#Identifying bugs to species and having to have a reference for it is so hard and so upsetting . Get me out of here

[ratcandy]

monch save me. monch. save me monch

[cnestus]

If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your job and degree? Getting into the field of entomology is a bit intimidating and I would appreciate any any advice.

i tend to be a little cagey about my exact job since my field is quite small and there's enough people following me that the chances of someone deciding to take offense to something and Get Weird at me are nonzero, but that's probably excessive paranoia on my part. then again beloved internet bug person mossworm got recently sacked from their job on account of weirdo online tattletales so maybe not.

anyway i can say i work for a government agency identifying insects from a pretty wide geographic range, looking for new exotic species and potential pests. during the busy season i spend most of my time processing huge volumes of raw trap samples, pulling out insect groups of interest, mostly woodboring beetles, for myself or one of the other entomologists in the lab to identify to species. during the off-season when we're not getting tons of new samples i get a little more free reign to work on other projects of my own design, so for example lately i've been working on my bee identification skills and am slowly putting together a large reference collection of native bee species that i reserved from years of insect trap by-catch.

i got my PHD in entomology without a specific career in mind but knowing i wanted to do something that wasn't just about developing products and methods for killing unwanted insects which seem like the main entomology jobs anyone wants to fund anymore. in a perfect world i'd love a entomological curation job in a museum but those positions are rare and in-demand and i didn't have the mental fortitude to do the kind of academic work in grad school to make me competitive for that field. but then i went ahead and got a job that lets me do some curatorial work anyway so i sort of won? my position is still at least on paper about controlling unwanted insects but in practice i rarely have to do much of that work, at least directly.

i get semi-regular requests for advice on getting a job as an entomologist and i often feel like i don't have much constructive or encouraging to say, since it's hard not to feel like it's one of the many disciplines being squeezed to death by the iron hand of capitalism. more and more positions in the government and academia are being cut or downsized by bureaucrats who don't see the benefit of taxonomy or any other research that doesn't directly result in their department or some corporation making a bunch of money. whole subdisciplines are dying out as the elder entomologists who were the sole sources of knowledge about them die off. there are entire groups of insects and other arthropods that are effectively impossible to identify to species now because the one taxonomic wizard who specialized on them died without having anyone to pass that knowledge onto. Donald Bright, the only living expert on bark beetles in the preposterously diverse and morphologically subtle genus Pityophthorus, died a few months ago without an heir that i'm aware of.

also most of the taxonomic research that is being done these days is all molecular systematics which i have Opinions about but this post is way too long already.

sorry. that was a bummer. i guess i'm proof that it is still possible to get a job like this today, even if i can't help but feel like it was mostly luck that got me here. plenty of the others in my academic cohort (that didn't burn out from grad school stress) also went on to get degrees in their field of study or at least adjacent to them. and again there are still plenty of entomology jobs in other sectors like agriculture, public health, nonprofits and NGOs and stuff like that. you also don't necessarily need an advanced degree in entomology for a lot of these, and a lot of people in the entomology field came in sideways through related disciplines like ecology, evolutionary science, general biology, or even things like viticulture and forensic science to name a couple examples from my own cohort.

looking back, that was mostly a lot of vague grumbling and not much concrete advice, but to be fair asking for "any advice" is a hard prompt to go off of so i tend to default to the kinds of grim thoughts that are usually rattling round in my brain. i may also be in an especially dour mood at the moment because even though my job isn't to my knowledge at any risk of being eliminated, my lab is currently being passively if not outright antagonized by higher-level bureaucrats for genuinely mysterious reasons and i will not elaborate on that any further for reasons i mentioned at the beginning. anyway! i am always happy to at least attempt to give more specific advice but i can't promise there won't be at least a little grumbling in that as well.

[radiocmyk]

Hey I saw on your carrd that you have the common pillbug as a theriotype and I was just wondering how you figured that out? like what are your experiences with the types of shifts/feelings/etc. regarding being a bug and determining what type of bug you were. No pressure to answer or anything if you don't want to ofc but I am just curious as there is not a lot of info about bug theriotypes and experiences that I have found. hope ur day is going well.

