American Crows all look more or less identical to the human eye. But Annie and Jack came to recognize Sal, a bold character with a distinctive hop due to a bad leg, and began offering the bird unsalted peanuts. The treats attracted a second, more timid crow, whose deformed foot also distinguished it. They called Sal’s buddy Pal. Within a few weeks, Annie and Jack were buying peanuts in bulk. Using food as a reward, they trained the two corvids to pay them regular visits.

Or did they? Annie wondered whether, from the crows’ perspective, it might be the other way around.

After all, the humans were also rewarded. When Annie opened the curtains in the morning, she looked forward to seeing the crows swoop down to land on her fence, seemingly greeting her. When she came outside, they might say hello with a swoosh of their wings or perch on a patio chair opposite her as she worked on her laptop. The way Sal and Pal had come to trust her was gratifying, and she felt even more honored by their attention when she learned that the crows had full social calendars; it turned out one neighbor knew Sal as Russell. “Clearly they have so much else going on,” Annie says. “It felt like they had these busy lives that we were fitting into.”

When it comes to corvid–human connections, Annie isn’t the only one who wonders who’s training whom. Carl Bergstrom, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington, has developed bonds with many crows at his home and on campus. Such a relationship, he says, “absolutely alters my behavior.” If, for instance, he forgets to bring peanuts for the birds at his university, he takes an alternate route around school. “I’ll find myself sneaking across campus in a tunnel or through buildings,” he says, “because I feel so bad when I run into them.”

Like Bergstrom and my sister, many people form sustained personal connections with their local crows. Those who do often consider the attention of these charismatic corvids a privilege and a source of joy. Some even call the animals their friends. What’s harder to determine, though, is whether the crows return the feeling.

[Image description: a small green crab pauses on the sand among some seaweed]

I helped some family friends clean up their little slice of beach today and saw this little friend.

[Image description: a small green crab. The photo is taken from the crab's front left side.]

[Image description: a picture of a small green crab taken from above.]

We surprised each other in the garden today. Best guess is Notopthalmus viridescens, but the species has a lot of variation within the population apparently.

Ziggy and I hope you're all doing well and have a wonderful day! <3

My wife took our dog on a hike today. Elevation was 4,127 feet.

Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use.

Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian border, keeps Veronika as a pet and noticed that she occasionally played with sticks and used them to scratch her body.

Wiegele said Veronika began playing with pieces of wood years ago, then worked out how to scratch herself with sticks. He said she also recognised family members’ voices and hurried to meet them when they called.

Tool use is well known in chimps, crows, dolphins and even octopuses. The latter have been filmed throwing shells at one another. But livestock have never been considered the sharpest of animals. Gary Larson’s 1982 Far Side cartoon, Cow Tools, shows a cow standing behind a table of oddly shaped objects. It confused scores of readers, including Larson’s mother, prompting him to explain: “While I have never met a cow who could make tools, I felt sure that if I did, they (the tools) would lack something in sophistication and resemble the sorry specimens shown.”

Veronika is far from making even misshapen tools, but her prowess in using them has impressed nonetheless. Over seven sessions of 10 trials, the researchers witnessed 76 instances of tool use as she grabbed the broom to scratch otherwise unreachable regions. Using both ends of the brush counts as multi-purpose tool use, the scientists say, which is extraordinarily rare. Beyond humans, it has only been shown convincingly in chimpanzees.

Bebek di pagi hari.

Tits have words and grammar, other animals listen and react to their alerts, and they even lie to misguide predators.

Linked is part 1, part 2 talks about much of the same and then goes into the lying aspect.

Nic@nostr.land:

"Garbages are like loot boxes for dogs."

Invidious: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=xtnfcm-fxm4 YouTube: https://youtu.be/xtnfcm-fxm4

This is a "documentary" in form of a Tier List about reptile skills. Its correct information, but presented in a way and the terms and visual effects that resembles a Videogame documentation or character skills explanation.

Video description:

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/tierzoo-the-reptile-tier-list

This video is a compilation of my Snake, Lizard, and Turtle tier lists, plus a few clips from other reptile-related videos. The Turtle Tier List clips have all been entirely remastered and re-recorded! Enjoy.

✍️ A wild fox was rescued from a neighborhood in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after being found with a severe case of mange. The fox was taken to the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center, where it received treatment and care for seven weeks before being released back into the wild.

👉 A wild fox was rescued from a neighborhood in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

👉 The fox was found with a severe case of mange caused by Sarcoptes scabiei mites

👉 The fox was taken to the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center for treatment and care

👉 The treatment included antibiotics, pain management, and skin care

👉 The fox was released back into the wild after seven weeks of care

URGENT UPDATE!
Sabi's precious ESA bun, who's kept her going for so long, is in decline and the prognosis is that he won't make it through the night.

He won't survive anesthesia for a CT scan and further treatment. 970 needed

Please chip in so they can care for him with dignity.

KOFI/PYPL SABILEWSOUNDS
CA/VM TOADLYTURTLE (NOTE SABI)

#mutualaid #pets #PetsofMastodon #CatsofMastodon (not cat but cherished furbaby just the same) Please amplify? @IndigenousCreatives @animals @rabbiteveryhour

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/22930883

Have you had to seek veterinary attention for a beloved pet in recent years? Have you noticed higher costs for vaccines and routine exams? Do you occasionally need a pet-sitter and wish to purchase services from an on-line service? I’ve got bad news for you: the billionaires have fixed their sights on you and on every corner of the pet care economy, with the goal of squeezing more money out of you.

Pet ownership was on the rise even before the Covid-19 pandemic; today roughly 70 percent of US households have at least one pet. The share of household income spent on pets has risen significantly, with an estimated $123 billion in 2021. While pet insurance is available, few pet owners have it. Yet many are willing to take on enormous debt for high-priced medical services.

... there has been an unprecedented concentration of ownership over the last decade in pet food, pet stores, and veterinary care, and pet services, like Rover.com. The biggest players in the pet economy include dynastic billionaire families like the Mars candy clan and the German-Reimann family (JAB industries), along with billionaire-backed private equity firms that are snatching up companies in the pet sector.

🐾 I’ve been working on a little project called Pawlie — it’s meant to help shelters and rescues keep track of adoption applications, cut down on all the back-and-forth emails, and just make the process a bit smoother overall.

Right now, it's 100% free to use, so if anyone wants to check it out. Totally fine if not — I’d honestly just love to hear what you think or what features would make something like this actually useful for your day-to-day.

Here’s the link if you’re curious: pawlie.org

Would really appreciate any feedback from folks who work with rescues or handle applications regularly 🙏

Finally getting back on the bikes, and these 2 clowns took their first ride in the trailer. They did so good and deserve extra treats. Just ask them

[Image description: five muscovy adolescents hang out together under some shade]

Bacon (L) and Eggs (R) are eating plums. What about the seeds?

@animals

Context:

This was a home inspection by a landlord, pets are allowed but the field still exists, and I found this screencap absolutely hilarious

(not my cat, not my photo, just needed more cuteness in my day)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/50789035

9 month old beardie - our first. She enjoys spending time outside with us.