death is a beautiful thing

Mainland She Oak Skink (Cyclodomorphus michaeli), mother with pups, family Scincidae, eastern Australia

Hey y’all, I hate to ask for help like this, but Basil is at the vet after a severe attack from a loose dog during our morning walk.

Right now, the biggest concern is that he almost certainly has a fractured skull. Initial exam upon intake indicates that it appears to be a sinus cavity skull fracture rather than damage to the brain cavity itself, he wasn’t exhibiting neurological symptoms and was able to stand despite being in shock and the wounds on other parts of his body, responsive and mostly alert etc, so it’s possible that we got very, very, VERY lucky, but we will need to take him to a larger veterinary hospital once he’s stabilized here in town, since we’ll need to do a CT to get better imaging and determine if surgery is necessary. The other injuries are all pretty superficial (bruising, lacerations, damage to his ear, etc) in comparison to that.

This level of specialty care is very expensive and will push me past my emergency savings. If you’re in a position where you can chip in a few bucks towards his care, I would really, really appreciate it. My PayPal is [email protected] and Venmo is @gabriel-ogle-wilderun, but if a different method works better just send me a DM.

Basil is one of those once-in-a-lifetime dogs. Within days of him being dropped off as a foster I knew that he was never gonna leave, he just fit in so well with my crew and I fell in love. He is so, so special to me, and I’d do anything for him including ask for help.

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus), family Strigidae, order Strigiformes, western-central plains of the United States

Harald Wiberg (Swedish, 1908 - 1986) Spitz with Capercaillie Hen, 1969. Watercolour.

A Fallow Deer after having shed an antler 

Arabian Wolf (Canis lupus ssp. arabs)

Georgia O'Keeffe

American, 1887–1986

"Deer's Skull with Pedernal", 1936

Oil on canvas

36 x 30⅛ in. (91.44 x 76.52 cm.)