cherry valley forever
$LAYYYTER
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
Peter Solarz
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occasionally subtle
Not today Justin
styofa doing anything
tannertan36
Mike Driver
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
d e v o n
#extradirty
Xuebing Du
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Stranger Things
RMH
hello vonnie
NASA
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@2witt2woo
Wake up babe, new octopus just dropped
He's such a little guy!
Sadly, it's nowhere near that vivid of a blue in real life (not everything needs a filter!!), but it's still VERY cool and cute.
More pics at the Charles Darwin Foundation site (of the preserved specimen, mind)
if Pixar doesn't make a cartoon short with that octopus as the main character I'll eat my hat
Rachel Clearfield (British Artist, born 1946)
"The Stream", 1996.
Oil on Canvas, 24 Ć 20 inches.
Private Collection.
Heās perfect
[ID: Drawing of a pigeon standing on one leg]
Kiki Smith (American, 1954) - Evening Star (2023)
Y'all I have to tell you about the tortoises!!!!!!
Okay so I'm doing background information comes first bc this is the order I learned it in and it's such a conservation rollercoaster
So the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are home to some of the largest tortoises in the world. Huge. Beautiful. Iconic.
What I didn't realize is that, just like Darwin's finches all adapted unique beaks for conditions on the different Galapagos Islands, different islands have their own unique variety of giant tortoise!
But bad news for tortoises, in the 1700s-1800s whalers and other sailing ships would stop in and grab as many tortoises as they could carry as portable snacks bc the tortoises can live a few months without eating, so they make good fresh meat in a long voyage??? And it turns out if you keep doing this, even if you start out with 20k tortoises on an island, eventually you run out.
So on Pinta Island, for example, everyone thought their tortoises were extinct bc no one saw any after the early 20th century, but surprise! Out of nowhere in 1971, a big beautiful boy appears!
Enter Lonesome George. Look at that neck!!!! He's the only Pinta Island Tortoise in the world and scientists and conservation experts are scrambling to figure out what to do! We thought they were extinct but now there's just One More???
So everyone's studying him and trying to get him a girlfriend and hoping somehow we can have a miracle and try to bring back this tortoise from the razor's edge of extinction.
Unfortunately, George never had offspring. He passed away in 2012, and the Pinta Island Tortoise was once again declared extinct. He was already full grown when he was discovered, so he could have been anywhere from 80-120 years old.
So this is the low point in the story. No tortoises, no chance. Until!!!!!!! 2015! Down on Isabela Island, near Wolf Volcano. What sort of tortoises are these? They have these crazy hump shells, not like the native Isabela Tortoises should have....
Turns out!!!!! There's a bunch of hybrid tortoises down here, but they have a ton of features and genetics from our bestie the extinct Pinta Island Tortoise!! We know from historical records that sometimes sailors would pick up tortoises on one island and drop them off on another.
So then it's like,, can we breed these descendant tortoises to get more Pinta features and reintroduce them to the right island ??
Meanwhile
On Wolf Island, more out-of-place hybrid tortoises have been spotted! (This is... early 2000s?) These ones look distinctly like the Very Incredibly Extinct tortoises from Floreana Island
We're talking, like, some of the most recent sightings of these Floreana Tortoises in the wild being recorded by Charles Darwin in the 1830s. We're talking more than 180 years of extinction. And there's little tortoises with the same shell shapes and features wandering around way over on Wolf Island!!!
Again. Sometimes old-timey sailors would drop off tortoises in weird places. But like!!!! These hybrid tortoises are descended from the Floreana lineage!! No one has seen these suckers in two centuries and their little descendants are still alive and kicking!
Now, Floreana Island,,, got put through the wringer. Ecologically, it was just a mess. We're talking a bajillion invasive species, species going extinct left and right. It was one of the most frequented islands by whalers back in the day, and it's taken decades of hard work to even begin to undo the damage. There's a reason the Floreana Tortoises went extinct, that's all I'm saying.
But so now we have these Floreana lineage tortoises (not pure Floreana Tortoises blood, that's gone now, but very close!) and we've got a Floreana Island that's been cleaned up and a whole team of ecologists who are very, very excited.
It's going to take a lot of planning to reintroduce these tortoises, though. We've got 15 of these Floreana lineage tortoises who still have a mix of traits, we want to end up with thousands of tortoises, and we can't just stick tortoises back on Floreana yet bc the invasive rats, feral cats, dogs, etc all love eating baby tortoises and tortoise eggs
So thus begins a decades-long project to raise sturdy tortoises with as many Floreana traits as possible and get them big enough to safely release onto an island that's still trying to get its rat problem under control.
All of this culminating in the release of 158 tortoises (aged 12-14, so they're all big enough to stay safe) on February 20th, 2025
After nearly 200 years without any tortoises on the island, Floreana had its tortoises back!
The young tortoises, each weighing between 30-50 pounds, had to be carried to the release site on foot by park rangers and volunteers. (link to video)
So much work went into preparing for this day, and this isn't the finish line! The Galapagos Conservation Trust plans to release hundreds more tortoises in the coming years, and to continue efforts to rebuild the ecosystem! Other native animals are making a comeback, like the Galapagos Rail, a bird who hasn't been seen in 190 years! We thought it was extinct!!! But as the island recovered they've reappeared!
