Former Long-Haired Shoeless Hippie

And Magneto is like "I see. Whatever will I do."

eyes hit serious diminishing returns wrt resource costs vs vision quality as they get bigger, so the question became: what the FUCK do giant (and colossal) squid need to see so badly that they couldn't see with swordfish-sized eyes that's justifying that massive energy cost? that nothing else in the deep ocean needs to see so fucking badly??

turns out the one strength eyes that big really have over much smaller eyes is: seeing large glowing objects in water deeper than 500 meters from an appreciable distance.

sperm whales are the primary predator of giant squid. sperm whales don't glow. BUT! water that deep is full of bioluminescent creatures-- these creatures light up when bumped into. something a sperm whale's size is continuously bumping into those critters, it's just surrounded by a glowing field all the time when it's swimming at those depths, visible from a distance-- if you have the right eyes-- as a massive glowing shape. so basically the only reason to have eyes the size of soccer balls is if you live in the deep ocean and your life depends on having a heads up when a hungry sperm whale lurking around

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

The Fox Family has created a secondary den underneath my deck. So I set up some hidden cameras to capture their nocturnal activities. I didn't realize I was going to record a nature documentary.

Mama Mia is a very good huntress. She captured 3 mystery animals and a whole-ass raccoon. Which she brings to the kiddos waiting under the deck and they take the kill back to the main den.

They don't seem very appreciative. It seems Marian, McCloud, and Michael J are spoiled brats. Not even a "Thanks for the dead raccoon, Mom."

Teenagers, amirite?

I have no idea where Papa Milo was. He's the biggest and I don't think I saw him all night.

I was taking out the trash and suddenly the three kiddo foxes emerged and were playing in the yard. They were much more aggressive with their wrestling matches when their parents weren't supervising. One did a total Mortal Kombat finishing move and their sibling was motionless for over a minute. I started to worry until they popped up and resumed a high speed chase.

Latch key fox kids, what are you gonna do?

I was very far away, but they spotted me and got spooked.

But I learned 2 new things.

First, I know where their den is located.

All three of them just disappeared into that wooded area.

Second... they bark!

It's not like a dog, though. It's a very short, high-pitched bark.

If you can imagine what it would sound like if a cat barked, that is the noise they make.

I've pointed one of my security cameras at the opening to their den. So I should get an alert when they appear.

I haven't figured out how to get better pictures yet. I sold my telephoto lens to pay for one of my mom's medical bills.

I'm wondering if they will feel less spooked if I stay on my deck.

Even if I don't get better photos, they are fun to just watch from the window. I've been having such a miserable time recovering. Every day is just boring and long and lonely. This little fox family brought me some much needed joy.

They really do act like a human family.

The mom stays very far back near the entrance of the den. She is very still and just seems to be observing from afar. Like a human mom sitting on a bench at the playground.

The dad is following the kids around, almost instigating their pounces and wrestling.

Two of the kids wrestled and chased as their main activity. But the third kid is an explorer. Very curious. That's the one I got the close up of.

He likes to sneak through the fence and under the deck. I'm guessing he wanted some alone time.