Attempting the William Tell shot!

Please note: this is a stunt performed by a professional with a lot of safety precautions! Do not attempt!

To see some of the behind the scenes, or support my videos in general, please check out Patreon

So from what I understand, as remembered from nature programs and the zookeeper lecture, is that Old Bulls reduce the violence i young bulls by putting them through Elephant Finishing School.

This is better documented in African Elephants than asian ones because they're easier for elephant biologists to observe by the means of 'sitting on top of a jeep and taking notes' but the general scope goes like this:

Elephant herds are largely matriarichal as both a means of protection- elephants have a long childhood and it's easier to protect calves in a group, AND as a socio-political means of sexual choice.

An African elephant is pregnant for nearly two years, then she spends at least 3-5 years with that calf completely dependent on her, so she only gets a few opportunities to have babies before she hits menopause, and it's a lot of damn work so she is naturally EXTREMELY picky about who she mates with. And if she's younger, her mom, sisters and grandmothers will also be real picky about who she mates with and WHEN too- can't go around risking a teenage pregnancy, especially not with asubstandard male. Elephants also have a pretty clear idea of what they want out of a Male too: they have a marked preference for Large, Old, Socially Adept Males. Large males are HEALTHY males with all thier bones in place and functioning digestive tracts. OLD males are healthy, have good intelligence to stay alive, and have good teeth. Socally Adept Males can make friends, get along with her whole family, won't engage in dangerous behaviors like trying to kill her calves or grandmothers. It's a good system that produces robust, intelligent and helpful calves.

This means however, that most female elephants are into Dilfs, or even Gilfs. Which is extremely frustrating when you are a horny teenage boy elephant, so they go a bit nuts with hormones and social isolation and get involved in teenage elephant gangs and do things like murder rhinos out of sexual and social frustration.

BUT! If there are Large, Old, Socially Adept males about, they like being parents too, but are largely pushed out of the role by the matriarichal herds and their strict group politics that exist to prevent unsuitable mating. So They turn thier attention to these violent orphans and like your beloved Batman go "I'm gonna parent the shit outta that."

They mostly do this by herding the Lads around, pointedly demonstrating Behaviors like "How to dig for roots so you don't starve" or "How to knock over a tree" or "Greeting a Matriach Properly so she doesn't sic her descendants on you", and disciplinary behaviors like "Jabbing naughty Lads in the ass with a tusk" and "Hitting you in the face with a branch until you STOP THAT" . This is WILDLY beneficial for the young males under thier tutelage, who are less likely to die of accidents, and start mating earlier because they've had a Suitable Gentleman make introductions for them, like they are fancy men at a regency-era ball being intoduced to the debutantes.

Imagine some Fine and Respectable DILF wandering around adopting teenage delinquents and spraying them in the face with a windex bottle full of vinegar until they learn how to be proper upstanding gentlemen and you're getting close.

So you're telling me that Elephants have Schools for Wayward Boys and their journey into Gentleman?

Kel: You called Joren "gay" as if it were an insult.

Neal: Well, yes.

Kel: It's not an insult.

Neal: Well no- but to HIM it is, what with him being a raging homophobe. So.

Kel: What is a "homophobe"?

Neal:

Kel: Neal?

Neal: Shhh... I need to gather my inner strength.... And take a moment to vicariously live through you in a world where I, also, do not know the meaning of that word.

This little scene in the book was a delight, and it taught me a line that I used later to surprisingly great effect. To boot, I work in a roadside diner. Back before the world caught on fire, I was the afternoon cook (Health doesn't allow it anymore.) I had this young ox of a gentleman working as my dishie, and I do mean ox. He was sixteen? Maybe seventeen? Had a foot on me, so close to the six mark, and probably coulda picked up a calf on each shoulder. On this day we're moderately busy, nothing terrible. But this other asshat, little older than him, built more in style with the locals, whippy and stocky, who works a different shift, was there enjoying his food. Asshat likes nothing better to make trouble and throw attitude around because he's male (I'm not exaggerating, he was often demanding extra treatment because he was a man surrounded by women). He comes into my kitchen, and I immediately whip around and tell him "NO. Get out." It's my kitchen, it's my call, but he still tries to give me attitude that he works. Eventually he realizes that the local Bostonian is not in the mood for his crap and sulks off. I think nothing of it. Until my dishie comes barreling into the kitchen, fuming, and goes to disappear into his safe place, the dish room. So I follow him and he all but explodes that this jackass is out there talking crap about me and the two of them nearly got into an argument in the dining room over it. I'm touched. Little flattered, not gonna lie. I'm three times his age, but hey, I'm not gonna complain when a gentleman throws his coat down on the puddle for me unprompted. I'm also terribly proud of him that instead of picking a fight, he walked away. And I tell him that. And then I tell him, "When you hear farting, you know there's an asshole nearby." And he started laughing so hard. Bad mood gone. Fighting instincts gone. He's just grinning to himself the rest of the evening. I am thrilled and titillated to think of how the Asshat gnashed his teeth to see my dishie didn't. even. care.

