Mr. Crow's Oddiments and Shiny Things

What Mr. Crow finds and shares.

[afieldinengland]

vincent price calling christopher lee a bitch asmr

[afieldinengland]

great work everybody

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 285#: Blunt-Headed Tree Snake

Today's animal of the day is the Blunt-Headed Tree Snake (Imantodes cenchoa)!

Photo credit: Geoff Gallice

Also known as the fiddle-string snake, this species of arboreal snake can be found in the tropical rainforests of Mexico as well as both Central and South America. They can reach a maximum size of 4 ft 11 in long and are known for their long, slender bodies with comically large heads. Their eyes are also incredibly large compared to the rest of their bodies, and take up nearly 26% of their total head space. While this might look really goofy, it actually helps improve their vision significantly compared to other species of snakes, which are known for having very poor eyesight. Most other snakes rely mostly on their sense of smell as well as vibrations to detect predators and prey, but since the blunt-headed tree snake needs to be able to clearly see the branches of the trees it's climbing, they need to have better vision than the average snake. The slitted shape of its pupil even allows it to look down without moving its entire head, which most snakes are unable to do.

Photo credit: Max Hofmann

Blund-headed tree snakes are active mostly at night, which is another reason they need good eyesight, and will forage through the vegetation in search of prey. Their diet consists mostly of lizards, but they'll also often go after frogs and have been known to eat eggs when the opportunity presents itself. Females tend to be larger than males, meaning that they can take on larger prey. Size isn't the only difference between the sexes. In fact, the populations in the north and south actually seem to exhibit two very different types of sexual dimorphism. Northern males tend to have longer tails than southern males and both types of females, while southern females tend to have much larger heads.

Photo credit: Laurent Hesemans

These snakes are members of the Colubrid family, which also includes hognoses, garters, kingsnakes, and many other species of snakes. Like many of its cousins, the blunt-headed tree snake is technically venomous, but they are rear-fanged venomous instead of front-fanged. This is a useful adaptation when a good portion of your diet consists of frogs and toads, but it isn't really well-suited for injecting venom into humans, since it would require letting the snake chew on you for a good while before it could envenomate you. Luckily, even if you did let one chew on you, their venom is pretty mild, and they're not considered dangerous to humans.

[rbeeseart]

Common Grackle - 8x10" watercolor on Arches cold press

I kinda love Grackles. They can be obnoxious but they're so pretty.

Shop originals, prints, and commissions

[kedreeva]

Posted by The Library of Congress on Facebook:

Once more, due to annual popular demand, we like to share Rosa Parks’ pancake recipe on National Pancake Day. Jotted down on an envelope, it came to the Library along with the rest of her papers, a gift made possible by the generosity of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in 2016. Learn more about the Rosa Parks Collection: https://www.loc.gov/.../rosa.../about-this-collection/...

Here is the Library of Congress page for the recipe!

And the full transcription (text) of the envelope!

And the recipe itself:

Featherlite Pancakes Sift together:

1 C flour

2 T B. Powder [presumably baking powder]

1/2 t salt

2 T sugar

Mix:

1 egg

1 1/4 C Milk

1/3 C peanut butter melted

1 T shorting or oil

Combine with dry ingredients Cook at 275° on griddle

-----

Happy National Pancake Day!

[mrcrow]

Didn’t expect the peanut butter! Curious about how that will change the texture, but if it was good enough for Rosa Parks then it’s worth a try.

Speaking of, if you are ever anywhere near Memphis, absolutely make the effort to see the National Civil Rights Museum. Among all of the artifacts and information is a reconstruction of her on the bus with a recreation of the conversation with the bus driver. Gave me chills. The museum is a life changing experience.

[shiverandqueeef]

how measurements work in canada (ie/ badly)

[elodieunderglass]

it's a well-known fact in the textile crafting community that "making objects from textiles" is an entirely separate hobby from "having a collection of materials to make things with."

crafters often refer to this collection as a "stash" or a "hoard."

it's normal to have, but sometimes comes with a certain awkwardness.

the problem is that it takes a very long time to make things from textiles - and it is extremely quick, fun and easy to get more materials.

Presents, impulse purchases, leftovers from other projects, things you bought FULLY intending to make something that you changed your mind about...

Another problem is that you genuinely DO have a plan for the materials! your intentions and desires are THERE!

and admitting that it isn't going to happen - or that your mind has changed, or you're no longer able to do them - can be really painful!

it's incredibly hard to say: "we are not the people who can do these things. we are not the people who WILL do these things."

but sometimes you need to.

it's a natural part of life. it might feel painful to let go of things that you really want to use, but won't. But clearing them out - and the attached guilt and shame - will make room for a lot more things in your life. Room for things you'll use. Room for the projects you'll do.

Room and space - not for hanging on to the shades of the ambitions and intentions and people you aren't - not being held for lives you don't have - but room and space for who you are today, and who you'll be tomorrow, and for the things you'll do.

Room and space to grow.

[slothful-rabbit]

I laughed so fucking hard at this

[paint-lady]

[interestingmistakes]

Reblogging this manually. Op doesn't want credit for fear of being terminated.

