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This is my daughter, Wasabi. Enjoy.
Don’t judge her, she probably couldn’t afford adoption papers
I work at a humane society shelter, and this does happen occasionally. usually cats won’t “steal” the kittens, they’ll hear them crying and stick around and if a momma doesn’t come around they’ll take them somewhere safe and try to care for them
we recently had a very confused lady who called that her cat was trying to take care of an astounding 8 kittens and brought them in
the kittens were obviously malnourished, and we looked around her neighborhood and sadly found the dead mama, she got hit by a car
it’s a really useful thing that cats will do
sometimes the mom will just have gotten lost and will come back to try and find her kittens and so that can be frustrating, but considering how rough it is for stray kittens, it’s a lot better for them to be in a household and cared for where the parent cat can get guareenteed food and shelter
I can’t tell you how many abandoned kittens we find that can’t make it
it sucks a lot
anyway tangent done
I just 😭😭 I love cats a lot
i'm writing up my final exam for my plant ecology class and i just accidentally found out isoetes is one of the few aquatic plants that do cam photosynthesis and i'm losing my damn mind
you know it!!!!!! i love that about them tbh. i think i’ve talked about this before on here but i’m gonna talk about it again because this ask reminded me of it and oh man..... its so wild
so, some basic background to this, there are multiple different kinds of photosynthesis, with the main ones being the normal kind, C4, and CAM. these exist because to take in CO2 for photosynthesis, plants need to open pores in their leaves called stomata...which also means that as long as they’re open, they can lose water through the same pores. this isn’t a big deal if you’re a plant in a shady/not too humid environment, but in hot/water scarce environments this can be a big deal. C4 photosynthesis is what corn actually does, and it gets around this problem by having two ‘compartments’ for photosynthesis instead of one; this is a whole other thing that doesn’t have anything to do with this story. CAM photosynthesis on the other hand is primarily in desert plants like cacti and succulents, and gets around it by just opening the pores at night and taking in CO2 when the temperatures are lower, then closing the pores during the day to actually process the CO2 while temperatures are higher.
aquatic members of the notorious ancient seedless plant family Isoetes are also plants that do CAM photosynthesis. i will again emphasize the fact that like 90% of Isoetes species are aquatic, which is like.... literally the direct opposite of why CAM is a thing to begin with, or so that was the impression up until the 1980s. the thinking was that CAM was only used by desert plants, and it evolved specifically to subvert the whole water scarcity problem in the environment, and to be fair this is still true for most of the plants it happens in, but like...not always and not always for the same reasons, lmao.
the whole ‘Isoetes doing CAM’ thing was discovered accidentally by a plant researcher named Jon Keeley who was demonstrating a kind of metabolic pathway to a plant physiology class. they were doing an experiment where he had the students collect a bunch of plants from a local vernal pool ecosystem, and then they’d be able to measure their respiration and demonstrate function of the pathway to compare it to local aquatic animal species, which worked fine until they tested the local Isoetes species (Isoetes howellii) and it was just vibing doing CAM while submerged in water, which is like...you know...bizarre, on first inspection.
fast forward several years. Keeley has gotten funding to test this and has gotten enough data to prove that this plant was, indeed, VERY CLEARLY doing CAM photosynthesis underwater. he submits the manuscript to Science, one of the most prominent academic journals in the world, and it gets rejected because half the editors don’t believe it. like, they took one look at it, decided he was a nutjob who didn’t know the first thing about photosynthesis, and just got rid of it because there was OBVIOUSLY no way an aquatic plant could do CAM, just because there was no reason for it to happen.
but. it turns out that there is a reason for it to happen, and like all things relating to Isoetes it’s like, a prehistoric hindbrain sort of thinking. as it turns out it’s not for survival so much as they use it for convenience, because aquatic plants get their CO2 from the surrounding water....but the CO2 dissolves in the water at night and burns off into the air during the day as temperatures go up. so like, it’s not necessary, but there’s nothing saying they HAVE to have their stomata open during the day when there’s no CO2 in the water to collect. therefore, aquatic Isoetes collect CO2 at night and actually process it into sugars during the day, which is CAM photosynthesis, just like....in a completely different context, for different reasons. it makes a lot of sense.
so. dude submits it to Nature, the other most prominent academic journal in the world, and it also gets rejected from publication before even being reviewed. it ends up being published in The American Journal of Botany, which is a major journal in the field, but one of the writers at Nature believes him and thinks it’s significant enough to give it a mention in the news section of an edition, and thus the academic community was introduced to the idea of aquatic plants doing CAM.
so....several decades down the line we know that CAM photosynthesis is actually present in all aquatic Isoetes species, while no known terrestrial Isoetes species do it, which is gloriously ironic; the current idea is that it evolved way back when the ancestors of modern aquatic Isoetes were all still vibing in shallow prehistoric swamp pools, after the terrestrial species made it to land, and it just stayed in the aquatics as they diversified. it also has turned out to be present in several other aquatic plant families for the same reasons, so like, in short......once again Isoetes proves to Just Be Like That, You Know?
the best thing in the entire goddamn world is the fact that human beings have hands perfectly capable of giving amazing scritches and there are hundreds of animals out there who just love being scritched
like this is it . this is what it’s all about
Fun and helpful things that new hissing roach owners should know (from someone who has kept a single hissing cockroach for a pretty long time):
-Don’t be worried if it seems like your roach isn’t eating. it doesn’t need to eat very much, so as long as you keep food available at all times, it should be fine.
