Melancholic vet

I really just have to summarize Thomas's entire life:

He was in a committed relationship with a male swan named Henry for 18-24 years before a female swan named Henrietta showed up and mated with Henry.

Thomas was initially jealous of the pair and attacked them, breaking 2 of the 5 eggs Henrietta had laid. However, once the remaining eggs hatched, Thomas warmed up to them and helped raise them.

Henry couldn't fly because of an injured wing, so Thomas taught the cygnets how to fly.

When they needed to reduce the goose population in the pond where Thomas and the swans lived, they dyed Thomas's feathers red so he wouldn't be separated from Henry.

Henry, Henrietta, and Thomas remained in their happy throuple for years and raised 68 cygnets before Henry died in 2009. After Henry's death, Henrietta found another swan and flew away, leaving Thomas alone.

Thomas finally met and mated with a female goose in 2011 and had his own babies. However, another goose named George stole them and raised them himself.

As Thomas grew elderly and blind, he was relocated to a wildlife center where he raised orphaned cygnets.

His caretaker at the center described him as "pretty high maintenance."

Thomas died in 2018 at the age of around 40. He had a funeral that included a small coffin and a procession that was led by a bagpiper. He was buried under the stone where Henry was buried, the two finally reunited in death.

I ate an entire bag of grapes last week, when only a handful could’ve killed my dog. Chocolate? Delicious and safe to eat for me, deadly for most mammals and birds.

And it goes on and on. The thiosulfates and psoralens in onions and garlic are toxic to most animals. Meanwhile here we are dicing them and adding them to our food to make it yummy. The capsaicin we love for giving our spicy food its kick is one of nature’s versions of a pesticide.

Avocados? Contain persin, which is so toxic to so many different animals that it can kill birds, rodents, and even a fucking HORSE. The caffeine in a shot of espresso can kill your dog or cat, and there’s no antidote for it.

Besides, we’re the only mammals that drink milk past infancy. Not only that, it’s the milk of OTHER ANIMALS. You’re not supposed to do that. Most mammals completely lose the ability to digest lactose past infancy. The enzyme needed to metabolize lactose is fully GONE. And here we are making CHEESE???

its true ❤

*unmutes*

Now, at 29, I’m lowkey having a panic attack because my academic email is filled with middle schoolers wanting me to answer their questions about pygmy raccoons and I keep putting off answering them because I’m so overwhelmed with all the other raccoon stuff I have to do.