today's bat

bats are the cutest animals. inspired by todaysbird icon by firlalaith

[todaysbat]

FYI: don't be afraid to send me an ask if you have any questions

Broken link? Let me know!

Icon and Banner by @firlalaith

All images used in posts belong to their respective copyright holders. Images do not belong to me unless otherwise stated and are used here for educational purposes only.

last updated: june 6, 2026

Found an injured bat? Check this post: https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/676387755780128768/bat-rescue-and-rehabilitatiors-list

More links of interest below read more

Bat Conservation Organizations:

Bat Conservation International - https://www.batcon.org/

Bat World Sanctuary - https://batworld.org/

The London Bat Group - https://londonbats.org.uk/

Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation: https://www.merlintuttle.org/

Bat Conservation Trust: https://www.bats.org.uk/

Spanish Association for the Conservation and Research of Bats (SECMU): https://secemu.org/

Wikipedia list of Bat conservation and research organizations by region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bat_conservation_and_research_groups

Bat-focused Governmental Organizations:

White Nose Syndrome Response Team (US Fish and Wildlife Service): https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/

Posts of Interest:

Bats and Rabies - https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/652073859828318208/vampire-bats-are-cute-but-his-bite-is-dangerous-or

White Nose Syndrome - https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/665858917730041856/white-nose-syndrome

How you can help bats: https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/680464293736660992/how-you-can-help-bats

Zoos with Bats: https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/722403011940532224/zoos-you-can-see-bats-at

Bat Hall of Fame: https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/737436825928482816/

Palm Oil: https://todaysbat.tumblr.com/post/741593916523069440/palm-oil

The Three R's: https://www.tumblr.com/todaysbat/818683108163485697/the-three-rs-reduce-reuse-and-recycling

[all-mammal-creechur]

Robbin's Yellow Bat Scotophilus nucella

An insectivorous bat that has been recorded in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania.

img source

[claypigeonpottery]

a bat enjoying pomegranates

[wheelie-sick]

"oh, I live in a desert and-"

"wow that must be so terrible" "deserts are so ugly" "I would never want to live in a wasteland like that" "it's just empty nothingness"

wishing 10,000 exploding hammers upon you

behold New Mexico

[ID 1: tall, snowcapped rocky mountains rising above a plain filled with desert scrub

ID 2: brightly colored banded cliff walls of several mesas climbing their way into mountains

ID 3: a desert prairie

ID 4: colorful hoodoos against a twilight sky

ID 5: white sand dunes as far as the eye can see

ID 6: a collection of hoodoos against a stormy sky at sunset

ID 7: a juniper tree standing with a cliff wall in the background

ID 8: several juniper trees on a rocky landscape]

[wheelie-sick]

this post and all its wonderful additions (look in the notes) is circulating again. these photos and many of the ones added in the notes come from the US Southwest.

right now the trump administration is attacking the public lands in the Southwestern US. most recently (July 2026), in Utah the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments have been cut by over 90% to allow for mining. these lands are sacred to multiple Native nations in the area and contain irreplaceable archeological sites. additionally, the commission of Native representatives who aided in management of these lands has been dissolved leaving Native people without a voice in caring for the remaining land. (read more here)

here in New Mexico, the 10 mile buffer zone surrounding Chaco Canyon preventing oil and gas drilling is under attack. Chaco Canyon contains incredibly old and incredibly fragile archeological sites sacred to Pueblo people. these sites are threatened by mining and drilling. (read more here)

The attack on the Chaco buffer zone is currently in a public comment period open until July 29. PLEASE leave a public comment to save these irreplaceable places.

[historicalbookimages]

🦇 Fauna japonica, sive, Descriptio animalium, quae in itinere per Japoniam, jussu et auspiciis, superiorum, qui summum in India Batava imperium tenent, suscepto, annis 1823-1830 Lugduni Batavorum: Apud Auctorem, 1833-1850. Original source Image description: Illustration from “Fauna Japonica” depicting two fish species labeled “I, Erythrichthys” and “III, Scombrops.” The top fish has a streamlined body with pinkish-red scales, large round eye, and prominent red fins, including a spiny dorsal fin and forked tail. The lower fish shows a gray body with yellowish fins, a large round eye, and a wide-open mouth displaying sharp teeth. The detailed, naturalistic style highlights scale texture and fin structure as part of a scientific 19th-century zoological study. The image is unrelated to bats despite the keyword provided.

