Sophianeⵣ is Team Hoary🦇🦇
@HonkIfUrHoary
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Wildlife ecologist, science communicator: bats, cats, & invasive species. #1 hoary bat fan. Adopt feral cats. Kabyle Amazigh-American ⵣ🇩🇿🏳️🌈 (she/her)
A cave full of bats
Joined January 2018
Finally, a sleep routine that’s right for me 😌
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“Vampire bats hopping along after other animals” is one of my very favorite video genres.
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Let me be clear:. The Palestinian people are suffering. The need to get increased aid to the most vulnerable is urgent. And our work with Israel to further increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza by land continues.
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Them: cats absolutely have to go outside. It’s the only way they get enrichment. Cats:
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Trying to explain that cats are invasive and coyotes are native to the dumbest guy I’ve ever met.
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I bought a fake ID for one reason and one reason only: there was an 18+ bat presentation at the local museum and I was only 16.
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It’s funny because 1) invasive domestic cats are literally a result of colonialism and 2) I’m not white.
Outdoor cats are free cats. You can just take them.
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Bringing this back.
In an effort to cull some of the state’s swelling elk herds, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department could offer unlimited cow/calf elk tags in some hunt areas this fall. Whether hunters can fill those tags will depend upon getting access to private land.
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My favorite is that in every colony of naked mole rats there are a couple individuals whose job is just to grow as large and fat as possible. During the rainy season, they will plug the tunnel entrances with their fat little behinds and save the colony from drowning.
What’s your favorite weird animal fact?.
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Update: the entire flock was just terrorized by a large butterfly.
These baby button quail are employed as pest control technicians at my new job.
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Outdoor cats are free cats. You can just take them.
What zoology opinion will have you like this
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So I’m looking for a washboard bowl for hand laundry, and I found this review.
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Racist cat owners trying to figure out who is killing their pets:
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On Oct. 11, 2022 HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) hit Knuckle Bump Farms, home to Emmanuel the TikTok-famous emu. This left Emmanuel and a black swan named Rico as the sole survivors of a flock of 50+ birds. It also left many, including experts, looking for answers. 🧵.
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@joannamont Cats don’t get depressed when you spend time with them. Cats can get stressed with any significant change to established routines- that’s not because they hate you/don’t want to be around you, it’s because, like children and dogs, routine is comfortable for them.
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@joannamont Additionally, cats are very sensitive to our emotions. A lot of people have become depressed/anxious due to the pandemic and that can absolutely carry over to their pets.
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I’m so glad you asked (it’s the buff-tip moth).
@HonkIfUrHoary Wonder what the hoary bat of the moth world is 🤔.
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@kayxbliss “You’re, like, really emotional right now. I know it’s what you men do, but you need to calm down and stop screaming or no one’s going to take you seriously.” Flip the script on them. Every man I’ve done it to has shut tf up.
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This might not be legal advice but it is advice.
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I’ve started to see @/safarisammie pop up everywhere so I just want to remind y’all that what she does is extremely unethical and should not be defended or normalized under any circumstances.
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I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: y’all aren’t worried enough about dogs. I love dogs too, but my god some of y’all have forgotten they’re predators.
Perhaps the saddest part of the thyalcine's extinction is that, despite being persecuted by humans for killing livestock, new studies show that the livestock deaths which were blamed on thylacines were actually caused by feral dogs. Thylacines were eating wallabies, not sheep.
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Jimmy Pesto’s voice actor took method acting too far.
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Unpopular opinion. The franchise lost its way when they stopped hiring men with thicc thighs and putting them in short khaki shorts.
Unpopular opinion. Guys shouldn’t be “training” to be in a Jurassic Park movie. The franchise lost its way when a muscled-up action hero became the main character
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@hankgreen Hi Hank, this is not a bumblebee bat. This is a baby pipistrelle. It is extremely common for bumblebee bats, aka Kitti’s hog-nosed bats, to be misidentified. People often post baby pipistrelles or toys instead of the actual bat. (Pictured: left baby pipistrelle, right bumblebee)
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What we should be talking about is how our anthropomorphism of pets leads us to sacrifice their health in favor of “fad diets”. Grain-free diets. Keto diets. Fasting. Vegan cats. These are the huge issues within pet nutrition that need to be brought into the open.
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You know all those taxidermied bats on @Etsy that are listed as “ethically sourced”? Yeah, that’s bullshit. Here are two red flags, using “World of Wonders Deco” as an example.
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FERAL CATS ARE DOMESTICATED. THEY ARE THE SAME SPECIES AS YOUR SOCIALIZED CAT. THEY ARE NOT WILD ANIMALS. THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO LIVE OUTSIDE.
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@slvr_sol “Let their cats outside” and “dread the thought of them becoming roadkill” are two conflicting mindsets.
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Please post pictures of your cat enjoying a leashes walk, hanging out in their catio, or otherwise safely enjoying the outdoors.
