Colorful and hopefully optimistic but maybe hateful occasionally

[bellbird]

Request from ye ol' bellbird:

Please hold Nudge for me. I don't know if snakes like pats, but if they do, please give him pats.
Please tell Dove-o that she is beautiful-o.
Please give Noofer some pats from me, and some back scratches if she likes those.
And please tell yourself that you are beautiful and strong and brave and deserve many many good things.

 

[littleoc]

I will do so!!!

But only if you tell yourself that you’re a pure, beautiful person! And give Tweeter a scritch for me!

???

Nudge prefers rubs! He’s a little ticklish (maybe, I can’t ask him but he does recoil) but likes being petted with a finger down his spine! Which is a great way to do the weekly weight check (because I’m always afraid that I’m overfeeding or underfeeding him, lol)

 

[bellbird]

Deal :hug:

He’s a little ticklish (maybe, I can’t ask him but he does recoil) but likes being petted with a finger down his spine!

So sweet. Reptiles are great.

 

[littleoc]

They arrrre. He’s gotten way more comfortable with being held lately. My mom wasn’t holding him when she cared for him for me while I went back to university (she doesn’t quite have the confidence one needs to pick up and hold a snake — that takes therapy ;P or being raised around snakes I guess) but now he’s all good!

The breeder who gave him to me didn’t really care about him at all. He was a bit offended that I chose Nudge, actually. Lol. I’ll probably tell you that story later when I’m less tired

 

[TTC18]

I've never held a snake... but love lizards. Which is close, right? ?

 

[littleoc]

Nah, totally separate lineages, totally different behavior! Lol

But still reptiles!!!!

Snakes are so much different to hold than a lizard. But, I think if you’re comfortable with holding lizards you could hold a snake no problem :D

 

[bellbird]

We have a really cool endemic reptile called the Tuatara. Apparently it was around (as Tuatara) when the dinosaurs were on Earth.

 

[ILoveLife]

Tuatara

They do look like tiny dinossaurs :)

 

[littleoc]

Tuatara

Yassss, I love these dudes!!! They have a distinct ancient lineage that sets them apart from all other lizards!! And they're cute :D

Amphibians are older than dinosaurs, as are mosses and ferns. Both groups (as in, amphibian and plants) had huge golden eras where they were bigger or as big as dinosaurs and filled similar ecological niches. All I've ever wanted to see what a giant house sized salamander thing that moves its back feet like a fish, lol. I bet those guys were so clumsy. Fern trees and giant amphibians probably went extinct at the same time do to climate change? Don't quote it, it just makes sense because the ferns all died when they wouldn't reproduce because the Earth dried up a lot.

</nerd>

Giant dragonflies are a great thing to be extinct. They have the highest successful kill rate of any known animal on Earth! They're smarter than they look -- but they still have bug brains.

Slime molds can solve mazes without having a brain at all though so it depends on your definition of intelligent. :P (Slime molds are smarter than our current present, don't get me wrong. They successfully map out subway stations even in lab settings without any problem. I'm not sure if our president remembers where the bathroom is.)

 

[TTC18]

Slime molds can solve mazes without having a brain at all though so it depends on your definition of intelligent

My kiddo is fascinated by slime molds. They're really really cool. I've been the recipient of many slime-mold factoid lectures. I may have forgotten everything I've heard, but I remember that they're cool.

 

[littleoc]

@bellbird Specifically for you, two things:

(1) I realized last night that the last time I successfully ran was in like 2016 which is farther away than I thought, so maybe my lungs do need some re-training!

I had busted both my kneecaps and Nestle had to flag down help, so running was out of the question for like a year lol

That's why my new year's resolution for 2018 was to try really hard to not have any kind of crazy accident for once. I'm like in my 20s, it shouldn't even be an issue lol

(2) Do you hang out on YouTube at all? There's a channel by a New Zealander that's called "Hello Future Me" -- he gives writing advise but also loves to do theories/hypotheses/analyses of movies and shows, but he did one the other day-ish where he talks about the might of the New Zealand navy and I loved it

....You know, I'm not sure if I'd forgive my friend if they just invaded a foreign country. Depends on if it's Australia. They deserve to be invaded. By our mighty New Zealand Navy! Currently comprised of just six sheep and a boat and a piece of driftwood

(From this video at 12:08:
YouTube watch?v=wA4QvJISA54&t=14s
)

I may have forgotten everything I've heard, but I remember that they're cool.

Hahahahaha I've heard that sentence from my mom like ten times a week so far!

Slime molds are cool!

Fun fact: They're protists, not fungi! They move completely differently from any fungus out there :D

 

[littleoc]

Link Removed watch?v=wA4QvJISA54&t=14s

(I broke the link on purpose. If you want it fixed let me know :p)

(You can fix it yourself by going to the YouTube site and adding the "watch"tail to the end of the url)