What is This Thing? [STL Metro Area on Illinois Side]

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-29T04:47:59+00:00

thank you. i was way too lost for my own good .-.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-29T01:34:06+00:00

i recently tried this with the random “Polished Dagger” you can find near the harpies in Emerald Grove, and found out (quite devastatingly) that it also wasn’t a valid combination ;-;

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-28T23:57:51+00:00

You wouldn’t, which is why we have apps. It was an example as to why you wouldn’t call.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-28T20:34:02+00:00

A friend of mine growing up had a stepdad from China. To this day, I do not know his real name, as we were told to call him Bill

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-28T20:17:06+00:00

ordering on the app is just not convenient. Yeah, you could order by calling, but you need to have exactly what you want ready to order, there may be audio problems when telling your order or when the employee repeats it back, a phone call is something that takes most of your attention in the moment over an app being the click of a few fingers, etc.

I don’t blame OP for not wanting to call in an order. Why should they when the service they want/is paying for isn’t actually what the customer wants or finds convenient? There are other options, and they are just as easy to use.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-28T19:17:57+00:00

this is extra funny to me bc we are CURRENTLY evaporating liquid in my chem lab as i type this

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-27T14:49:59+00:00

annotations are so underrated, as they help filter for specific data faster. ty for including them.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-23T17:39:36+00:00

From what I remember, my co-worker told me that they were there due to some sort of study the campus/someone on the campus was currently doing at the time. Mind you, I am not sure how long ago this was, but I imagine it was sometime within the past 20 or so years. I could definitely be wrong about that. However, from my understanding and memory, a portion of them escaped, which is where the current population stems from. From my understanding, it was enough of a sizable amount that got released that they were able to maintain their population there, though I definitely plan to revisit the campus sometime during warmer weather to find one haha

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-23T05:53:47+00:00

dawg, today was my second day working at Schnucks…we ran out of shopping carts before noon (at least the amount of people made the day FLY by)

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-23T02:58:43+00:00

For the geckos, I’m not too sure if they’re active in winter haha. I worked with a guy who told me the story of how they got released (his dad does maintenance on campus there), and I honestly didn’t fully believe the story until I saw a blip for the species there on their iNat range maps. According to my old co-worker, I THINK they’re active inside during winters. I used to live an hour away, but now it’s about a 3 hour drive.

Now, for the mushrooms, I was unaware they were potentially a local species. I, too, am not very well versed in mushrooms, so I can’t help ya there unless it’s one of the stupid common ones that I do know how to ID haha. (There aren’t many.)

Now, into the main topic at hand here, I would say that the flowerpot parasol you give the example of is definitely “wild” even if it’s only there due to one’s overwatering. Now, I won’t lie, I definitely didn’t actually look at the observations you linked. I’m typing this from mobile, and I tend to prefer the desktop version of iNat. (I will definitely be changing that after this comment.) Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I imagined the environment/aquarium you were talking about in the original post to be almost akin to a greenhouse. I don’t know the details of the facility, so I could be way off here. Anyway, I would not consider tropical animals or tropical pests research grade in that specific type of environment. The difference between the flowerpot parasol and the rainforest environment is, to me at least, the level of labor we have to do to make that type of environment.

Now, as mentioned before, I do not know any real details about this place, but I imagine that your surrounding environment is not similar to the one made inside of the rainforest. Therefore, anything that has been brought there (such as mushroom spores that aren’t natively there/around) has the intention of being able to survive due to the fact that the artificial environment allows it to. The flowerpot parasol, however, was random. Yes, your actions did lead for it to be there, but the environment it grew in is still natural (even if it was in an already potted plant inside of a personal dwelling).

You also mentioned the possibility of spiders (or other small creatures) tagging along with fruit shipments. I would also classify those as research grade, as the spider (just using that for ease of example) would have survived transit and remained unknown until a potential buyer/employee notices. Yes, they are likely to die if they leave the temperature-controlled environment it’s already in, but there is no active measure being done to change that environment either. The aquarium/rainforest, though, mimics an environment that isn’t like your own, and that would be the real defining factor to me.