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Hot take: cats are not more independent than dogs. They are not indifferent to us. We project those stereotypes onto them, and it serves as both a catalyst & an excuse for neglect.
@3xtra_virgin @Miyuki18825376 Cats are much more independent than a dog. Most pets are far less independent than cats. Or they're so indifferent they'd just leave and never come back. Cats have a very unique relationship to humans. And no, they aren't enriched by being on a lead in your garden.
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If I may offer a slight revision:
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As people rally behind the javelinas, I ask that you do not forget the brave class warriors who came before them: the capybaras.
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An example of the quality content you have to look forward to:
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Please take the time to read this.
this is actually insane everyone repost this as much as you can.
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Someone in our class just posted “when is the final project due” in our teams group. The semester ended last week.
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175 hoary bats
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Idk who all is following the Federal Duck Stamp Contest but these are unquestionably my favorites.
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they’re the same
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@JoshuaPotash 91% of fatal police chases are initiated over non-violent offenses. Over 56% of those killed are someone other than the driver. With the (incredibly expensive) technology available to the police there is no justification for police chases other than cops wanting adrenaline rushes.
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My fellow vegans, this is why people hate us.
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Did I ever tell y’all about the time I paid over $150 to get a fake ID so that I could go to a 18+ bat presentation at the local museum?.
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Stop posting your crimes on social media. Better yet, stop treating wildlife like domesticated pets. Because this is what happens- the animal is always the victim.
Orphaned squirrel who became social media star was euthanized after being seized from home
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ONCE AGAIN: we should be training cormorants for aquatic invasive species removal. Look at the efficiency. The expertise. The elegance. Humans simply cannot compete.
it's lowkey a thing of beauty, he's like a machine designed for gobbling fish
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Let’s learn about the pied butterfly bat (Glauconycteris superba or Niumbaha superba), a rare vesper bat native to Africa. 🧵.📷 Jakob Fahr
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People are really trying to use “acab” for this squirrel thing as if a c*s white het man facing consequences for his very public illegal exploitation of wildlife is equivalent to people of color being subjected to police brutality while going about their daily lives.
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My friend just adopted an 18 year old cat named Cat.
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Another!.
Look how this bat is following the tapirs to get their blood… Mirador-Rio Azul National Park, Guatemala. @WCS_Mesoamerica @fundaecoguate @CONAPgt
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Many of you have brought up a very good question- who owns the animals that @/safarisammie posts on her Tiktok? Sammie does not list the name despite many of her 2 million followers asking to visit, volunteer, and donate. And there's a good reason for her to keep it quiet:
I’ve started to see @/safarisammie pop up everywhere so I just want to remind y’all that what she does is extremely unethical and should not be defended or normalized under any circumstances.
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The event had alcohol, so it was 18+. They had an all ages one but that didn’t sound nearly as fun.
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when orb becomes long boi
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Coming soon.
A Washington state woman had to flee her property after 50 to 100 raccoons descended on it and were acting aggressively. The woman told deputies she started feeding a family of raccoons decades ago, but in recent weeks the number showing up went from a handful to dozens.
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I’m ready to start absolute chaos on Nextdoor.
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If it still isn’t sinking in: normalizing wild cat interactions on platforms like Tiktok can lead to real-world tragedies like this. A man intentionally stuck his hand into Eko’s enclosure- to pet or feed him- and Eko was killed. This isn’t ok. Stop trying to make excuses.
A Malayan tiger named Eko was killed at the Naples Zoo in Florida after attacking a man who stuck his arm through an enclosure.
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PLEASE do not buy bat taxidermy. PLEASE tell others not to buy taxidermy. PLEASE call out these sellers and the companies that host them.
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Tweets may be temporary but screenshots are forever.
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I cannot find a single shred of support for this statement. Every ratite expert I spoke to said that they are susceptible. The deaths of 3 out of 4 emus and 2 out of 3 black swans on Knuckle Bump Farms certainly seem to confirm that.
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Why are y’all defending this man? Because looking through his social media, it seems he decided using Peanut as a prop for his viral thirst trap OnlyF*ns ads was worth the risk that Peanut would be seized and euthanized.
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I hope the people who were involved in the sabotage of Flaco’s enclosure and recapture efforts understand this unnecessary pain, suffering, and death was the direct result of their actions.
Today, WCS’s @centralparkzoo released postmortem testing results for Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl. See full report:
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VENGEANCE
Update: the entire flock was just terrorized by a large butterfly.
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These baby button quail are employed as pest control technicians at my new job.
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Your crimes are RECORDED
Tell me why I pulled over in the middle of nowhere for a lunch break and had to watch a GODDAMN BALD EAGLE STEAL THE TINIEST FISH FROM AN OSPREY.
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@enews @LeapOfDanceAca1 @TODAYshow Why not fund his local ballet school so they can continue his, and their other students’, success? Why are we so obsessed with stealing talent from Africa?.
