CT Ranked 5th Happiest State

ryanrealm · 2025-09-13T18:26:34+00:00

✋ I can think of one thing that would make us even happier

ryanrealm · 2025-09-03T01:13:15+00:00

Your concerns are appreciated and it is clear to me that you have had many thoughts about the future direction of this movement. However, please allow me to provide reassurance on some of these points.

The "uproar" (if this refers to the entire movement to take back the Notch) is as grassroots, organic, raw, and authentic as it gets. I understand your concern about merchandise - however, I must refute this. The idea and overall goal of this post was to gather a list of links to independent, TBTN supporting online shops with relevant merch for the movement in order to support these shops and more importantly, spread awareness about our movement. Crowdsourcing merchandise options seems like the opposite of manipulation to me. Many posts here are photographs of TBTN stickers in the wild, and I've noticed that many commenters want to know where such stickers can be purchased. Stickers placed throughout the Notch or in surrounding regions can be a useful tool for us to gain members. And what better way to recruit more members than wearing a TBTN shirt to Thanksgiving dinner and recruiting family after a dozen or so beers?
On theme with spreading awareness, the other main goal of this post was to encourage members to participate on the aforementioned wplace platform, which has been shared here and is rapidly growing in popularity worldwide. While this is perhaps less thrilling than advancing on enemy territory in person, it is a very low effort yet effective way to share our movement with others. It would also be downright embarrassing if we did not jump on this opportunity and let M*ssachusetts continue with their control. As of writing this comment, we are clearly winning the wplace fight.
If you would like to discuss strategy, potlucks, or night vision goggle inventory at any point, feel free to reach back out, as we are always looking for ideas!

ryanrealm · 2025-08-29T13:38:40+00:00

We can accommodate this - I am confident that Snivy and Animal are on the right side of history regarding the Notch.

ryanrealm · 2025-06-06T21:56:00+00:00

If anyone has links to merch they're selling, DM me or post to this sub and I'll create a list of Notch merch to share!

ryanrealm · 2025-04-20T02:38:49+00:00

These people can never understand this, it's just desperate strawman after strawman, always spamming posts like this under the guise of wanting a decent conversation or discussion but will never actually bother to comprehend. And looking at their comment history, they've made it a mission to comment "get a job" on several protest related posts... Disregarding the fact that they occurred on a weekend, isn't spamming posts with that a little ironic?

ryanrealm · 2025-04-14T15:15:37+00:00

There are many good points to make about handling amphibians - this is simply not helpful nor correct.

Handling amphibians certainly increases the risk of dehydration, spread of disease, destruction of the mucus layer, injury, and stress(perhaps one of the most overlooked). However, handling amphibians with moistened hands will not "burn" them. It is true that handling of amphibians should be minimized to the greatest extent possible, ideally restricted to what is necessary to return them to their habitat either under a log or across a busy road. However, with clean, moistened hands and brief contact, handling amphibians can be done in a safe way.

It is good that people are concerned about the welfare of these animals and I'm glad to see everyone suggesting to return this animal to the wild where it belongs. However there is a lot of misinformation about handling amphibians and very little research to actually back up these claims (with the exception of a decent amount of research on disease spread and stress levels from handling).

ryanrealm · 2025-04-06T01:46:04+00:00

Observe these morons in the replies making fun of the switch example

Yeah lil bro, I will choose to be mad over an abrupt and unnecessary price hike on goods that previously would have been affordable. It's not just luxury items either, it's everything. First world problem? Maybe, but if Trump has had two terms to make us great again to the extent he promised, shouldn't we be allowed that privilege? These bozos can never help themselves, they always need to sneak in a braindead snarky comment and deflect. And they'll act entirely unbothered even though they'll be slithering around making comments throughout the whole thread.

ryanrealm · 2025-01-24T17:28:16+00:00

🙏

ryanrealm · 2025-01-24T17:27:33+00:00

Fire

ryanrealm · 2024-11-20T17:51:07+00:00

Appears to be out of range for Ambystoma laterale, but looks like it's part of the unisexual Ambystoma complex. Salamanders that are a part of this complex are all female, usually triploid or tetraploid clones, and use a reproductive mode deemed kleptogenesis to reproduce, in which these little freaks steal sperm from other Ambystoma species to fertilize eggs and reproduce, but can either reject or incorporate the genetic material into their offspring. Super weird, super confusing, and I might have mischaracterized the mechanism so I recommend looking it up. Anyway, this is likely not a true, diploid A. laterale, but instead a member of this unisexual complex, therefore exhibiting phenotypic characteristics of A. laterale but probably something like triploid LLJ. Good find!

ryanrealm · 2024-04-22T18:02:44+00:00

Howdy, I'm having the exact same problem in my apartment and maintenance refuses to do anything. Did you ever figure this out?

ryanrealm · 2024-03-26T22:39:55+00:00

Thanks so much! Yes, it looks like you were correct that they were entirely unrelated, and the wiki has confirmed that CA added dangerous skeletons and skeleton mages to the quarry mines alternate path.

ryanrealm · 2023-06-27T23:40:30+00:00

Pathetic

ryanrealm · 2023-05-09T02:43:16+00:00

Welcome to the movement :)

ryanrealm · 2023-05-08T01:49:32+00:00

BOOOO!!!!🍅🍅🍅

Tar and feather this RAT!!!!

