Did I miss anything BNW? I know stuff, but am most certainly not an actual bat expert :)
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Well, I am a bat expert and I...wait...no. That isn't me.
Bat boxes might help, if there's somewhere safe they can go. Otherwise just watch and enjoy. They're an animal thats dealing fairly well with humans. They love our houses, like the lights, and we're not really hunting them for food.
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A musician that leases a few rooms for his sound-mixing studio at the museum is feeding the foxes and tomorrow should start giving them medicines for mange and parasites (assuming the promised veterinarian aid and consultation arrives on time).
I sure hope it does, foxes are one of my favorite animals!
Photo of the foxes that he posted on his facebook page.
They are skinny and definitely need feeding (and deparasitation for the feeding to gave concrete effects)...
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I'm usually all for letting nature take its course, but mange is one of those things where the world is better off without it.
Human actions somewhat contribute to the spread of mange as I recall.
Speaking of foxes: am I correct in the assumption that it is not normal for them to be out in the middle of the day? Because I've just seen one today running around in broad daylight (well, in streaming rain, but you know what I mean).
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They'll be out in the middle of the day if there's food, when they're cubs, or when the family is working over time to care for the kits, or if they're sick to the point that they stop caring about people (like a lot of manged foxes)
If we get a dark rainy day where all the humans are inside a lot of nocturnal critters will put in a few extra hours.
Today two of the foxes were frolicking near the dumpsters in front of the garages in the morning. They didn't mind the mini-tractor lawnmower driving three meters past them.
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A lot of top, or near top, level predators are pretty variable in their schedules. Whenever the food is active, they're active too.
Taking an introductory field biology course right now (Minnesota Natural History), and part of the lecture included this fairly cool video.
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Assuming I didn't misunderstand anything, I'm getting confused here why people go to parks if they are afraid of animals ._.
"Sure I love nature, when the nature isn't there"
People may be afraid of some animals, but not expect to encounter them on your average park trip.
...Is this another of those "People on average don't feel like they are personally in risk of getting into accidents" things?
I mean, you are much more likely to run into animals when you go on park trip than if you stayed at home so that way of thinking just doesn't sound logical to me.
Yerp, what TriOmega said, plus, many people are not comfortable around, or even aware of how to (if you even should) interact with wildlife.
That said, when people scream and run from ground squirrels...I shake my head. When they FORGET to NOT run from mountain lion...I also shake my head.
I seems to do that allot come to think of it.
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That said, when people scream and run from ground squirrels...I shake my head. When they FORGET to NOT run from mountain lion...I also shake my head.
The mountain lion also shakes their head
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Assuming I didn't misunderstand anything, I'm getting confused here why people go to parks if they are afraid of animals ._.
"Sure I love nature, when the nature isn't there"
actual answers i have heard to that
-I didn't know there would be snakes.
-What do you mean the animals are outside?
-Who lets them into the park during the day?
-I didn't know deer were so big
-there are bats in the park?
-I didn't know geese/swans could attack
-i just don't want the snakes on the trail...
- i thought it would eat out of my hand...
worse if it goes "it is in the big green parrot"
Bears are at least something most people are aware are not to be messed with, parrots, somewhat less so...
Does not change the fact their beaks are like very very sharp shears, nuts, seeds, green fruit, your fingers, they care not!
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What is it with people talking about man-eating parrots all of a sudden? Was there some recent news story I missed?
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My first college was an agricultural college. With a gym requirement. I was taking archery and we had a session on field target shooting.
After class i want to make breakfast before english, so i cut across a cow field. (like i said. Ag college) Start making my way around the outside of the herd.
Calf comes over to say hello. I give him a scratch to the ears and then to the butt. Mom comes over, pretty much shoulder blocks the kid out of the way and gives me a nasty look and a snort. It's about this time i realize that, as beef cows, these ones probably aren't nearly as use to dealing with people as the milk cows i'd been around before. She seems unimpressed with the face i'm a vegetarian. I start backing up a bit, she starts following.
You've heard the expression herd mentality? They ALL start following.
So i start booking down hill with surprising speed. nat 20 on the acrobatics check to put a hand on the post and (i'm not sure how) vault over the fence. Gotta love adrenaline.
The apple turnovers were great.
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Sometimes we chase the elusive perfect grill flavor...sometimes the elusive perfect grill flavor chases us!
Nawww, I just find it funny when foolish people lose fingers for bad decision making regarding razor sharp bird beaks, what...I am clearly True Neutral as a druid. Also know as the "you missed the warning signs and lack sufficient handle animal skill...thus truncation" style of druid. ;)
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Probably a good idea when I saw a budgerigar chained to someone's bike, I didn't try to touch it.
I mean I wanted to, but when I raised my hand experimentally over it, it kept following my hand, with its beak. I interpreted that it didn't care to be scratched and decided finally to stay away.
The last time I tried to pick up little chicks(so cute!), I had the mother hen chase after me...not surprised about mother cows.
budgies can nip, but it is the big parrots ya gotta be careful with.
In fact, friendly budgies likely never nip, but they have a sharp beak all the same.
But that little guy won't take a finger even if annoyed...
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Oh, BNW, you just triggered a memory. Grew up in a small town - about 400-450 people. I'm sitting on the front steps of a friend's house, waiting. Their street, at the north end, has a fenced in pasture at one corner of the intersection, right on the end of town. All of a sudden I hear screaming coming from that end. I stand up to see over the car parked in the driveway, and all of a sudden I see a kid just a couple years younger than me riding his bicycle as fast he could down the street, yelling at full lung. And then the bull galloped by, about three car lengths behind him. I sat down.
