azaliegang

[azaliegang]

Thinking back to the time I explained to my dad that punishing a dog for growling makes them more likely to bite without warning and he countered "my dad hit my dog every time he growled and that dog never bit him" to which I asked, "did he bite YOU though?" And he thought for a second and went "shit.. you're right"

[azaliegang]

[ID: Boxed shaped clay sculpture of a Przewalski's horse. The horse's body is painted onto the box in the style of palaeolithic cave art, and the front half from the shoulders is realistic and three-dimensional, fully emerging at the end of the box. The horse is in a walking pose with the front left leg raised and the head tilted slightly sideways. Each photo shows a different angle. End ID]

Yeah, happy with this. Will be remaking it at some point, hopefully with less issues. I'll have to give it a coat of gloss as this clay is not hardy and needs protection.

[azaliegang]

The same thing happened the first time my grandmother brought her border Collie to our farm and she saw the goats. The dog instantly ripped the leash out of her hands and started herding them who knows where. She'd never seen goats or sheep in her life. Of course, seeing a well trained sheepdog doing this job is different.. they will herd only when told and are fully under your control in both speed and direction. But what doesn't have to be taught is the love to run around and control stock. It's literally what they were made to do, and it's the most fulfilling job you can give them

Not to sound like I was raised by protestants, but I think those kids who argue that it's animal abuse to put working dog breeds to work doing the tasks they were bred and born for have simply genuinely never encountered the concept that they, too, could be genuinely happier if they could do work they found wortwhile and enjoyable. Like engaging in useful and constructive activities might genuinely make life better than a life of doing absolutely nothing because nobody's making you do anything.

[azaliegang]

fucking idiot gets PRANKED

[azaliegang]

[azaliegang]

In reality though there are some Facebook groups (YES I KNOW FACEBOOK BAD) that have fucking changed my life. Problem is you have to filter through a LOT of bad groups. I joined like 20 different goat groups and ended up keeping only 2 because the others were absolute bullshit, but the 2 that I kept are fucking GOLD and have saved my goats lives. They are purely evidence based modern groups. I tried vet only groups but didn't like them. Same with LGDs, I joined 5 and kept 1. I have 2 groups for tenants rights and dude they legitimately have changed my life, I would have been in such a bad place without them.

It IS true and IS correct that Reddit is the last large bastion of the internet where you can go to seek the opinion of hobby-experts and get real information and real advice that has not been astroturfed through an SEO-manipulating AI-generated terminally-cancerous corporate-sponsored advertisement-hocking wretch.

But this approach is still flawed owing to the fact that every Redditor is terminally afflicted with Funniest Guy In The Room syndrome and the top-voted answer on an earnest "can anyone identify this?" post might just be "your mom" or "poop knife" or whatever's in Reddit circlejerk zeitgeist vogue at the moment so really. An imperfect system.

[azaliegang]

Man, I tried to get some advice on Reddit on a specific rare breed of LGD not found in the west. I asked a question, but before asking the question I shared a fun fact about the LGD. This was an LGD I'd been researching for months and was hoping to study further by traveling to their native country and speaking to the nomadic shepherds they are named after.

Did people answer my question? Yes, one person did. But the other 2 dozen responses were dunking on my fun fact and claiming I was spreading misinformation, because "it only takes one Google search to see you're wrong. Here's my sources, how about you cite yours?"

Oh yes, your one Google search. And your sources, which are 3 random websites no one has ever heard of which quote each other. Meanwhile I've spent the last 3 months researching by reading actual studies by scientists and translating articles written by people in the actual community who bred and raised these dogs. Why did it take me so long? Because there is almost no information in English on this breed available online, except those 3 random articles which are giving you the most vague generic information about dogs.

To be clear, this is a rare LGD which these people admitted they'd never even heard of and they had the nerve to tell me that I should "do more research next time before spreading misinformation". They got REALLY NASTY about it, insulting me personally calling me stupid etc..

People on Reddit (and everywhere really) will pretend to be experts and bullshit everything while treating you like you're stupid if you disagree with their half baked ideas

It IS true and IS correct that Reddit is the last large bastion of the internet where you can go to seek the opinion of hobby-experts and get real information and real advice that has not been astroturfed through an SEO-manipulating AI-generated terminally-cancerous corporate-sponsored advertisement-hocking wretch.

But this approach is still flawed owing to the fact that every Redditor is terminally afflicted with Funniest Guy In The Room syndrome and the top-voted answer on an earnest "can anyone identify this?" post might just be "your mom" or "poop knife" or whatever's in Reddit circlejerk zeitgeist vogue at the moment so really. An imperfect system.