Night Wings Turning the day into the night, the sun into the moon This print and more are %15 off on my website with code SPRING25

Snufkin doing whatever the fuck he does during the winter

It's so, SO important to share success stories like this. I know an actual JPL engineer who doesn't believe in climate change because, "you never hear about acid rain anymore."

He thinks climate change can be lumped in with acid rain and the ozone layer of "things that were overblown and not really important because no one talks about it anymore."

It didn't even occur to him that we actively fixed the problem. Here's the EPA page on acid rainfall.

From the page:

It's also important to talk about success stories tonfuel hope that we can overcome current and future conservation and environmental issues.

Lawrence: Trump’s ‘biggest tax increase in history’ makes Republicans admit ‘tariffs are taxes’

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains how four Senate Republicans said “loud and clear” with their vote to undo Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada that “tariffs are taxes” on the same day Trump levied the “biggest tax increase in history” with his “cowardly supporters in Congress” who vowed to never raise taxes on Americans.

This user supports AO3

This user is anti-censorship

This user believes in “don’t like, don’t read”

This user believes in “ship and let ship”

This user believes that fiction tastes and preferences do not dictate moral character

Bernie Sanders | It has now been 30 days with NO humanitarian aid getting into Gaza.

No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel.

That is barbaric. The U.S. must end our complicity in these atrocities.

Huacachina, a desert oasis and tiny village surrounded by rolling sand dunes in Ica, Peru - Author: PrudenceRavishing

When you get on the wrong flight

I am back again with a Hatz. Love these things

A dragon who decides to hoard mint and various types of mint plants (and not knowing that mint has the mushroom’s blessing of inevitability were ever its planted) can go one of two ways.

1: The dragon is absolutely horrified as the mint engulfs and takes over its den. Its gold? Mint. Its gems and goblets? Mint. Its stores of wine? Mint. No matter what they do they can’t get rid of it.

2: The dragon is delightfully ecstatic as the mint engulfs and takes over its den. It’s a self growing hoard. No matter what any adventurers or knights do, they can’t get rid of it.

✨✨✨ ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ ✨✨✨

DRAGONS LOCATED

hi y’all i just wanted to put you onto this fundraiser for the buffalo nations grasslands alliance. they’re trying to recoup some of the funds for black-footed ferret conservation on tribal grounds that the trump/musk administration has frozen, which is impacting not only the conservation efforts themselves but the livelihoods of the people working on them. the frozen grant is 1.1 million but this fundraiser has a goal of 50,000.

the fundraiser has 24 days left and has only reached 2% of its goal with 11 donations. black-footed ferrets are an endangered lazarus taxon that was thought to be extinct from 1979-1981 before being rediscovered by accident. they’re a miracle of conservation and it would be horrible to lose them for good, not to mention (again) the impact of people working with these animals losing their jobs which is outlined in the fundraiser link. indigenous-led conservation efforts are extremely important for a wide variety of reasons and as someone in the zoology area i feel obligated to share this fundraiser to contribute to those efforts.

i know that things are hard right now and there’s a lot of people and organizations all across the world that need help, so don’t feel pressured BUT if you have extra money and you can contribute to this fundraiser or share it with people who can that would be great.

super cute black-footed ferrets ^

Boosting this here- black footed ferrets are perhaps a little more charismatic than we usually allow here, but they need all the help they can get!

WASHINGTON (AP) — A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one – shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains.

A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%.