Yeah here

I do get shifts. With all my theriotypes, my ph-shifts are mostly concentrated around the head and face area, and also the most frequent type of shift. So I mostly get eye and antenna shifts. I can get m-shifts but they're not very remarkable, mostly I just feel equally nervous and hungry like any other prey animal.

I'm not gonna ham it up with the "oh I've always been an isopod" type stuff, 'cause I don't think I have. I don't talk about it much, so props to anyone who remembers this, but I halfway identify as a cephalopod in an otherhearted way, so I have always been an invertebrate. I used to be very afraid of bugs, and though isopods were always the ones I was most ok with, I still felt uneasy with them. When I started learning more about them I did a complete 180, and I started to associate with bugs -- getting cameo shifts, fictionflickering bug characters, and eventually feeling species euphoria to be compared to them or to think of myself as a bug therian.

That's all it is really. Species euphoria. I think in a sense I am just kind of a nebulous Invertebrate and vague Bug. It's hard to explain how this works for me. With birds I'm exclusively two species and only those two species, it would be weird to be associated with owls or magpies. With bugs, I'm fine being referred to as, represented with and associated with random other bugs like beetles, stick insects, etc. It's not like cladotherianthropy, because I am also an actual cladotherian with another clade and it works very differently for me.

Never spoke about it here, but for a little bit in I think 2021 or 2022 the species feelings surrounding bugs were so hard to ignore that I seriously questioned dogbane leaf beetle, but it just didn't feel right. I know I said I would do the "I always have!" stuff but if I was always going to be a bug, then it was always going to be an isopod. That's the species my brain picked to be the utmost representation of Bug.

Finding the specific species of isopod was more... tricky. There are so many and they all look and act pretty much the same. It came down to some pretty minute details, but eventually I had to just call it and stick with one, and it wouldn't affect much about how I present or feel as an isopod.

Hope that answers it!

[pessimisticshapewithablog]

Bishops of the Old Faith Possible IRL Animal Counterparts

None of these are definitive, just my own interpretation of the Bishops and TOWWs possible real world animal counterparts. These assumptions are based purely on appearances alone save a few.

Narinder

Bobtail Maltese

Chartreux; Russian Blue; British Shorthair

Maltese refering to his grey coloration.

I find it funny that some people could not immediately ID TOWW as a cat. His ears bug me, they're too narrow. Actual cats exist in game so maybe those feature are unique to TOWW.

I specify bobtail because we never see him with a tail, as a god or follower. Cats in this universe have tail, see Forneus, but Narinder doesn't appear to have one. If Aym and Baal are his children then they may have inherited this trait from him too.

These are Narinder's sons. I don't care what massive monster may say in the future. They stole his whole FACE. They inherited his coat color! IDC! Forneus genes didn't stand chance.

Leshy

Bagworm

Specifically a juvenile male that hasn't metamorphosed into a moth/butterfly. Only males leave the "bag". The Bishops are implied to be immortal so, maybe he is trapped in this stage because he literally cannot age and develop into a moth...

It's difficult to determine what species of bagworm he is because of the many species of bagworm and their preferred bag material.  You can see his true face in his 'mouth' when he transforms, if that's a face, that is. There seems to be some eldritch nonsense going with his physiology.

Heket

Madagascar Tomato Frog

Visually she resembles a Madagascar tomato frog, specifically Dyscophus antongilii, with her bright orange-red back and legs with a pale tan underbelly. Tomatoes frogs secrete a gummy toxin that numb the eyes and mouth of predators when grabbed.

Shamura (Shammuramat)

Jumping Spider

Shamura's eye arrangement identifies them as a type of jumping spider, if not by their jumping attacks in combat.

Like leshy, it's hard to determine what specific species of jumping spider they are because of the numerous species and the vagueness of shamura's design. Even then, I speculate that they could a member of the Portia genus of jumpers. Portias are considered to be the most intelligent spider species due to their adaptive learning and hunting tactics, being able to plan ahead.

I might expand on these later, and add Haro and Kallamar(maybe), especially Narinder cause I love cats!

[strangehumanexcerpts]

This excerpt was requested by @cyberstrikebeast. I hope you like it!

Today we will be starting a new segment called “what’s up with that weird Earth thing?”. While humans are endlessly strange, they are not the only fascinating creatures occupying their planet. So, this excerpt will be shedding some light on a new earth being. The subject of this segment is a creature that is commonly found in the waters of earth and is commonly referred to as a crab.

