So it’s not exactly a myth so much as unconfirmed? A few other fruits with this reputation are Durian and Jackfruit, both of which are thorny and weigh 1-3 kg and 7-10 kg on average, respectively.
Wait I don’t about sea otters, please tell us!
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Oh goodness, there are SO many!!
- Of course, the one about cats, an especially slippery slope as my husband is a fervent cat lover (but enough of a naturalist to very reluctantly agree);
- Then there are the dogs left off the leash in protected areas… they’re part of nature too, aren’t they? Well, actually, no, not exactly;
- And on the subject of dogs, those big white “fluffy” ones that roam unattended over much of Italy’s mountainous and hilly areas are NOT happy bow-wows enjoying their freedom, but strays abandoned by indifferent shepherds to fend for themselves as best they can, scavenging, hunting and killing the wildlife and interbreeding with the native wolves;
- What about the horses and cattle left to roam and graze where they please? No, they’re NOT wild animals leading an idyllic existence far from man’s exploitation while adding a photogenic touch to the landscape, but livestock, left illegally unattended at the mercy of wolves and pitiless winter weather, while at the same time doing irreparable damage to fragile habitats and vegetation;
- While on the subject of fragile habitats, what to say about those sad, dark monospecific pinewoods which so many people love and praise for the “alpine” touch they add to the landscape? Try and explain that here in central Italy those pines and firs are non-native and steal badly needed space from native species and habitats already under intolerable human pressure;
- Then of course there are the innumerable and well-loved invasive non-native species, such as the Carpobrotus that forms a suffocating monospecific blanket over far too much of Italy’s coastline, adding such a delightful (to some), sickening (to me) carpet of pink that I’ve even seen it pictured on the cover of a leaflet describing a protected area;
And the list could go on, and on, and on… I call it “seeing the world through other eyes” and it might just explain why I have so very, very few (but excellent) friends!
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Jurassic Park 1-6
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You asked, so here’s a paper about it: Harris et al. (2010). Aquatic Mammals 36(4): 331-341. The link opens a PDF. Note that some of the figures in the paper may be NSFW, and the recorded/detailed observations may be disturbing to read.
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It’s interesting that population ratio can drive some to become serial killers, if anything it makes sea otters more complicated critters.
Thank, couldn’t figure out how to html code the link properly. I appreciate aiding the quest to help ruin things!!
AKA with breathless enthusiasm as the Tokai Forest. Not. But as the crop is felled, we are retrieving endangered fynbos.
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Can we please act like 2-6 didn’t happen? It’s what I do with Star Wars prequels and sequels. OK that’s as contentious as I’ll get here.
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Asked Mr Google about the Tokai Forest and I see exactly what you mean!
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If you’d rather listen to someone talk about it than read the scientific paper:
https://youtu.be/UIQQwwVt4y0
Also does not contain any of the NSFW images from the scientific paper
Not me with my friends personally, but I’ve burst the bubble for many people online that formerly believed that elephants see humans as cute in the same way as we see puppies as cute.
First off, this was an entirely false internet idea started by an unqualified random person on Twitter.
Secondly, we have no idea what an elephant actually thinks when it sees a human, as nobody has ever imaged an elephant’s brain (despite newer iterations of this rumour stating so).
Based on actual human-elephant interactions both in the wild and in captivity, we can safely assume that this idea is mostly false, as wild elephants mostly see us humans as a potential threat or at best something to be ignored. It is only those that have learnt to form a positive association with humans, such as those in the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and those in captivity, that they react to us favourably. Even then there are many elephants that suffer in captivity and lash out at humans if pushed to breaking point.
So many people have expressed their personal disappointment at realising that it is all a myth haha.
Unfortunately in my experience people tend to anthropomophise animals too much, or reduce them to unthinking and unfeeling automatons, when the truth is that animals fall onto a continuum of sapience and emotional experience.
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Ah yes, Star Wars! It is a lot of fun to complain about the physics while people try to watch the movie!
