For anyone wondering, this is amazing enrichment for the animal and a great way to involve guests! The lions aren’t forced to play with the rope if they don’t want to, and these guys (and anyone else who tries this out) have an awesome close up and hands on experience, all without having to come in direct contact with the cat!
This definitely counts as #actually cute. This video is from the San Antonio Zoo, and the lioness’ name is Axelle. As @ordinaryredtail said above, the tug of war interaction is entirely voluntary on her part.
My guess is that the zoo staff did use some positive reinforcement training to teach her how to pick up and pull on the rope at first, because that’s not necessary something a lion would just do on their own. While it’s also probable that she’s rewarded with something tasty did choosing to engage with the members of the public like this, Axelle wouldn’t be engaging if it was a negative experience for her (there aren’t enough snacks in the world to coerce a lion into doing something they find actively distressing). If she didn’t want to participate, she could just walk away.
Some sanctuary and animal rights groups have taken issue with this interaction because they consider it unethical to ask a lion to engage in any “unnatural behavior” “for the benefit of the public,” calling it exploitation. It is worth keeping in mind, however, that learning and engaging in novel behaviors is hugely enriching for animals in human care, and that lions have no concept of exploitation. As long as the lion is not bothered by the presence or noise of the crowd, is not injured or harmed, and is engaging on an entirely voluntary basis, this sort of thing is entirely ethical. It is far safer than any type of interaction where a member of the public is coming into direct context with a big cat, but still allows people to directly experience the sheer strength of a lion up close.
This week is the 2 year anniversary of when I was raped by my now ex boyfriend. I have gone through a large amount of growth over the past 2 years, though I still have flashbacks, PTSD, and have trouble recognizing abusive behavior.
The reason I bring this up is that today I came across a post about sexual assault awareness. While a very good cause, the format of the post is incredibly triggering with graphic imagery. People are reposting this post with things like “don’t scroll past” and imply that if you don’t repost you’re a bad person.
I am currently writing this post because this is the second time this has come across my dash. The first time these graphic images left me with physical flashbacks as well as mental ones that put me back in that room while it was happening both with my thoughts as well as the literal feeling of the assault. This time I was far more lucky with only short flashbacks.
I wanted to make this clear: posting graphic images of rape and sexual assault as “SA Awareness” with no content warnings before hand is incredibly insensitive. I understand this is likely a case of not realizing the impact on survivors, which is why I am bringing this up.
I will not be linking the post as I strongly believe it does more harm than good in its current format.
The Signal for Help (or the Violence at Home Signal for Help) is a single-handed gesture that can be used by an individual to alert others that they feel threatened and need help over a video call, or in-person. It was originally created as a tool to combat the rise in domestic violence cases around the world as a result of the self-isolation measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic…
The Signal for Help was first introduced in Canada by the Canadian Women’s Foundation on April 14, 2020, and on April 28, 2020 in the United States by the Women’s Funding Network (WFN). It received widespread praise from local, national, and international news organizations for helping provide a modern solution to the issue of a rise in domestic violence cases.
The signal has been recognized by over 40 organizations across Canada and the United States as a useful tool to help combat domestic violence.
Addressing concerns that abusers may become aware of such a widespread online initiative, the Canadian Women’s Foundation and other organizations clarified that this signal is not “something that’s going to save the day,” but rather a tool someone could use to get help.
Pass the happy! 🌻 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications!
This message made me happy in a way that’s hard to describe. I’ve been having a tough time lately, but messages always make me smile.
So, Five things that make me happy:
1) My friends!
I have an amazing group of friends at University that always have my back. Even though I’m not on campus due to that damned virus we have still had some great times. We’ve been playing an amazing D&D Acquisitions Incorporated campaign! Our Franchise is called The Crew of the Burning Tree. My character, Æshio, is a tiefling celestial warlock. He’s an edgy fella with a quasit named Duke.
3) Television shows!
Lately I have been watching His Dark Materials and Elementary. The drama of HDM’s ending has left me wanting more and the shenanigans Clyde from Elementary is always up to makes me smile.
3) My Art!
I love making things. Drawing and writing are the easiest ways to express myself, but I also love painting models. I am currently working on a pirate ship 1/100 scale and several Tyranid Gaunts.
My local art store recently has begun selling Warhammer minis which is really exciting! I’ve been building Warhammer armies for around 2 and a half years and it’s exciting to see my hometown getting into Warhammer too!
4) My Pets!
I am fortunate enough to have a menagerie. I have been keeping fish for about 5 years and have finally moved into saltwater. I also have a chameleon named Pixel who is an absolute joy, he lives in a very large screen cabinet I custom built for him.
