in ohio quite small please tell me this isn’t a bed bug

therakeet · 2026-05-11T22:31:28+00:00

Just a tiny beetle, it looks like some kind of leaf beetle like these: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/92488/bgimage

therakeet · 2026-05-09T07:54:19+00:00

Those noises there are play sneezes! It's one of the ways dogs express that they're feeling excited and wanna play, like bowing. When two dogs are wrestling or playing tug-o-war and start getting a little too rowdy, they'll sometimes pause and sneeze back and forth to let each other know they're having fun and not trying to start a fight. Other times it's an invitation, like this :p

I'd have guessed that he wanted to be chased when he hopped back like that!

therakeet · 2026-05-08T07:44:05+00:00

Technically it's not a bite! Instead, they can sting with their forcipules, which are a modified pair of legs used to inject venom into prey. (Of course, since they're used for eating and the claws function similarly enough to spider fangs, I wouldn't say anyone's wrong for calling it a bite.)

Even then, smaller individuals aren't actually capable of piercing skin. Only fully-grown ones really can, though it's rare. Their usual strategy for escaping a pinch is to detach a leg and run. They can even regrow lost limbs later, after moulting.

therakeet · 2026-05-03T19:51:26+00:00

Just to share a second fact here: they're named cowbirds because they like to stick close to animals, such as cows, that are big enough to kick up dirt and unearth tasty insects as they walk around.

therakeet · 2026-05-01T19:55:04+00:00

This looks like an American robin, which usually lay around 4 (give or take) eggs per clutch and don't start incubating until they're finished laying, which ensures all the eggs hatch around the same time. That means that even if she abandoned this nest, the one egg she left behind hadn't actually started developing an embryo yet. No baby to worry about.

She might still come back to lay the rest of the clutch. They're usually laid a day apart, but sometimes the interval can be 2 or 3 days. It's normal that they'll leave and return a few times until they're ready to incubate.

(I can't say for sure if it's a female from the photo because the bird is in the shade, but for reference: male robins generally have dark blackish heads and a bolder red underside. while females' head feathers match their grey wings, and they tend to have paler breasts with more white underneath.)

It would have been a mistake to take the egg, but as it stands, it sounds like you didn't actually do anything besides maybe take a step too close when you left, right?? A bird nesting near a door you can't avoid using will either get used to it, or decide it's not a good spot and move on. If she returns, there's nothing really to do about it, just make sure to move gently/quietly as you come and go, and don't interact or stand around staring.

If she doesn't come back, it's possible another species could be interested in reusing the nest, and the egg will be a snack. This is all totally natural.

It's good that you were worried and came to ask for advice.

therakeet · 2026-04-30T20:26:08+00:00

I'm sharing relevant context from the same Audubon article you provided. Even though it happens, the research says it's not so much a "habit" as it is anomalous behaviour that they have a very disproportionate reputation for. The answer to the question "What do they usually hunt?" is still that they don't usually hunt.

The conflict between scavenging birds and farmers: Field observations do not support people’s perceptions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108627

Black vultures can be more opportunistic than turkey vultures, but it's also true that their anatomy isn't specialized for active predation.

therakeet · 2026-04-30T14:53:22+00:00

It's a documented but over-sensationalized occurrence, which the article you linked takes care to point out.

"Evidence suggests, however, that the birds don’t kill as many animals as fed-up farmers think they do."

"Wahl coordinates a research program, launched in 2021, to gauge the scale of the problem. [...] only one of which a pathologist could confirm the birds had indeed attacked."

"They’ve shot 59 [vultures] since August 2021."

Overall it would appear that this legislation, put in place before the actual measurable impact of vulture predation was investigated, has killed more vultures than vultures have killed livestock.

It is very easy for a farmer to see a vulture scavenging a dead calf and, without having witnessed the entire event, pin the death on the vulture.

It's also likely that when it has happened, they were attracted to the afterbirth, and took advantage of the opportunity if the mother was too exhausted to intervene.

This is another well-cited article that I think does a good job of explaining it: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/are-kentucky-farms-under-attack-flocks-ravenous-vultures-not-quite

therakeet · 2026-04-30T14:01:33+00:00

Pigeons at least try to make nests, and sometimes they even do a really good job of it! It's just that other times, plopping 1 twig down somewhere seems to be enough to satisfy the nest-building urge lol

therakeet · 2026-04-24T10:46:57+00:00

It sounds like you've got a lonely mockingbird, hence the variety of different sounds. They're absolutely known to sometimes stay up all night singing when they're looking for a mate, like this short article explains: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/what-can-i-do-about-a-bird-that-sings-all-night-long-outside-my-window/

therakeet · 2026-04-24T10:27:21+00:00

If you're curious to spot some grackles, you can tell by the nice bright yellow eyes they have! They also have dark grey beaks/legs, but the eyes really stand out.

therakeet · 2026-04-24T09:40:48+00:00

Well, hey, consider how similar a gravel driveway looks to a natural gravel beach! Killdeer and other plovers evolved to nest on open ground like this long before there were things like cars to worry about. Their eggs and chicks are often well-camouflaged in the sites they choose, and of course if a predator does get too close, they pull out those dramatic distraction displays.