A crab is an animal that ranges massively in size and color. Some species are microscopic, while others span up to 12 feet in length; that’s more than double the size of the average human adult. Since crabs can differ wildly in appearance, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when trying to identify one. Crabs are encased in a hard, often spiny exoskeleton that both protects them from predators and helps them to hunt their prey. They have six limbs protruding from a central rounded body. Two of these limbs end in large powerful claws. Although, one must be careful when trying to identify a crab based on limbs alone as it is not uncommon for a crab to be missing one or more legs. Crabs will sometimes lose a leg in combat, or occasionally they will self-amputate a limb that has become damaged in one way or another so that a new leg can grow in its place. You know a creature is from earth when it casually rips off its own limbs due to an injury so that it can magically produce a brand new one. Crabs, like many of the creatures living deep within earth’s oceans, can have a terrifying appearance. This, of course, does not deter humans from actively hunting them down. Rather than leaving the aquatic eldritch horrors to their own devices as a normal, sane being would, humans decide to risk their lives to catch them. This way they can cook them, crack open their shells to extract the meat, and charge outrageous prices for other humans to consume these sea bugs because why wouldn’t humans look at something like a crab and immediately decide to eat it.

[ganymedesclock]

Do you have any headcanons for pk before he found hallownest and his new/current form?

Boy anon, do I.

So it’s worth noting that Hollow Knight, as a game, has several interesting repeated thematic motifs. The ruined nest is one of them, introduced repeatedly with things like the resting place of the Baldur Shell, the Stag Nest, and the lair of the Brooding Mawlek. Given the, well, animalistic qualities that are retained by the insectoid “humans” of this setting, this smoothly transitions from depictions of wild animals to villages and towns (the Stag Nest itself, but also Dirtmouth, the City of Tears, Deepnest… we see few settlements that are not in a state of decline or ruin)

This is interesting when Hallownest is literally named, well, “Holy Nest”- and PK was quite clearly obsessed with the idea that it would be the greatest, the most sacred, the impeccable, that which would never be destroyed. And we see this obsession in the context that this ostensible impossible destruction came to pass anyway.

Bardoon- the main NPC who tells us about the wyrms- also implies they are dwindling in number, if not outright extinct. His comment on the dead body at Kingdom’s Edge is “with its like gone, the world is smaller.” So at least in this part of the world, wyrms are seemingly extinct, or all ‘passed on to other forms’ in a context where this is not treated as the evolution from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

It is also worth noting PK is… not really shown to be a liar. He is not necessarily shown to be forthcoming with information (Ogrim notes there were other vessels that PK didn’t tell him about, but, he is also not shocked or suggests that he was reassured there were not other vessels) but we don’t see him say things that are directly false as much as, as much as any other narrator in the game, he shows his bias.

This is interesting, because there is one time we find something PK wrote that is actively false, and it’s about the lands beyond the kingdom- the place PK was almost certainly born, and spent some amount of time before Hallownest:

These blasted plains stretch never-ending. There is no world beyond.Those foolish enough to traverse this void must pay the toll and relinquish the precious mind this kingdom grants.

Here’s the thing: even without Silksong coming out showing us that Pharloom exists, as another kingdom beyond Hallownest, Hollow Knight on its own is littered with people who came from somewhere else. Zote, in City of Tears, brags about how he’s seen far more impressive towers than these. Whether or not the towers were that cool is up for debate- but Zote probably didn’t just lie about the fact that buildings exist in places other than Hallownest. Cornifer and Iselda, while young according to Elderbug, are both grown adults and matured and lived among others before coming to Dirtmouth, and Iselda mentioning she thought it was a temporary stop suggests she was of the impression they would keep traveling onto another town.

Tiso and Cloth both came to Hallownest from other places. Quirrel and Ghost, while both returning to it from afar, still spent time out there and in Quirrel’s case we know for certain he met other people.

So PK, who we don’t have a lot of examples of him knowingly lying… is totally wrong about the void. Which seems stupid, because he’d have been out there. He’d have presumably seen people. Someone, somewhere, had to have interacted with a wyrm enough to realize they have powers of foresight, right? If it’s an attempt at propaganda, it’d be a poor one, because Ogrim- one of PK’s top enforcers- openly talks to Ghost about the idea that other people came to Hallownest and settled there, with PK’s sanction, from lands beyond. Hell, PK and his capital city openly bartered with the weavers of Deepnest- who came from Pharloom!