:D
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I first discovered this when I was setting up camp after dark in an abandoned mine tailing pile in the middle of nowhere - I thought it was dewdrops on the rocks for a second, then realized it was too dry for dew and looked closer. Thousands of wolf spiders roaming around! Luckily I love spiders, so it didn’t bother me, but I imagine it would have been very disturbing for some folks!
Wearing a headlamp is the best way to see it, the angle of the light makes you more likely to spot the reflections.
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Gosh, and here I was going to start a new thread about things you enjoy seeing even if you are not making an official observation at the time.
I love sitting on the porch at night and looking for those little multicolored diamonds, i.e. spider eyes, in the grass. Especially when one winks out because the spider has turned or moved. I’d love to be able to identify which spider’s eyes are which color as we have blue, red, gold and white. I did go out and look at the spiders and see that they were mostly wolf spiders. But I haven’t yet associated the pale colors with a particular species.
It is my favorite part of the evening when I see those little sparkles…
But then, I haven’t tried to share that with anyone because most of the people I know freak out over a lot of things with the exception of my husband who actually pointed out the spider eyes thing to me.
We actually have a neighbor who freaked out when he saw the ceramic face we’d attached to a tree trunk. He just got up and left. And our plumber is afraid of frogs (for crying out loud how can you be afraid of frogs?).
Sigh.
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Some of my favorite memories are of shining a flashlight around the yard to find wolf spiders and other critters from the shine of their eyes! The only time I’ve ever mentioned that to someone was to my younger sister, who then refused to walk in the yard for the next week out of fear of the spiders. Never noticed the difference in eye color though, I’ll definitely have to check that out when I get a chance.
Also, you’d be surprised of the kinds animals that some people are be afraid of. My mother was afraid of all herps, including frogs, and I had a friend afraid of any and all insects (including butterflies and moths! Imagine that!). And I’ve got a friend who loves tarantulas and snakes and other creepy crawlies, but scorpions are a hard pass for them. Its rather interesting to me how people hold these irrational fears, especially of animals not culturally feared.
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Such is life. My weird trait is that I think tarantulas, jumping spiders, and other “fat” spiders are cute, but cellar spiders and harvestmen (which aren’t spiders, I know) freak me out. Weird how the mind works like that.
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I know someone with a severe bird phobia, and met another person who would scream at the sight of a moth. And of course I’ve encountered the usual spider/snake/centipede phobias.
I have 2 myself, but I will argue they aren’t necessarily irrational, because I know exactly why I have them.
Ants make me very uncomfortable, particularly when they’re in swarms. I used to have a full-on phobia of them, but it’s gotten much with time. I’ll still freak out if a bunch of them get on me though.
The place we lived when I was a little kid had huge nests of what I think were probably bicolored carpenter ants - each one was about 1cm long, they were orange and black, and they’d cover the ground outside their nest in massive swarms every evening at dusk. One of my brothers thought it would be hilarious to trick 3-year-old me into standing on a nest when they were swarming, and I got completely covered in viciously biting ants all under my clothes. Horrible.
The second is bears. I have always loathed bears, for as long as I can remember. Never wanted a teddy bear as a kid, and pictures of bears in national geographic would make me break into a cold sweat and quickly turn the page. Never knew why, until I mentioned it to my mom one day and she said “Oh, don’t you remember?” Turns out when I was about 2 an aggressive bear tried to smash its way into the bus we were living in, while she and I were inside it. I have no memory of it but it clearly made an impression.
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I have the complete opposite reaction to seeing a clump of ants. I find the sight to be quite amazing, with all the tiny parts coming together to form one big ‘organism’. Ants in large numbers can do incredible things such as form bridges, barriers, rafts, and more. Most often, when I see a cluster of ants, it’s two opposing colonies going to ‘war’ with each other. Bodies will litter ground. Apparently, ants will even take prisoners of war.
Ants are fascinating to watch, I find it sad that so many people are grossed out by them (no offense to you). I’ll I’m saying is that the lives of ants are complex and beautiful, and more people should know.
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