animals
animal lovers rock
@patriciaxlee.eth
There’s a chicken on the loose in the neighborhood lately that people have been trying to catch for weeks. It’s friendly but evasive. Apparently it escaped from someone’s coop. In most places, a free-roaming chicken would be unremarkable, but people here are invested in catching it.
I see it on my walks at sunset and am rooting for it. We have coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and hawks out here. It’s very impressive that it’s still alive. I can’t help but wonder how much it must enjoy its new, wild life in the hills and on the coast, watching the sun rise and set every day. Maybe it’s blissfully unaware of the dangers, maybe it misses the safety of the coop. Only the chicken knows.
On a related note, I have a friend who’s a veteran and used to work at Lockheed Martin. He made a big career pivot recently to start an egg-farm operation with his wife and three kids in North Carolina. They have over 100 chickens now, and he says he has never felt happier and freer.
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@patriciaxlee.eth
New pokemon unlocked here. I’m told these creatures are exceptionally sweet. They eat ticks, carry their young in pouches like kangaroos, and are rarely aggressive (famous for playing dead when scared).
We have a group of large, juvenile raccoons that tend to monopolize the yard at night. Skunks, mice, and owls also hang out here with frequency. First time seeing a possum though.
The squirrels are still doing well, though I can tell my favorites are nearing the edge of their lifespans. There’s a younger generation of squirrels that’s pushing them out.
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@patriciaxlee.eth
He harvested wild acorns to give to the squirrels because “these are what the squirrel in Ice Age eats.”
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@dwn2erth.eth
this cute bee species was just discovered and only female ones have horns
they call it Lucifer bee 🐝😈
i wonder if they're actually evil and plan to take over the world. honestly i wouldn't mind it. long live queen bee
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@yema
🚨 ALERT 🚨
"..We have a Farcaster Princess.."
https://farcaster.xyz/accidentalboymom/0xc37d72dd
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@patriciaxlee.eth
The squirrels are doing good, busily preparing for a winter that they are evolutionarily wired to believe is coming. It’s not. We’re in the Bay Area where it’s basically the same temperature year round.
I’ve started adding calcium powder to their nuts after learning about metabolic bone disease (MDS). This disorder is caused by mineral deficiency as squirrels rely on nuts humans give them instead of foraging for a more balanced diet.
With MBD, bones become weak and brittle. An early sign of it is a wobbly, uncoordinated gait. I learned this in squirrel forums, which I can’t believe I read now. We’ve given our neighbor a jar of calcium powder for their bird feed since the squirrels eat this too.
I was concerned they wouldn’t like the powder. But as you can see from this video I took just a minute ago they are more than happy to eat it.
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@patriciaxlee.eth
Also, here’s 30 seconds of a shy banana slug moving slowly. I met this one earlier today while walking in the redwoods. Sound on to hear subtle leaf-crunching (mostly from me while crouching to film).
When they sense danger, banana slugs pull their eyestalks back. I watched slug do this and then slowly extend its eyes again as it felt safer around me. Its eyes are the two black dots at the ends of the stalks.
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@dwn2erth.eth
every time i see a pig irl i'm surprised by how big they are. i always imagine them small and cute, but they're gigantic
👁️🐽👁️
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@patriciaxlee.eth
No sudden movements.
She had spiderwebs and dirt on her from burying the nuts, but I don’t mind. A tiny milestone this evening.
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