So, if it’s not a deliberate falsehood, what is PK’s statement at the Howling Cliffs?

It’d seemingly suggest a bias. That if PK looks back at his experiences beyond the kingdom, he saw it as a meaningless void, full of mindless creatures. Which makes a bit of sense, if we consider the size of the cast-off shell; the Pale Wyrm was enormous. Compared even to a prodigiously sized being like Bardoon, he is “too small” to be a wyrm.

Existing at this sort of scale, it would be extremely difficult- if he even had the faculties such as a larynx or some form of telepathy- to talk to anyone. Something Bardoon’s size, maybe- but the vast majority of NPCs in the game are nowhere near Bardoon’s size. Most creatures are around the height of Elderbug, who isn’t even half the length of one of PK’s mandibles. And, speaking of Elderbug, it’d be pretty hard not to blame people for not, falling over themselves to talk to a Wyrm.

Especially because we are never told for sure that wyrms, uh, aren’t carnivorous. And a lot of creatures in this setting are.

The thing is though, if PK genuinely has a nihilistic perspective of the world and people because he spent a formative chunk of his youth isolated by virtue of being a godzilla-tier giant monster, this would tell us something interesting:

That PK didn’t have other wyrms around.

There’s more evidence in favor of this, too- the only name this entity is ever called besides “the king” or variants thereof is “the wyrm”. The. Singular. When anyone in Hallownest says “wyrm” they are referring to PK. There is a single mention of a “blackwyrm” by Ogrim in the White Defender’s journal entity, which is not elaborated upon, which would imply pretty strongly, if it was only relevant for a single battle, the blackwyrm, whatever it is, is probably dead; it is definitely out of the picture somehow.

PK does not have a personal name that would distinguish him from other wyrms; the only other wyrm we hear of is distinguished merely by color, which would suggest the “personal” part of his name is “Pale”- he’s the Pale Wyrm, as opposed to the Black Wyrm. Which is not much of a self-descriptor. It is the way wasteland wanderers might identify the wyrms- by whether the creature moving at the edge of their vision is a mountain of white flesh, or gray, or black, or red.

Wyrms do not seem to have much of an interrelated culture. If there’s any quality they are implied to share, it is seeking out and building kingdoms, luring bugs to them, which would suggest however their population goes, they have a tendency to be drawn towards other creatures, not each other.

This is fun, when it’s worth noting we don’t know how long the Pale Wyrm existed before Hallownest. He doesn’t imply he was doing anything he saw as important or valuable out there. If he sees it as a mindless environment, that might well suggest that he himself was basically operating on raw survival instinct- his concerns were eat, sleep, dig, look for more advantageous places to do those things. So he’d have no real reason to delay if he got it in his head he was going to do or be anything else.

Which could mean he was, at least by the standards of his kind, fairly young and inexperienced upon destroying himself to create the Cast-Off Shell. We can’t compare his shell to any other wyrms, because we have no other wyrms. He may not have even been fully grown.

This is something that came up in A Pale Stranger, and influenced my writing of PK there- that I personally read him as having been a very young entity. Even if he may have spent centuries in the windswept desert between kingdoms, he didn’t learn very much or become particularly worldly. He was not educated by others of his kind, and he did not form connections with smaller creatures.

So, Radiance, indignity of indignities, was more or less dethroned from her position by a punk teenager. I also personally like this read because it leads me to the idea that early-Hallownest and pre-Hallownest PK was at a point in his life where he actually had a lot in common with Ghost at the beginning of the game- a peculiar, unsettling stranger, but not necessarily a malicious one, figuring out what they are and what the world they’ve found themselves in is. Especially to the idea that this would come with an unhelpful inclination towards predation, because, what does “a large animal” do when it’s threatened or confronted, or even just trying to make sense of something? Attack it, usually. 

But I also basically run on the headcanon- with the destroyed nests- that PK is functionally an orphan, whether this is simply the usual way wyrms operate or something unusual happened to him, he’s barely at best ever run into others of his species, and those encounters happened after he rejected that part of himself. And this kinda, creates some problems, because it means he basically has no model that isn’t trial-and-error self-assembled for what he even is.

