little-balloonicorn

[dazzelmethat]

Anteater Weevil. Smaller than a great anteater and more arboreal, the species combo would eat more termites and sap from trees than ants on the ground.

@weevilsdaily Hope you don't mind me tagging you. Your blog is what got me to get down and fully design an idea I've had for a while.

I love both great anteaters and weevils so so much.

[venomgaia]

gal who calls you girliepop and collects bugs

[toytle]

hello dc community, i finally have merch ideas i can offer 🤲

littlest pet superheroes,,,

[kedreeva]

At some point in your life, there will be a moment where exactly - or near exactly - half the people in the world are younger than you, and half the people are older.

And I think that moment should be the one your soulmate Mark appears at, not at birth or puberty or something. Both because at birth is kind of boring but it's also very you-centric and soulmates are about the thing outside of you being a part of you, and I think it would be nice to include The World.

But also I think it would have fascinating implications for scientific and social studies. Longevity trends tracked by the average age soul marks appear. Tragedies causing a rash of recent marks to disappear (because the people are no longer the middle). Marks appearing early during baby booms.

[hollis-art]

turned my childhood LPS guys into cool college kids :)

[silvermoon424]

Me when I remember how dogs were the very first domesticated animal and have evolved alongside humans for thousands of years, resulting in our two species becoming adapted to each other and able to easily communicate.

Me when I remember that humans and dogs have been around each other so much for so much time that dogs are better at reading human behavior than our closest genetic relatives (the great apes).

Me when I remember that dogs can easily understand our facial expressions and gestures, while most people are able to intuit things from a simple bark (if the dog is friendly or aggressive, big or small, nervous or excited, etc).

Me when I remember how, millennia ago, some wolves decided to hang around humans for extended periods of time and those humans thought "you know, we could make them our friends."

Me when I remember that dogs are called man's best friend for a reason.

[affectionatecorpse]

I'm once again getting overly philosophical over horror movies, so here's a study of the death angels from A Quiet Place as observed by a very enthusiastic animal loving veterinarian.

Every time people talk about death angels, it is, understandably, about how violent they are. These creatures are brutal and merciless, and will tear apart anything that makes too much noise. Hence the title of the movie.

Death angels are frankly terrifying, and show no empathy towards the creatures of the planet they invaded. No living thing is safe from them.

... so here's why they COULD be--

Look. Death angels are simply not suited for our planet. It's a noisy, chaotic place full of noisy, chaotic animals. From humans, to raccoons, to birds, to cats, nearly everything in our world is a potential trigger for a noise sensitive animal such as these.

But that's exactly what they are. Animals. And no one seems to remember that fact. People talk about them as though they themselves are sentient, anthropomorphic monsters, but the way these creatures act mimic many real life animals. Animals that don't belong here, but are trying to survive here. On a noisy planet covered in water, which they despise and cannot swim in.

Death angels are completely blind by nature, as seen in many other creatures such as cavefish, moles, and my personal favourite, the olm. Due to a lack of sight, they very clearly use echolocation in the film, to scan their surroundings and... well, not get dead. But echolocation is far from their only tool, as their ears are the strongest asset they have.

Their ears are INCREDIBLY sensitive. Just the slight ticking of an egg timer when heard from their perspective in the first film, is like a pounding drum in their ear. This is fine in a naturally quiet planet, but if a very subtle tick is that loud, then imagine the rest of the noise. Screaming. Explosions. Crashing. Little toy planes. Holy CRAP, that's gotta hurt.

Sounds that loud would definitely cause extreme hearing problems from pressure over time, and easily result in lifelong illnesses and disabilities such as deafness, infection, and so forth, if not stopped. It's going to be painful. It's literally bursting their ear drums inside their heads, and you can't explain to an animal why it hurts. You cannot rationalise with wildlife about treatment and self care. An injured and scared animal is always going to turn hostile, no matter how docile they may be normally. You can't explain to a lion with a knife in it's belly that you can stop the pain if it just doesn't attack you. You can't explain to a death angel that it needs to go somewhere more isolated instead of just destroying the source of the noise to shut it up.

Going to backtrack here a sec. Remember how I mentioned echolocation being another asset this creature has? Which means the slightest movement, the tiniest breath, can immediately allow you to be seen by it. With ears that good, too? It can see you from ages away. It knows you're there. Which means they DON'T attack for sport.

'Evil' is a concept rarely seen in nature. Yes, a lot of humans can be evil. And yes, many creatures can be too. Animals hunt for sport as well. Cats, for example! Although even then, I wouldn't describe it as evil. Calling the death angels evil implies they're attacking out of malicious intent, which just isn't true. In moments of panic, they'll destroy. But they are fully aware of humans around them.

Humans need to breathe, and can't stay perfectly still very easily. The death angels would be able to see our main cast at several points, even when they're being quiet. They don't attack whenever they locate a sign of life. For example, the scene in the basement. Being that close, whether the water was running or not, that alien absolutely would've heard Evelyn and the baby's sharp breaths. It didn't care. It was clicking at them almost curiously before it heard the bang of the silo, to which it ditched them to stop the sound.

This scene is a great example of why they don't kill for sport. Injured and young animals are especially easy prey for a creature built so strong and nimble. Evelyn is shown to be terrified of the mere presence of this thing, but it never actually does anything in the scene. It moves about. Ignores her movements in the flooding water. Investigates the baby. Clicks curiously at her while she backs away. It moves slowly and on all fours, when we know while aggressive, they will stand up on their hind legs (unless sprinting) and move very fast.

