#like i know ungulates have an easier time with that than us but still

[whetstonefires]

Me trying to determine what range of months it is reasonable to feature a pregnant goat in a farm scene: gotta go to the How To Breed Goats website.

How To Breed Goats has informed me that while continuing to breed your female goat past age 10 is likely to significantly shorten her life expectancy, so maybe don't do that, the males are going to die in what's middle age for a not-overbred female regardless.

because goats have a heat/rut cycle, and apparently going into rut is really bad for the health.

a/b/o fandom i hope someone has taken notes on this and done some hilarious angst about the short lifespan of the average alpha.

[tachvintlogic]

Hoof Trimmers IN SPACCCCCCEEEE!!!!

Based on the post about aliens probably having more than our mere 2 sets of limbs and the post about how our domesticated animals could be unusually large and dangerous compared to other planets.

longer AO3 version: link here (for people with AO3 accounts only)

Words: 1972

Summary: The newest human crewmate's background in farming ends up being able to help a coworker with a sore, injured foot more than anyone could've predicted.

Jósűrha took a step and bit back a hiss as zir middle left leg touched the ground. Ze flinched and lifted the leg back up while zir sore front and back legs took on the extra weight. The block on the middle leg had worn away, and zir leg hasn’t gotten any better since. Now ze needed someone to help zem put a new block on. Katársmun, who put it on last time, was busy at the moment, but ze knew exactly who ze could ask.

Humans were strange with their measly two legs, so unlike most species they were perfectly capable of doing their own first-aid without help, but they were more than happy to assist their fellow sapients who couldn’t reach their back half by themselves. The ship’s newest human crewmate would have a much easier time applying the block than zir other coworkers.

“Hey Officer Mackenzie! I need your help with something.”

The ship’s new resident human turned around as ze walked toward kem, and then frowned and bent to the side looking at zir feet. “Is there something wrong with your feet?”

“Yes, actually. The block on one of my claws has worn away, and obviously I can’t put another one on myself.”

Ke bent down further to get a better look at zir painful hoof. “Yeah, I can tell block on it is barely there. It explains why you’re walking like a lame cow. Have you gotten your feet trimmed recently?”

“Well, no. There aren’t many good places that can trim Zágjós feet. Wait, how did you know I needed a trim?”

“Your feet pretty closely resemble ungulates on Earth. You see my fingernails? On ungulates, their nails are giant pads made of keratin that they walk on like your hooves. Most of the other sapients I’ve seen don’t walk on the very tip of their limbs like ungulates or yourself.” That was true. Zágjós were one of the few species that needed to get their entire feet trimmed, which is why places to do that became scarcer and scarcer the further from Zágjós space you were.

“You seem to know a lot about feet.”

“Well, I used to work on a cow and sheep farm on Earth. A lot of our domesticated livestock are actually ungulates.” Having livestock species was quite common among spacefaring species. It was considered an important part of the path to FTL technology. While humans didn’t have the largest livestock species, they did have the largest livestock relative to their size.

“So do you think you can help me put a new cushion on?”

“Sure.”

They walked to zir quarters, where ze had a suspension bed (as zir species slept standing up), personal effects, and a basic first-aid kit specialized for zir species. Mackenzie opened the med kit and pulled out a block without ze having to tell kem what one looks like and a hoof trimming knife that came standard with the kit (not that ze knew how to use it).

“So does the block go on with glue or--?”

You remove the cap on the sticky side and then hold it on the claw for 30 seconds to set.”

“Alright, can you get in the suspension bed? It would be easier if you were standing without putting weight on your feet.”

“Sure.” Ze got in zir suspension bed and immediately felt relief with zir feet not entirely on the ground anymore. Mackenzie took some time to improvise a stand to hold up zir hoof and keep it still. It was a similar setup to the one at a trimmer (not that ze had been to one in a while).

“Wow, your hooves look…exactly like a cow’s hoof.”

“Should I be offended? Isn’t that livestock?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that I spent a lot of time trimming cow hooves back on the farm to keep them healthy. Hell, your hoof trimming knife looks about the same. It’s sharp on the sides with the hook on the end. I’m assuming I can remove the block with the knife, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Mackenzie started trimming away at the block, muttering this would be much easier if ke had a grinder. When the old block was gone, Mackenzie hummed and ze turned zir neck to see what ke was doing. Ke was pursing kes lips in a way that zir emotional recognition course in diversity training told zim meant the human did not like what ke was looking at.

“Something wrong?”

“What does the pain feel like?”

“Kinda like a pressure in my hoof.”

“Sounds like an abscess with some detached horn above it. One your bad claw, there’s some definitely detached horn at the heel of your outer claw and a white line defect near the toe, or at least it would be if the resemblance to a cow hoof isn’t just superficial. The wall horn is also thicker than it should be on a cow, which could be overgrowth or just what hooves of your species are supposed to look like. There’s also some slight bruising on the inner portion of the claw you had a block on, and it has small crack between the wall horn and the sole horn which could turn into a serious white line defect if it isn’t taken care of.”

Ke put the foot back down. “Hold on, I need to do some research on Zágjós feet.”

Mackenzie left and ze tried really hard to relax and ignore the pain in zir foot until Mackenzie came back with the captain. Mackenzie looked excited.

“So good news! Your feet are extremely similar to cow’s feet. The only main difference is that your foot is supposed to be held 5° steeper.”

“So?”

“So I can help your foot!” Mackenzie pulled zir middle left foot back on the stand and started slicing away at the bad claw with the trimming knife. It hurt, feeling the trimming knife put more pressure on the claw that felt like it was about to burst.

“Mackenzie requested that you have some time off because you’re having trouble walking,” said the captain.

“Yeah, there aren’t a lot of places to get my hooves trimmed at our ship’s recent stops.”

“Well, tell me next time our ship routes force you to go without care or routine maintenance. And that goes for all crew so this kind of thing never happens again.”

“Thanks captain, I—” Ze gasped as the pain in zir feet suddenly lifted. The pressure inside the hoof was gone! Ze turned zir neck around and saw Mackenzie wiping pus off kes face.

“What happened?” asked the captain.

“Well, I found the abscess. There was a lot of pus in there. Do you feel better?”

“Yes! That is so much better!”

“Let me see,” said the captain, walking behind Mackenzie. “Stars, that was under your foot!?”

“Yeah,” said Mackenzie, “it’s worse than it looks, too. You see this dark hoof horn above where I opened the abscess just on the border? It got darker as I thinned it out, so it’s not pigment. It means there’s a cavity under there, and all this horn is detached and needs to be removed,” ke explained as ke lifted the detached horn around the abscess and cut it off in circular cuts with the hook of the knife, revealing more pus and opening the hole.

After just a few cuts, ke revealed the abscess stretched the entire width of the sole horn, and then ke started shaving down the horn between the abscess and the heel to remove the bulk of it.

“Now that I’ve revealed the abscess,” ke continued to explain, “I know how much I can shave off. Fortunately, it seems to be only filled with pus. I haven’t found any lesions or ulcers. It’s just a giant cavity.”

“What could’ve caused it?”

“Probably an accident,” ke said, “could’ve bumped the hoof against something or turned too sharply on a corner. With regular trimming, it could’ve been nipped in the bud before it was a problem, but without it, it just got worse and worse.”

“And at the heel, there’s this detached horn I can just lift up, which tells me,” ke said as ke put the knife under the horn and cut down, “that it goes all the way to the abscess.”

“That’s the entire foot,” said the captain.

“Yep,” said Mackenzie, “can’t imagine trying to walk on that.”

“I don’t need to imagine,” said Jósűrha.

Mackenzie started trimming the good hoof, getting rid of the crack and modeling out the area with the bruised horn to take some of the weight off that area, and then searching through the med kit to find something to help grind the tips of the toes to bring both claws to the same length. The “grinder” at the bottom of the med kit wasn’t as good as the grinder ke used to use on cows on the farm, which ke was more than happy to complain about.

Once it was suitably prepared, ke put on a different, curved block that would avoid the bruised horn area on the good claw. Ke pressed it into the claw for 30 seconds to make sure the glue bond was secure.

“So given your foot’s condition. I’m going to have to cut most of your ship duties. Rest up and heal. Understood?”

“Yes captain.”

“And Mackenzie, you’re doing a great job, even though it’s not the job you were hired for.”

“Thanks, captain,” ke said, nodding.

“You know, speaking of routine care important for the health and comfort of our officers, Katársmun has a condition that prevents xe from shedding xis coat when xe should. You wouldn’t know how to do a full body shave, would you?

“Hmm, if it’s like shearing a sheep, then I could take to xem about it. I’d want to take a course on it and get more familiar Katársmun’s species first if xe doesn’t need shearing now.”

“Of course, it’s just something I wanted to mention. Well, as you were. I’ll call the cleaning bot to take care of the mess,” said the captain gesturing to the pus and cut horn on the floor.

As the captain left, ke stopped pressing into the block and tested its fit to make sure it was secure, then ke dressed the bad claw with supplies from the med kit. “Okay, I’m going to put your foot down. Try to stand on it in a way that feels natural.” Ke put zir foot down and checked the angle. It was steep enough for a cow but not enough for a Zágjós. Ke pulled the foot back on the stand and started cutting the block to adjust the angle.

When ke put the hoof down again, the angle was perfect, and Jósűrha didn’t feel any pain. It was almost unreal after feeling that pressure in zir hoof for so long. “Now for the other claws since you did say you haven’t gotten a trim in a while. I’m start with the back left.”

Jósűrha didn’t have a way to argue with that. “That’s fine,” ze said as Mackenzie moved to the back left foot and started trimming. “There’s a little bruising on the inner sole area that I can model out, and some overgrowth on the toes. Remember to tell me if there’s any soreness or pain.”

