thistleteeth

[thistleteeth]

"Tilia is a vest-wearing conservation dog that the 444-acre [Mequon] nature preserve relies on for vital conservation and restoration work.

The dog’s responsibilities include sniffing out invasive and endangered species in the prairies, forests, and wetlands of Mequon.

Conservation dogs have become more commonplace in wildlife organizations, tapping into their astonishing scent-detecting abilities.

“Dogs in general already have up to 200 million olfactory sensors,” Cory Gritzmacher, the director of operations at the nature preserve, told Wisconsin Life.

Humans, on the other hand, have about 5 million.

“[Dogs are] already set up and designed for scent detection,” Gritzmacher added. “It’s really just finding a dog that’s motivated, that wants to do it on a regular basis and is excited to do it.”

Tilia was the pup for the job.

One of her main roles is to detect wild parsnip, an invasive species that staff removes once it is found on the property.

Compared to humans, Tilia can find parsnip in its first year, while it’s still close to the ground and camouflaged by other plants. This is vital, since parsnip will start to spread rapidly by the time it reaches its second season in the preserve. 

Studies show that the estimated damage caused by invasive species has cost the United States around $120 billion annually, as it impacts agriculture, recreational industries, and wildlife management. 

By catching invasive species that take hold of local flora and fauna early, Tilia achieves something no humans can.

“The best trained volunteers or staff in the world won’t even be able to find what a canine can,” Gritzmacher said. “That’s the pretty impressive part of it. And who doesn’t want to go to work with a dog?” ...

Tilia began training as a puppy, and now nearly seven years old, she’s a pro at scent detection — which all started with some treats hidden in cardboard boxes...

“As she continues to hit on the correct scent, then she gets rewarded. So, she’s going to get paid again. We do our work, we get paid. She does her work, she gets paid.”

Tilia can also spot Blue-Spotted and Easter Tiger Salamanders, which are endangered in the area. Her other scents include Wood Turtle and Garlic Mustard.

Of course, her workload remains balanced with time off. Her official owner is the director of Mequon Nature Preserve, who is happy to embrace her as the family dog when she’s not out sniffing.

But Gritzmacher, who trains and works alongside Tilia, adores her, not only for her companionship, but for the miracles she is able to work as an asset to Wisconsin’s conservationists.

“Canines are going to start to play a huge role in the conservation field just because of their amazing detection skills,” Gritzmacher said, “especially when resources are limited, staff is limited and you have to search potentially thousands of acres or miles.”

In fact, Tilia was joined by a partner in crime a few years ago: Timber, another chocolate lab who is actually the offspring of Tilia’s sister.

By following in her pawprints, Timber’s “powerful nose will be a key tool” in the preserve’s “land restoration efforts,” according to its website.

“For years, scientists have tried to replicate the power and efficiency of the canine nose,” Mequon Nature Preserve adds on a webpage for Tilia and Timber.

“The results keep coming back the same: The canine nose is second to none. Coupled with an insatiable desire to work and serve, Tilia and Timber help us find things humans often can’t.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, December 2, 2024

[thistleteeth]

So, a comparatively high amount of states are voting on the fate of ranked choice voting this year. Missouri is voting on whether or not to kill it, Alaska is voting on whether or not to keep it, and most importantly, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho are voting on whether or not to adopt ranked choice voting, with maybe Colorado to follow.

And if you live in these states, even if you don't want to vote at the top of the ticket, I urge you to get out there and vote in favor of ranked choice voting on all of them.

Like, the two-party monopoly is a big part of the reason why politics in this country is so shit, and a big part of that is our "first past the post" system making it basically mathematically impossible for candidates outside of them to win anything beyond a local or state level.

So, if you want to try and break the cycle of voting for the lesser evil, of bipartisan cruelty towards the Global South and the country's own citizens alike, we need to change this and we need to vote on it where we can.

[thistleteeth]

My abnormal gait caused a police dog to lunge and chase at me while I was simply walking in my neighborhood. That’s a bit terrifying.

Thankfully it was off duty and leashed (I know it’s a police dog cause the owners are my neighbors, who are cops. Their cop cruiser is parked out front. The dog has training.)

But it scared the shot out of me and made my already difficult mobility worse and I had to limp even worse the rest of the way home, while the owner (a cop) just watched.

The implications that cops and their dogs are trained to view suspicious activity as anything abnormal, aka, many things people cannot control (disability for example, like Jesus Christ a trained dog tried to attack me for being disabled) are ferrying. I’m scared.