[oaklandexterminatornearme]

Exterminator in Oaklandext| Pest Control Service Near Me

As effective pollinators for the ecosystem, wasps, hornets and bees all represent. But they can cause costly damage and can even become a serious health threat when they build nests in, on, or near our homes. In reality, each year, stinging insects send more than 500,000 individuals to the emergency room. It is important to know which species you are dealing with and the threats they can pose when it comes to stinging insects. Although their physical appearance can differentiate them, being able to recognise various nests can allow homeowners to identify different species from a safe distance. For a complete guide to the identification of stinging insect nests, read on.

There are several species of yellowjackets, all of which typically have a patterned abdomen and a yellow and black head. Such social insects live with up to 4,000 workers in nests or colonies and are most active in late summer and early autumn.Sweets and proteins feed on Yellowjackets,so they're known to target outdoor activities like barbecues.It is possible to find Yellowjackets and their nests anywhere humans are found. Both above and below ground can be found their paper carton nests, made out of chewed up cellulose. Under eaves, in attics or inside a construction wall gap, aboveground nests can be created. Underground nests typically have a tiny entrance hole that is hard to see. Bear in mind, yellowjackets will venture up to hundreds of feet away from their nest, so when you first find the insect itself, it might not always be in plain view.The bald-faced hornet is named for its mostly black and mostly white face. They live in colonies of between 100 and 400 members, and during the day they are most noticeably active. This species normally occurs in late summer and will not reuse the same nests season after season, unlike other stinging insects. Instead, each season, new colony members build new nests.At least three or more feet off the ground, bald-faced hornets build paper nests. Usually, their nests can be found in trees, shrubs, overhangs, sheds and buildings.Bald-faced hornet nests may have a diameter of up to 14 inches and a length of more than 24 inches.Their grey aerial nests are sealed, unlike the open cone nest structure used by other stinging insects, such as yellowjackets and paper wasps.From the paper-like substance they use to build their nests, paper wasps get their namesake. Based on the distinctive shape of their nests, they're often referred to as "umbrella wasps." This species, like other insects, including flies and caterpillars, lives in small colonies and eats nectar. They have a similar body shape to yellowjackets as they appear in the springtime, but are more brown in colour.In residential yards, this species also builds nests, hanging from items like trees, porch ceilings, deck floor joists and more. There are open, exposed cells in their umbrella-shaped nests, where eggs are laid.

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[therealvagabird]

The Days of Clay - Pt. 2: Beasts, Peoples, and Class Concepts

Part 2 of my paleo/neolithic RPG setting concept. Here are the concept overviews for the more “living” aspects of the world.

You can read the full setting rundown all at once on my WordPress.

Feel free to a leave a comment, and share!

Saurians

Found throughout the tropical and otherwise hot regions of the world, from searing deserts to sweltering jungles, saurians are a common form of fauna across the equatorial continents. Though most saurians are quite similar to all other animals – skittish, of varying size, and uninclined to hunt humans save under ideal circumstances – the great Thunder Lizards are well feared, and stories of them are known the world over in tales of dragons and other great wyrms. Saurians are cold blooded and include such species as the tyrannosaur, the carnotaur, velociraptor, and oviraptor as prominent therosaurs. There are also the mighty thagosaurs, the ceratops, brachiosaurs, and diplodosaurs as among the grandest of the Thunder Lizards. The hunting of these beasts outstrips even the danger of hunting Great Mammals like the mammoth, though that has not stopped some of the most fearsome warrior-tribes from attempting and succeeded at such feats. Tales of the taming of Thunder Lizards are also common, though even less substantiated. Not that factuality matter more than a good story to most shamans and their listeners.

Ape-Men

Ape-Men comprise all those varieties of bipedal or mostly-bipedal humanoid creatures who straddle the line between ape or monkey and man. Those who live in areas where there are no ape-men to be found might think that the distinction between an ape-man and a monkey, or an ape-man and a rather blunt and hairy person might be indistinguishable. Those who have ever seen an ape-man know the uncanny appearance by which those creatures can be identified. Though some believe that the ape-men are just as intelligent as humans, they have no language, no writing, and use but the most primitive of technologies. Some are quite small, while larger breeds can also be found, even in high altitudes and frigid environs. Most ape-men tend to cluster in basic den formations, and though they will not craft tools or shelters, they are sometimes smart enough to set up basic lean-tos, making use of existing caves or other helpful geography, and may pick up and utilize bones and rocks as basic weapons and the like. Though not very violent by nature, ape-men tend to compete for similar habitats as humans, and so often come into conflict with them. Ape-men clans who have lost great numbers to humans before tend to avoid all future confrontations even generations later.

