Random Blog

It’s a little late for snow-related shenanigans considering it’s already March, but hey, I’m sure some places still have snow! Either way the two dragons better enjoy it while they can.

Pst, super sorry for not posting anything last week. I’m preparing for exams in school and it’s been so, SO busy! I’m glad to be drawing again though :)

evil teacup

[I was trying to get the hidden boss only to find it was the GOD DAME CUP!]

To think outside the box

November 26 2023

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Follow up to that one animatic I did post Caine over doing it cause his self esteem is in the gutter and he wants look cool for his humans

Been shaking the bars of my enclousre to do more Father son fluff and this is hella inspired by a chapter in @one-in-a-maxi-million fic Snugglebug

Bonus of Kinger doing that " showing my (insert person/pet) places they havent seen before " cuz he forgot Caine can fly.

A story about how a tiny gashapon prize got even better! ✨ Have you ever gotten super good gashapon luck? Nothing beats getting the thing you wanted on the first spin 🥹

His family was the last surviving population of the Yahi tribe and when they died he came into contact with US Americans for the first time looking for food and help. They held him in jail until they could figure out what to do with him because nobody spoke his language. Then they brought him to the UC anthropology museum because they at least had some documentation of his language. Alfred Kroeber (father of Ursula K LeGuin, so she would have grown up around Ishi and had family dinner with him) pretty much took care of him, had him living in the museum, and made his life’s work documenting everything about Ishi and his culture and knowledge as possible. They were able to record and document so much and had him doing public demonstrations of various traditional skills and crafts.

And he spent the rest of his life living in a museum. He wasn’t held against his will or anything and he got paid for his work, but still so tragic to be the last of your people and solely responsible for making sure that knowledge and culture doesn’t die with you. I think all this is at the anthropology museum at UC Berkeley now, but UCSF might still have some archives.

The thing about Mals is that they are very smart, very capable and really, really, REALLY want you to make all their decisions for them. They're extraordinarily biddable if you're confident enough, but if left to their own devices, they get into Descision Paralysis Hell, which is why so many of them are so neurotic- they NEED to have a job or The Horrors (TM) get them. Part of the reason they make such good security animals.

Border Collies and Cattle Dogs OTOH, are very independent thinkers who were bred to make complex plans and decisions all on their own. If left to their own devices, they don't develop panic attacks, they amuse themselves. mostly by doing crime.

Hybridizing a more Independent/Criminal breed into a Malinois is the first step into outcrossing Mals for health/less anxiety.

The Whippet is similar but in the opposite direction: Sighthounds aren't decisive or ambitious the way that Border Collies and Cattle Dogs are, but they also don't worry about shit- unless they have something to chase, they're perfectly content to chill out as a Couch Potato. The drawback of being so chill is that sighthounds are A Little Stupid. Some of them really could get lost in a paper bag.

And she did many strange things, but the one I remember most happened one easter. My parents went around the yard, hiding eggs everwhere. And according to them, Leah (the dog) followed them, watching very intensely. Made sure she saw where each egg was put. Some of the eggs were put in spots that a dog really shouldn't have been able to reach, like in a tree.

Then my parents went to bed, and Leah followed with.

Morning come, us kids went out to go out to find the eggs, and Leah had gathered them all into a pile. Very neatly. There was one egg that had been squoze open, and some jelly beans sampled, but she decided she really wasn't that keen on them. So the rest were intact. And Leah was very proud of the pile. She sat by it very proudly, as if to say, See? See my works? See my crafts? See what I have done?

See?

And I've always been kind of curious about what compelled her to do that. If she was "herding" the eggs, or if she was just bored and thought it was a puzzle or... what.

I have to race to sign up to volunteer trips because even with dozens of spots available, people rush to devote their unpaid free time to helping the environment. these trips often fill up within hours. people care.

you will see a lot of bad news because that is the kind of news that people pay the most attention to. I know this more than you'd think from my optimism- not only do I live somewhere facing some of the most extreme ecological issues on the planet, I also spend my time studying the Bad Stuff every single day.

Walnut was born in a species-recovery breeding program in the 1980′s.  The program had crane chicks hand-raised by human volunteers, and at that time they did not fully understand the measures necessary make sure that the chicks do not imprint on humans and retain their identity as cranes.  

As a result, her keepers believe, Walnut does not recognize other cranes as members of her own species.  

It has not been proven that Walnut killed her previous suitors; however, there is a persistent rumor in the white-naped-crane-conservation community that she did.  

Because this species is highly endangered, and the gene pool of the captive population is small, it’s pretty important for the survival of her species that Walnut A) mate, and B) not kill a bunch of other cranes.  

The actual name of the keeper is Chris Crowe.

They both arrived at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2004.   

Walnut immediately began paying special attention to Chris--and ignoring the eligible male crane in a nearby enclosure.  

Walnut initiated their courtship, performing the opening moves of a mating dance.  

Chris realized that if he reciprocated the mating dance, it might be possible to artificially inseminate Walnut with her participation and consent.  (The process normally involves restraining the bird.)  

It worked!  

Chris and Walnut have had five children, who were raised by other crane couples at the facility--sometimes the biological dad and his mate--both because it’s unclear whether Walnut would accept the chicks as her own, and because Chris is not equipped to be a Crane Dad.  

However, the Institute provides her with artificial eggs to sit on, and Chris takes his turn looking after them.  (This would not work with real eggs because he can’t sit on them properly, but Walnut seems to feel that he is on the job if he just stands over them.)

she has not been PROVEN to have killed her exes, but there is a PERSISTENT RUMOR (really officers she's simply DEVASTATED, she sobs, wearing a new feather boa unfortunately resembling her most recent deceased husband)

His name is Chris CROWE. (Mrs. Walnut Crane-Crowe?)

the mental images of a whole human man learning and performing the crane mating dance, and "sitting" on artificial eggs so she thinks he's performing his duties as a husband and father (and apparently OBJECTS if he does not?)

"chris, buddy, you gotta marry the possibly-murderous crane lady for the GOOD OF THE SPECIES." (alternately: "chris, my man! good news! we found you a very interested lady! She's 36, she's very spirited and independent, she holds a very important and rare status in her society! ...Is there a downside? WELL...")