-Sometimes, male roaches make a very soft hissing even when you arent touching them or engaging with them. This is to attract a potential mate!
-Roaches get dehydrated very easily. make sure everything is always warm and they always have water available. How you can tell that they are dehydrated is by observing their shell- if it looks dried out or scuffed they need more water.
-Unfortunately, with the presence of water, comes the possibility of mold growing in the substrate. make sure to remove and change substrate as needed so that the mold doesn’t start to cause problems.
-Male roaches are very territorial and will often choose an object or certain spot to be “theirs”. if another roach comes into “their” territory, they will most likely initiate a fight! Most of the time, these fights don’t end in any physical harm, just a lot of bumping into each other. If these fights become too frequent and you start noticing damaged limbs or antennas, maybe it’s time to separate the two problem roaches.
-Roaches can tell when you walk into a room or turn on the lights. they may be surprised if you are suddenly loud early in the morning!
-If you notice that your roach is spending a lot of time in the same place, don’t worry. unless they don’t react to your touching or blowing on them, they’re most likely fine. Female roaches don’t usually move around as much as males, but they still do.
-Roaches also sometimes have mites! they’re not very common on captive roaches, but if you see little orange-ish beetle mite looking things on your roach, those are roach mites! they are completely harmless, and more often than not are helpful. Deep Look did a video on it which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3gvx8UQiZA
-Every roach has a different personality. some roaches are more active or aggressive, and others prefer to just chill out.
-Naturally in the wild, roaches will eat decaying leaves and fallen fruit on the forest floor. make sure to provide a full diet for your friend!
-hissers do not actually lay eggs! they give live birth, similar to the way some scorpions do!
that’s it!! i hope this was helpful! if i got anything wrong, make sure to let me know.
Bleb
Minimum Cage Requirements
There seems to be misunderstanding when it comes to what minimum cage requirements for parrots are intended to be. Often the sizes you’ll find are not for a bird to spend 8 hours alone but that’s how they’re being used and using them this way negatively impacts their health.
Minimum cage requirements for a sleeping cage state that a bird must be able to fully spread their wings in any given direction. This is to avoid feather damage and ensure that the bird isn’t cramped in the space, easily able to stretch, preen and turn around, anything smaller for a sleeping cage and the bird will become distraught. A sleeping cage is meant to be used for just that, sleeping, times when the bird is inactive, any time where the bird is awake and mobile they should be out of the cage in a bird-safe enriching environment, an exception being during travel.
Minimum cage requirements for day cages are the absolute minimum a parrot needs to not immediately experience heightened stress when left alone. Typically the bare minimum numbers you’ll find are intended for a bird who will be left alone for 1-2 hours during the day. These sizes ensure the bird can walk around, spread their wings out to stretch and have enough room for a couple toys without impeding their mobility. All this cage size is for is to ensure that the bird doesn’t become stressed or bored during short periods of alone time, it is not intended to be used for permanent residency. As an example the minimum cage requirements for parrotlets is 18″x18″x24″, in there I could fit some decent perches, 3-4 toys and still have enough space for the bird to stretch and climb around. Below is an image of the bare minimum cage requirements for a parrotlet sitting inside of a cage that is capable of providing adequate enrichment for around 4-6 hours (30″x18″x32″)
Due to the high activity levels of parrots they can not stay in bare minimum spaces for very long without becoming stressed. In the wild they do experience stressors such as predation but over the millions of years these species have lived they have adapted ways to cope with those experiences in their lives. In captivity birds are exposed to stressors that they haven’t adapted coping mechanisms for such as isolation, overcrowding and boredom, due to the lack of coping mechanisms birds frequently present psychological distress and obsessive behaviours as a negative result. This is why many birds will pluck, scream, bite or present nervous ticks in captive environments and these become more prevalent when the housing is incorrect. It’s important to understand that a bird who is adapted to having the whole world as their habitat suddenly moving to have just a measurement of inches does have a poor impact on them, it doesn’t matter if they were born in captivity that minimal breeding does not replace the millions of years of evolution!