“Sure. That foot feels fine.”

“Good. It’s nice working on someone who can talk to me for a change.”

“People are better clients than cows are, aren’t they?”

“Well, yeah, and people are also polite enough to not start pooping while I’m doing their back legs.”

Ze suppressed a chitter and tried to keep zir foot very still as ke worked. Yes, asking the human crewmember was the best choice.

[jbbartram-illu]

hey there! i'm a huge fan of your work and, as a hatchling ceramicist and sculptor, i had a question about how you build the bodies of your little beasts. i'm making the assumption that they're hollow and if that's the case, do you start with a ball of newspaper and then build around that? or do you have another method? i was also curious as to how you keep the outside so smooth and was wondering if you have any tips around that! i feel like my creatures' bodies always end up a tad lumpy and that's fine but i'd love to figure out a method that leaves them...less lumpy lmao thank you!!

Much like @moldspace, I follow the 'make shape from lump of clay / scoop out shape if needed' technique - I also often do further sculpting (using various wood tools) after the first scoop, as the eviscerating process can deform your original lump shape a bit. I also smooth the inside of the shape once it's fully scooped (which gives me a chance to check the wall thicknesses & make sure there aren't any wild deviations that'll cause issues in the drying/bisque-firing process).

Here's a gif of the scooping in action - I just got this circular trimming tool for Xmas & I find it easier to control my scoops (vs. an oblong/other-rounded-shape trimming tool):

I have tried pinch pot methods in the past, but they always get away from me & lead to uneven walls/bad shapes, and I tried coiling once & it activated my UGH BORING response, so I've avoided it since. Not to say these are bad techniques! I just don't vibe with 'em, you know?

Here are some before/after photos (from lump to...uh...hollow lump, now with leg!) of one of my ungulates, which are the easiest guys to use as examples as hollowing them out is super straightforward.

Also to note -- some sculptures I don't hollow out at all. My rule of thumb is if their circumference is the same/smaller than...uh, my thumb (and I have time to really let them dry out), no hollowing is needed. For example, I don't hollow my tiny sphinxes or my wyrmapillars, because doing so would be really annoying:

In terms of smoothness, the clay you're working with needs to be considered - I find that clay with a ton of grog can be harder to get really finely smoothed because the grit gets in the way, so I gravitate towards less groggy clays (but I also still love a good speckle, grit & all). I think my chosen hollowing technique is also a good start, as my surfaces can be smoothed nicely with hands/sponge/tools pre-scooping (& they don't have the thumb-divots of a pinched pot/crevices of a coiled one).

I also do put a lot of time into smoothing once all the necessary bits have been attached to the piece. I often use my wood tools to scrape away pesky lumps that have appeared during the detail work, and I find that the Mudtools sponges are really good for final smoothing because they're extremely flexible & easy to wring out so they're not slopping water all over your work!

These are my main three wooden tools/the two Mudtools sponges I have:

I hope this was helpful - thank you so much for the great question!! <3

[tempest-loupnoir]

https://youtu.be/fIYypLLID6U?si=yE7hpfUntridtelr

These are critically endangered Mexican Gray Wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. They have slightly bigger, rounder ears than other gray wolf subspecies, and they have the shortest skull of all of the American wolf species (info from wiki and here. Another distinction that makes them a little easier to tell from other gray wolves is their coloring. Their black guard hairs are more visible than on other species of wolves. That long black hair contrasting with the lighter yellow, brown, and buff colors looks a little different from the more evenly spread out guard hairs on coyotes and other gray wolves. The ones I’ve seen the most photographs of tend to have more contrast between their cheek fur and their faces, giving them almost a mane like ruff, like a Lion. They’re the fluffiest wolves I know of! Of course they aren’t fluff balls all year, since they’re from Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico; they can have smooth coats like their Red Wolf cousins, too.

I think they are some of the most gorgeous creatures on earth, and I’m happy they were reintroduced to an area of Arizona I am somewhat familiar with. They’re doing slightly better than America’s other super endangered wolf species, the Red Wolf, but they’re still the USA’s most endangered canid. They are threatened by people who think they’re competing with ranchers and hunters for food, and by roads cutting through their territories, domestic canine diseases like distemper and rabies, drought, wild fires, etc. Like most wolf species, their pups have a high mortality rate, and they only have one litter per year.

I hope Mexican Gray Wolves can make a comeback. They help manage herds of elk and mule deer; reducing overgrazing, competition with ranchers for forage during droughts, and reduce the spread of diseases and parasites. Even though killing and eating other animals sounds cruel to us empathetic animals, the circle of life we heard about in The Lion King is just as easily disturbed by plant eaters!

Grazing animals like cows and sheep rip the grass out by the roots. Deer will eat trees down to the roots, and strip off the bark. (This is also a reason why I advocate for wild horses and burros to stay on wild lands because unlike domestic grazers, Equines stay on the move. Their round hooves do not uproot the grass or tear up watering hole banks, they can dig for water if there’s a drought, benefiting other species, equines only nip the ends of the grass and leave the rest of the blade intact, and…deer will pick out and eat seeds from horse feces. Getting off my equine pulpit...)

When ungulates have to move on from an area due to predators instead of food scarcity, that gives the young plants time to grow, including trees. In Yellowstone National Park, beavers made a huge comeback because there were more sapling available for them to eat and make dams with, and for the first time in decades, Yellowstone became a balanced ecosystem, with wetlands for swans and other marine life.

Wolves also keep coyote populations down, something many homeowners can appreciate since coyotes will hunt pet dogs (or breed with them if there are no other coyotes around), kill cats and chickens, and raid trash cans. (And in California some human acclimated coyotes have attacked people.)

Killing coyotes does not get rid of coyotes; it simply encourages them to have more litters to make up for the availability of space, and the loss of family social structures. Coyotes are good for farmers, too, since they reduce the number of mice, ticks that feed on mice, voles, etc that feed on crops and ruin grazing land. But since coyotes are not as afraid of humans as their larger wolf cousins are, they will move into suburbs and lounge on porches and in yards. Wolves will not. Wolves have centuries of fear and suspicion in their genes. Very few wolves will overcome that innate fear, even if they are raised by humans and know nothing but human kindness.

A bear that has regular access to wolf kills will not be as inclined to bother wandering into human neighborhoods looking for trash cans and birdhouses to tip over and destroy. Many species benefit from wolf meals, including song birds like cardinals, which feed on the insects attracted to carrion. Calcium is hard to find in the wild and many creatures will gnaw on shed deer antlers or bones to get calcium.

Wolves are not just nature’s assassins. They will graze on apples, a few flowers, tree leaves and grasses, and the wolves in Victoria, British Columbia are famous for catching fish. Some wolves will happily live off of voles and other small prey. The conflict with humans arises when they don’t have enough land to disperse into without having to cross highways and neighborhoods, and they get hungry enough, they will overcome their suspicion of unknown animals and go after domestic animals. Plus…a lot of National and State Parks rent out their land to ranchers… Wolf and bear territory. The only spaces those wild animals are allowed to live… and kill the predators when they start preying on the animals invading their space… I’ve had to stop for cattle to cross the road in the Grand Canyon and domestic sheep in Arches National Parks. I don’t disagree with keeping the grass trimmed naturally to reduce wild fires… but it does Not Make Any Sense to me to use taxpayer dollars to pay Park Rangers to kill predators In Their Natural Habitat where Domestic Livestock are invading and directly competing with wildlife! Where else are the wild animals supposed to go?! This is not the article I was looking for but it is proof that some park rangers have been responsible for the deaths of some of Yellowstone National Park’s wolves.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a predator around that will scare off coyotes, keep bears on their toes, and stay well away from human homes, than to have predators and large ungulates wandering around like they own the neighborhood, staring down cars like they’re a nuisance?

End of rant before I elevate my blood pressure. Sources are from International Wolf Center, Seacrest Wolf Sanctuary, Jim and Jamie Dutcher’s “Wolves At Our Door” book (the info about wolves snacking on flowers in Colorado comes from that), and the horse information comes from photographers and wild horse rescues like Return To Freedom, Skydog Sanctuary, etc.

[bogkeep]

theo’s tarot collection

hi hello i suffer from a terrible ailment called I Keep Acquiring New Tarot Decks Even Though I Am A Tarot Newbie.... so i figured i could do a little writeup about my decks if anyone is interested in that :’) basically i started doing tarot in 2019 because i couldn’t get a hold of a therapist (i was put on a year long waitlist WAHOO) so i basically. self-medicated with tarot readings hahaha. i had a friend who gave me a lot of really good advice and had done some readings for me before who felt immensely comforting. the way i read them is like... it allows you to confront your situation and your emotions through a new angle, but you gotta be brave enough to do it - or ask someone to do it for you. it can be a really intense but also cathartic experience. it’s not for everyone! but i like it. i still consider myself a novice and still learning so i am not in ANY way trying to paint myself as a Knowledgabl Tarot Witch - in a perfect timeline that’s who i wish i was, but i’m ultimately just some guy with a solid appreciation for art and personal growth.