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The white people who got enraged by that picture of a Black man carrying a roadkill goose are the same ones who spend their weekends shooting prairie dogs with AKs and driving through spawning habitat.
INVESTIGATION: Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is investigating an incident after at least two side-by-sides drove through the Big Hole River where brown trout are known to spawn. FWP says they looking into violations. More info:
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Girls be like “I know a spot” and take you here
Girls be like “I know a spot” and take you here
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Controversy first began when owner Taylor Blake posted photos of her and Emmanuel w/o wearing PPE. Due to HPAI's ability to rapidly mutate, PPE is encouraged to prevent bird-to-human infection. However, Blake claimed that Emmanuel "freaks out" when people wear PPE around him.
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Things are bad but at least we have new footage of vampire bats running on treadmills.
New paper out! 🚨 We show that vampire bats use amino acids from a recent blood meal to fuel RUNNING - a rare mode of locomotion in bats ideal for stalking prey. I’d worry less about your neck and more about your ankles! 🧛🏻♂️ @WelchLab_UTSC @RSocPublishing .
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This made national news, with experts weighing in on the risk Blake was taking by not wearing PPE and the poor example it set for her millions of followers, many of whom were learning about HPAI for the first time. But right as discourse was reaching a peak, Blake had good news.
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The way some people can’t even conceive that certain species like coyotes, prairie dogs, and wolves are sentient beings with inherent value is just astounding to me.
A rancher I was helping successfully coexist with a family of coyotes for the past four months decided to shoot them all this morning because he needs the practice for a weekend hunt. This weird disregard for any animal species always leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
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Unpopular opinion: if someone says they shot a threatened/endangered species because they mistook it for another species, they should have their hunting license permanently revoked. If you don’t know what you’re shooting at, you shouldn’t be shooting.
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With millions of people following Emmanuel's story, there is concern that the disregard for PPE, lack of transparency, & absence of supporting data for protocol sets a dangerous model for the public, who may view a clear case of HPAI mismanagement as the industry standard.
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For the full article and credible HPAI resources, click here:
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"It was Nikki Fried's job to direct her staff to do everything they could to ensure poultry and emu (ratite) farmers knew of the threat" she says, pointing out how Blake's failure to separate her flock from a pond used by wild birds indicates a failure of public FDACS education.
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However, a serology test conducted by the USDA came back on Oct 27 as positive for recent HPAI infection. Rapid tests look for active infection. On the 17th, Emmanuel was no longer actively infected. But at some point in the recent past, he had been.
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The precedent that has been set by the FDACS & USDA's handling of this outbreak, specifically the severe lack of confidence it has inspired in local farmers & avian owners, is dangerous. "I am furious that she didn't do more", one Florida emu farmer says of Fried.
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Vampire bats are even adorable up close!.
Hairy-legged vampire bat .📸 Jose G. Martinez-Fonseca
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So why was he, a symptomatic bird on a farm with an HPAI outbreak, not included in the state's cull? It turns out the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) exempts ratites, black swans, and exotic pet birds from euthanasia because they are "lower risk".
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The answer is quite simple. People are most at risk of contracting COVID from another person, not an infected animal. People are most at risk of contracting HPAI from an infected bird. And each time an HPAI infection occurs, the risk that the virus will mutate increases.
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The FDACS and USDA owe the public an explanation. Reach out to @NikkiFried , @USDA_APHIS , and @FDACS. Ask them to support their decisions and policies with credible research, disclose other examples where HPAI has been handled appropriately, & how they're educating the public.
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🚩 bats do not die after mating. The oldest bat on record was 41 years old. Kuhl’s pipistrelles, the first species listed on this store, averages a lifespan of 8 years or longer.
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@redditships I really hope this is a troll post because if not this woman needs to take some serious safety protocols.
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Flaco’s premature death was an inevitability as soon as his enclosure was vandalized. The people who sabotaged recapture efforts, instead of investing resources to help his recapture & improve his habitat, further guaranteed it. This wasn’t freedom. This was human failure.
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We don’t need new domesticated species, we don’t even care for the domesticated species we have now.
How do you think animals became "domesticated" in the first place, Karen?.
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@TheSharkPunch There was alcohol offered to 21+. Also it got a little more into the science than the all ages one did. 10/10 worth the $150 for the fake.
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Given the American crocodile is considered Critically Endangered in Belize, understanding how to improve population numbers is essential for their survival. Part of that research is collecting nest data, and data on hatchlings.
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@DennisKPIX As a former EMT, these medics fucked up. She should have been seated, actively attended to, and prioritized due to her age/age of attacker/serious orbital swelling. No one tries to communicate with her or calm her. Racism is rampant in the medical field. Example A:.
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A lot of wild animal “attacks” are initiated by off-leash dogs. Keep your dogs on leash and under your control in wild spaces.
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