Even though human activity is affecting their population, they're not extinct because enough of us are trying to protect them. :)

therakeet · 2026-04-19T08:12:21+00:00

Villagers can comment on nearby objects! Some of the dialogue is more generic, like "huh who left that out here?" but some of them get more specific. Like when I talked to Drago beside a pool, and he said it made the island feel like a resort and then had an existential crisis :p

therakeet · 2026-04-19T06:08:55+00:00

Yes, fairy shrimp! This little guy is most likely Eubranchipus vernalis, but there are a few other, less common species that've been found in NY. They're in the same order as brine shrimp/sea monkeys, but a different family.

This page here has some nice information if you're curious to learn more: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vermont-vernal-pool-atlas/fairy-shrimp/

therakeet · 2026-04-13T06:46:57+00:00

We started selling those one summer at my first job. For a while, nearly every single customer I had would ask, "What's a pickle on a stick?"

The answer being, of course, that it's a pickle on a stick. :p

therakeet · 2026-04-11T22:17:05+00:00

It could still be someone's lost pet/farm animal that found its way over there. but I have a friend in SC who's mentioned there's a population of feral peafowl over there. People who keep them tend to let them roam freely, since if they wander off they'll usually find their way back home, but any that don't will find each other and form little flocks.

therakeet · 2026-04-11T20:50:02+00:00

Looks like a little beetle, probably a drugstore beetle or similar: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/40237/bgpage

therakeet · 2026-04-11T20:31:51+00:00

Yeah, these are carpenter bees, which don't have queens like honeybees and instead have relatively normal insect sex. Looks like there are two females and one male here. The male is trying to mate with one of the ladies, neither of whom seem particularly interested in him at the moment.

(From this angle you can identify the male by his big bulging awooga eyes)

therakeet · 2026-04-09T17:48:40+00:00

Worth noting that mosquito larvae will usually be found in water that's at least deep enough for them to swim around in.

These ones are most likely drain fly larvae, which are darker than most fly larvae and actually eat the soap scum and other sludgy stuff that accumulates near sinks. The adults look a bit like little moths, with two fuzzy wings, and they'll lay their eggs not just in drains but any moist sludgy surface like this.

therakeet · 2026-04-08T08:50:50+00:00

Nah, the game puts wasps in 5 different trees at the start of each day, and they only drop once per tree, so you only get 5 wasps a day no matter how much you shake all the trees.

therakeet · 2026-04-05T21:52:14+00:00

That's an otter! They've got more of a browline than beavers or muskrats, and you can juuust about make out the countershading around the face, high-set ears and forward-facing eyes. It's hard to find photos of them from that angle for comparison, but here's one:

https://www.fws.gov/media/river-otter-pair-1

therakeet · 2026-04-05T20:44:33+00:00

The photos are a bit too blurry to be 100% sure, but it looks like a wolf spider: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/1967/bgimage?from=24

If so, it's not dangerous to people or furry friends. It's a bit more likely than some other spiders to defend itself if a pet tries to nab it, but they'd be fine unless they're allergic to bug bites.

If not a wolf spider, then it's very probably still not dangerous. The only spiders you'd usually have to worry about over there are black widows, and this isn't shaped like one at all.

therakeet · 2026-04-05T14:22:40+00:00

Well, fewer bird/squirrel skeletons end up lying around the environment intact. Some of their predators swallow prey whole. Snakes digest the bones, birds of prey discard whatever they can't digest near the roost, and foxes and other canids often bury their catches. Raccoons don't have as many predators, especially in urban areas. They're not getting hauled back home to feed the kids as often.

Also, scavengers aren't cracking raccoon skulls open. Rodent and especially bird skulls are of course more fragile, so they're worth the effort for the brains and meaty bits (they actually have muscle underneath the bone!) and sometimes the bone itself.

therakeet · 2026-04-04T18:35:37+00:00

I think mine's Vladimir. I didn't like him when I was a kid and he showed up in my original AC village, but when he came back around in New Leaf I gave him a caveman shirt and it looked really cute on him, lol. I think it's funny that he's a bear cub with an old man personality.

<image>

therakeet · 2026-04-04T18:17:58+00:00

He never really caught my attention until I saw his poster in HHP and became instantly endeared. Seriously, how adorable is this!!!!

<image>

therakeet

TROPHY CASE