It’s hard to imagine not being mildly thrilled at the idea of some wild-looking nudibranches washing up on the shores of the U.S., but the news isn’t all neon colors and new waving tentacles: these new arrivals are survivors of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, and they arrive as castaways. The nudibranches, sea slugs, and other creatures survived the tsunami’s wreckage by floating on plastic rafts over many thousands of miles and several generations, and they have no natural predators in their new homes.
I always think it’s a bit odd when scientists discover that animals have personality — something that most people who spend time around animals can tell you right off the bat. But, I suppose what they really mean is that scientists are quantifying personality, which is a bit different.
This article discusses a new study on guppies (yes, the small and admittedly rather silly-looking fish) and how much personality they have. It’s a lot, apparently, at least in regards to risk taking. Some fish would clearly be out riding motorcycles if they could, while others wish they had been given the opposable thumbs necessary to start a knitting club. It’s neat reading about the ways in which scientists are developing personality tests for animals, even if it’s been clear for a long time that yes, your cats Chocolate and Marshmallow really are completely different in every way possible.
Where the Animals Go
The quotation I posted one post back is from the book, Where the Animals Go, with which I’m currently obsessed. In Where the Animals Go, the two authors take a look at the movements of groups of animals, letting the animals themselves map areas and giving us insight into how they see their world.
Bullfrogs_2017_09 from Blue Mot Mot on Vimeo.
Bullfrogs Near Dawn in the Tregaron Conservancy
Have you wondered what bullfrogs at dawn sound like? Definitely not like coyotes, I can tell you that (see previous post for reference), but still pretty great. Save yourself some sleep and get a listen here.
Coyote Wild
Earlier this month, I found myself obsessed with this article on coyotes living in DC. I recently acquired a “camtraptions” camera trap photography gizmo to be able to (hopefully) capture animals remotely, as if I were a real scientist or National Geographic photographer (I am neither). I had planned to use the camtraption on something like raccoons or bats — maybe even a beaver if I got really lucky — but I never imagined I could potentially capture megafauna like coyotes in DC.
NYTimes reports potentially exciting news this week. Someone has made a recording of what may be a Java Tiger, long thought to be extinct, on Java island in Indonesia. (The recording could also show a Java leopard, which is very rare, but not thought to be extinct.) It’s very exiting, but also a little terrifying: even as I read the article, I felt I could hear the sharpening of poachers’ knives. I trust I’m being too grim.
The Bird That Isn’t the Blue Mot Mot
What’s a blue mot mot? I wish I could say it’s a bird, but it’s not: it’s my *mishearing* of a bird’s name from a guide who was trying to tell me about these phenomenally gorgeous — and, according to the guide, also phenomenally stupid — birds. “Look!” he said. “They don’t even know to fly away from the tourists!”