ANYWAY... onto my DECKS (the tumblr post will probably squish the quality outta my photos so i’m gonna link the URLs for Full View)

Children of Litha by Alexandria Huntington

i consider this my main and first deck (i am NOT counting the official homestuck deck i bought as a teen just because i wanted to look at the art. no offense to the homestuck deck i’m just not gonna use fandom decks)! i picked it out but my Tarot Friend gifted it to me... i think it’s a very good starter deck for me personally, and it’s the deck i’ve bonded with and used the most. i even put a fancy sticker on the box as part of the bonding process. i always feel so bad for all of my other decks because i haven’t been able to dedicate as much time for them as i have this one... so it’s definitely the deck i go to for the most accurate readings for myself. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the art in this is so beautiful and elegant. the symbolism more or less draws on the classic smith-waite deck, but redrawn for its theme. i like that it has a very consistent imagery! out of the major arcana, the fool is the only fully human character - every other character is part animal in some way or other. then the suit of swords depicts birds, winged insects and the air element, coins depict ungulates and equines and earth, wands has felines and canines and fiery imagery, and cups has fish and creatures of and in the sea. the court cards have humans. the suit symbols are always depicted consistently, as white silhouettes. there are also two extra cards: the all and the void. Pamphlet: the reason i think this was a good starter deck is because both because the art feels very intuitive about what it depicts (to me, at least), the descriptions in the pamphlet describe what is happening and why the artist chose this motif for this card. it has honestly helped me remember the meanings a lot, because i’ll be reading the other decks and be like “oh that’s the octopus card i know what the octopus card is about”. there are also little poems next to the main descriptions that work as a pretty solid tl;dr for the core meanings. i also like that the court cards are referred to in the sense of like... a knight is “a young person with masculine energy” rather than “a young man”. it feels more fluid and vibe-y about gender than traditional decks ya feel. on a range from Abstract to Directness this one feels like it sits pretty comfortable in the middle, maybe leaning on Abstractness. it has always given me gentle instructions and advice.

Cardfeel: the cards are very smooth and nice with gold edges. the cards are not NOT solid, but i wish they had been a little thicker because i’m always afraid i’m going to accidentally damage them - but that’s probably a feeling i have about most of my possessions tbh!! i think they’re a good size, too, at least for my small hands. they’re more on the long/slender side so they are good for me to shuffle. i also like the box, it’s a hard flip box with a magnet. i think u can’t go wrong with that. this is the deck i’ve travelled with the most (did u know hotel beds are the best tarot reading spaces. for some reason they just Work). The Spacious Tarot by Annie Ruygt and Carrie Mallon

this is one i really like a lot and want to use more! i absolutely adore the concept of it, but it’s a little harder for me to read than the Litha one. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: this one is like!!! it’s about the open space and the quietness. the vibes are IMMACULATE. the cards aren’t filled to the brim with happenstance and symbolism, but they each feel like a little refuge. very meditative. i also like that the court cards are not gendered at all - there is no page, knight, queen and king, but rather child, explorer, guardian and elder. i am really into that, especially as steps of mastery of their suit. i do think that this deck is probably easier to read if you’re more experienced with tarot meanings and symbolisms, because the illustrations aren’t necessarily that intuitive. Pamphlet: i haven’t read through this one very much, but i think it’s more on the abstract side of the Abstract to Direct scale. it might just feel like that because it describes what the card symbolizes without drawing much on what the card depicts - it is generally a pretty abstract and meditative deck. i like it for what it is! but it’s harder for me to read than my main Litha deck. Cardfeel: there’s something about the cardfeel i wish was different. they’re perfectly ok cards, they’re smooth and not too thin, but i still wish they had had more heft or something. while the cards fit very well into my hands i think maybe they could’ve been Larger to emphasize their motifs of openness and space. or texture. or gilded edges. i really don’t know what i want. the box however is very good and easy to open and use!! never underestimate a good box.

Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Toshitani

this is a deck i Had To Get because i knew the artist was working on it and i was always Planning To... it is not a deck i use very often but i absolutey adore it. you can also get it with an accompanying fairytale book, i thought i had ordered that but i was Wronge. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: it depicts motifs and characters from stories, myths, and fairytales from a vast variety of cultures. it’s AMAZING. the art is so clean and crisp and i was VERY EXCITED to find a card drawing on a sami story (page of coins)! i don’t have a lot to say except that yoshi yoshitani has done some incredible work on this. Pamphlet: while i do not have the Fairytale Book edition, the pamphlet is really super nice because it shows pictures of the cards, lists what story it depicts and where the story is from, gives a short description for how this scene or character embodies the card. it then lists some of the Card Characteristics beneath. very simple but very nice. i really like pamphlets that explain Why the artist picked the motifs they did - for me personally it really helps me connect to the deck and their symbols. it’s probably more on the Direct side of the scale thanks to this. Cardfeel: these are textured!! they feel like the playing card deck my grandmother has, which feels apt to me. textures make the cards feel solid to me. they’re also a very nice size to hold. the edges are not guilded, but with the white frames it looks good and nice. the box is nice but also Large, possibly to fit with the book? might not be ideal for travel, but there’s nothing stopping you from getting a different box or pouch.

The Star Spinner Tarot by Trung Le Nguyen

my most recent deck... i KNEW about the artist and the deck from before, but wasn’t PLANNING to get it, but then i saw it in the comic book store and i wasn’t able to pass it by. no regrets, it’s a wonderful deck. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: absolutely lovely art and style. it’s another deck drawing on fairytale themed motifs. i’m loving the use of colors and circles. it also has four different cards for the Lovers so you can choose which one(s) speak to you the most, something i think is just wonderful. i think the only thing i found a little... odd? was that the suit of Wands looks kinda same-y, which isn’t a bad thing, but it was the only suit that looked that way to me. they’re still very very nice. ALSO THE BACK OF THE CARDS ARE SHINY. I JUST THINK THAT’S VERY LOVELY. as a Physical Product these are chef’s kiss. Pamphlet: on the Abstract to Directness scale, these are VERY DIRECT. the pamphlet doesn’t say a lot about why the cards depict what they do, but go straight into card meaning, and in a very unambiguous way. i think it can both work very well, leaving you little room to avoid your feelings, but it also has a higher margin to miss completely. for being such a cutesy deck full of fairies the pamphlet is definitely giving you a smack at the side of your head. i haven’t used this deck a lot yet due to its newness, but i definitely want to try it out more to see what it does to me.

Cardfeel: out of all of my decks i think this has the best cardfeel... the cards feel really solid, and have a very good size that feel just right for them. like i sort of fell in love with the deck when i actually started shuffling it and browsing the cards. buying cards - especially on the internet - can be a gamble because you Can’t Know The Cardfeel. with decks like the Spacious Tarot i got a little dissappointed, but this one was a very pleasant surprise. also the box is very good and look like a work of art. The Fyodor Pavlov Tarot

honestly one of my new favourite decks that i ABSOLUTELY am going to use more and become more familiar with. also a deck that i knew the artist was working on, and supported the kickstarter the moment it was announced. my deck also came with two Magician cards and i don’t know why. extra wizard for me??? Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the look and feel of this deck is Immaculate. it looks very classical and traditional (and absolutely gorgeous), it is grounded in the classical smith-waite imagery but Expands Upon It, draws on the diversity of human culture and experiences... also loving the energy of “THIS CARD IS TRANS NOW AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT” many cards have (most famously the Lovers, but i don’t want to post pics of any of the cards depicting nudity or risqué themes on tumblr). i absolutely adore the knight of coins card (THE HORSE IS HIS FRIEND AND SERVICE ANIMAL!!). it’s just Really Very Good. also the backside has pretty Shiny stars and i like it. Pamphlet: i really like this one. it is a deeply personal pamphlet, where fyodor pavlov directly discusses his relationship to the cards and why he chose the motifs he did. it feels really grounded in the world we live in, and also such a vulnerable thing to share with us all. it’s on the Direct side of the scale without necessarily telling you “the card is definitely this one thing”. my only wish is that it was easier to navigate at a glance. Cardfeel: THEY ARE TEXTURED!!! these cards are definitely long and slender and benefit someone with larger hands than mine, but i still like them a lot. i do wish they had been a smidge heavier just so i wouldn’t worry so much about damaging them... but i don’t want to be ungrateful. the deck and the box are wonderfully crafted. The Botanica Tarot by Kevin Jay Stanton

oh boy did i support the kickstarter for this one... i had actually bought the major arcana when it was the only version available, and then the artist decided to make a full deck. it’s an absolute work of art. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: oh boy oh boy does it serve vibes and thematic coherence. it’s Plants all the way down, OBVIOUSLY, but also like... every card in the minor arcana depicts their suit in its own way. like the range of coins/currency from various times and cultures?? AMAZING. looking at the art of this deck is a DELIGHT. every card manages to be beautiful and interesting despite there not being a single living creature depicted on any of them. i WILL say they, same as the spacious tarot, are not the most intuitive to read if you’re not super familiar with either the Plants or the meanings of the cards. Pamphlet: you can fit so much plant knowledge in this one. i got a version of the deck with a beautiful little book, but there’s also a small pamphlet that follows the deck itself (which i admittedly have not looked too closely at yet). there’s descriptions for why this specific plant has been chosen for each card, and then some Card Meaning Keywords. so definitely on the Abstract side of my imaginary tarot pamphlet scale, because you mostly have plant symbolism to go on. i haven’t done a lot of readings with this deck, i’ll be honest - but it’s a beautiful treasure that i adore. Cardfeel: they’re Smoothe and Guilded edges. they can feel a little wide for my hands, but not so much that i cannot shuffle. i think maybe a smidge of texture wouldve been good with this deck since it would fit the look of the painted art. i also did get like... a big kickstarter reward version of this deck. it came in a tin box with extra treasures and a cloth and pins... the actual card box itself is beautiful to look at, but i have to say that the one i got is VERY HARD TO OPEN. i might transfer the cards into a pouch if i want to be reading them more often. IKEA deck

yes this is a meme deck and i don’t really use it but I WANTED TO SHARE... i think the major arcana is very cool and funny, but i was dissappointed to find that the suit cards are just “ikea part but Multiple Times”. it also does not come with a pamphlet. also yes yes it’s funny that the names of the cards are spelled in a “silly ikea word language” BUT IKEA NAMES ARE JUST SWEDISH....... IT’S NOT A SECRET LANGUAGE IT’S JUST SWEDISH............ it’s a funny deck to have and it doesn’t take up much space so eh! shrugs!!! The Lubanko Tarot by Emily Lubanko

