of course. 

Whether it is moral to release Chinese mantids is something every person will have to decide for themselves!