moist towelettes

Rachel/Hazel! 30, any pronouns, they/them by default, SCAD Alum. Autistic, dyslexic, demi, pan, poly. ecology and animal science enthusiast, bug kisser, life long lover of anthropomorphism and xenofiction , warrior cats adult. dating the elusive toothlessego. icon by g3ckofish44.

[rachelopossumcat]

On March 14th at around 1:20 AM Shuman got up from where he was tucked under my arm cuddling, crouched beside me, and began breathing heavily. I thought for a moment he was about to cough up a hairball, so I sat up to stroke his back and soothe him, and I immediately realized something was wrong. He was open mouth panting and long thick strings of drool where hanging from his chin. I woke Shain and we discovered he'd lost control of his bladder, we made 2 quick phone calls to 2 emergency vets in Ann Arbor, Shuman got down off the bed during these and went to hide under Shain's desk. We quickly bundled him into a carrier and down stairs. While Shain was gathering their things to prepare to drive us to the vet, Shuman's breathing went from labored to choking and he lost control of his bowels. I unzipped the soft carrier and desperately tried to do... something, anything to help my baby, I think this is when he stopped breathing, before I could even lift his head. I'm not sure when he died. It could have been before we got out the door, or shortly after we pulled out of the driveway. I thought he started breathing again at one point, about a minute or two down the road, but I don't know, I was so desperate for him to be alright. Whenever he passed, it was under 10 minutes from when I first noticed something was wrong. This was either a sudden heart attack, or congestive heart failure. I intend to speak to his vet about if this could have been brought on by the steroids he was on to soothe his IBD and help him gain weight. His heart wasn't even on my radar. I was so focused on all his other organs.

He was my everything, my best friend, my ugly old man baby. I feel empty without him. He spent his last day on earth comforting Tim while he had food poisoning. He was the best emotional support animal ever. He was just so happy to be here, and wanted to befriend everyone he met. He's the reason I stopped self harming. I knew that no matter how bad things were it was gonna be okay because Shuman was there. All cats are unique and wonderful, but he was truly something special. A once in a lifetime kind of pet. I would do anything to have one more hour of cuddles and purrs with him. To hear his ugly grunts and croaking meow again. To wake up to him dripping drool on my face because he's purring so hard. My Stinky. The patron saint of Irritable Bowel Disease.

[dogpuppy]

[inatherps]

Boomslang (Dispholidus typus)

Observed by callumevans, CC BY-N

[velvets-2nd-blog]

Lots of warrior cats I drew while listening to The new prophecy audio books

I might make more of these and color the sketches.

[konoko]

[bigdafty]

Sound very much on.

[t00thpasteface]

wdym indecipherable you are the brotherrrr

[t00thpasteface]

when i first put him in my smartphone contacts while we were in highschool i asked him like hey dude what do you want me to put your name as in my phone? (he was just recently out as trans and was trying a few different names) and he just yelled from across the room SUCK MY WEEWER 🖕 and he's been Weewer ever since

[t00thpasteface]

@alm-of-lexia this is a CLASSIC brother move. also the half concern half mockery for your own brother's self inflicted misery is equally classic. like yes i am worried about you, and yes i will still point and do the nelson laugh at you while i'm handing you the gauze and hydrogen peroxide or whatever

[t00thpasteface]

put those tube feet awayyyyyy your hydrovascular system is scaring the hoes

[swan-star]

this is why she never made him deputy

[likesplatterpaint]

Good morning! (enchanted)

[zhoudadudugongjin]

Look I love unconditional devotion love stories as much as the next person, but there's really something so deliciously raw about conditional devotion.

I have served you and I have loved you for decades, but I will not give up my principles for you. You cut out part of my heart and took it with you down that path that you insist on walking, but you walk it alone. Even when the bleeding, gaping hole you left in my chest kills me, I will not follow you.

[zhoudadudugongjin]

me everytime one of my seemingly non-specific homoerotic text posts breaks containment

[inthefallofasparrow]

[catball]

all my haters become cicaders when i enter the summer of success

[gastropodsyay]

Cuvier tropic snail

Tropidophora Cuvieriana

[scoriarose]

So. We have a bit of an unusual problem. The Gloink Queen lives in a bioactive enclosure with isopods. I fed her isopods some corn as I try to give them variety in their diet.

Unfortunately, at some point The Gloink Queen set her egg ball down, saw a corn kernal, and in her teenie tiny mustard seed brain she decided this was not a corn. This was the ultimate egg ball.

I have tried to help her, this poor creature who pranked herself. However, every attempt to try to remove the corn, or hold it and chase her away from it to try to get her to take her actual egg ball?