another kickstarter deck... it’s gorgeous but there is a chance i might gift it to someone else. not because i regret getting it or don’t like it, but because i already have so many decks that speak to me, while this one gives me vibes of serving someone else better. does that make any sense? i admittedly haven’t looked at the pamplet so much so i think i’m going to skip that description for this one. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: the MOVEMENT and the COLORS... it’s Capturing Feelings in a really good way. i mean. i got it for the vibes and it’s serving vibes. Cardfeel: Smoothe Cards. shiny silver edges, like a slippery fish in a rapid river. it feels good and right for this deck. also good box. i know most of these decks have Good Box, it’s just the botanica one that let me down by being difficult. The Oriens Tarot by AmbiSun

i don’t have this deck anymore, i gifted it to my boyfriend... i found these pics on my twitter. it’s one of the first decks i supported on kickstarter and it’s VERY pretty, and it has HOLOGRAPHIC RAINBOW EDGES HOT DAMN. it’s another one of those instances where i Yearned for it and then found that it didn’t fit me as well as i had hoped. tarot is just one of those things where you have to find what Works for you. at this time the children of litha was working so well for me and i really liked the depiction of animals in it, i wasn’t able to connect to another animal deck in the same way... and it was before my tarot collection snowballed into what i have now. C’EST LA VIE ... i don’t have a smith-waite deck. i’m a fake tarot fan. i am however familiarizing myself by following Jessica Dore on twitter and subscribing to her monthly newsletters. i really love how she talks about these cards and how she interprets them.

[ultranos]

How does baby dragon!Azula's act when she's finally on a sleeping and eating regimen appropriate for a growing dragon? Is she strictly carnivorous or an omnivore? How do Team Avatar and the White Lotus react to the way Azula changes when she has proper care?

As much as she hates to admit it, the “enforced bedtimes” (as the Water Tribe boy - Sokka, she mentally corrects - would put it) and diet that doesn’t leave her hungry half the time has done wonders for her mood and stress levels. Sure, she still finds them idiotic at times, but her brother’s new friends (her friends?) are...tolerable. Even the Avatar’s smelly pet bison isn’t so bad (smells like grass and sunshine and tastes like the west wind). Little things no longer set her teeth on edge.

How could anyone even tell if she wasn’t being a dragon perfectly? Her options for comparing herself are rather limited. And Ran and Shaw (Mom and Dad? That’s...going to take some getting used to. But it’s getting easier) aren’t telling her she’s failing.

Is that a dragon thing or...something else?

----

I’m currently thinking dragons are pretty much obligate carnivores, although their diet is probably mostly fish, ungulates like deer and boar, and possibly the occasional seal. (although I suspect Ran and Shaw themselves could probably take on a whale, so that might be on the list too.)

(Katara and Sokka would totally puppy-eyes if the dragon parents caught a whale or seal one day. They’ve been eating EK and FN food for MONTHS. Please let these children eat food that can remind them of home.)

----

Zuko is, of course, the most baffled and astonished by Azula’s changes. He grew up with her. Sort of. And okay, maybe he missed a lot of stuff and didn’t know his little sister as well as he could have, but still. They’re getting along. (She can’t even talk and she’s still sassing him, though. That might just be Azula. Can’t win them all.)

Aang stops being wary pretty quickly. Of course he was wary; she shot him with lightning! When she was human-shaped! (Aang will freely admit he found human-Azula a lot scarier than dragon-Azula) But Appa likes her, and Appa is an excellent judge of character. But more than that, Aang knows about dragons. And he knows they’re proud and they’re awfully protective of what’s theirs. And Zuko is her brother. Aang could have hurt him if he went into the Avatar State underneath the city. So of course she protected him then. He can be quietly happy that she’s acting that way about them now (he won’t tell anyone; she’d just deny it)

Katara finds Azula’s more annoying traits are softened now. Even the arrogance and ruthlessness are at least understandable because, duh, dragon. And if Azula gets too annoying, all Katara has to do is remind her which of the two of them have thumbs and speech.

Sokka is still confused by all this and offended in the name of science. (Seriously, what the hell? Somewhere, a biologist is crying.) But Azula is surprisingly tolerable when she’s not trying to capture them for her shitty not-dad. (Sokka remembers a story Gran-Gran told him about a sled dog they found, early in the war. They’d found the dog near the body of a dead Fire Nation soldier; they’d tried to cross the ice in those days in stealth. The dog was hurt, but was a vicious thing. Abused all its life, which isn’t surprising because duh, Fire Nation. They were debating to put it down, when Sokka’s grandfather, then just his age, took the beast in. Fed it, tended it’s wounds, the works. Slowly, grandfather earned that dog’s trust.

Sokka also knows that dog ended up saving his father’s life.)

Toph didn’t really know the Fire Princess that well at all before this. She heard stories, sure. According to Zuko, she’s practically mellow now. If that’s true, it’s a good thing, because a dragon that’s even more tightly-wound sounds like the worst thing ever.

For the White Lotus, Iroh is having a bit of A Time. He’s got a lot to work through with regards to his not-niece (that...feels like the safest term at the moment. Iroh eyes “daughter” like it’s a viper). Like...everything he ever knew or thought he knew about her. The rest of the White Lotus are in a similar situation, since most of their knowledge of Azula comes from Iroh, so there’s a total disconnect between their strange reality and Iroh’s apparently-biased assessment. At some point, one of them will try to figure out what this means for Fire Nation Succession and they’ll all have an aneurysm .

Well, except Bumi. Bumi thinks this situation is the most entertaining thing to happen in decades.

[evolutionsvoid]

When it comes to dangerous creatures and ferocious monsters, many folk think of carnivores and vicious predators. Those who feast on flesh, tearing through prey with tooth and claw. No one pays any mind to the herbivores, as they eat simple plants, how scary could that be? Well, in truth, this plant-eaters can be plenty dangerous and there are those that the carnivores dare not touch. One may argue that predators eat these herbivores, so clearly they are dominant! However, a keen eye will notice that many predators seek out the young, old and weak, those that are easy prey. For some species, a healthy adult is untouchable, only attacked in desperate times. In some cases, this is done because one wants to conserve energy, so it is best to take the easier meal. In other cases, these herbivores are dangerous foes that can strike deadly blows or wound a predator so badly that they will never be able to hunt again. One's diet does not determine one's threat level, so one should be mindful before making such assumptions. A good example of this is the Khalkotauroi, a herbivorous behemoth that walks the grasslands and savannas. Though it feeds on grass, leaves and other plant matter, it is considered one of the most dangerous creatures of the continent. A hulking ungulate, the Khalkotauroi is actually related to the Catoblepas, as one can see in certain features. It possess the prehensile lower lip, the scaly armor and the long serpentine tail. The biggest noticeable difference, though, is that this beast does not drag its head on the ground. Instead it has quite the short sturdy neck, meaning it can function like any other animal on the savanna. Since it does not have to crawl with its face, this species is much more mobile. They still walk along at a leisurely pace, but if angered, they can charge with incredible speed and force. That is another thing about the Khalkotauroi, they are absolute powerhouses. Their bodies are packed with pure muscle, with backs practically bulging with all this strength. One's charge has the power to knock over a tree or barrel through a wall, which means that us much squishier things would pretty much burst on impact. A thick neck allows them to absorb a whole lot of shock from the attack, and it also gives them the ability to toss things around like toys. A pair of thorny, heavily armored horns is their main weapon, and they are things to be feared. Not only will they gore you, but you can get caught in them and thrashed about. The metallic shell on these horns is incredibly strong, able to deflect sword strikes and ignore a whole lot of punishment. This same armoring coats most of their body, which makes them even more intimidating. Thick scales give them an incredible amount of protection, making it difficult for any attacker to leave a serious wound. The bottom of their jaw and the back of their legs are the only places where one could get a hit off, but these areas are not very easy to reach when this beast is charging you. While it does not eat meat and it gains nothing from taking down another animal, Khalkotauroi often cause injury and death due to a rather short fuse. They are easily angered and they are quick to get defensive when approached by an unknown creature. Like Catoblepas, they have quite poor eye sight and thus rely on smell to truly understand their surroundings. Odors of danger or strange beings can put them on edge, and they are quick to defend themselves if something startles them in this state. Since smell is a big thing for them, a misunderstanding in a hectic situation can lead to an attack. My guides said that approaching one while drenched in a familiar odor is not a foolproof plan. If the wind changes and they catch the smell of a predator, they will get defensive. And if you happen to be in front of them in this state and make a sudden move, they will assume you are a part of the danger and charge. I certainly didn't need to be told to stay far from them, but this adds to the huge pile of reasons to keep your distance. This defensive nature and anger is also extended to their young, as they are very protective of their calves. Getting anywhere near a baby Khalkotauroi is a recipe for disaster, as their mother isn't the only one who will maul you for this sin. All Khalkotauroi keep an eye out for each other, and they will work in a group if threatened. Even their Catoblepas cousins are roped into this, though they rarely need defending. Living in a poison cloud means that a lot of enemies aren't going to visit you at home.   The rage of a Khalkotauroi is a well known thing, as they are essentially living battering rams. Fences, walls and any other obstacle is easily barreled through, and the whip of an angry tail can send a man flying. Loud snorts and pawing at the ground are clear signs of anger, but the biggest signal comes from their nose and mouth. Much like their Catoblepas cousins, they possess special organs that collect certain fluids from the plants they eat. These same organs secrete their own special compound, mixing it all into a particular substance. This soup is turned into a vapor and it can be expelled from the nose or mouth. This vapor is quite flammable, igniting at the slightest spark. This spark is provided by their tusks, which contain properties that are similar to flint and steel. With quick jaw movements, they can grind these teeth together and cause sparking, which will ignite the expelled vapor. So when a Khalkotauroi is angry, it will literally have flames bursting from its jaws! Though an intimidating sight to see, the fire itself isn't all that dangerous. The vapor burns quickly and the fire doesn't create that much heat. Getting hit by a puff of this flame may singe your foliage and hair, but it won't incinerate you like dragon fire. They don't really use the flames as projectile, rather the heat stays all around the head. That means if you are stuck on its horns, than maybe you are going to start cooking up. In reality, these bursts of fire are more for intimidation and distraction, scaring away attackers or disorienting them long enough to get gored. I see this application quite often in conversation about this species. When I bring up the Khalkotauroi, many are quick to mention the fire and say how scary it is. I often shoot back that the charging horned beast is the thing that I find quite scarier. Singed leaves are unpleasant, but having my body turned to mulch is a bit worse! The fire they produce may also be used to burn off the irritating hairs and nasty thorns of certain plants, making them more palatable. It is a behavior that is quite similar to the Crystal Horn, though they rely more on focused light rather than belched flame.       