Lizardmen

Similar to ape-men, lizardmen are the various breeds of bipedal, dexterous lizards who can sometimes be found in the territories of other saurian species. Little is known about how they differ from other scaled creatures save for their intelligence. Like ape-men, despite not having any known language or culture, the lizardmen have shown some ability to use tools, and tend to cluster in social groupings. Many of these dens are found in places most humans know as “Shatterlands” – angular rock formations common in deserts and some jungles, which various lizardmen of different species seem to all gravitate towards as ideal homesteads, even displacing other saurians in the process. Lizardmen range from the great crocolids and saurids to the more diminutive skinks and kobolds. They are uncommon outside of their usual ranges, and some say they are even dying off little by little.

Great Mammals

Found throughout the world, though most of all within the great tundra of northern lands like Batyr, Siral’ik, or Dziil, there are those creatures known as the Great Mammals. Also known as Great Beasts or Great Hairy Ones, these are the mammalian creatures who nonetheless rival the largest saurians in size and power. Mammoths, shellbacks, giant sloths, sabercats, dire wolves and dire bears – these are a source of both great danger and great plenty to those tribes who share their lands. Some Great Mammals may be found in southern reaches, such as with the giant ape-kin, or the elephants, giraffes, and the like which wander the savannahs of Noba Rugna. It is uncommon for saurians and Great Mammals to share habitats, though the bloodletting when the two come into contact can be significant and godlike.

Great Coldbloods

Separate from the saurians, Great Coldbloods is a catch-all term for creatures such as the giant snakes, colossal toads, and other creatures which do not share the same general markers of “true saurians” like the therosaurs, brachiosaurs, or ceratops. Though the distinction is rather vague, it is important to tribal peoples who live in southern lands, as Great Coldbloods tend to not be as aggressive and predatory as saurians – they are no less dangerous, but they prefer to stick to their well-defined hunting and ambushing grounds. Some Great Coldbloods are significant enough to take on and fell saurians in their own right, and command just as much fear as any other terrifying predator.

Great Shellhides

Perhaps the broadest category by which the human tribes of the world define the largest types of various animals, Great Shellhides comprise all those cold-blooded, hard-skinned, and boneless creatures which crawl beneath the earth. Though most “bugs” are insignificant things perhaps defined by powerful poisons to compensate for their size at the deadliest, Great Shellhides are monstrosities able to go claw-to-claw against other Thunder Beasts and Great Fauna. Hellspinners, elephant beetles, stoneborers, sand-devils – though some can be quite docile despite their size, most pose significant threats to any humans who dare to trifle with them. Within the seas there are also the giant crabs, temple clams, and devil-lobsters, among others. Though most hunters would not dare attempt to assault any Great Shellhide due to their impervious armor and the terrible ways they are capable of killing, the promise of tender blue-meat and a rich supply of chitin for crafting means that to many, the risk is worth the reward.

Leviathans

Encompassing all those beings which make sailors quail at the mere mention of their names, there are the seabound leviathans. Leviathans are not a single species, nor even a clade, but rather a term for any aquatic monster which is defined by its immense size. Whales are often considered leviathans, along with the great sharks such as the megalodon. More terrible are the leviasaurs – mosasaurs and ichthyosaurs and the like. Kraken, or the god-squids, are another class much feared by all who know of them, as well as the sea-serpents and dragon-turtles. Despite their fearsome reputation, most leviathans pose no great threat to humans, confined as they are to the abyssal sea. It is more common for even the bravest of seafaring tribes to meet their end by exposure or storms than by the direct attack of a leviathan, though that is seldom comforting to most sailors. The hunting of leviathans is considered by many to be the penultimate feat of prowess – to slay something as large and terrible as a Thunder Lizard, yet within their own element.

