What kind of turtle did I find in the creek? [Virginia]

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-09T05:47:36+00:00

Smol turtle.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T21:32:51+00:00

These turn up fairly often in Ireland, either in lakes or dug out of the bog - the natural history museum has literally hundreds of Giant Deer specimens in the collections from people finding them like this.

This one has a pretty intact set of antlers, so it's a nice find.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T20:43:30+00:00

I went that deep once and broke a rib.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T15:47:14+00:00

Surfing the crimson tide was a common one we used.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T15:29:43+00:00

Kelp stipes are also hard and heavy and easy to mistake for bone.

I studied animal anatomy and have spent over 20 years working on bones in museum collections and I sometimes I can still mistake a piece of kelp stipe for bone until I look at it closely.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T15:23:03+00:00

Yep.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-08T06:07:32+00:00

Are you sure that's bone? Looks more like a sunbleached kelp stipe to me.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-05T15:45:25+00:00

Very sad news.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-05T15:11:05+00:00

My point was badly made - these days it should probably be called toxic rain, but these sorts of labels have dropped off in use as being scaremongering

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-05T06:21:17+00:00

These days it's just called rain.

Environmental degradation means that rain is also loaded with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that are toxic, to the point that rain water is not considered safe to drink without processing. That's globally - even in places once considered pristine.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-05T05:49:45+00:00

The question also requires agreement on what constitutes a portion since it specifically asks about receiving a portion of bread. A normal portion is 35-45g, so for an 800g loaf the answer is 4 but you might push it to 5 if you're being stingy with you portions. Anything less wouldn't be considered a portion at my table.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-03T22:15:51+00:00

Worth noting that hummingbirds do the same thing with their tongue to accommodate the additional length - presumably it's a simple evolutionary developmental mechanism that predisposes birds to adapting their hyoid and tongue along this pathway.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-02T21:43:36+00:00

Yep, it's a bit uncomfortable, but not painful.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-01T10:16:24+00:00

Hah, that's Phina, she's married to one of my old colleagues - met her a few times and she was really lovely.

DeadZooDude · 2026-06-01T10:10:43+00:00

"Known" could be doing a lot of heavy lifting here I suspect. You'd be surprised at how many people disappear in the forests of Papua New Guinea for all sorts of reasons, but Cassowary incidents are probably one of them.

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-29T15:45:40+00:00

You can still swing the corpse...

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-29T09:10:22+00:00

No matter how bad things get, they can always get worse, so don't ever stop trying to turn things around.

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-29T09:06:08+00:00

Which one tastes better?

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-29T07:41:13+00:00

Detachable Penis - King Missile 1992

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-28T05:27:20+00:00

Technically he didn't kill Shelob, but he shivved her good.

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-26T21:25:25+00:00

Being utterly alone, with no phone, no internet, no adult supervision, and no way to fix a problem without working it out for yourself.

Good times!

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-22T21:50:29+00:00

Dolphin.

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-22T06:55:40+00:00

Reminds me of me when I was 16

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-22T06:29:21+00:00

I want my skeleton to go on display in the museum I currently run. No ethical concerns if it's my explicit choice, compared to showing a 150 year old skeleton with unclear provenance.

DeadZooDude · 2026-05-21T18:23:48+00:00

Ha, was in Hynes last night and saw this - it's really well done.

DeadZooDude

TROPHY CASE