I love animals and really enjoy the work it takes to keep difficult fish and reptiles happy.
5) Wrestling!
Last but certainly not least, of course is wrestling. AEW always leaves me on the edge of my seat and oh my god, the parking lot fight! Those boys went all out!
Wrestling for me started only 5 years ago. I heard about the Shield through Tumblr and became engrossed in wrestling of all forms. My all time favorite match I’ve watched has to be Golden Lovers v Young Bucks in 2018. I loved the story behind it and the emotions shown through out.
Darby Allin had been joking when he said he was voting for Jon Moxley for Student Body President. It was that Chuck kid’s fault really, always going on about something…
It’d been the start of the semester, phys ed class. Despite it being a nice day outside, those idiot jock twins had convinced Coach to have them all play basketball. Darby was on defense, guarding Chuck. Who was rambling on about something or another. The ball was tossed to a wide open Orange Cassidy by one of the Jacksons, only for it to bounce off his chest. Darby grabbed it quickly and brought it to the three point line, turning around to get nearly smacked in the face by Chuck’s outstretched hand.
“...Jericho is lame but MJF is annoying,” Chuck continued to ramble, Darby rolled his eyes, trying to look around the bigger kid, “who are you voting for?” Chuck asked. Darby sighed.
“I dunno, Jon Moxley?” Darby grumbled, trying to dribble around him.
“You’re voting Mox for Student Body President?” Chuck laughed, rather loudly. Mox wasn’t running in any stretch of the imagination, so it was kinda weird, but really he had just said the first name to come to mind. In the end Darby was too busy driving to the basket and scoring a layup to notice the reaction. He looked around after the ball fell in with a satisfying swish. The entire gymnasium was looking at him.
“Dude that’s genius,” one of the Jacksons said, breaking the silence.
And thus the campaign for Moxley’s candidacy started. Without Mox even knowing. Jon rarely came to school in the first place, and when he did he was always starting fights, so it wasn’t all that surprising he didn’t know about it. Darby hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal to the belligerent junior, but hoped more that it wouldn’t come to fruition. These hopes were dashed when the current Student Body President read out the winner.
“Jon Moxley?!” Chris Jericho screeched. “He’s not even on the ballot!” The school erupted in cheers.
The Election Results Assembly was put on hold as the teachers dispersed to go find the new Student Body President. When he was finally found, and MJF and Jericho were removed from the stage (with much kicking and screaming), Jon Moxley was given the microphone for his acceptance speech.
“Who did this?” Mox grumbled, sounding equal parts annoyed and confused. And that was when Darby’s day went from bad to worse.
The entire student body turned to look at him. Or at least it felt like it. And what’s worse: Mox noticed. Darby could feel the older student’s eyes bore into him from across the room.
“Your days are numbered kid,” Mox mumbled, tossing the microphone aside and walking off stage, his boots clomping up the center of the auditorium and down the hall to utter silence. Once he was gone someone whistled and the applause started up again and Darby Allin officially died inside.
Senior!Luchasaurus and sophomore!Jungle Boy became friends because they went to the same summer camp one year as kids and stuck together ever since. They bond with freshman!Marko after noticing that he was getting bullied by the Dark Order and sticking up for him; now, they all skip class to pull pranks on jocks!Elite and Dark Order, but they're smart enough to not get caught so the two groups think they're in a prank war with each other (which leads to SO much chaos, they think it's hilarious)
Yes yes and yes!
I love everything about this! Especially the idea of a Dark Order v Elite prank war that really was started by the Jurassic Express, I mean who doesn’t love a prank war??
Dark Order trying to get everyone to join when someone glitterbombs their Kool-Aid container
The old balloon on the tailpipe trick on the Buck’s precious pick up truck
Something to do with thumb tacks...
And summer camp! Oh my god Anon, you’re genius!! I can already imagine Jurassic Express at the camp’s lake jumping off Luchasaurus’s shoulders!
And of course everyone has their favorite place to hide out while skipping class:
Under the stairs, which the janitors find suspiciously void of cobwebs due to Kenny making sure their hide out is clean
The old band room that’s now just full of broken instruments and the occasional purple Kool-Aid container
Under the gym bleachers, since phys ed is often not in there, plus people accidentally drop unopened bags of candy between the steps during games and Orange will eat anything
The locker rooms -- oh my god the locker rooms...
Guys. I want to write AEW HS AUs but I’m afraid of getting everyone’s characters wrong.
annaxmalina
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
germansingergirl