With their immense strength, impenetrable armor and nasty temper, many people tend to see nothing else in these beasts. However, one may be surprised to learn that the Khalkotauroi are rather intelligent. They seem to be quite observant and a bit curious, both of which they use to learn and adapt. When some new object shows up in their territory, they are always quick to check it out and prod it with their lower lip. Land owners who put up fences or new structures can be sure that the local Khalkotauroi will be inspecting these recent additions. While some may chalk it up to normal curiosity and common threat assessment, locals have found these creatures actually learning the purpose and functions of these things. Though big and bulky, their prehensile lower lip can actually allow them to perform these functions after careful observations! Quite a few farmers I met regaled me of their first time they saw a Khalkotauroi unlatch their gate and stroll right onto their property. Though I think such a thing would be incredible to watch, the storytellers were not so thrilled about suddenly having these massive creatures near their crops and homes! It sounds like that most Khalkotauroi have mastered simple doors and gates, which means folk need to add extra layers and complexities to their barriers to prevent these beasts from easily flinging them open. I have also been told that Khalkotauroi have come up with interesting behaviors when it comes to the dry season. Though their eye sight isn't all that great, they can still pick out silhouettes, and a shape they are quite familiar with is that of a human carrying a pot or urn on their head. When water is scarce, the Khalkotauroi will follow these folk as they know that they are headed towards water. Of course not every person has to draw water from a watering hole, as many towns and villages have wells and other ways to gather this precious liquid. Well, the Khalkotauroi have learned that too. There have been stories of these creatures trying to get into a village's stored water, and one instance where a Khalkotauroi actually figured out how to pull the rope that brings forth a bucket of well water! The other thing that shows the intelligence of the Khalkotauroi is their memory. They appear to remember every place they have visited, even when they were calves. Water holes or feeding grounds they haven't seen in decades can still be easily found, and they are sure to bring their young along so that they can learn too. They also are able to remember certain individuals, which they often identify through smell. This brings up a rather fascinating thing about Khalkotauroi and one of the big reasons they are infamous to locals and hunters. Not only do they remember specific people or creatures, they associate these beings with certain things. There is a tale of a farmhand who was responsible for dumping any food waste or rotten produce from their farm, which they often pitched in the same spot every day. Eventually the Khalkotauroi came to recognize this location as a reliable source of food. From that point on, the farmhand would find these beasts waiting patiently for the regular delivery at the same time every day. Though terrified at first, the fellow found that they were quite friendly and peaceful towards him. The farmhand found these interactions pleasant, but never thought too much about them. He brought food and that was all they really cared about. Months down the road, though, and he found himself in peril. While out on the road to visit family, he was ambushed by bandits and captured. His attempts to defend himself angered the thieves and they gave him quite the thrashing. As they beat him, there was a deafening bellow and something massive came charging out of the grass. An enraged Khalkotauroi plowed through the bandits, sending everyone running. Each thief was chased down and ground to paste, but the angry beast brought no harm to the farmhand. It was later found that this Khalkotauroi was one that visited the dumping ground daily, and it recognized the man who brought the food. Hearing his friend in pain and peril, it came rushing to the rescue! It is quite a wonderful tale, and it goes to show how smart these beasts can be. However, a memory that can help remember a friend can also remember a foe. It turns out that Khalkotauroi can hold grudges. The most well known tale of this behavior is the story of Gnarl Horn, a rather famous Khalkotauroi that prowled near the town of Ndiounda. Gnarl Horn was a full grown bull that was identified by a twisted overgrown horn, which was probably due to an injury that occurred in his youth. Larger than all others of his kind, he was said to be the undisputed king of the territory, and that no predator dared show their face when he was around. All the townsfolk treated Gnarl Horn with respect and they dared not cross him even when he wandered into town. He was a notable specimen of his kind with an unique appearance, which obviously meant that some rich elite jerkbag would want to kill it and turn him into a trophy. Some far-off wealthy lord known as Hagen prided himself on being a big game hunter and saw Gnarl Horn as a must-have for his trophy room. So he sailed off and went to Ndiounda in hopes of bagging this behemoth, which the locals did not appreciate. They forbid anyone to hunt Gnarl Horn and refused to help the man. So instead of taking the hint, he decided to hire some shady folk to serve as guides so that he could claim his prize. They tracked down the beast and found him grazing in a herd of fellow herbivores. Knowing simple weapons were ineffective against the armored hide, Hagen decided to construct pitfalls and leg traps that would topple Gnarl Horn and leave him vulnerable. The group then had the genius idea of setting off explosive seed pods to whip the herd into a panic. The cacophony they made sent every creature into a frenzy, resulting in a stampede. Everyone had to duck and cover as the chaos ensued, only emerging when the craze had passed. The aftermath showed several ungulates that had fallen into the traps and crippled themselves, as well as a bunch that had been tripped by placed foot holds and were trampled to death in the panic. All in all, it was a horrible scene of misery and terrible waste of life. And of course, Gnarl Horn was nowhere to be found. Somehow having no remorse for his stupid actions, Hagen retired to the camp to plot out another way to take down the beast. As they prepared for dinner, though, their quarry made a violent appearance. Gnarl Horn came charging into camp, tearing through the tents and goring one of the guides. They all fled the scene in a panic, retreating to a place where the enraged creature couldn't reach them. After Gnarl Horn gave up and left, they went back to their shredded camp and gathered what remained. They set up their station elsewhere, and Hagen was determined more than ever to beat these behemoth. When he went out to hunt the next morning, Gnarl Horn appeared once again and attacked. Few more guides and helpers were killed in the assault, but even when Hagen escaped, the terror was not over. For the next two days, Gnarl Horn continued to ambush and attack the group at every turn. Finally his guides abandoned him and fled, leaving Hagen to fend for himself. With all his equipment and preparations shattered by this furious creature, he had no choice but to flee. He abandoned his quest and sailed home, vowing to return and kill the behemoth. While the locals were happy to see the rich fool get driven off, they wondered what had infuriated Gnarl Horn to this degree. Eventually the guides were tracked down and questioned, and it was revealed that a few of them returned to the scene of the failed hunt to collect what they could from the collateral casualties. They didn't want the meat and resources to go to waste, as Hagen left the mangled bodies where they lie due to their poor condition. When inspecting the scene, they found the crushed body of a Khalkotauroi calf, who had been trampled amidst the chaos. No one can really confirm if this calf was Gnarl Horn's offspring or not, but such a loss regardless would be enough to drive the beast mad. Years after the incident, Hagen returned to Ndiounda to try and take down Gnarl Horn again. This trip lasted only two days, as the beast attacked hours after Hagen had set foot in the wilderness. After the first assault, no one dared help him or offer him sanctuary. The townsfolk wouldn't even let him into the town, as Gnarl Horn pursued Hagen even into populated areas and didn't care what got smashed during his rage. With no place hide, he was forced to quit once again. A few years after that, he came back for a different hunting expedition in another part of the territory, eyeing a tamer prize. Four days into his expedition, Gnarl Horn exploded onto the scene and tore through the party, leading to another retreat. From then on, Hagen refused to return to that land as long as Gnarl Horn lived. Eventually, the beast's reign came to an end. Old and weary, Gnarl Horn was found one day lying underneath a mango tree in a local farm. Lazily eating the fallen fruit, he simply sat there for three days, never moving from the spot. On the fourth day, the villagers had found that he had passed in the night. The whole town held a ceremony for the great giant, and news of the funeral reached Hagen's ears. Gleeful that the terrible creature had finally died, he set up another hunting expedition in the territory to celebrate. Longing to bag some game from this savanna, he trekked out into the wilderness and was promptly attacked by a young bull Khalkotauroi. Hagen was run through by its horns and crushed against a mango tree. After Hagen was dead, the bull simply turned around and left, ignoring the horrified guides. It seems that the Khalkotauroi can pass down a lot of things to their young. In the regions they call home, the thoughts on the Khalkotauroi is a bit of a mixed bag. Many are proud of such a powerful and adaptive beast, as it serves as a perfect symbol for strength. Their impenetrable scales serve as great materials for armor and equipment, and those that can summon it through Thericorium will have a great coat of armor to wear into battle. The issue with all this, though, is actually killing one of these beasts to obtain it. Due to their anger and armor, they are not easy beasts to slay, which is extra problematic when they become a nuisance. Eating crops and wandering into towns is a bit of an issue, but trying to drive it away can cause untold destruction. Thus locals have to continually adapt to these learning creatures, finding new ways to keep them out and away from their property. Some have considered domesticating the Khalkotauroi, as they would be great beasts of burden and they are capable of learning. This does sound good on paper, as you could train them with gifts of food, but there is a catch. While they can associate certain folk with good things like treats and kindness, this will not apply to everyone they meet. So you may be able to dance all around your trained pal without any issue, but the second a stranger is added into the mix, then it may lead to disaster. Also they could get protective over you like they do their young, and try to charge to the rescue if you sound like you are in danger. It may sound cool, but it really isn't when you argue with your spouse over who is doing the dishes and then your guardian bursts through the wall and your partner.               Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian --------------------------------------------- So it turns out Khalkotauroi are not just "bronze bulls" like I thought, but turns out their real descriptions say they are just bulls with bronze mouths and hooves. which are literally the only two parts of this beast I didn't make armored. Great job, idiot. Also the story of Gnarl Horn was supposed to be a throwaway line that would speak of their ability to hold grudges, but I got bored at work one day and started thinking too much about it. So in the end, one sentence wound up being three paragraphs (which could have been longer if I wanted to add the details about his funeral, burial, supposed haunting and the mango tree, but those details probably aren't necessary). Oops!