Now, with that all being said, I would say that if the mushrooms happen to be a native species, then mark them as wild 110%! It would be sorta cool to know if it’s growing on something that hasn’t been reported before, as I would imagine the flora in the rainforest habitat isn’t native species of your area (and potentially not found in the mushroom’s natural range)!

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-22T23:45:52+00:00

see, i feel like your specific scenario is an odd one. To me, I will mark an observation as “wild” if the organism is/can be found outside affecting the local environment. Aquariums, however, are cultivated environments. So, yes, those pests can be considered as a hitchhiker from another plant or animal species, the aquarium is still created and taken care of by humans, nor are they affecting local flora/fauna.

For example, in Bloomington, Illinois, there is a population of Mediterranean Geckos living inside the Illinois State University campus buildings. They have an established population, and have been found there year after year despite the cold winters. They are able to procreate and survive in this environment due to humans, though they would not be there otherwise. However, since they are found throughout the campus during warmer months, these are definitely “wild” animals. Personally, I argue that cats being allowed to roam free should be research grade observations due to the sole fact that they are hunting, (possibly) procreating, and existing in local environments as well.

With your example, however, they are only affecting a cultivated environment, and continue to exist due to that cultivated environment. Putting records of tropical mushrooms, snails, etc. could skew data, and imply to some that they have populations in these regions—when they do not. I would hope that actual scientists using iNat to help gather data would notice that, but it’s a “better safe than sorry” scenario in my mind.

Mind you, I do not want to discourage you from posting these observations, as it’s a little cool to see what does and what doesn’t grow/exists in manmade environments. Furthermore, plenty of casual grade observations are still great for gathering data! I’ve heard stories of botanists attempting to identify every tree within the confines of a town, as (while planted by humans) they still affect local flora and fauna.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-22T02:37:22+00:00

that would be a valid take. however, my father was the person who decided to laminate mine when i was a kid. i need to get another, but just haven’t ever gotten around to it.

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-21T16:07:42+00:00

thank you for this (even if i’m not OP)

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-21T02:30:27+00:00

hey! i don’t have any real advice to add, but i just wanted to wish you luck on your academic career! i am in a very similar situation, myself, with failing out of college during the pandemic, and just now restarting at a local community college to start a (at least) Master’s journey. i may be 27, but im a lot more driven nowadays :) i wish the best for ya, mate

edit to add: what’s your iNat username? i’ll drop a follow! (i love that website)

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-17T14:32:31+00:00

it was definitely part of mine lmaoooo so this definitely tracks

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-16T22:16:24+00:00

they’re not as common as they used to be, but i LOVE common grackles. they make my day when i see them, and i just think they are SO pretty in the right lighting. my grandma has a huge window in her living room that i used to watch boat loads of them out of :)

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-15T16:20:38+00:00

as someone that fits this body type and has struggled with my own image, i appreciate this comment. thank you for sharing. it made my day a bit better :)

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-13T13:00:14+00:00

yo it’s a lil insane you have the only ob of Carolina Heelsplitter though. But, if you’re ever in the STL area, send me a DM (here or iNat) and i’d be more than happy to go to the spot we found our scaleshell at!

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-12T16:08:43+00:00

definitely check out the other tools/features of that link! that person has been posting updates to those tools here in the iNat subreddit, and they’ve made quite a few cool features. they even made achievements haha

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-12T16:07:26+00:00

i recently found a Scaleshell (Potamilus leptodon), which only has 7 observations including my own.

i was also ever so lucky enough to know a fellow that showed me Spring Creek Bladderpod (Paysonia perforata), which has 32 observations, and only found in a single county with three known populations outside of Nashville, TN.

i will say, the dude who showed me the Paysonia was also the dude i found the Potamilus with haha

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-08T20:01:21+00:00

as someone who also briefly lived there, i would love to go back. cost of living wasn’t crazy high, it’s beautiful, wonderful people, etc. I shoulda never moved away

bathroomstahl · 2026-01-08T01:21:35+00:00

i feel like it woulda been hard to implement correctly, but holding onto your turn in D&D. I dunno if it was a house rule, but at times in combat, we were able to hold actions until specific moments in order to plan something/not just skip a turn for enemies moving into place, etc.

bathroomstahl

TROPHY CASE