[all-mammal-creechur]

Eger's Long-fingered Bat Miniopterus egeri

A bat found in Madagascar, described as a new species in 2011.

img source

[all-mammal-creechur]

Underwood's Bonneted Bat Eumops underwoodi

It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the southwestern United States. It is known to eat grasshoppers, leafhoppers, moths and beetles. It prefers to roost in tree hollows and under palm fronds, far off the ground. It favors dry roosting sites.

img source

[all-mammal-creechur]

Hovel's Myotis Myotis hoveli

Found in Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, southern Anatolia, and also in the mountainous areas of eastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

img source

[all-mammal-creechur]

Wrinkle-lipped Bat Chaerephon plicatus

Its range includes several countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

img source

[mimosa-sexypeople-contests-2026]

Tumblr Sexyman Contest 2026 Final Round

Senshi (Dungeon Meshi)

Ryland Grace (Project Hail Mary)

Mr. Ant Tenna (Deltarune)

Voting ended onJul 20

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Just for fun, if anyone is bored/in need of distraction, and wants some excellent animals, here are two of my personal favorite Youtube channels:

EVNautilus- famous for such classic hits as "a bunch of scientists make fun of an octopus" and "scientist gets to watch her favorite animal get one-shotted by an anemone".

NamibiaCam- live cameras set up at watering holes around Namibia! My favorite is the desert; there's often oryx, jackals, and always tons of sandgrouse.

[blue-fishies]

I want this post to get as big as my hopepunk post because this needs to be internalized by you people.

When it comes to conversations on environmentalism and taking care of our planet, we are doing a disservice to progress by asserting black and white statements that humans are “inherently evil” and “all we do is take and destroy, we are so selfish,” when the reason the Paris Agreement exists is because we saw what was happening to the planet and we wanted to try and fix it. We saw what was happening with acid rain and the ozone layer, so we came together and mended our mistakes.

Immediately making conclusions that humans are a plague on the earth itself is taking accountability away from greedy corporations that are actually doing the most harm to the earth. Yes a lot of humans are very evil, and some of those humans are unfortunately running the government, but to say they represent the larger species of the human race is reinforcing the idea that 1: You people just want to place blame on a collective group of people like you always do, and 2: You sound complicit as hell in the face of evil, assuming that’s just how humans are and there’s nothing we can truly do.

That’s some fucking bullshit if I’ve ever heard it.

[yeyinde]

Collins is gone.

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.

Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.

All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.

After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.

It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.

And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.

The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.

Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.

ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.

Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.

*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.

If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.

items needed are: food, diapers, medical masks, men’s and women’s joggers (all sizes), children’s clothing (newborn to size 14), children’s shoes, summer clothing, men’s clothing, toiletries (lotion, Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, etc.), strollers, adult depends-all sizes, dog & cat food

wīya ispīh iyiniw-kiskīyihtamowin pasikōpayiki kāwi askiy ta-iyihyīmakan

[todaysbat]

'It's a miracle': First Nation members escape northwestern Ontario wildfire as community burns to the ground | CBC News

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, has been destroyed by a wildfire that spans over 350,000 hectares in nor

Posted: July 16, 2026

IQAir article posted july 15, 2026: https://www.iqair.com/newsroom/wildfire-map-spotlight-northwestern-ontario-wildfires-canada

[iamthelowercase]

Hello, tumblr! I saw something on here the other day that worried me, so I decided to Do Science about it. But I can't do it alone: I need your help to build the dataset!

Here's what I need you to do:

If you see a post with a "mature content" label, and it's 2026, DM me a link to the post.

Yes, that's really it.

I am hoping to collect several thousand such posts, so that I have a decent sized dataset. I do not care what the post is about; if it's labeled as "mature content", I want to add it to my dataset.

If I get 10,000 posts in my dataset before August 31st 2026, I will post my preliminary findings then. I won't feel comfortable calling my findings "settled" before 2027, unless I get over 50,000 posts.

[todaysbat]

Just curious, what's your hypothesis, op?

[elveny]

If your business can only be reached and all info about it only be accessed via Facebook or Instagram, know that it isn’t reachable or accessible AT ALL.

The whole metaverse can no longer be properly viewed without an account and I am definitely not making one just to see your contact info or opening hours.