[sciencespies]

These Non-Lethal Methods Encouraged by Science Can Keep Wolves From Killing Livestock

https://sciencespies.com/nature/these-non-lethal-methods-encouraged-by-science-can-keep-wolves-from-killing-livestock/

These Non-Lethal Methods Encouraged by Science Can Keep Wolves From Killing Livestock

Nestled amid butterscotch-scented Ponderosa pines in Idaho’s backcountry one sunny, summer day in 1991, Suzanne Stone scooped her hands around her chin and let out an “Ahwooooo.” Stone, now an expert in wolf restoration heading the International Wildlife Coexistence Network, was then an intern at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). After she sent two boisterous wolf howls rippling through nearby meadows, she listened curiously for a reply. Instead, a bullet from a distant rifle whistled just above her and her supervisor’s heads. Steve Fritts, a leading wolf scientist at USFWS, hurried Stone back to their car before reporting what happened. Hunting was legal in the area, but firing at federal employees—even unknowingly—was not. Federal investigators later traced the shot to a hunting outfitter hundreds of yards away.

“I knew then what wolves were facing in the backcountry,” she says. For nearly three decades, wolf populations in Idaho have been on the rise, pitting local communities and powerful interest groups against each other, a situation that plays out in many areas across the country where wolves exist. Hunters contend that wolves have fully recovered and now deplete elk and deer populations while some ranchers argue wolves need to be killed to keep livestock alive. Conservationists, on the other hand, say that the apex predators contribute vitally to a healthy ecosystem and are still functionally extinct in about 85 percent of their historic range.

In October, the Trump administration delisted gray wolves from the endangered species list, a move celebrated by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Safari Club International, a hunter advocacy group, in a joint statement. The conservationist group Defenders of Wildlife, meanwhile, issued a statement of their own calling the delisting “premature and reckless.” They have joined other conservation groups to file a formal intent to sue the USFWS soon after the law takes effect in January.

With gray wolves set to lose their federal protection when delisting takes effect in January, individual states have resorted to patching together their own terms for management, making it easier for people to hunt them in some states. But hunting will likely stunt wolf recovery and destabilize ecosystems already hobbled by their scarcity. Wolves regulate coyote populations, preventing the latter group from hunting pronghorn sheep; wolves pick off weak, rather than healthy, prey, leading to stronger deer and elk herds; and they keep wild herbivores from overgrazing, rippling benefits down to the soil. For these reasons, biologists have been trying to convince ranchers and policymakers that nonlethal methods, both old and new, should be used to reduce livestock conflicts and keep wolf populations stable or growing.

Wolves were nearly wiped out from the lower 48 by 1960, but numbers rebounded after Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and scientists reintroduced the predators to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in 1995. Hunting ramped up between 2008 and 2012 when the USFWS delisted gray wolves in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, in part to protect livestock from attack. But that tactic may have been counterproductive. Research from the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at the University of Wisconsin Madison has shown that killing gray wolves actually leads to three times more livestock attacks, a finding supported by behavioral studies elsewhere. “The wolf pack is a family,” says Adrian Treves, who runs the lab. They cooperate to defend territory and raise pups. When one is killed, the destabilizing effect ripples through the pack. Reproductive age goes down, and naive juvenile attacks on livestock go up, according to Colleen St. Clair, a biologist at the University of Alberta.

Ranchers’ fears also run deeper than just slain cows. Even if livestock don’t die, wolves may chase or stress cattle enough that many lose weight, get trampled or injured. “I have major concerns about [wolves],” says Megan Brown, a cattle rancher in northern California who has encountered bears and wolves on her property. “I’ve noticed this happening slightly more now that the wolves are back.” (In 2011, California confirmed its first wild wolf sighting in 87 years.)

One newly proven tactic to discourage wolf-cattle conflicts is to keep an abundant population of the predators’ natural prey. Wolves prefer eating native wild animals, and depleted deer or elk populations nudge them toward abundant sheep and cattle. “Predators are always facing this cost benefit ratio,” St. Clair says. “When they choose to try to prey on livestock, it’s because they are in a situation where that’s their best option.” She suggests planting deer or elk carcasses in wolf habitats or imposing stricter hunting limits that could increase prey populations. Since doing so could also grow predator numbers, both approaches are contentious.

A tried-and-true change some ranchers have made is to keep their herds disease-free and haul dead livestock far from the rest. Wolves are exceptionally sensitive to weakened prey. “It’s like ringing the dinner bell and saying, ‘Come on in there’s a feast here’,” says Stone. Once the scent of a carcass lures them near a herd, healthy livestock become more vulnerable. Moving bone piles and carcasses far from the herd “may be the single best action” to prevent wolf predation on livestock from happening in the first place, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. This approach, while effective, adds costs to ranching and requires some to manage land differently than they have for generations.

It’s also not going to be a cure-all; ranchers can’t bury or haul thousand-pound carcasses from some remote pastures in the dead of winter, and healthy herds need protection too. Since wolves have evolved to be shy around unfamiliar things, a common strategy is to scare them away with devices called nonlethal deterrents. A centuries’ old example comes from Polish hunting practices: fladry is a perimeter of tightly spaced colorful flags. The configuration is not a physical barrier, but the narrow spacing between flags still throws wolves off. Hunters previously used fladry to funnel wolves into an ambush area, but scientists now champion the tool to spare them. In one instance, a biologist used fladry around a carcass visited by wolves. A hungry carnivore leapt over a nearby barbed wire fence “like it wasn’t even there,” but didn’t cross the fladry.

Since wolf reintroduction in 1995, scientists have gathered much evidence showing that random blasts of colorful light, noise or motion can also protect livestock enclosures by keeping wolves on edge. Stone recalls one wolf getting blasted with Van Halen. “It was one of our Wildlife Services guys’ favorite albums, and it was very hard rock,” she says. The frightened wolf fled further than any other in her experience. Ranchers also scare away wolves using strobe lights and starter pistols. Stone, who has used countless deterrents in her 30 years of experience, even reported success with inflatable tubemen—those giant grinning effigies that dance unpredictably, often around used car lots. She assembled a pair on an Oregon hobby farm in 2018 where wolves had eaten llamas, and wolves have still not returned, she says.

Nonlethal deterrent devices have limitations, though. Some require electricity and all only protect enclosed areas—two deal-breakers for herds grazing open pastures. Even in ideal scenarios, wolves eventually tease out empty threats. “Animals are incredibly smart,” says St. Clair. “Their lives depend on figuring out which of these dangers are real dangers.” Targeting multiple senses with a rotating library of deterrents staves off their pattern recognition, but habituation remains a major consideration.

St. Clair is currently researching how tricking wolves into thinking livestock is disgusting food, can condition, rather than scare them. Her approach includes developing microcapsules with nauseating chemicals that she plants in carcasses as bait for curious carnivores. Making an animal vomit triggers an association with what they just ate, ironing a crease into a primitive subsection deep in the brain. So if a wolf eats a carcass laced with this flavorless capsule, it would start to steer clear of dead steer. This “conditioned disgust” aversion showed promising results in a 2009 study on captive wolves, but the method hasn’t been tested widely in wild wolves.

Recognizing animal cognition inevitably leads to appreciating individual differences between wolves. “We know that individuals vary in their ingenuity—their determination to get through our defenses, their tendency to repeat and cause multiple problems,” Treves says.

The environmental nonprofit Resolve and AI company CVEDIA recently announced WildEyes, a field camera that reportedly recognizes different individuals. “It’s a perfect example of how technology is catching up with the new paradigm of coexistence-type work,” says Stone. WildEyes can automatically alert ranchers of worrisome individuals in the area, or set off deterrents to scare the wolves away. The new technology has been tested on Tibetan wolves, but has not been used in the United States.

According to Stone, one rancher in Montana is testing a tool that monitors livestock heart rates to detect distress—a sort of Fitbit for ungulates. When the device senses stressed livestock, it alerts the rancher that a predator may be close. And other ranchers are also supercharging classic deterrents. Turbofladry combines fladry with electric fences, and works well for smaller enclosed herds.

While some ranchers try new methods, others have stuck with a couple of old standbys that scientists still encourage. Range riders, people paid to travel alongside free-grazing herds on horseback or ATV, can cover more area than electric fences usually surround. In addition to just supervising cattle, range riders encourage wolf-resistant behaviors: grazing as a dense cluster, keeping newborns with moms and moving injured cattle to safety. And guardian dogs, such as Great Pyrenees, can also travel with livestock beyond fence lines. A 2010 study from Central Michigan University proved their ability to dramatic reduce wolf activity, protecting sheep, goats and cattle. At several cattle farms randomly assigned guardian dogs, wolf visits dropped from about once per month to zero visits in three years. Brown says, however, that ranchers with many acres need many dogs—each costing thousands to feed and maintain.