If any bird is living in a cage 24/7 they should be in a large flight cage or aviary depending on the species to ensure their health, nothing less. Typically I am home all day so the cage doors are always open and they’re spending the full 12 hours outside of their cages or going in and out to play. The large cage above is a place for my birds to stay for if I’m gone a max of 4-6 hours, the other 6-8 hours they’re awake is spent outside of their cages, getting plenty of exercise, all sorts of toys in their room, human interaction, doing anything less would put them in a stressful situation as they just aren’t adapted to cope with this lifestyle. Understanding that fact means that we need to be providing the largest possible enclosures we can, no amount of space can possibly be considered ‘spoiling’ them. They can not live happy and healthy lives without it, this excess space isn’t an over achievement, it’s a basic necessity!
sassy
if you see someone who has a pet spider, cockroach, mantis, snail/slug, or any other insect/arachnid/invertebrate and you feel the need to say something like “i would squash it” or “pour salt on it” or literally anything else promoting violence or calling their pet disgusting, you’re a repulsive person. it doesn’t matter how you personally feel about the animal, that owner deeply cares about them and they have the same bond as you do with your dog or cat. y’all would lose your minds if someone said “step on it” under a video of a puppy, so have that same energy if its a video of a tarantula. stop belittling and advocating for harm against peoples pets!!!!!!
Aquascape progression ~ Day 1 - Day 281
Can I ask what resources and references you recommend for someone who wants to leash train their cat? There's so much info on Google and I don't want to do something wrong
Aaaaaa I’ve never really looked into the resources for it ;.; I kinda just went off what I knew. Tons of positive reinforcement and very slow introduction to the harness and leash
There’s some links here - https://catsindoors.weebly.com/outdoors.html
Also https://www.whyanimalsdothething.com/harness-train-your-cat
ATTENTION
Go get y’all some tanks
my comic for the next issue of @disquietcomics about frogs and empathy
I know this is primarily a cat blog, but I like to believe we all care strongly about animal welfare in general.
In these discussions, fish are often overlooked. So it is unfortunate when an advocate for proper care of one type of fish is so dismissive of the needs of another type.
Pure Goldfish Community created an article entitled Have Your Betta Fish Live With Goldfish! [Archived]. If you’re familiar with either species at all, I’m sure you’re already cringing.
For those unaware, Goldfish are a temperate water fish while Betta are very tropical. The standard minimum amount of space recommended for Betta is 2.5g, although the community is increasingly advising a 5g or even 10g minimum, as opposed to the meager .8g of space suggested in the article. Goldfish also thrive in hard, basic water, while Betta are staunchly soft, acidic water fish. There’s no overlap in their care requirements at all.
They posted this ridiculous article in their official Facebook group, they were met largely with dissent. Comments on the post were quickly locked, members who disagreed had comments deleted, were removed from the group, and even banned. To my knowledge, this action was taken by the founder alone without even consulting the rest of moderation team.
If you’re in the Facebook group, I implore you to leave. You’re still able to comment on the article on the website. Discourage others from joining the group and discredit them as an respectable authority on fish keeping.
For alternative information on Goldfish I currently recommend Goldfish Care on Facebook, and the websites Tanks and Tantrums and The Goldfish Tank.
I haven’t found any Betta groups or websites I’m comfortable recommending, but general fish websites like Aquariadise and ModestFish have some good information.
TW: Animal death
I’d like to remind people not to intentionally mix predators and prey.
There was an accident yesterday which involved my cat, Edgar, and my baby russian rat snake, Onyx. I had put Edgar and my other cat Charlie away onto the porch and brought Onyx out to hold and take photos. Edgar had never taken any interest in Onyx, but I didn’t want to risk anything. However, unbeknownst to me, Edgar managed to pull open the sliding glass door keeping him out when I was in the other room getting Onyx out of his cage. When I came out of my room and walked into the living room, Edgar was perched on top of the couch, at about chest height, and when I walked by (not having seen him, because I expected him to be on the porch), he reached out with his paw and snagged Onyx on his claws, causing the snake to fall onto the floor. Edgar then jumped down and grabbed Onyx in his mouth before I could even react, and he ran off with him. By the time I cornered him and took Onyx back, he was dead.
I honestly don’t know if he was reaching out to intentionally grab Onyx, or if he was just pawing me as I walked by, which he is known to do, and then instinct just took over when he made me drop Onyx. Either way, it doesn’t matter. An animal was killed because I didn’t make sure Edgar was locked up.
So please, please, keep your dogs and cats away from your other pets like snakes, rodents, and birds, and don’t support videos or photos of them interacting (you don’t have to be an asshole on those types of content, but please don’t reblog it). No matter how docile or gentle you think your pet is, all it takes is one second for a larger animal to intentionally or even completely accidentally injure or kill your smaller one. And even if your pet doesn’t ever personally hurt another animal, your cute photo or video could influence someone else to make a bad decision that will cost their pet’s life. Please think about that.
This has been a PSA.
A rare look at a polar bear being chased by a wolf in Canada
British Wildlife photographer Russell Millner captured the astounding chase between a polar bear and a wolf at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge on the Hudson Bay coast in Canada.
Polar bears are generally considered apex predators and rarely afraid of any animals in the Arctic region. However, this wolf seems to have the guts to fight the polar bear and defend its territory.
Although this is a rare scene, scientists have seen evidence of a pack of wolves hunting polar bear cubs before by tracing their tracks in the snow. Normally, some wolves would distract the mother polar bear away from the den, while another takes the cub away.
Source
I’m so pleased this isn’t being represented as a “friendly game of chase” or some other bunk, given how easily some of these photos can be anthropomorphized. After all, the interaction captured is rare and fascinating on its own!