Results in her entering a fight to the death with me to protect her corn kernal baby. I don't know what to do. She has done the equivalent of taking her child to the clothing store, then sprinted out with a well dressed child mannequin, then gotten into a hostage situation WITH THE POLICE while they try to retrieve the mannequin and reunite mother and child while she screamed, "I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT IS! THIS IS MY BABY! LEAVE US ALONE YOU MONSTER!"

She refuses any intervention and squares up with me if she thinks I will take her children of the corn. I'm hoping she figures it out.

[gaycop]

Where’s the post that’s like “ maybe she’s allergic to taco bell” but they spell it like gagos bear??

[charl0ttan]

[decapod-of-the-day]

am currently very tired and very hungry and bracing for exams and i almost just typed 'crabs' as 'crasp'.

love this animals. the crasp

[decapod-of-the-day]

ok im crasping. what next

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Daddy Long-Legs: unlike spiders, these arachnids can eat solid food, and they have an omnivorous diet that includes mushrooms, berries, and seeds, along with invertebrate prey

Harvestmen, otherwise known as daddy long-legs (not to be confused with the cellar spiders of family Pholcidae, which are also described as daddy long-legs) bear a striking resemblance to spiders, but they actually belong to a separate order of arachnids known as Opiliones. These strange-looking creatures have eight legs, but only two eyes, and their body segments are largely fused together, giving the body a noticeably rounded, pill-like appearance.

Above: Metagryne bicolumnata, commonly known as the bunny harvestman

There are roughly 6,700 known species of harvestman, but researchers estimate that a total of more than 10,000 species may currently exist. Their physical features vary greatly from one species to the next; some harvestmen have crab-like claws, spikes, thorny legs, elongated bodies, colorful features, or cryptic markings. Most of them are equipped with long, spindly legs, but there are some that have shorter, stockier limbs instead.

Above: Megabunus diadema and two unidentified species from family Sclerosomatidae

Unlike spiders, harvestmen have an omnivorous diet that includes fungi, fruit pulp, seeds, pollen, lichen, algae, and invertebrate prey, and they are capable of consuming solid food, whereas spiders are typically carnivorous and feed only on fluids.

Above: a harvestman from genus Chasenella munching on a mushroom-cap

As this article explains:

Harvestmen consume mushrooms, fruit pulp, seeds, and seed appendages more frequently than spiders probably because they are “solid food feeders," which means they can ingest solid tissues by biting off small pieces. In turn, spiders are “fluid feeders” and feed on vegetable matter most frequently in the form of fluids (e.g. nectar, stigmatic exudate, plant sap, and honey dew) rather than fungal or plant tissues.

Above: genus Marthana

When given a choice between fresh fruit or invertebrate prey, some harvestmen actually prefer the fruit:

Schaus et al. carried out a feeding trial in which the Neotropical harvestman Erginulus clavotibialis was given a choice between fresh pineapple and live invertebrate prey. This harvestman demonstrated a distinct preference for fruit over the invertebrate prey.

Above: Dentobunus quadridentatus

Harvestmen are also much more social than spiders, and the males of some species have been known to engage in paternal care, which is a trait that rarely occurs among arthropods:

Single fatherhood is the rarest form of parental care in nature. Still, males are often the sole caretakers of progeny among a number of species of daddy long-legs, also known as harvestmen. In these species, fathers are exclusively responsible for guarding eggs that females lay on the undersides of leaves; the males remain on the eggs nearly constantly for months.

Above: several harvestman eggs and a young hatchling

When threatened, harvestmen often bob up and down erratically in an effort to confuse their attackers. They also have several other defense mechanisms, including pungent, foul-tasting secretions, the ability to "play dead," and autotomy, which is the ability to discard one or more of their own limbs in order to escape from predators.

Above: the photo at the top shows an unidentified harvestman from family Cosmetidae, while the photo on the bottom shows a species from genus Gnomulus

Harvestmen are completely harmless to humans. Their mouthparts are far too small to penetrate human skin, and contrary to popular belief, they do not have the "world's deadliest venom" -- in fact, they don't produce any venom at all.

Above: genus Obidosus

Sources & More Info:

BioOne: Fungus and Fruit Consumption by Harvestmen and Spiders: the Vegetarian Side of Two Predominantly Predaceous Arachnid Groups

Laboratory of Arthropod Behavior and Evolution: Harvestmen

Argo Biology: Citizen Science Reveals How Devoted Harvestman Dads Evolved Again and Again

NBC: Daddy Long-Legs Paternal Care Pays off in Longer Life, More Sex

PLOS One: Paternal Care Decreases Foraging Activity, but Does Not Impose Survival Costs to Caring Males in a Neotropical Arachnid

Gulo in Nature: Are Daddy Long-Legs Venemous?

iNaturalist: Harvestmen