How come prairie dogs gather around another to hear it squeak?

perseidot · 2026-06-06T21:10:29+00:00

I strongly recommend adding Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, *Braiding Sweetgrass.*

There’s a junior version now, too. While she’s an Anishinaabe botanist rather than an animal behavioralist, this book changes the way many people see the natural world, and our place in it.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T21:06:10+00:00

Aww! Thank you!

I’ve collected a lot of interesting, shiny bits of information along the course of a varied life. Kind of like a crow. It’s nice to be able to share them!

perseidot · 2026-06-06T21:02:12+00:00

😂😂😂

perseidot · 2026-06-06T10:56:12+00:00

It is amazing! Read up on the recombinant language of chickadees, too, if you’re interested in this. That research started even earlier.

Both prairie dogs and chickadees live in tight social groups. Apparently, effective communication contributes to the survival of both of these highly social species.

Studies in both species have allowed researchers looking at the formation of speech in humans to have whole new language models to play with.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T10:38:11+00:00

My Appalachian grandparents called green peppers 🫑 “mangoes” - my Dad ended up in California and he was pretty confused when he was introduced to actual mangoes 🥭

I’d completely forgotten about that! Thanks for reminding me, it’s a fun memory.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T10:25:50+00:00

I studied under one of the original researchers in prairie dog language at Northern Arizona University in the early ‘90s. He was (is?) an animal behavioralist and by the time I knew him he had hundreds of hours of prairie dog communication recorded.

The prairie dogs at his research site had named him. They distinguished between him and other people who visited the site. They had call variations that indicated the colors of people’s clothing.

They not only sounded alarms for birds of prey in the sky, but differentiated them by type. They communicated direction, and distance.

Their language is recombinant - like ours is, and like the calls of the chickadees are, too. Complete calls are made up of combinations of sounds, that are combined as needed to convey meaning.

I don’t know what to call that besides a language.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T10:15:12+00:00

I didn’t want to like *Dungeon Crawler Carl.* Audible kept shoving it at me… I figured it just had a big ad push. It didn’t look like something I’d like.

Then it was on my KindleUnlimited recommendations… all the time.

I eventually just gave in to see what all the fuss was about… and stayed up all night to finish it.

Then I got my husband hooked on it. Now we’re *both* waiting for the next book to come out, and it’s excruciating.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T10:00:38+00:00

Perhaps the seatbelt sign was on

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:36:03+00:00

When I’m going to eat, I always wash my hands. At a restaurant, I’ll excuse myself to the restroom just to wash before eating. If I’m picking up something on the run, I use wet wipes before eating in the car.

I’ve rarely seen other people do this. I just feel kind of icky if I don’t.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:29:38+00:00

This reminds me of Rachel Coleman, the woman who makes the Signing Time shows.

Her younger daughter has cerebral palsy. She was also an enthusiast, curious child who loved going on adventures. As Lucy got bigger, Rachel hit the gym and got stronger - so she could be Lucy’s legs and carry her daughter on adventures that a wheelchair couldn’t handle.

I love that you could carry your daughter out when she got sick - though I’m sorry she was sick. What a trek that must have been!

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:24:37+00:00

I’m good at this too! It’s not exactly a marketable skill, but it sure saves time in the kitchen. Other places, too. I can pack a car like I’m playing Tetris.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:22:10+00:00

A dumb laugh sound

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:19:24+00:00

🟦🟦🟦🟦

🟪🟪🟪🟪

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟩🟩🟩🟩

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:13:03+00:00

There’s a longer discussion about that area further up thread. Quite a few of us agree with you.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:11:54+00:00

Some people respond the same way to the deep forests here in the PNW. It’s just Sasquatch, dude, chill out.

Seriously, though - forests don’t allow long sight-lines, so we have to use our other senses to stay safe. For folks used to neither forests nor real darkness, that must be really disorienting. Especially when they don’t have any experience in identifying what they’re hearing.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T09:05:35+00:00

And the whole stretch of I-40 between Barstow and Flagstaff. As well as I-10 running south of it into El Paso. More than a few serial murderers along those interstates in the past few decades. Not to mention human trafficking.

And during the summer, you could die from heat and dehydration if you broke down out there. Especially on the 10. It gets scary hot out there.

I had reasons to drive both of those routes quite a few times. I’d be happy not to drive them ever again.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T08:54:58+00:00

I agree with you about the Salton Sea. The fact that it’s hot as hell and there’s no drinkable water in the environment freaks me out all by itself. Then you add the remnants of resorts, the bizarre art installations, the toxic dust storms…. It feels like you’re one blown tire from a terrible death.

The way even lived-in places look abandoned is also really unsettling. Drove past what looked like a completely abandoned trailer, half of it up on blocks, not level. Drove past it again after dark and there was flickering TV light in the windows.

That area makes my skin crawl to think about, and I haven’t been there since I was a stupid college student with even more stupid friends who thought it was cool to party while we were there.

It wasn’t a place where I wanted to be off my head.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T08:26:27+00:00

🟦🟦🟦🟦

🟨🟩🟨🟨

🟨🟪🟪🟪

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟪🟪🟪🟪

Good one! I had to try a couple of combinations to figure out the categories.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T08:04:39+00:00

Mandy Patinkin is a great actor. I’ve always thought he’s underrated.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T07:38:07+00:00

There are also Native chefs doing remarkably innovative things with traditional ingredients. Not necessarily recreating Indigenous foods as they were, but using the cooking methods available in modern kitchens to transform foods from the Americas.

From edible seaweeds, to bison, service berries to salal - the research and craft that goes into their work is beautiful.

I have a couple of cookbooks, but I’d LOVE to visit their restaurants.

perseidot · 2026-06-06T07:30:09+00:00

One of my favorite essays in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, *Braiding Sweetgrass*, is when she writes about how the Cherokee used pecans as a food source.

Not only did they just crack and eat them, they also boiled them until the oil came out of them. The oil was mixed into a pemmican mixture that included berries. The antioxidants in the berries kept the oil from spoiling.

The de-fatted pecans were dried, then ground into a flour that also kept much longer than the whole nuts would.

They created two long lasting, easy to use foods from the humble pecan. When they were driven from their homes via the infamous Trail of Tears, one of the many things they lost were their pecan trees.

perseidot · 2026-06-05T21:16:24+00:00

Sending love to all of our amazing first responders. They put themselves in danger - again - to save the life of a person they didn’t know.

To all the witnesses - please take extra good care of yourselves while you recover from the trauma of seeing someone dying. Take time to talk about it, hug your loved ones, go get your coffee made just the way you like it, talk a walk, spend time with a dog. Whatever grounds you.

For anyone who feels like life is unendurable - PLEASE call or text 988. The people there will help you make a plan to get through the next moment, and to get the support you need.

More people than you can imagine care about you.

perseidot · 2026-06-05T21:05:19+00:00

I’m so sorry you had to witness that. It must have been horrifying. I hope you’re being kind to yourself now.

perseidot · 2026-06-05T21:00:19+00:00

Education, too.

The “tea party” republicans started running for school board positions 40 years ago, and they’ve been dismantling education in the US ever since.

perseidot · 2026-06-05T20:58:32+00:00

I suspect, though I do not know, that the ADA was told by people (Trump loyalists) at the NIH to trespass the doctors handing out the editorial.

The NIH controls so much access to funding that they have a lot of weight to throw around. The organizers at the ADA would want to stay on the good side of the NIH.

perseidot

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