Get a fucking WEBSITE. It can be just a static landing page with the relevant information. But get off the metaverse!

[montereybayaquarium]

Join us for a lesson in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the indigenous language of Hawai’i. 🌺

'ahi | yellowfin tuna

The ʻahi is a symbol of abundance. Their presence reflects the generosity of the ocean, often watched over by the akua (god) of fishing.

he'e | octopus

For many ʻohana (families), the heʻe is also recognized as an ʻaumakua, an ancestral guardian that offers protection and guidance.

mōlī | Laysan albatross

The Hawaiian mōlī (Laysan albatross) is seen as a messenger, carrying ʻike (knowledge) across great distances.

In Hawaiian culture, many ocean animals are revered as aumakua, ancestral guardians that protect the ‘ohana (family). Their presence is deeply embedded in moʻolelo (stories) and often symbolizes virtues like strength, endurance, and resilience. This profound appreciation represents a spiritual interconnectedness and respect between humans and the sea. 

Mahalo (thanks to) Marlo Lualemana (@marlolualemana on IG) for sharing her knowledge and culture.

No matter the words we use, there’s wonder in ocean life, and caring for it helps us all. 🐟🐙🐦

[thatdisasterauthor]

Getting a Job as a Wildland Fire Dispatcher

There was some interest in how this process works on another post I made, so here's a breakdown of the process. Firstly, though, this is a US Federal Government job, which makes it chaotic in its own right, but there's also a lot in flux with wildland fire specifically, so things may change. Also, every state does things a little differently. Some states make it part of 911, most have it separate. Some areas, like national park specific dispatch centers, handle a lot more search and rescue related stuff than fires. I'm going to be covering the general stuff, but if you apply to anything, just be sure to read the specific job listing carefully.

This post also got loooooong, so I'm sticking it below a cut.

There are, currently, two different employers for federal wildland forces, including dispatchers.

US Wildland Fire Service: This is housed under the Department of the Interior, and in early 2026 absorbed all the Department of Interior wildland firefighters that were formally housed under places like the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, etc.

US Forest Service: The largest employer of wildland fire forces, housed under the Department of Agriculture. Theoretically, the USFS firefighters will also be moved under the Wildland Fire Service eventually, but it is all still super up in the air and who knows if/when it'll happen.

There are also two different pay scales:

The GS scale: this is the standard government pay scale. It is what all government employees are on, unless they are on a special scale due to their job type. There are also adjustments based on where you live if you're in an expensive area.

The GW scale: this is a special pay scale for wildland firefighters, and various support positions like dispatch, that gets wildland firefighters higher pay. There are locality adjustments for this as well.

Now! Here is where it is currently very complicated. At various points a certain amount of boots on the ground wildland fire experience was required even for admin jobs like dispatch. For a long time this was 90 days, but then it was removed entirely, now it is kind of back but only for the Wildland Fire Service, and only for 14 days right now. Also, you CAN get a job without it now, you just get knocked back to the lower GS scale. So how it works is this:

If you get a job with the Forest Service, you will--currently--get paid at the higher GW scale even if you have no boots on the ground experience.

If you get a job with the Wildland Fire Service, you will get paid at the lower GS scale if you don't have at least fourteen days of boots on the ground experience. If you DO have at least fourteen days of boots on the ground experience, you will get paid at the higher GW scale.

The job is exactly the same either way. It's literally just who signs your paychecks. And yes, this IS deeply obnoxious and causing lots of problems. But we'll move on.

There are three types of federal employment for wildland firefighters:

Seasonal: You get 1039 hours of base hours, usually starting in May/June, and you go until you run out. You work a full 40 hour week the whole summer. Overtime does not count towards this total. The season ends when you run out of your base hours, but sometimes you can get extended. You have to reapply every season.

Career Seasonal: there's two versions of this, 13/13, and 18/8. What this means is you're in pay status for 13 pay periods of the year, and off for 13 pay periods, or on for 18 and off for 8. You do not have to reapply each season. These can also get extended sometimes.

Permanent Full Time: You are a permanent employee in pay status for the entire year.

You pretty much always have to do at least one season as a seasonal before you can get a career seasonal or permanent full time job unless you have a graduate degree in something related to wildland fire, forestry, land management, etc.