This implies it was in... well, not a submissive position, but a nonthreatening one. It wasn't baring it's teeth (as best it could), it had it's claws tucked up and unused, and was in no way in a primed-to-attack mentality. Until the silo made a loud bang. And even then, it could've quickly sliced up the two in the basement before running off, but it DIDN'T. It just left, without a moment of hesitation.

Let's also acknowledge the anatomy.

This is a carnivore. With sharp teeth for ripping apart prey, sharp claws for defence, and thick armour for protection from it's natural climate, as well as strong, long legs for running, this is absolutely a meat eater. The fact it's so well equipped makes me wonder if their natural prey is just as dangerous as them, which is why they have such tough skin. Or if they themselves have something above them in the food chain.

They seem to be pack animals, as usually others aren't far behind when one is about. Such as the trio by the Abbott house, the few at the docks, the ones by Emet's hideout, and even that group sliding down the building in the Day One clip I keep seeing as a gif. With their knack for running included, I wonder if they function like lions? Blending into their environment back home, clicking to hear prey, then the whole pack going on the chase when their target is vulnerable, in a way.

I got distracted. My point was, in a year, all the bodies from past victims vanished. All those people in the town who were swiped left and right just vanished from the town. They couldn't have decomposed in such short time, which means something moved them when it was safe. Something like a carnivore needing food after it felt comfortable in the silent aftermath. The argument that they do it for sport is one I see all the time, and it's just not true.

Everything needs to eat. Carnivores need to eat. Animals need to protect themselves from suspected danger. They never eat on screen because whenever they're on screen, they're surrounded by noise and are DISTRESSED. Have you ever had a sick pet? Most of the time, it won't eat when it's ill because it's too stressed, uncomfortable or in too much pain. When having their ear drums assaulted, a death angel isn't going to sit down with a cup of tea and a grilled cheese. Also, I won't add it because there's blood, but in the scene with the old man screaming in the woods, after it attacks, you can actually see it go back on all fours and sniff about the aftermath, like a hungry predator catching prey to eat. This was probably the first and currently only on screen proof of my claim.

By all means, not all animals are meant to be tamed. Jordan Peele's Nope said that best. Yet I can't help but wonder about the individual. Every animal is completely unique. Some will tolerate more than others. Due to their realistic nature and the similarities to actual animals, in specific circumstances, could they be befriended?

Anyway keep an eye out for A Quiet Place 4 where someone has a pet one that wears doggy ear protectors and accepts meat in exchange for pets-- /j

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I think is cute is that - y’know how Raph’s eyes are more on the yellow side?

Well, you know who also has slightly yellowed eyes? Donnie.

While Raph’s are more yellow, I think it’s cute that this is something that they share and I don’t see it pointed out too often?

It’s also something they both share with Draxum and Splinter’s current form (though again, these two have much more yellow sclera than the boys do.)

But yeah, I like that there’s this little detail that ties Raph and Donnie together, even if it’s small.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for admiring someone without his knowledge?

There's a really cute guy who lives near me; we've met briefly a couple times, but i wouldn't say we're friends yet, though I'm hoping to get much closer to him.

I recently discovered that if I look in his windows from a certain angle, I can see him without him noticing me, so I've been watching him in my freetime.

I just enjoy watching him go about his business, yknow? Eating dinner, settling in for the night in his bed, playing games, and working out on the treadmill, are all so charming when he does them.

However, recently I was peering in his window watching him bathe, and my friend later pointed out that my behavior *technically* falls under the purview of a "peeping tom" whatever that is. I still don't think I'm the AH, I'm not hurting anybody, and he doesn't even know I'm watching him, so no harm no foul right?

Attached are pictures of the little man in question, so you can understand how cute he is.

[fjordfolk]

Unless: You want the action to repeat itself because it's super cute and there is nothing inherently wrong with rewarding contact-seeking behaviour, and shockingly it is actually possible to both teach and learn more nuanced ways to communicate with your dog than simply "no" and "when i say so"

[halltastic]

Nix

[densewentz]

[quixot1sm]

all the starters <3 they’ll all get full images eventually!!

[disgustedorite]

Like virtual pets, adoptables, and/or closed species? Check out this website!

On this site, you can adopt a variety of creatures and host your own species, and like most virtual pet sites you can explore, breed, customize, and more! Here's an example of a species that I'm hosting on the site, called a spripot:

The site's still in beta, so registration is only open on Saturdays. Join using the link above if it's Saturday, or save this for later if it isn't!

Tagging virtual pet sites and various places I've seen people posting species sheets - I think a lot of you guys might like this.

[elliott-the-creature]

my sister is (sadly) very anti therian and anti furry, but sometimes she does random things that gives me so much species euphoria. she doesn’t even realize it makes me so happy, and I get a little chuckle out of it.

last week me, my sister, and my mom went to the lake to go swimming, and when I was hesitating to go in the water (idk why I was so unwilling to go in), she threw a stick in the water and, in the most bored, monotone voice, said “go get it dog”, and that immediately got me to swim. we then continued this process, with her calling me a dog and using “dog language” (like saying “you want the stick?” and “go get it!”), and it was so fun!!

we then went out on my mom’s paddle board (with her paddling, and me behind her in the back), and it felt like I was a silly little dog being able to go on the human rides! like, wow, I’m such a good puppy, I get to go paddle boarding instead of just watching and wating for my packmate! it was lots of fun; we kept paddling near boats and skidoos while they were zooming around (safely, of course) and catching the waves they made! I saw lots of dogs on the shore while we paddled too, they all looked as happy as me!

lol my sister also found a weird term to call me. she was like, “go get it, themster”, and I was like “what’s a themster???”, and she was like “well it’s like sister, but them, since you aren’t a girl” and damn she can be annoying but I love her 🥹

[fumifooms]

no one can convince me Lycion isn’t a borzoi