[azaliegang]

Goats obv

Feel free to specify in the tags :) if the animal is one that needs company assume you'd have multiple

[azaliegang]

I just opened this blog after almost 4 years and found 0 new notes or messages. Almost impressive considering I've had this blog for like 12 years and before that was pretty consistently active

[azaliegang]

When to click away from an animal video

–Any wild animal in a house/being treated like a pet. Yes, even if they say they “rescued” it. No legitimate rehabber would EVER treat a wild animal like a pet. Repeat after me: it does not matter if the animal is not suitable for release; they still shouldn’t be kept as a pet.

–Free contact with big cats. Even if it’s a “sanctuary”.

–People interacting with wildlife. Feeding, petting, playing with, etc.

–Free handling venomous snakes.

–Predator and prey interacting. Cats and birds, dogs and birds, literally anything else with birds. Cats or dogs with rodents, etc.

–Any video that claims a wild animal is domesticated. Wild animals are NOT domesticated, but they can be tamed. These are two very different things and anyone who doesn’t understand the difference shouldn’t be owning one of those animals.

–Any video claiming that (insert wild/exotic species here) is “just like owning a dog/cat!” i.e. the video that went around saying foxes are “the best characteristics of cats and dogs”.

–Facilities that breed hybrids or morphs (i.e. ligers, white tigers, coywolves, etc)

–Any video by the Dodo

–Obese animals being portrayed as “cute and chonky”.

–Click bait titles about dangerous/exotic animals i.e. “bitten by my king cobra!”, “my pet fox did what?!?”, “letting my pet alligator pick out a toy!”. You get the idea. Anyone using wild animals to get views/publicity does not have their best interests at heart.

–Any “dog trainers” promoting dominance theory (this shit has been disproven so many times and is not even accurate for wolves…)

–Owl cafes, otter cafes, or any kind of wild animal cafe.

Seriously, don’t give these people views. I understand that it can be hard to distinguish good and bad animal videos, but try and be critical of what you’re consuming. Giving these people views gets them sponsorships and money. Plus, more views = increased circulation of the video. This is honestly especially important on TikTok because there are so many younger people on that app. Look at the comment section on any pet wildlife video and it’s “omg I want one!”, “where can I get one?” over and over. And yes, this does matter. It has been proven that the media we consume does influence people to get these as pets. It is currently baby animal season in the US and my clinic is inundated with people who “rescued” baby wildlife (aka nest-napped) and now want to keep them as a pet. Mostly raccoons but also squirrels, opossums, ducklings, wild birds, and pretty much everything you can imagine.

[azaliegang]

[azaliegang]

small fat low poly birbs

[azaliegang]

This is silly but when people describe their cats as dog-like and insist that their cat is so cool because it acts more like a dog than a cat my brain immediately makes me think of that movie trope where a woman does something badass and then explains it by going “I have five brothers” as if the only way a woman can become tough is by early exposure to men lol

Why take the measure of your cat by a dog? Why does your cat doing cool stuff make it inherently not cat-like? Cats can absolutely be loyal, playful, and affectionate companions. Many can also easily be trained to do things like sit and shake, it’s just that most owners don’t think to do this stuff with them. I think people get stuck on relating their cat to a dog because they’ve so often seen cats depicted as cold aloof assholes and they’re surprised when their kitty is nothing like that. It’s not that your cat is “not like other cats”, you simply haven’t met enough cats to know that many of them are just as happy and friendly as dogs!

[azaliegang]

i love seeing cardinals and bluejays together i’m always like “hehe.. evil siblings”

[azaliegang]

any GOOD pelican facts? they’re definitely weird but i love them …

we like to poke some good-natured fun at pelicans on this website, with their awkward gait, doofy faces, and pragmatic "if it fits, a snack is its" attitude towards any animal that it can physically fit into its beak!

HOWEVER. there is one VERY IMPORTANT FACT that we regularly fail to consider here:

pelicans are fucking Ginormous.

these fuckers can be up to five feet in length, with 10-foot wingspans, putting them right up there with SWANS in the Fuckoff Huge waterfowl tier!

HOWEVER, (again! that's two uppercase "however's" in one post!) while pelicans are comparable to swans in terms of sheer bonkers size, the two are not at ALL similar in terms of temperament!

while swans are unpredictable, easily angered, and dangerous animals, pelicans really... aren't.

they're really just dudes, is what I'm saying here.

yeah, the worst you might get off a pelican unprovoked is an accidental wing bonk, or an experimental beak nibble to see If You Fit In The Beak.

"you do not. my apologies, have a good day."

a pelican is more likely to steal your phone than to do you any serious bodily harm!

hooray?

*muffled ringing from inside the beak*

[azaliegang]

Important:

Thank you for your attention

[azaliegang]

I don’t post a lot of photos/videos of Miss Rudy playing, and that’s because Miss Rudy doesn’t *play*.

This is no game.  She WILL kill that fleece rattlesnake and take it back to her lair.  And then she’ll come back for you.