great-and-small
All Creatures Great and Small
This is the place where I post pictures of all the remarkable animals I encounter in my life. I am a practicing veterinarian, rookie biologist, enthusiastic birder, and I have some experience working with wild animals in a veterinary setting. I’m currently researching infectious disease in reptiles and every turtle on this planet fills my heart with joy! I like to post photos and videos of wildlife that I see and interesting animal behavior. I make lots of very silly biology memes
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hiii do you have any advice for new fly trap owners?? im hoping to get one soon !!
The Venus fly trap and some other carnivorous plants are basically the only plants I’ve ever been able to keep alive long-term! I don’t know why but we definitely get each other. Once you get their three rules taken care of they are surprisingly low maintenance.
1. Water
- VFTs are bog plants so they are very sensitive to drying out. Their pot should be kept in a dish of standing water at all times, and refill whenever it’s getting low. It is also very important to use only distilled water or rain water as tap water can kill them. I collect rain water to use for them and have done this the past few years.
2. Sunlight
- I leave all my fly traps outside in direct sunlight. If you’re in an area with harsh winters you may need to bring them inside but they can definitely handle a little chill. If your climate is appropriate it’s always best to leave these plants out where they can catch their own bugs.
3. Dirt
- Fly traps are particular about soil due to where they evolved. Anything with too many nutrients can kill them. I make my own soil for all my carnivorous plants- about half peat and half perlite. This provides pretty good drainage and my plants do great with it. I bought a big bag of each of these two years ago and I’m still getting through them.
Good luck with your VFT! I’d recommend getting some sundews for your savage garden as well, they’re crazy interesting plants.
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I regularly have dreams I refer to as "Big Luca Dreams", wherein my dog Luca is very big. They are my favorite dreams.
This is how big Luca is in the Big Luca Dreams
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What’s your favorite turtle and also favorite parasite?
How could I ever choose?! I can’t pick absolute favorites but I can definitely choose some top contenders
Turtles:
- Alligator snapping turtle (I deeply love any type of snapper but these guys are just totally something else- once you work with one you’re hooked forever)
- Gopher tortoise (keystone species with talk show host level charisma)
- Bog Turtles (the cutest animal on earth??)
- Radiated tortoise (I love all the Madagascar tortoise species but these take my breath away)
- Eastern box turtle (if these dudes don’t fill you with childlike wonder I don’t get you)
- Diamondback terrapin (makes me feel how I assume old white guys feel when they see a fancy muscle car. Just a great looking kickass turtle here)
Parasites:
- Screwworms (parasitic larvae of a fly but terrifying and fascinating- these worms are the reason we have sterile insect technique)
- Toxoplasma gondii (best parasite to go down the rabbit hole researching; this protozoan is running the world)
- Parasitic wasps are morbidly fascinating to me so I’ll also say Jewel wasp (can perform brain surgery on the exact part of a cockroach’s brain that would allow it to escape)
- Any type of pentastomid (mysterious and cool, will never forget finding a dead snake filled to the brim with them)
- Guinea worm (interesting worm with cool history and life cycle- former US president Jimmy Carter once vowed to eradicate this parasite in his lifetime)
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should i get into bird watching?
#asks#this but absolutely unironically#it makes you look at the world in a different way#birding#birds
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What would you say for a better Wisconsin state bird? I lean towards a crane, seeing as how we have the ICF and are the home of one of two remaining (well, reintroduced!) whooping crane migratory breeding groups? But I might be missing other super cool birds we have! (the Sandhill Crane is also cool, but has a much wider range so *shrug*)
Ahhh a fellow craniac I see. Someone absolutely needs to have a crane as state bird, and Wisconsin would be a great selection. The Herculean efforts to re-establish historic whooping crane populations in WI would make this bird a good pick for the state in my opinion. I’ve also seen people pitch rose-breasted grosbeak, as more of them breed in Wisconsin than any other state.
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Sometimes I see a respected mutual in my notes and remember they follow me and I'm like. Should I apologize for what I'm doing here. But they did choose to be in my house
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#he’s so cute oh my word#hopefully that interesting breed mixture prevents the doodle vices#no eating socks for you young man!
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enough with the wind pollination. stop releasing your microgametophytes into the air like some kind of fucking chump. grow up. either form a mutualistic relationship with some animals like the rest of us or go back to proper alternation of generations with water-mediated fertilization like a real plant
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Hello! Have you ever heard of Ocean Conservation Namibia? They're a tiny rescue organisation along the coast of Namibia that primarily rescues Cape Fur Seals from ocean-born rubbish. They post a new video on youtube every day, showcasing the direct impact discarded fishing gear and other plastics can have on marine animals. It's really cool (and absolutely heartbreaking)!
I hadn’t heard of them but I just checked out their website and they seem like an incredible organization. Really on the front lines of the plastic crisis. I’ll be following them from now on- those videos are awesome!
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Hello! I hope you’re doing well! :)
Do you have a bird you’d prefer as Florida’s state bird?
I’ve heard a lot of criticism over the choice of a mockingbird and I’d like to see what you think
I love northern mockingbirds but definitely not as Florida’s state bird. There are SO many better options! Here are my gentle (violent) suggestions for replacement
1. Florida scrub jay
2. Roseate spoonbill
3. Swallow-tailed kite
4. Grasshopper sparrow
5. Crested Caracara (though this would actually be my primary pick for Texas)
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