“Every part of this is about having the right tool and using it the right way,” says Stone, pointing out that some ranches require multiple tactics at once. In 2017, Stone published findings from a seven-year case study comparing sheep killings in a lethally controlled area to one protected by range riders, turbofladry, guardian dogs and other nonlethal deterrents. The nonlethal controls led to 3.5 times fewer dead sheep—just .02 percent of the total population.

Switching from lethal to nonlethal measures widely, however, is tough without more buy-in from government and ranchers. More than half of ranchers surveyed in one study wanted to learn more about nonlethal techniques, but funding to foster that desire is lagging. Some states, such as Oregon, do provide grants to help cover costs for nonlethal controls though. When Colorado welcomes wolves back after passing a reintroduction bill in November, Stone hopes policymakers will learn from that evidence, and encourage the suite of nonlethal solutions for protecting livestock and wolves, rather than the lethal measures which endanger both.

For now, the best approach to deter gray wolves’ from attacking livestock is to combine multiple nonlethal methods, and encourage biologists and ranchers to keep innovating. “People often want a silver bullet: they buy this technique, they install it, it works forever,” says St. Clair. “It’ll never be like that. Animals will always be testing, especially animals as smart as wolves.”

#Nature

[askkrenko]

Why Aetherborn are what’s wrong with Magic: the Gathering

or

A discussion of creature types and their role

Screw this card in particular.

This is a stupid card that should not exist, not because I don’t feel that Design and Development made a bad call in specifically creating it, but because I feel that Design and Development have consistently made bad decisions throughout Magic’s lifespan that necessitated this worthless piece of junk taking up one of the rare slots in Aether Revolt.

So what do I think this bad decision is? Adding Aetherborn to the game.

I hate “Aetherborn.” This is not to say I hate the race; they are a unique and interesting people. This is not to say I hate their design; they look cool and make for a non-standard black race. This is not even to say that I hate the name; Aetherborn is a cool and evocative word. What I hate is this. Right here.

I have, in the past, spoken about how 234 is too many creatures types in the game, and that was shortly before Aetherborn existed. While 235 is not, specifically, my tipping point, the introduction of a specific lord for this creature type of a mere sixteen members exemplifies my problem.

The first question to ask here is “Why do we have creature types?” When Magic: the Gathering was first created, eighty eight creatures had creature types, and the rest were artifact creatures. Most of these types did literally nothing as far as gameplay was concerned. In Alpha, only Wall, Goblin, Merfolk, and Zombie had any mechanical effect. The rest were effectively dead text on a card. Still, the design was clear from the start. Any creature’s type could begin to matter in an expansion, and it wasn’t long before other types began to count.

The problem, ultimately, is that in the vast majority of games, a creature’s type simply doesn’t matter. Tarmogoyf would be just as good were it a Bear or a Goat, and even Birds of Paradise almost never gets to take advantage of its particularly common creature type of Bird. Still, these words are on nearly every creature printed throughout the history of Magic: the Gathering, so what decides what creature types get benefits and what don’t?

Having some pushed per set and others not works fine for a set, a block, or even a standard, but Wizards has realized that players want lords for every creature type. Thus, they attempt to include a small bit of tribal support in every set. While this works fine for common creature types, like the Spirit and Zombie support in Innistrad, or even the mechanically unique types like Ally and Werewolf, there’s also a tendency to include tribal support for creatures when it’s their “best chance.” This includes creatures like Ishkanah in Innistrad, but also Midnight Entourage in Aether Revolt.  The problem is, with only forty five spiders, spread across the history of Magic, and only sixteen aetherborn (with a significant wait likely before any more), these cards’ tribal elements are too small for any format. Ishkanah, at least, is self contained. She is strong enough to see significant play as the only Spider in her deck. Midnight Entourage will live or die based on the strength of the other fifteen Aetherborn, and by that I mean it will die. It will die horribly, only to be used in janky casual decks and Commander decks that don’t realize Yahenni doesn’t actually die if you send them back to the command zone.

Aetherborn having a lord, however, is not the problem. It’s a symptom. The problem is that, unlike Lorwyn’s Flamekin, Aetherborn have their own creature type. If Aetherborn were instead Elementals, not only would the Aetherborn lord not have been necessarily stuffed into Kaladesh, but it would have applied to twenty one additional creatures in the current standard, plus an additional three hundred sixty creatures (and many more tokens) in older formats.

Aetherborn isn’t the only culprit, of course. With two hundred thirty five creature types, the chances of all of them mattering mechanically is particularly low, and I’d argue that any creature type that isn’t mechanically relevant or likely to be mechanically relevant needs to exist in a broader category. Some of these categories would be very broad, certainly, while others could remain narrow.

As an example of what I’m speaking of, let’s look at everyone’s favorite creature type: cat. There are 140 Cats in Magic: the Gathering, a mixture of cat people and cat animals, as well as a number of cards that create cat tokens. This is particularly high for a creature type that not a single card in over twenty years cares about, and much higher than the Aetherborn count. In addition, there are 71 Hounds, still without a card that cares about them. While I’m willing to accept that dogs and cats are very different animals in real life, do the rules of Magic really need to separate them? Could they not both count as “Beasts?” What makes Chartooth Cougar and Felidar Cub different from other Cats? Why can Skirk Outrider ride a Felidar Cub, but not a Fleecemane Lion?

It’s times like this I look to other TCGs for answers, and one that I used to play offers a much cleaner method of handling creature types. Yu-Gi-Oh! Effectively gives every monster two types: an Attribute (Dark, Earth, Fire, Light, Water, or Wind, which seem analogous to color, but functionally just work like a creature type), and a Type (Aqua, Beast, Beast-Warrior, Dinosaur, Dragon, Fairy, Fiend, Fish, Insect, Machine, Plant, Psychic, Pyro, Reptile, Rock, Sea Serpent, Spellcaster, Thunder, Warrior, Winged Beast, Wyrm, and Zombie.) Obviously, this limited list has some issues, but the simple fact is that such a short list means there are cards that care about every single Attribute and Type in the game, without the need for “choose a type” cards.  (Note: Some particularly special cards have their own unique attributes and types, but it’s a very small number.)

Last time I brought up the topic of creature types, I went through a brief list of ones like Graveborn and Efreet that could easily be folded into something adjacent to them. This time I want to talk more about casting wide nets. I’m going to talk about a few specific creature types, identifying the good and the bad.

“Bird” is a perfect creature type. It casts a wide enough net to capture over two hundred cards, appears on every world, but isn’t so large as to take more than its fair share. It’s usually obvious what is or is not a bird, and any given would could conceivably ‘push’ birds. There’s no plane where a few strong bird cards would be out of place. I’m actually a bit surprised that there are only two hundred and ten birds, though the fact that nearly all of them have flying limits design space slightly.

“Soldier” is a very good creature type, but its net could be wider. While a Soldier is definitely a concrete thing that shows up everywhere, the Warrior creature type could conceivably include all Soldiers, Barbarians, Samurai, and Knights. The sheer volume of these (over 500 soldiers and 500 warriors, plus 200 knights) would make up for a significant portion of Magic’s 8727 creatures, but that would merely ensure that support for this conglomerate type could show up in every set, and no set would ever risk being without. The bigger issue is that it’s not instinctively clear what is a Soldier, what is a Warrior, and what is a Knight. With such large numbers on both, keeping Soldier and Warrior separate is fine, but I do feel that Soldier should absorb Knight and Samurai.

“Goblin” feels like a perfect creature type, but that’s partially because it’s incredibly pushed. There are actually much fewer goblins than there are of many less popular creature types, but goblins have gotten more tribal support than any creature type other than slivers and perhaps zombies. Folding Orcs (and Kobolds) into Goblins would go a long way to support those tribes and encourage Orcs on more worlds. The Goblin type is intentionally vague on Wizards’ part, with creatures ranging from Akki to Boggarts, so using Goblin as a creature type for a few more goblin-esque things would make those things more viable.

Here’s a list of some creature types that are real world mammals: Antelope, Ape, Aurochs, Badger, Bat, Bear, Boar, Camel, Caribou, Cat, Elk, Elephant, Ferret, Fox, Goat, Hippo, Horse, Hound, Human… And there’s plenty more after that. I’m not suggesting these all be the same creature type, especially not Human, but if the cards are never going to make us care if something’s an Antelope, a Caribou, or an Elk, why are these separate types? Ungulate may be a word not enough people know, but I propose real world mammals be divided into Humans, Ungulates (which include antelopes, aurochs, boar, camel, caribou, elephant, elk, goat, hippo, and horse), and Beasts (basically anything else. Cat? Beast. Ferret? Beast. Squirrel? Beast.) This would either require Ainok and Leonin to get their own type (something that included them, minotaurs, viashino, and the weird Monger things from Mercadia) or to just be Beast with a class. Either would be fine. There are only 342 beasts.

While on the topic, we only need “Reptile,” and “Amphibian.” While I respect wanting to separate snakes from lizards, or frogs from salamanders, there’s just not enough of any of them printed for this to be useful. The total number of creatures I’d propose folding into the Reptile type is still less than the number of cats there already are. Viashino could be Reptile or whatever term is used for humanoid beasts.

And then there’s Undead. Creature types include Zombie, Skeleton, Specter, Wraith, Vampire, and other forms of undead, and the simple fact is: this doesn’t help anyone. Zombies get the lion’s share of tribal support, with Vampires getting some, and the other types never receiving any. While I accept that, at this point, combining Vampires and Zombies into one tribe would be a mess, having all Undead being labeled as Undead would make things easier on everyone. Having Vampire still be a creature type would be fine, especially with this then granting the ability to differentiate between the living vampires (Innistrad, Zendikar) with the actual undead ones seen on most planes. This would have the added effect of making the true Undead Vampires stronger by being able to fit in either tribe.

