A trove of 24 bronze statues was just discovered in a network of baths built by the Etruscans in Tuscany, dating back 2300 years. They were preserved by mud and boiling water from the hot springs in the baths.
I wanted to get my ferrets's skulls cleaned but I didn't have the money for that, so they were cremated. But tbh I would honestly consider that if (in the very far future I am not jinxing) it comes time to part with Kora, I'd like to at the very least get her skeleton cleaned, and honestly even get her preserved like they do the birds in museums. But that would probably cost a lot...
I don't know if I'd be able to do something similar for a larger pet. Maybe only a cleaned skull for larger ones.
I actually have the bones of the bristlenose pleco fish I had years ago put away somewhere safe.
I wanted to get my ferrets's skulls cleaned but I didn't have the money for that, so they were cremated. But tbh I would honestly consider that if (in the very far future I am not jinxing) it comes time to part with Kora, I'd like to at the very least get her skeleton cleaned, and honestly even get her preserved like they do the birds in museums. But that would probably cost a lot...
I don't know if I'd be able to do something similar for a larger pet. Maybe only a cleaned skull for larger ones.
I actually have the bones of the bristlenose pleco fish I had years ago put away somewhere safe.
Do you think tumblr will ever learn the difference between “I’m defending this person because I agree with them wholeheartedly and I am also like this person” and “I’m defending this person because your behavior is dangerous and you need to stop”
IMO, blurring the lines between “I’m defending them because they’re right” and “I’m defending them because you’re taking this too far” is step numero uno to cutting down the very existence of fair trial and democracy–even in places where saying that might seem a little dramatic.
Mob mentality is extremely strong in humans and it’s also extremely dangerous. Mobs don’t think things through. Mobs kill and they destroy and they can’t be reasoned with. Someone trying to calm a mob down isn’t someone defending the ~problematic party~ It’s time we re-learn that.
“even IF the guy did whatever you’re accusing them of, mob violence isn’t a fair or proportionate response, and you guys need to go home and mind your own fucking business” is a thing absolutely no one likes to hear but frequently needs to be said regardless
Another re-imagining of dnd dragons I’ve been sitting on for months, this time going for a more unified, arthopody feel. On one hand I’m very happy with these designs, on the other I feel they lack some of the whimsical charm of my original sketches. I also want to scoot these guys further away from dnd canon for reasons I’m sure players are well aware of, which may require further re-thinking of their classifications and lore…..
Also, if you like my art, consider throwing a few bucks into my tip jar !
One of my biggest problems with reptile handling on social media is the improper use of snake hooks. We see this a lot from big names in the reptile community, and far and away the worst is Jay Brewer of The Reptile Zoo/Prehistoric Pets. A while ago, I commented on his inappropriate use of a snake hook to agitate and improperly handle a large snake, and ever since I have been looking for images that show the proper handling of a dangerous snake.
Today I saw a really good example of appropriate snake hook use from The Kentucky Reptile Zoo. KRZ is… I think it’s fair to say the most important venom facility in the United States. They actually aren’t really a zoo- the vast majority of their animals are not on display or publicly viewable, and their primary mission isn’t education or conservation. It’s venom production.
They keep lots of venomous species and regularly milk them for pharmaceuticals and research. Venom from their facility is used to make antivenom, as well as life-saving heart and anti-cancer medications. In other words, this facility bothers its snakes for a reason, and it’s not for social media views. (I like their content and find it highly educational.)
So today, I thought I’d break down why I like this video and show off how it features the safe use of a snake hook to control a dangerous animal and keep a handling situation completely under control.
The video features a small bushmaster, a South American pit viper. At the start of the video, the animal is out and quite calm.
The handler makes an initial first pass with the hook, lift the snake’s head off its body and isolating it. Notice that the snake’s body language doesn’t change much; there’s a little tension but no noticeable distress.
The snake slips away from the hook.
The handler repositions and gently pins the snake’s head against the ground.
While the snake’s head is under control, the handler firmly grips the snake behind the head…
…supports the body with his hand (not the hook)…
…and prepares the snake for venom extraction. The hook is on the floor at this point, as it’s no longer needed for the safe handling of this snake.
Here are some key takeaways:
The hook was never used as the sole source of support for the snake’s body
The hook was never used to agitate the animal
The hook was used to control the head without applying too much pressure
The snake’s body language was observed and respected; when it initially pulled away from the hook’s pass, the handler repositioned and tried again
Even during venom extraction, the snake was not particularly agitated; part of this comes from the firm, secure, but not too strong grip that is used, and part of it comes from the snake being used to this behavior. The handler is doing everything he can to keep the snake calm and to support its body during handling.