There's so much thought that's gone into releasing these tortoises. They released them in February to take full advantage of the rainy season. The long term plan to handle the rats is timed to wrap up in the next 12 years before the new Floreana Tortoises are old enough to lay eggs. This is such a huge win for conservation in general and Galapagos conservation in particular!!!! This is groundbreaking, and it happened 12 days ago.
So for today, there's no Pinta Island Tortoises on Pinta Island. They're still extinct, and Lonesome George was the last pure-blooded Pinta Island Tortoise.
But two weeks ago there weren't any Floreana lineage tortoises on Floreana Island either. Things will never be exactly the same as before, but the ecosystem and the birds and the grasslands are going to love those tortoises. Recovery takes time, and nature is incredible at bouncing back, especially when people are willing to help move things along.
I really do believe that one day, Pinta Island will have charming, long-necked and bowed-backed giant tortoises again. I feel so grateful to live in a world of amazing creatures, and amazing people who dedicate decades to helping them.
Hello Dr Glass, I have exciting news!
I have crocheted a Goose. Specifically, I have crocheted a Giant Goose.
Would you like to see the Giant Goose?
It is a gift for a friends birthday in a couple of weeks and I am ridiculously proud of this goose because it means I have successfully read an entire pattern without needing to try and find a video tutorial.
I cannot emphasise enough just how Giant this Goose is.
š§
I speak for us all. Show the Goose!!
@fenrir-kin I donāt want to alarm you but the folk are READY
For the Goose of Remarkable Dimensions
Oh fuck
Right. Ok. Whoops.
I'll be honest: I was not expecting this to get answered so quickly! Last night I finished the main body of the Goose. And so I sent this, assuming (foolishly, I see this now) that I would have sewn all the bits together by the time this was answered.
I Have Not.
So uh. Give me until tomorrow? It's two wings, two legs, two eyes, a beak and a tail. It shouldn't take long?
My apologies for misleading, so to tide everyone over, here is a progress photo I took when I started working on the head, neck, and body. I promise this is the head and neck. I promise that's what this is.
how the fuck do I even alt text this one
You realise that now you have to provide updates upon the Cohesion and Assembly of the Goose
Yes, Your Glassness!
As soon as the Goose is Assembled, you will (all) be the first to know, with appropriate update and photgraphic evidence!
OK @elodieunderglass (and everyone else who has been chanting "goose! goose! goose!" at increasing volume in the notes) I am delighted to say:
It is done.
I give you:
āØGoosetavāØ
For reference, I am 5'9".
Roughly 5'2" from beak to toe with about 2.5-3kg of stuffing (and that's on the lighter side of estimations), Goosetav is, honestly
āØMagnificentāØ
And my housemate has now gone "d'you think there'll be patterns for crochet knives?"
... so I am now planning to arm Goosetav.
I hope this makes up for the unintended tease! The Giant Goose is complete!
You have genuinely made a goose thatās bigger than me. Well done!!
Fox Field. Embossed with delicate gold foiling. Designed by Jane Crowther.
Time for a little bit of stitched bird spam. These little birbs make me smile so much.
And this little guy lives on my desk, he's an all time fav:
I found a lovely snail at work who was dried out so I let him have a shower and he seemed to enjoy it!! ššæ
Joy and whimsy detected! This snower (snail shower) is joyful and whimsical! ššæ
thought autocomplete would take me to outlook dot com not realising id forgotten the T before i pressed enter. However was very much pleased at what it took me to instead. I think I don't want to see my emails now. I think I will stay with the oul.
Please enjoy these ducks changing their mindsĀ
(Source)
#napoleonās invasion of russiaā 1812ā colorized
Me every winter
[Video description: a flock of ducks rush outside of a wooden barn or shed into a yard covered with a thick blanket of snow. The ducks mill around outside for a couple of seconds and then all turn around right back inside. The ducks are quacking, more so on the return journey. There are two people laughing behind the camera when the ducks run back inside. At the end we hear, āAre you kidding?ā /End description.]
Common eider
This needs to be immortalized because it's what made me turn on the sound. And they were right
UĆ?
Image: There is a type of bird which creates a nest with a large, visible decoy entrance which helps conceal the small hidden entrance. When a predator enters the nest to eat the bird, it will go in via the false entrance, and will not be able to access the bird. The diagram is labeled in Portuguese, and shows a snake saying "uƩ" upon seeing the empty cavern.
Yāall are gonna love knowing the name of this smart little bird: itās a penduline tit
(Do NOT image search this term if your safe search is off, itās not birds youāll find)
HI I thought I recognised the name! I am using your dumpster explosion brushes and it's fantastic for aging/texture. Also a straight up delight for the brain. My art is partially a dumpster fire I love it.
Awesome! Yeah, it was a really nifty pattern the explosion left on the wall
Brushes are here!
yaaaaay!! Just downloaded like. All your brushes. ...now to figure out how textures work in clip...
