No birdie wants to work anymore…

I have done that once or twice, but I should do it again! The yard can be so alive! 😄

Second generation anticoagulant rodenticides

Modern rat poison designed to kill rodents in a single feeding.

Poison kills them over hours to days, in which time they are easy to catch by predators like raptors, cats, whatever else eats rats and mice.

First generation poisons would metabolize in a few days, and while not great for the predators, it quickly worked its way out of their bodies.

SGARs are of higher toxicity and accumulate in predators, potentially over months and months until they’re overwhelmed and they die terrible deaths. If owls or eagles, etc, are feeding their mate and babies, you can lose all of them in rapid succession as they unknowingly poison each other. It gets very depressing very fast. 😕

Groups that help animals have been trying to get these banned for sale to the general public all over the world due to all the unintentional poisoning. Here in the US, raptor populations are being found regularly with 80-90% of raptors showing some level of accumulated poisoning. Raptors reproduce in low numbers to begin with, so poisoning can crash local populations of birds.

Most passed or proposed legislation limits their purchase and use to licensed professionals, which should be both finding means other than poisoning as a primary means to control rodents and that usage is done in ways that limits secondary poisoning.

I’m always glad to be able to help out! A lot of places have public events and open houses so you can meet the people and animals if you want to check anyone out. I attended 2 open houses and an event at the library out on by the clinic I’m with before I got involved with them, so I knew they’ve been around a long time and had a great reputation. People in the community really love us.

Most places are done with taking volunteers for the season. Check back around January since most places will start being fully staffing in March and April for baby season, but they need to have everyone signed up, background checked if you’re open to the public, and just to know they’ll have enough people before taking in animals.

Always feel free to ask any questions, and I’ll try to help you get things figured out. I love entertaining you guys of course, but if I can get some of you actively involved, donating, volunteering, or making your homes better for wildlife, that’s my real goal because that’s what saves these animals.

What a wonderful week for Australian owls! This beauty gets some notoriety that will hopefully help its preservation, and I saw another post today that Bunnings is pulling SGARs from the shelves months in advance of their banning for public sale.

There are some truly amazing owls in Australia. I hope we all get to. Keep enjoying them.

Now let’s get this guy to find us some more Sooty Owls! 😍

I use lemvotes to prove to myself it’s usually just people clicking by accident, but this has been going on for like maybe 2 weeks now. They’re not doing anything, and it’s an account with no comments or posts, so it’s just kinda weird to me. If it’s a person, why not just block the community if you don’t like owl. If it’s a bot, for what purpose?

Congrats, Aussies! It sounds like the battle isn’t over yet over SGARs, but it’s an awesome start!

You guys have some of my favorite owls anywhere in the world, so hopefully some numbers can soon start trending upward.

Same here. Wifey got me a Trade subscription maybe 3 years ago for Xmas and every 3 weeks or so I try a brand new single origin coffee I’ve never had before. (Except the one from India that tasted like pineapple! That one I ordered twice before it was gone.) It is $20 every 3 weeks since I drink one a day, but this week I switch up to the big bag so we could both enjoy it. That took it up to $50, but now it’s a full 2 pounds instead of 10 oz. (That’s 280g to 900g.)

I have a great article for you!

…his team’s latest research suggests instead that the barn owl’s brilliant white plumage is in fact a form of nocturnal camouflage or counter-illumination that gives the hunter an element of surprise.

Barn owl’s feathers match the moonlight The bird’s white reflective underside effectively mimics moonlight, according to the new study describing the team’s findings that published in the journal PNAS on Monday. The bright plumage allows its silhouette to blend into the nocturnal sky and makes it harder for mice or other rodents to spot the owl.

Thank you, that’s very helpful!

Our “small” wild cat in the the US is the bobcat (Lynx rufus.)

The adult bobcat is 47.5–125 cm (18.7–49.2 in) long from the head to the base of its distinctive stubby tail, averaging 82.7 cm (32.6 in); the tail is 9 to 20 cm (3.5 to 7.9 in) long. Its “bobbed” appearance gives the species its name. An adult stands about 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in) at the shoulders.

Adult males can range in weight from 6.4–18.3 kg (14–40 lb), with an average of 9.6 kg (21 lb); females at 4–15.3 kg (8.8–33.7 lb), with an average of 6.8 kg (15 lb). The largest bobcat accurately measured on record weighed 22.2 kg (49 lb), although unverified reports have them reaching 27 kg (60 lb). Furthermore, a June 20, 2012, report of a New Hampshire roadkill specimen listed the animal’s weight at 27 kg (60 lb).

My brain hears “wild cat” and just registers “sabre tooth cat of indeterminate size.” 😅

It sound like the genet is the same length, but nowhere near the mass.

At around 2kg, that’s the upper limit of the prey range for the Great Horned Owl, our strongest owl, so now I have a really good perspective on the genet and the Milky Eagle Owl.

Agreed. Dogs and cats around the world must be so envious right now!

Are the genets big? I have never seen one, so I don’t really have a mental image of one.

I always remember this post of a Milky Owl that caught a genet and it seemed pretty sizeable, though without having seen either animal, I wasn’t really sure.

Awesome to wake up and see 3 of you posted! It always makes me happy to see what you all contribute.

The same person (bot?) that’s been downvoting almost all my posts hit you all as well, so at least I know it’s not just me. 😄

You’ve given me something to pay more attention to! I feel this is familiar, but I have never given it much thought before.

Copying in a previous comment if mine from an older post:

It’s a fancy word! I’m sure we’re all well familiar with it already, we just didn’t know the name for it.

Here’s where it lives:

And here it is where you’ve most likely seen it in action:

The tapetum lucidum contributes to the superior night vision of some animals. Many of these animals are nocturnal, especially carnivores, while others are deep-sea animals. Similar adaptations occur in some species of spiders. Haplorhine primates, including humans, are diurnal and lack a tapetum lucidum. (Wiki)

It always throws me off seeing Long Eared Owls having their ears tucked down. It feels like something is missing. 😄

I think all we can really do is set an example ourselves and to allow mods to do their jobs. We can only really control our own behavior, especially a place like Lemmy where it’s basically impossible to ban someone.

I try to keep my posts PG, try to understand others, ignore people I can’t find common ground with, and just try to be the type of poster/commenter I’d like to interact with.

It’s got a lot of the right bits!