Ultimately, I think this is a perfectly ethical piece of venomous/dangerous snake handling content. It shows an animal that is being treated well and handled appropriately. The handlers are trained professionals who are well-versed in venomous snake safety, and at no point is the animal provoked or aggravated for attention. While venom extraction doesn’t hurt the snake, it can still be stressful- and it’s up to the handler to do everything they can to ensure that the snake is safe.
I get that this is intended to be funny, but just so people are aware the Bunting map (on the left) is not intended to be cartographically useful. It is intended to show a theological conception of the world, where Jerusalem is the center, and to make a visual reference to the three leafed clover on the arms of Hanover, Bunting's home. It's art, not a serious map.
A serious cartographic map from the era looked more like this:
Don't get me started on late medieval/Renaissance nautical maps. DO FUCKING NOT. You're all lucky that my external HDD on which I had a collection of about 500 of those decided to die as a Christmas present and now I have to search for images online instead of uploading them directly, so this will be a quick and short post. Sorry if it's not very ordered.
So, @socialmaya (because if I don't tag people, no one will read this).
Yes, in the early to high middle ages, Christian European maps were very schematic. There were the so-called T-O maps, with the internal seas (Black and Mediterranean) in a T shape, dividing Europe, Africa and Asia, and surrounded by the O-shaped world ocean:
Then, a bit more detailed, Beatus maps, depicting the known world still as a more or less monolithic island in the world ocean:
Until eventually, in ca. 1000-1100 AD they became highly complex, if very inaccurate maps of the old world, like the Ebstorf map:
Those maps were simplified, since as per Christian canon the mortal world was sinful and not worth depicting in detail, from earlier maps like the 700 AD Ravenna cosmography:
which was itself based on maps from Antiquity such as the one by Anaximander:
The map by Muhammad Al-Idrisi, also known as Tabula Rogeriana (made for King Roger II of Sicily) did lay the foundation for later mapmaking and it itself is the result of Islamic cartography having evolved directly from Ancient Greek cartographers like Anaximander and Ptolemy because the Islamic golden age was a time when classical works were preserved, examined and built upon in the Muslim world, unlike in the Christian one.
And then came the 1200s and European sailors started demanding more accurate maps for navigating the seas for trade and war. At that point, mostly the Mediterranean and Black seas, to trade with the Levant and the Golden Horde. Thus came to be the portolan maps, made specifically for seafaring.
The earliest known map of this type is the so called Carte Pisane, or the map from Pisa:
As you can see, it encompasses the Mediterranean and Black seas, which would be true for most such maps for centuries to come. It is also covered in numerous, intersecting lines - the so-called "rhumblines" radiating from several central points on the map which were used for navigation before map projection was a thing.
Portolans drew on Arabic cartography and there was some back-and-forth exchange of cartographic knowledge around the Mediterranean. First, there was the Genoese cartographic school, product of which were the Carta Pisana and the earliest example of an illuminated portolan map, such as the Lucca chart, again from ca. 1300-1320:
Early Genoese cartographers this codified the portolan map as the principal map type of the age, which was to yield important navigational and political information (well not really, flags were often obsolete by hundreds of years, I've seen Byzantine eagles over Constantinople on maps made 100+ years after the city fell, etc.)
Those flags, btw, are why I became so fascinated with portolan maps in the first place and why they're still my passion.
Maps encompassing the whole then-known world, also known as *mappae mundi* (literally "maps of the world"), evolved independently from portolans, although often by the same cartographers: from the T-O and Beatus maps, through Arabic world maps, to accompany portolan maps and atlases. A shining example are the maps (ca. 1320) by Genoese cartographer Pietro Vesconte:
And then the ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE of Fra Maro, a Franciscan monk, from ca. 1450:
(image limit hit so link)
The practice then went to the kingdom of Aragon where (mostly Jewish) cartographers would spread from Genoa to Mallorca and Barcelona, founding the Catalan map school:
1375, Abraham Cresques (the so-called Catalan atlas):
Venetians, Portuguese, French and others soon followed, founding their own portolan making traditions.
Diogo Homem (Portugal), 1563:
Muslim (Arab and later Ottoman) cartographers also would make portolans sometimes:
1461, Ibrahim Al-Mursi from Tunis (sorry, lost my good copy):
Then, in the 1480s, a copy of the Cosmpgraphia, an atlas by the Ancient Greco-Roman cartographer Claudius Ptolemaus was discovered, leading to the rediscovery of polar projection:
(13th century Byzantine Greek copy)
Thus cartographers like Sebastian Münster (early 1500s) and Gerhard Mercator (late 1500s) were able to build on those foundations.
Sebastian Münster, Cosmpgraphia, 1550:
Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, 1572:
So yeah, the "BLERGH STOOPID YUROPIAN MAPP" is bullshit. That one is a very symbolic map no one at the time believed was true. There are other allegorical maps, such as Münster's "Europe as Queen":
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