Giants

Sometimes conflated with ape-men, giants are among the rarest of all the near-human species. Defined as massive humanoids, tending to display blunted manlike features and standing anywhere from over two to five times the height of an adult human. Giants are usually found in reclusive dens, or solo, in the wilder areas of wherever humans might be found. The very largest are confined to the north and far east, in the most remote reaches of lands like Fjallgarth and Siral’ik. Little is known of giants, save for their prodigious size, ferocity when challenged, and rather hideous appearances. Much like ape-men, lizardmen, or parcies, they seem to have no higher culture, yet maintain a level of intelligence above most base animals. They may use fallen trees or great stones as makeshift tools, and some have even been said to herd Great Mammals, though it is unknown if there are any truth to these stories, or if the giants merely hunt such beasts. Most giants prefer to avoid humans when they can, unless in a desperate or vengeful position, as it is a common feat of strength for warriors of the northern lands to seek out and slay giants when they can.

Parcies

Pronounced “park-ees” and often referred to as “little folk”, “sprites”, “gremlins”, and numerous other regional names. Parcies are a strange class of creatures believed to be offshoots of humans or ape-men. Though there are many different breeds of parcie, they are often defined by short stature, and intelligence somewhere between humans and beasts. Humans born with conditions such as dwarfism may be confused with or referred to as parcies, but it is known to most who have encountered the little folk that they comprise their own group of species altogether. Most parcies are shrouded in mystery, living far away from humans, and maybe engaging in clandestine theft if they need to. Kidnappings, misfortunes, and other ills are sometimes attributed to parcies, though good luck and positive happenstances may also be called the work of parcies. While most are reclusive and nonviolent, they have been known to attack humans if threatened. Taking inspiration from certain parcie stories, some humans have even “tamed” parcies as servants or pets when they can. Notable breeds of parcies include brownies, gremlins, tomtens, dzedka, memegwesi, memegwaans, and nimerigar, A singular parcie can also be called a parca.

Humans:

Wisewalkers

Most humans throughout the world are of the breed known as “wisewalkers”. Though there are just the most minimal of differences between the different human subtypes – beyond even more tertiary traits such as skin color, cultural inclinations, or habitat – some distinct traits can be identified. Wisewalkers tend towards being the least hirsute of the human breeds, and the most inventive. The grander settlements of human make have oft been the work of wisewalkers, and the technologies they have pioneered are impressive. Though not so strong or swift as their cousins, the mental acuity of the wisewalker breeds has seen them become the most prolific of all humans.

Hobblehands

Smaller than wisewalkers, hobblehands are known for their great agility and cleverness. Though they are not quite as inventive as their larger cousins, they are quick learners and were the first creators of many basic tools that the wisewalkers would later improve. Standing about three to four feet tall on average, hobblehands are named for their dexterous skills, making for great ambush-hunters and adept crafters of small implements. They tend towards darker or ruddy skin tones depending on region, with curly hair, and round-featured faces that some have said look halfway between an adult and a child – though not in the same way an adolescent’s does. Hobblehands can be distinguished from dwarves or parcies by their proportions, looking rather like full-grown humans of a smaller size. Most hobblehands tend to live within their own tribal communities, and though they are not often leaders of mixed societies, they are much appreciated as crafters by the wisewalker shamans.

Neanders

Large, muscled, and brutish in appearance, the neaders are the human breed most known as warriors and hunters. Stereotypes of their low intellects and blunt affect obscure a significant truth, however – that the neanders are just as sharp and clever as any human strain. Most often found in the north, neanders stand about the same height as wisewalkers, though tend to hunch and have an overall more apelike physique. Besides these differences in build, they are the closest to the wisewalkers in terms of overall appearance. They possess greater strength than wisewalkers, and significant stamina. However, though they have displayed no less cleverness than their cousins, they seem to lack a certain degree of inventive spark. Neander tribes – perhaps due to their skill at hunting – tend to eschew higher technologies if they feel they have no need of them. Sometimes battling their wisewalker neighbors, many neander tribes have been brought into the fold of larger wisewalker gatherings for their might and skill.