[thistleteeth]

Anyways, Stan Jill Stein

[thistleteeth]

"Kamala Harris made her career by locking up Black people in the Bay Area. Her track record consists of terrorizing Black communities through the prison industrial complex. She then became the top cop of California. Her track record consists of rampant anti-Blackness. Not only did she fight to maintain prison slavery, she also fought legislation that would require her to investigate the brutal executions of Black folks by the police. Kamala Harris is also anti sex work. She repeatedly sued backpage despite many sex workers advocating to keep backpage as it kept them safer than being on the streets. Kamala Harris is an example of a Black person weaponizing their Black identity to excuse the violence they have committed against the Black community. Take Kamala Harris’s race away from the equation, and judge her by her actions. Her actions are those of a white supremacist." Via-

Claudia de la cruz 4 prez

[thistleteeth]

new pup just dropped! Glume (yes, named after the floral structure on grasses) the discount spinoni, now showing in theaters near you or w/e idk.

she sleeps through the night so far (knock wood) and is an outside-pottying champ, and an all-around good noodle and quiet lil gal.

Lucie goosie is thrilled to bits that i brought her a baby (15 weeks) and has been entirely an angel about all the upheaval in her life

poor Mollybear has chronic kidney disease, but at least now she's medicated and on her special n f diet, and she was soooo happy to smell Glume on my clothes, she'll be delighted too.

i didn't expect to get my prospect puppy so soon, let alone the first pup i evaluated. on this go-round, but she was the best i've seen yet-- and when i was rescue-shopping for Lucie i evaluated probably 300 individual shelter dogs. when i saw the ad for the litter (accidental litter, working border collie and goldendoodle) i got the same feeling i had when i saw Lucie's petfinder ad and when i saw Samwise's rehoming ad!! like i know what i want in a canine partner-in-crimeand i got so lucky AGAIN!!!

[thistleteeth]

i already found my service dog prospect puppy! i thought i would have to drop 2000 doll hairs (i'd really have to save up hashtag too sick to work lmao) on a purebred spinone italiano but for my purposes the dollar store spinoni (accidental litter of working border collie X goldendoodle -yes i used to think i'd never get a doodle but frankly i got better, we don't have to be elitist) i got for $60 will be better suited for my lifestyle and disabilities!

[thistleteeth]

If you're autistic, your special interest is there to bring you joy and meaning, not to somehow become your "special autism talent" which makes up for you being disabled. Don't let ableists imply otherwise.

[thistleteeth]

slowly but surely tempting my mother-in-law into at least wearing a mask around me and my wife (in *our* house) to protect my wife from catching covid, so we can avoid becoming a dual-long-covid, no-income household, does feel oddly oddly familiar. something about a cave and shadows on walls.

[thistleteeth]

having to hold my pants up with both hands as i walk around the house (because i wanna be comfy and not wear a belt) is, as my wife says, so unserious. they look like someone else's pants but they're mine, they just don't fit. i feel like the devils worst cartoon.

[thistleteeth]

ok i fear that i won't be able to keep one alive but the fucking EXUBERANCE with which an alocasia grows? babes.

[thistleteeth]

“liking something in fiction doesn’t mean you condone it in real life” but instead of dark fanfiction tropes it’s about liking jeeves and wooster while being a socialist

[thistleteeth]

honestly i really do my best to respect people's time. but if you take a "we don't tolerate lateness" attitude with me, i won't tolerate you.

[thistleteeth]

ooooooh my reptile vet's office really did not need to pick a fight with me over me finding this lost cat's owner. seems they're not half as reputable as i thought.

[thistleteeth]

dog training: stand

The Stand is useful for home health checks, veterinary exams, grooming, and for showing off how handsome your dog is. It can also help prevent your pooch from sitting in a puddle on a rainy day!

Instructions

Have your dog sit in front of you. Take a couple of steps backward. If he gets up to follow you, click! and treat. If he doesn’t, make a kissy noise or some other sound to invite him to get up. When he does, click! and treat. Or you can lure your dog to stand by putting a treat in front of his nose and slowly moving it away from him. To get him to stay standing longer, let him nibble at the treat in your hand instead of just giving him the whole thing. When you know that he will follow as you back up, say “Stand!” as you move. Click! and treat. After a half-dozen or so repetitions, give the cue first, then move. Gradually fade your body movement until your dog will stand on just the verbal cue.

Training Tips

My dog just sits there. Make yourself more exciting. Act silly. Jump up and down. Make squeaky noises. Pick up a favorite toy. Eat food. Do whatever you need to do to excite the dog into standing so that you can click! and treat.

--Pat Miller en "The power of positive dog training"

[thistleteeth]

The parallels with transness and how trans folk trying to access trans-affirming care - including trans kids trying to access completely reversible puberty blockers - and how cis women and folk with uteri read as women trying to access basic reproductive healthcare, including long term birth control and sterilisation when they don’t want children, are treated never cease to strike me.

Because,frankly, it’s all about patriarchal control and opposing bodily autonomy, not anything to do with “irreversible” changes. It’s all about people shoving themselves into the boxes that serve patriarchal standards - binary gendered, attractive to patriarchal gendered standards and fertile - and nothing to do with the person’s safety, happiness or authenticity.

[thistleteeth]

ooooo i hate how worship of victorian ideals in modern society normalized adults treating children like playthings that exist for their benefit and snatched childhood from much of the world