Then, there are three types of wildland fire dispatchers:

Initial Attack/IA dispatchers: these are the people handling the dispatching of ground resources to the initial reports of fires. They also handle logistics dispatcher tasks.

Logistics dispatchers: these are the people handling helping move resources around the country to help with other fires.

Aircraft dispatchers: these are the people handling aerial firefighting resources.

Logistics dispatchers used to be an entirely separate position, but they're moving away from that and mostly combining it with IA now. To become an Aircraft dispatcher you have to get qualified as an IA dispatcher first.

Okay! I think that's all the crucial background information. Now let's get to how you actually APPLY.

All federal wildland fire jobs are hired through the USAjobs website. The jobs for the following year generally start to come out around October, and there are further rounds after that. Also, the hiring process is VERY slow. This is not a job to aim for if you need a job quickly. We're talking up to six months sometimes, if not more.

You can find the job by searching terms like "dispatch" and "wildland fire" depending on the agency, and then filtering it by agency as well (so Forest Service or Department of Interior). You can also narrow it down by location, but most job listings will be for a ton of locations, and then you'll select the ones you're actually interested in during your application.

For your resume, you are limited to two pages. This is different than it used to be for federal jobs, so be sure you read their requirements! The USAjobs website has guides on how to make one the way they want, and even a resume builder you can use. With your resume be concise but explicit in your details. Most of the hiring people are not part of the wildland fire world at all, and if you don't lay things out in very simple, specific terms they will mess up your hiring.

Dispatch jobs are usually at the GW or GS level 3/4/5/6/7. Which grade you qualify for will depend on your experience and if you have any wildland/forestry based education. Other types of education do not count. If you DO have wildland/forestry based education, be very specific about that in your resume. I list out each class and the number of credits for each class.

To come in at the base level, so a 3 or 4, you really don't need any experience. But here's my personal thoughts on what makes for a good wildland fire dispatcher: the job (if not a part of 911) is generally much more laid back than general emergency dispatch. You don't interface with the public nearly as much and you usually don't have to deal directly with immediate life or death situations. You're never going to be the one making evacuation calls for the public, for example. But things can get VERY hectic, chaotic, and fast paced. You need to be good at immediately jumping into the deep end of things and just figuring it out, and you need to be able to handle the stress of not having enough resources for the task at hand, because there are not nearly enough firefighters out there for the amount of fire we deal with these days. There are also going to be SOME life or death moments, moments where people on the other end of your radio die. You may hear their last words. You may have to try and get them evacuated and have to carry the weight of not being able to do it in time to save them, despite your best efforts. They may be people you know. If you are not prepared to carry that for the rest of your life, this is probably not the job for you.

But back to the actual application. You're going to submit your two page resume, selecting the locations you're interested in, and answer all the other little questions in the application. Four of them are weird loyalty questions that say they aren't required but do make you type something anyway. Most people have just been saying "NA" or "See Resume" and been fine.

Then you're going to wait a little bit. Then you're going to make an old fashioned phone call to the places you applied to just to touch base. You can also do this before you even apply, just to try and get a better idea of how that specific dispatch center works. Pretty much every dispatch center has a website with its phone number, so a quick websearch for "Cody Wildland Fire Dispatch" or "Redmond Wildland Fire Dispatch" or whatever should get you contact info. If you call during the fire season, though, be prepared to get kind of rushed through the phonecall/promised a call back that never comes.

Then you wait. Eventually you get an email that will tell you if you were found eligible for the position, and what grades you were found eligible for. This does not mean you have the job yet, though! It's just a midway step that means you're on the list of people who qualify. From here you'll (hopefully) get a call to do an interview over the phone. Then you'll wait some more. If you don't get the job, you'll be notified of that. If you do get the job, you'll get a link to the final terms of the job (seasonal or something else, paygrade, start date, etc.). You'll also be prompted to start filling out paperwork like the background check, W2, etc., and you'll have to go do a drug test and get fingerprinted.

Your actual start date could still be a month or more away. It varies pretty widely. But once you have your first day you'll have some more paperwork to go through, and you'll start all your training! Then wala, you are now a wildland fire dispatcher! Training is a whole nother long post, so I'll leave it here for now.

If anyone is really interested in going through the process, please feel free to reach out to me with specific questions! Happy to look over your resume or help you with the actual application, or anything. Also happy to answer any other general questions people have.