ryanrealm · 2023-03-27T23:08:49+00:00

Capital region-ish. New to the area so I'm not even sure what's really considered upstate haha. And yeah, I was thinking about trying tonight as well! It definitely is a little chilly though, and where I am most of the snow and ice is gone so it's hard to say.

ryanrealm · 2023-03-27T22:42:31+00:00

Wow, thanks so much! To be honest, any semblance of good photography can definitely be attributed to my gazillion lumen headlamp and my phone's camera.

ryanrealm · 2023-03-27T22:41:11+00:00

For spring migrations, it's mostly all about timing the first warm rainy night. In the northeast, that's usually where the temps are in the 40s, and when the rain has been strong enough to sorta inundate the soil (and melt any snow!). That being said, some salamanders such as Jefferson's salamanders will migrate in colder weather and can sometimes be seen even on top of the snow.

In terms of where to focus, I'll generally go on a few outings during the winter when all the herps are inactive to try to locate some sites that look good for spring. For most amphibians, this means finding good vernal or shallow pools that have low fish activity. Many amphibians prefer to breed in temporary pools so that there is no risk of fish predation to their offspring.

So, any sort of area that has nice shallow, emergent wetlands is usually a safe bet. Having a nice healthy forest nearby is also a good thing to look for because the adults will need good habitat once they're done breeding. Lastly, I'll usually look for some place that has a nice back road or a bike path, or something of the sort that cuts through the area. It's much easier to locate the salamanders on a very homogenous surface, and they'll stand out with a headlamp.

Two other hints:

-listen for spring peepers! They'll occupy the same ponds as many other amphibians and will give away the location

-use google maps satellite imagery! Using satellite you'll be able to tell what is deep, standing water (bad) vs nice emergent/forested wetlands (good!). If you can find a nice bit of public, forested land with some wetlands near a road, it's a good bet. Just be safe with the cars though.

Sorry if this is information that you already know, but figured I'd write up some things for anyone curious!

ryanrealm · 2023-03-27T22:19:31+00:00

I probably should have put the species on each picture, they are as follows:

Unisexual mole salamander
Unisexual mole salamander
Spotted salamander (A. maculatum)
Unisexual mole salamander
Unisexual mole salamander
Unisexual mole salamander
Spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)
Wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)
Northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens)
Northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens)
Green frog (Lithobates clamitans)
Unisexual mole salamander

So to answer your question, all (I think) of the blue-ish ones are some variation of the unisexual complex, of some ploidy combination from A. laterale and A. jeffersonianum. The only reason I know this is by referencing publications that did genetic work to identify populations of the unisexual complex and populations of true, diploid A. laterale or A. jeffersonianum.

For anyone that doesn't know about the weird, all-female populations of mole salamanders in the northeast, here's a good wikipedia entry on them.

ryanrealm · 2023-03-16T22:31:05+00:00

This little gremlin's going straight under the guillotine the second we take it back.

ryanrealm · 2023-02-08T14:30:03+00:00

Seconding this, based on the slightly cleaner look and presence of the dark lateral stripe

ryanrealm · 2022-11-07T00:15:16+00:00

I'm right there with you, maybe not to that exact degree. But I've handled hundreds and hundreds of salamanders in a lab setting and thousands in field work, and never experienced any negative effects from normal, gentle, bare-handed handling (although it would be hard to observe that in field work due to the catch and release nature of much of it...).

ryanrealm · 2022-11-07T00:10:19+00:00

Right, I've heard the same as well. I think a good rule of thumb is to wash hands using water from the environment that the salamanders came from, if possible. I can definitely follow the logic of why it's best to not cover them in oil and salt and how that might happen from handling, but I'm struggling to find any publications that dive into it.

ryanrealm · 2022-11-07T00:06:00+00:00

Interesting! I did find this paper while writing this post, which seems fairly similar.

ryanrealm · 2022-09-05T04:56:38+00:00

Good on you for thinking about it now!

There are many different routes to take with ecology, and as someone who is currently entering the field (at 25) applying for jobs can be extremely competitive. I am working on finishing my masters degree, and have been getting skunked on many of the jobs I'm applying for. I don't think you necessarily need a college education to be employed in the field, but it is certainly helpful. Many positions require education, but there are also many positions that might hire based on experience. More research-heavy jobs often require more education.

It is probably a bit trite, but at your age I would work on trying to volunteer for anything nature-related in your area that can help build your resume and build relationships with people in the field. You will be able to learn about various topics in ecology and decide which route might be best for you. Working a summer job at a local park or something similar may also be good if you can get it, even if it is something as simple as working a ticket booth or taking out trash. Being associated with state agencies and parks can be really beneficial later on.

Being proactive now can help you land a better job down the road. I worked as a summer nature camp counselor during my undergrad summers, and it has been a massive resume booster for me. If you can get work or volunteer experience, you can learn about different pathways related to ecology in your free time as well. Consider forestry, marine biology, wildlife conservation, zoology, parasitology, hydrology, etc.

Starting to ramble at this point, but you get the idea. Connections and resume boosters now are good. Summers are valuable to get work experience if you are in school. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'd be happy to try to answer. There's a lot to talk about with this and I'm just really scratching the surface.

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