I saved an orb weaver spider last week by shooing it out the window, whose frame it had mistakenly taken up residence in while the A/C unit was there for the summer. Since then it's rewarded me by spinning webs outside my window, so I feel pretty good about it.

http://ksj.mit.edu/tracker/2014/04/it-okay-say-female-insect-has-%E2%80%9Cpenis%E2%80%9D-se

As usual, Ed Yong pwns. The comments on his article are good too. Scicurious gets to what I think Newitz was trying to say, and ( Read more... )

A squirrel just tried to get in the window. Like literally was digging at the crack between the window and the frame, following the frame all the way around before giving up and dropping down to the roof. I thought for a second it was a cat scratching the stairwell door but then I realized the sound was much closer.

I saw one of these the other day.

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The RI Reds (younger batch of chickens) do everything together.  The Wyandottes and Barred Rocks strike out on their own.  It's funny to watch, b/c where you see one red chicken, you'll always see more.  But you never know when you're going to run across a solitary black and white chicken on her own adventure.  I'm not sure if it's a breed thing or ( Read more... )

The neighbor out my kitchen window is very pregnant. I'm not good at guesstimating these things, but I think "very" gets the point across. The past week or so, their dog has been barking like a maniac at everything. Do dogs get protective concerning human reproduction? I can't help but think she recognizes the vulnerability or something and is ( Read more... )

You would think this might be annoying since it goes on all day, but actually it's engrossing. It's much less interesting on tape than it is live, imo, but in case anyone likes songbirds, here's some action from my porch.

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ETA: There's some hot action today. A whole flock of sparrows, some type of unidentified finch,. and so much commotion ( Read more... )

The lady wren is checking out the nestbox, and the potential mister is so nervous. They're courting, though. And possibly having bird sex later today.

One of the wrens is trying to get a twig into the birdhouse that is literally too big for it. It keeps trying to fly up and angle its head to get the end through the hole in the nest box so it can get close enough to perch and shove the rest in. The stick is about three times as long as its body. And heavy. So heavy, it must have been tired ( Read more... )