I will say that I’m fine with creature types used as flags for specific mechanics in a set, like “Flagbearer” or “Slivers.” Neither of these creature types would work properly if there were a slew of random creatures that shared their type. Similarly, some types like “Coward” exist to make a mechanic work. This isn’t the cleanest, but it’s fine.

I could go on and through the whole of the creature types, explaining how to best combine them and how to simplify them down to something both reasonable and useful, but I think I’ve made my point. There are just too many creature types, and Aetherborn not being elementals makes them worse cards and does a disservice to the elementals, who have been here the whole time and haven’t gotten their fair share of tribal support.

[josephkitchen0]

Quoting a Physicist...

January 2 Coming up with a title for this post was almost as hard as deciding to blog at all. Then I remembered a favorite quote, actually, it's a book title, from Richard Feynman, the physicist. He wrote "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" I recommend the book, and I would like to embrace the sentiment... because I really should care less what other people think. Far too much of my blog slow-down is a result of being concerned about criticism from certain people over what I write, don't write, overshare, and take interest in. There it is. I have grappled with remarks and accusations that directly admonish, accuse, ridicule, and criticize me and my social media presence. And it has just about shut me down completely... here, on FB, emotionally, physically. It's made a hard year (or three) even harder; quite crap, in fact. I have been introspective, and confounded, self-critical, embarrassed, and apologetic. And I have been miserable. And the thing is... as concerned and inward-looking as I have been, as much as I've worked to assess my values, efforts, narrative, presence, it occurs to me that the critics aren't here. The critics don't hang out with me, or know me... they aren't involved in our daily lives, and I am not calling on them to bail me out, or asking them to 'like' my posts, fight my battles, sing my praises. I've been waiting... waiting to see what shutting-up could yield, waiting to see if those critics would like me better, find me more worth their time and interest, if I just backed-off, sat back, made myself smaller. I can't deny it... I want to be liked and likable, I want to be successful, admirable, especially to the people I have liked and admired all of my life. But, it's no good trying to be someone else, hoping to be the kind of whatever that makes me appealing to them. It's no good not being me, however objectionable, loud, messy, weird, liberal, or sensitive people see me as being. Either I am the embodiment of my body, mind and soul, my interests, skills, and ambitions, or I am nothing. I have cared a great deal too much what other people think, and it's made me small and despondent, meager... my soul feels gaunt. And the critics? They're just people with their own bodies and souls, agendas, and ideals, and they're carrying on, living, believing what they do, and I am not stopping them. But I want to take back my will, and a sense of self-worth that is not so dependent on what other people think. In the time that I have been quieter, smaller, I have noticed that the people who do care, who are here, who can accept my good and bad parts, they see me. They aren't showing up out of obligation, or begrudgingly. They aren't asking me to be anyone else, act like someone else, be less than my own self. I used to still worry about what I could lose by showing my dance, singing my songs, being myself. I pay too much attention to the ones who don't like me... demonstrative, over-sharing, objectionable, loud, messy, weird, liberal, sensitive, clumsy, uncool me, and I want this to change. Time is running out, and I don't want to waste any more of it worrying what other people think... January 3 Our winter break has been sweet. And bittersweet. I miss so much of what, whom, we lost. I miss my Grandmother, terribly. "Terribly" is that adjective that we use, a figure of speech. But now, I think I know it better. The missing, the longing and sadness and deep grief I feel is dire and unspeakable, awful, and grave... it is terrible to feel so emotional, to have such a longing for what cannot be, can never be. I won't speak of it, cannot speak of it, but the truth is: I am inconsolable. And it's not much better with Mister Washburn Foo. And so, you see... our holidays, and liberties, company, the lights on the tree, the carols, and old movies, the spirit of Christmas has been sweet, but always with the unspeakable terribleness that I cannot seem to cope with. My Instagram page is all cats and sketchbooks, flowers in the garden, and an almost insatiable yearning to see beauty, to hold it, and feel it, and make any of it that I possibly can. January 4 January 5 January 6 He's a junior! Being more emotional than rational, I cannot understand how this is possible, already. I am sure if I would look at a calendar, add units, and count months, it would all make sense. But just going by my feelings, it seems so soon. He'll be starting a last semester of classes to pass the time, while he waits to hear from the school he hopes to transfer to, then he can be a math major, like he always wanted. January 7 The day after Christmas we set off a chain reaction that is, to do this day, sending shock waves through the Bird House... *Chango cannot retract his old man claws, and he made a tear in our bed sheet. *The tear grew, and made the sheet a total loss. *I decided to wash the mattress pad cover, while the sheets were off... and realized the foam pad was awful. Gross. etc *After 23 years, we decided that buying another foam pad was a waste, if we were only covering a horrible mattress. *We were reminded that our king bed is "eastern" and Costco only sells "western" and so we had to go to Ikea. *I fell deeply, spinally, horizontally in love with a mattress, and all of my economical and rational inhibitions were dashed! *Ikea promised next day delivery! *We had to race home and clean our room. *I got the harebrained notion to finally arrange our furniture the way I had been dreaming and imagining and plotting to do for seven years... and that entailed huge, huge, huge upheaval and lugging, which Geoff could only observe, because he's still in recovery from surgery. *Things and parts and stuff shifted from our room, out of the hall, down the stairs, and throughout the house, in preparation for removal of the old mattress, and the arrival of the really big, new one. *I chased dust bunnies from here to the curb, for what felt like days. *The new mattress (even without a real boxspring) is so ginormous, that we can hardly see the headboard or the footboard, and I was afraid of falling from the bed... but I love it. I love it. I love it. I think I am even getting stronger abs from launching myself up to get into it. *I love it. I love it. I love it. *There has been sleep. You guys, I am tearing up a little. Actual sleep. This was the little family meeting we were having about a very special visit, and Alex and Max having their wisdom teeth pulled. I got another harebrained idea, and each of them were about to have four wisdom teeth removed, because I thought it would be easier to get all done at once. Sorry, boys. The Very Special Visit! Max, Tamsyn, Maria, William, Alex, and Bambi. Tamsyn! From Virginia, no from Edinburgh, wait, no, from Paris, by way of India! It's been way too long since we last saw her. She's in graduate school, in Paris, and while on break, she came to California, and this moment... seeing these children together, it made my heart overflow, and feel so thankful and joyful. (Pinching myself, and gently reminding me, too, that I have been very fortunate.) January 8 This is my submission for whatever photo contest calls for "The Epitome of Ungulate Love and Adorableness." I will win that contest with this entry. No pictures of Alex and Max, home from the oral surgeon. No video, either. It was rough, and they were dear, sweet patients, that would have loved to spend a better quality of time with Tamsyn, while on their school break. January 10 Do you do this? Accommodate a pampered fluff nugget when he won't get off the bed, so you make the bed around his fluffy butt? Apparently, it's what I do. And then I take a picture and share it on Instagram. It's who I am, it's what I do. Maria was inspired by the birthday card Belinda gave me... from when I turned fifty. The original photograph was taken in Venice, 1952, by Georges Dambier, of Francoise Dambier. Maria's drawing... well, it just keeps getting better and better. And I guess it's not a surprise, considering how much she practices and studies. And the best part is... she enjoys it. Tamysn was such an easy going guest. And really, more like one of the family than a visitor. It was so nice to have the kind of visit where ordinary pastimes and relaxed time together was the order of each day. And she made us dinner! A fabulous Indian dinner. How good? So good that we had her make everything, again, the next night, so William could learn the recipes. (Still recovering, Alex opted to be out of the picture. But he did love the soft, vegetarian meal.) I miss her singing. So much. When we were neighbors, when she was like one of my own, we had the regular enjoyment of her singing. I think Chango remembered her, just at this moment. He is very hard of hearing, but if you could see how he watched her, and moved closer and closer, peering into her face... I know he was remembering her. And. I kept thinking, Mister Foo is going to walk over here, any minute. He loves music, and singing. And I kept waiting, thinking, Where is that Foo? It was only later, I recalled, he's gone. January 11 Tamsyn, and Mister Foo, and old blog posts... this is why I had to come back here, and post, again, so I would have more stories to look back on, more memories to revisit, plans to recall, moments to share. Years from now, I don't want to find that I was too shy to write something down, too conservative to discuss an idea, or self-conscious to post a photograph. I could do this in a paper journal, and leave it on a shelf, I know. But Tamsyn is in Paris, and so is Grant. And my Mom is in Oregon, and other family is in Wisconsin, and I have a friend in Massachusetts, others in Australia, one in England, another in Spain, and it's nice to stay in touch, to hear from them, and let them have some glimpses of how we are getting on. It was really dear finding old pictures, and details from ordinary days when we lived next door to Tamsyn, when we tried new things together, and shared adventures, even from other times when we had to say farewell. January 14 Maybe, Chickenblog will just become a Cat Blog, with loads of expressive cat photos. Maybe, I'll post artsy photographs of chamomile tea, the damp texture like a watercolor painting, and I'll add a few lines of obtuse poetry about dappled sunlight on winter mornings. Or I could write long essays about the nature of art, and ratastic expressionism in the modern era. Something. I think I will keep doing something, here. January 15 Cairo had it coming. Now I need to take care of laundry. It's okay if you didn't read all of this post, if you only skimmed through the pictures. It's okay if you think blogging is weird or obsessive, or pointless, but... please, no need to mention that to me. I am just trying to do good, where I can, to think about things, deeply, or just scratch the surface. The first sweet peas. I'm pinching myself. January 16 Quoting a Physicist... was originally posted by All About Chickens