I have been chased by an angry dog while on a bike (oddly, another dog, not mine or one I even knew, ran out of a yard to my defense, I was 11 or so, thus not yet really able to fight a large dog yet)
But never a bull...
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If I see a creature I test out how close it’ll let me get to without getting agitated, take out my phone and snap a shot, then I move on.
I’m mostly OK around nature except when nature surprises me. If I see a monitor lizard, I see a monitor lizard. If I see a wild boar, I see a wild boar. Not really an issue.
However there was a time when a lizard fell on me. Both me and the lizard jumped >.<
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Due to breeding, white fleeced sheep are usually more docile then black fleeced sheep. You normally want white fleeced sheep as the wool is easier to die. No one really wants to buy black fleece.
However white fleeced sheep have gotten so dumb due to breeding, that they cant walk backwards. Which is fun when they stick their head trough the fence to eat the grass at the other side. And you keep having to get back in the field to get them unstuck.
Anyway, you keep one or the black fleeced sheep around to up the general IQ of the herd. But sometimes you forget they are more fiesty...
One time during sheering, the sheep were a real pain, so we had to finish after dark. We had good flashlights and we had driven the last few into a corner, grabbing them as we needed.
We were busy with the last sheep and I was holding the flashlight to assist. There was one sheep left in the corner. A black one. When we were about done, it suddenly decided to make a leap for freedom. Only thing was, I was right in the way.
And when I say leap for freedom, I mean a literal leap.
It headbutted me in the face so hard I fell down and my vision went black for a few seconds.
Ok, that is a good story Woran! (except the face bashing part, interesting, but not "good", guess you escaped unhurt for the most part though)
What, a real human can take a black sheep to the face, just ask Woran!
I am going to reference this.
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There was another incident, that I decided to get a drink out of the water cooler. How was I to know there was a lizard hiding near the button (because it was covered up)? So I pressed the button, and I felt something around my index finger twitch, and saw a tailess lizard run out into the watercooler basin.
Gee...after the initial jump, I went back to drinking from the watercooler, figuring that that's one lizard that won't be hiding near the trigger button of a watercooler.
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I volunteered a few times at a raptor center. Job is pretty much go into the cages and pick up the liter the birds left behind with a grabber stick and a bucket. I get to the Great horned owl enclosure and there's a garbage can lid propped up by the door. Knowledge nature check: Great horned owls are notoriously bad tempered. So i go in with the garbage can lid and start cleaning up.
Sure enough the owl flies at me. THUMP. Right into the garbage can lid. The owl starts climbing back up onto his perch while I'm cleaning up (oddly enough it looked like it hadn't been clean in a few days so i'm here a while)
Other volunteer "Ooo.. forgot to tell you you weren't supposed to do that one he's a little..."
Keep cleaning, hold garbage can lid up. Give it a little give as the owl hits it so he doesn't rebound off it quite as hard and keep cleaning without looking at him.
"...you're good at that. Normally we do this in pairs"
"Who knew playing captain america as a kid would have a practical application..."
*thump*
Foxes' medication got delayed - the vet told that they could get too dehydrated because of that medicine in the current (unbearable) heat, without easy access to water. Hopefully it gets better within a few days (not this week according to forecast, though).
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Mind. Blown.they are not only communicating, they have languages and accents. IE, if you play the "PREDATOR!" call from south carolina crows, north carolina crows fly away. new jersey crows just go "what?"I would like to welcome our new corvidae overlords, and point out that as a trusted member of the forum community, I can be useful in rounding up others to toil in their underground road-kill caves...
Heh...
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Good thing I had my Garbage can lid of Great Horned Owl deflecting!
Next PRGSS item entry...maybe!
Owls aren't the smartest of birds, are they?
Birds, owls included, don't really understand human items, does not mean they are not smart, maybe not as smart as the great parrots, but I would think they are decently intelligent, more so than say, a morning dove.
Owls despite a reputation for wisdom, are considered pretty dumb.
I'm surprised they didn't hurt themselves flying into a garbage can lid. I would have thought it'd be the equivalent of a human running into a glass door.
It's a lot of surface area , and they're build to slam into prey on the ground from 60 feet up in a tree. Running into a garbage can lid from 6 feet up to 4 feet up and then dropping 4 feet is a pretty light tap. Its kind of like getting hit with a police riot shield, it doesn't hurt because its your whole body.
Crows, ravens, and great parrots prolly have the brainy bird market cornered, to add to Corvus's note.
Owls, sorry guys, you are stealthy and cool looking, but rank only in the mids for smarts LOL
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Crows, ravens, and great parrots prolly have the brainy bird market cornered, to add to Corvus's note.
Owls, sorry guys, you are stealthy and cool looking, but rank only in the mids for smarts LOL
That reminds me of the BBC Bird Brain of Britain videos I saw years ago on PBS (and their equally impressive squirrel obstacle course videos. It's pretty amazing what squirrels will do for a few calories' worth of nuts).
Yesterday two squirrels were frolicking on a tree near the engineering section. Today, while loading grass into container, I saw a deer running around ten meters from me, with two kids and their mother following it.
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I have pet rats. Sadly, they are prone to cancer. Luckily breast cancer is easy to remove due to the ample loose skin rats have.
However, you cant put a cone of shame on a rat.
So if we have a rat that pulls stitches, we put them in half a sports sock. They will wiggle out of that after a while. But then they will also be distracted with destroying said sock.
Putting a sock on a rat looks like they are wearing adorable turtleneck sweaters.