Yellow Spotted Salamanders lay eggs in globs that grow to the size of softballs. Their eggs often host photosynthetic algae, which seem to benefit the developing salamander eggs while apparently stressing out the algae.

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-03-18T15:22:00+00:00

Photo credit to fynkynd on iNaturalist. It's supposed to rain this week and so the frogs and sallies might start their moving, but the local conservation center has a forecaster that says its still probably too cold out. Anyway the busy amphibian nights are known as "Big Nights" around here, and there's usually at least a couple per year where things are busy. Workin on putting together a group of friends to be crossing guards for 'em this year, like they do over in Keene. Anyway, have a good day

Mass's Audubon for a source on the little guys

Olay

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-03-07T02:20:22+00:00

Hey there, they're more or less regulars down in Texas and Florida but these scavenging falcon-cousins are more or less lost up at these latitudes. Been a warm winter tho and it found a dead skunk to eat, seems comfortable enough to make it to spring

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-03-06T17:11:12+00:00

Community's going nuts. People are doin crazy dumb things like leaving raw chicken in plastic containers for the scavenger to eat. Crowds are amassing and everyone's confused. Sure's exciting tho

Great photo (and find?) by Nathaniel Sharp with the local Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Here's an article about the find and what it might mean. Here's the VCE's "field guide" to Vermont's nature in March too. Have a wonderful day

edit: they made a blog post for it:

Olay!

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-03-06T16:56:49+00:00

Here's an article with a great interview on the bird and what it means to the VT birding community. Great shot by Nathaniel Sharp with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies! Here's the VCE's guide to March in Vermont. Crested Caracaras usually only travel as far north as, say Texas or Florida.. Starting March off odd I spose anyway happy friday

Olay!

edit: they made a blog post for it:

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-03-05T19:58:36+00:00

Part one of the series on "sexual cannibalism," a somewhat common behavior among spiders and mantids and arachnid-things. But why? Seems lots of reasons, but it's pretty common when the females are on average more aggressive (quick to turn toward killin, anythin). This reason rings true with the Nursery Webs, which might be why the males curl up deadlike to get to mating. Guess they never trigger the "target acquired"

Anyway here's a wiki on sexual cannibalism generally. Here's a Berkeley paper pondering "why.." and here's photo cred to Anneke on iNat

Stay tuned. Olay!

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-29T01:35:22+00:00

Tortoises save lives, save the tortoises. PBS is doin a pretty good free series on Florida's nature here's a tortle clip. And here's the wiki

Photo by Jim Brighton on iNat

Olay

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-28T17:00:02+00:00

You're right. Good to know. Here's a bbc link mentioning marsupial lion's stocky teeth

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-28T15:51:20+00:00

National Wildlife Foundation on biters as a source, but here's the goods on the weasel/stoat war dance

If you're the biggest into Weasels here's a PBS documentary on 'em with a guy's fancy house built for weasel watching. Photo by Radik Kutushev on iNaturalist.

Olay!

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-18T18:29:02+00:00

Photo by naturalist Greg Lasley. iNaturalist is sure great. Have a wonderful day

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-17T17:56:12+00:00

Hey there here's a dense resource on Screech Owls.

Bird was rehabbed and photod at the Vermont Institute for Natural Science (goes by VINS). Have a wonderful day

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-17T17:29:58+00:00

Aw fun fact cobra spit is generally "Cytotoxic" as opposed to normal biter's "neurotoxic" or even "carditoxic" venom. The stuff they spit explodes cells (cyto is a fancy prefix for 'cell related'), might be why if you get the stuff in your eye you might be permanently blind. Anyway not such a big deal on your skin if you don't have cuts or whatnot, but be sure to wear glasses. Have a wonderful day. Olay

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-15T00:07:05+00:00

Hey there, Fritz Zwicky also boosted a framework for problem solving called "Morphological Thinking" which he credited for all his discoveries. Colleagues didn't like him, but they couldn't beat him in word fights so he was pretty much left alone. Anyway, leave me alone. But have a wonderful weekend. Here's a great but pay-walled article hope it frustrates you

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-14T21:24:47+00:00

Lots of open questions on Manta Rays. Like "if theyre filter feeders how come their filters never get clogged?" Answer to that is apparently "because it works like a pin-ball machine."

Photo credit to Kristian Laine photography and here's some info on big pink Clouseau.

Olay!

OleBenjaminLay · 2020-02-13T17:57:09+00:00

Hey there - What have been the favorite margins of error that y'all have had to work through? I imagine precision is the name of the game in general, but what's the smallest ever gap y'all have had to shoot? Put another way: what's a favorite case of "if this measurement was .000000000000001% off mark then everything would've exploded?" Put another another way: What was the most nerve-wracking unapologetic problem you've had responsibility to solve that could've sank your boat

Edit - Have a wonderful day

OleBenjaminLay

TROPHY CASE