[funstealer]

"Sunday night, everything closed. Nothing to do. Pay phone by closed supermarket.” (1975) Photo by Greg Girard

[thevaultoftheatomicspaceage]

[entertheaardvark]

George Tiller was murdered 13 years ago today (May 31 2022)

[entertheaardvark]

People noting this anniversary reminding me again that it is such an insane failure of the pro-choice movement that we do not as a nation think of George Tiller as a civil rights hero and additionally a martyr at the level of MLK Jr. or a Kennedy. So, you know, do your part, etc.

[krill-joy]

“It is my fundamental philosophy that patients are emotionally, mentally, morally, spiritually and physically competent to struggle with complex health issues and come to decisions that are appropriate for them.” – George Tiller, MD

Nine years on: remembering Dr. George Tiller

“It is my fundamental philosophy that patients are emotionally, mentally, morally, spiritually and physically competent to struggle with com

[hopetorun]

wayback machine version of the linked piece above, since the PRH website one seems to no longer work

[bourtange]

i am so tired of hearing politicians talk about california high-speed rail like it was a huge stupid mistake. the reason it hasn't gone anywhere isn't because it was a bad idea, it's because politicians aren't investing in it because they don't give a shit. it took twelve fucking years after it was approved by the legislature for it to even show up on the ballot, and it's been another eighteen since then. thirty fucking years to barely break ground on one fucking train line!!! transportation in the united states is decades behind every other country of remotely comparable size and it's not for any reason other than a complete lack of political will. to get from my home in san diego to san francisco—that is, to travel between two of the largest destinations in the country, which are about 500 miles apart in essentially a straight line—takes me about 7 to 8 hours of driving, but when i enter it into amtrak's trip planner the shortest route it gives me is over 13 hours, and most of the options it gives me require me to spend over half the trip on a bus. (lest anyone think i'm deliberately nerfing the numbers by picking san francisco, whose geography makes it tricky to reach directly by train, i also ran the options for sacramento, which is about the same distance but more directly accessible. there were more options, including some that don't require buses, but the fastest route is still almost 12½ hours long, and even those without buses still require transfers because the only amtrak route leaving san diego ends in san luis obispo 🙃)

meanwhile, to get from paris to barcelona, which is approximately the same distance as the crow flies and probably even a little bit longer than sd–sf on the actual route, takes less than 7 hours. beijing to xi'an, which is actually a bit longer of a distance (closer to 650 miles), has trains taking as little as 4 hours and 10 minutes. it is extremely doable. politicians who call it a "boondoggle" are lying. (where do you even hear the word "boondoggle" outside of politicians complaining about spending money on anything other than bombs?) california high speed rail isn't a wasteful pipe dream. it is a vital necessity that is being needlessly murdered by a political system that does not serve the public good

[quendergeer]

also, paris and barcelona are in TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES and have THE PYRENEES in the way

and you can do it for about 50 euros which is about 60 bucks and you'll be lucky if that covers your gas cost for that trip

[ororium-z]

Happy Pride!

[rootbeergoddess]

Every pride, you must reblog this. No exceptions

[thesaltofcarthage]

I love that four different people on my feed scheduled this joyous person to reblog by 8am on June 1. I look forward to seeing this a dozen more times today.

[uberfluss]

first 5 faceless emojis are how your summers gonna go

[thesebonesbite]

Magnus Archives fan I see

[partywithponies]

THIS IS SO FUNNY I'M SORRY

[mrcrow]

❤️‍🔥💣🛎️🤬🦇

Heartburn bomb ding fuck bat. So a baseball game?

[wurmholz]

Hallo ihr, ich weiß ich hab jetzt nicht so viele deutsche follower aber ich dachte ich versuchs trotzdem. Das ist ne petition fürs Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz.

Man versucht damit Barrierefreiheit als Pflicht durchsetzen (crazy das es nicht schon jetzt Standard ist)

Wäre nice wenn ihrs unterschrieben könntet (oder mindestens teilen?) x)

Petition · Kein Freifahrtschein für Barrieren! BGG-Reform schützt Diskriminierer · innn.it

Jetzt innn.it-Petition unterschreiben & René Schaar & Sabrina Lorenz unterstützen!

[shi1498912]

!!!SIGNAL BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!

‼️‼️‼️

[uncharismatic-fauna]

This is a bit out of the scope of our usual programming, but I thought it was so neat I had to share: one lobster is helping to revive an entire language! Another conservation win!

[mrcrow]

Don’t pass on the link, it’s worth it from the Aboriginal culture perspective as well as the science. Nothing but respect for this work and I hope it inspires colleagues internationally.

[corvidcall]

to anyone in the areas impacted by the wildfire smoke, my #1 biggest piece of advice as someone whos been dealing with wildfire smoke in the NW united states for years, is build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal Cube

they perform as well as expensive HEPA air cleaners, and are comparatively VERY inexpensive. all you need is a box fan, 4 air filters, a piece of cardboard, and some duct tape!!!!

i think it took us maybe a half hour to put ours together, if that, and we replace the filters every 3 months. it's really made a HUGE difference, both when the air quality is bad, but also with our allergies

[o0fyuu0o]

Saw these easy to read instructions on Twitter. Stay safe 💚

[tinyyellowflowers-blog]

Great time to start pricing this out by the way, fire season starts… on the summer solstice this year, that’s fun. Signs point to it being a doozy.