Wildlings

A class of humans who straddle the line between true humans and ape-men, wildlings far exceed the strength of the neanders and the agility of the hobblehands – yet unlike those two sub-species, they are marked by a noticeable lack of higher cleverness. Though still capable of tool crafting and the basics of human civilization, wildlings are not very inventive, and prone towards blunt solutions even when it might not be in their best interests. They prefer the wilds from which they take their name, eschewing large gatherings in favor of tight-knit tribes. The most physically adept of all humankind, they tend to be feared and mocked by their cousins, though like the neanders they may be contracted as formidable warriors. As they are so skilled at survival, most wildlings are content in their primitive ways, wanting for nothing more than the bounty their own two hands can bring them. They are often hunched and quite hairy, with apelike visages, though otherwise human in appearance. Their most common roaming grounds are in the southern grasslands and forests, though they may also be found anywhere in the deep wilds that they have staked out for hunting and foraging, from the frozen north to the burning south.

Class Concepts:

Magic is nonexistent in the known world, but that does not mean that mysticism and superstition are absent. Neither does it mean that these belief systems are without merit or use. Shamans, witch doctors, prophets – these are individuals who act as storytellers, leaders, and the glue which holds entire tribes and even emerging states together. Many possess skills of great importance, not bound to one cultural context, such as knowledge of herbs and natural substances, knowledge of crafting and building, or an uncanny memory for the behaviors of animals or the patterns in the weather. For some, belief is a powerful force in and of itself, with warriors and magicians able to work themselves into states of mania which help them endure beyond typical limits. A human can only do so much with their body, even at the strongest, but knowledge and faith are what set humanity apart from the other beasts.

Warrior

A versatile hunter of both men and beasts, able to specialize in various types of weaponry and combat-craft. Warriors, depending on tribal background or personal preference, may choose to focus heavily in certain talents, or diversify for the sake of adaptation. In some places, like the city-states of Sakha, warriors are free to spend more time mastering the arts of combat, given that they do not have to worry as much about base survival. Wilder types may not be as refined in their martial talents, but know the arts of hunting and foraging, or even translate knowledge of poisons and clever crafts into effective fighting supplements.

Shaman

The cornerstone of most tribes is the clan shaman – the priest, the healer, and the storyteller. Shamans, much like warriors, are as varied as the flowers of the field, or the birds of the sky. They blend concrete knowledge and skills with a flair for the dramatic, able to command great respect for their wisdom. Shaman may specialize in many fields, such as healing, inspiring their allies, lore of the wilds, and afflicting their foes with terror or poisons. Some shaman may hold combat knowledge, but for the most part these figures are noted for the stories they tell and the knowledge they keep rather than any outstanding physical abilities. Memorized lore of humans, beasts, plants, seasons, and more can all be utilized by a shaman in order to achieve their ends, whether that be leading their flock to prosperity, or leading their enemies to their doom. Though many think the skills of the shaman to be magic, most of the time trained wisdom and a perceptive nature is just as good.

Skinchanger

One art renowned and feared across the wide world is that of the skinchanger. Shamans who specialize in channeling the spirits of beasts, skinchangers may hone a number of abilities based upon their chosen spirit-animals. Skinchanging requires two physical components – a hide, and a mask. These shamans undergo extensive training in their youths to assume the mind of a given beast, studying their quarry for months and even years so as to learn what it is to be that animal. Then, they must slay that given beast and take its hide, as well as craft a mask from its remains. By donning these, the skinchanger enters a unique mania granting them the power of that beast. Though no real change comes over the individual, they are not to be trifled with. The pelt of a bear or a saurian is still a great armor, and when the person wearing it is bearing a set of claw-gloves and has worked themselves into a frenzy, even great warriors can succumb to terror. Other skinchangers may pursue less “direct” approaches, such as by donning armor made from the carapaces of creatures like the Hellspinners, stalking the high treetops, besides others. Skinchangers learn much by studying their given animals – of which they may have several, should they choose to carry several costumes – such as techniques for climbing, digging, using poisons, foraging, and hunting.

Berserker

Similar to the skinchanger is the berserker, who trains themself to enter a blood-frenzy during battle so as to shrug off injuries which would incapacitate other humans. Berserkers are defined by their great martial skill, and the means by which they enter their blood-frenzy. Some channel simple rage, while others call upon totem spirits or other shades to empower their bodies, and some make use of more literal bloodlust or even strange herbal concoctions. These warriors tend towards a very direct style of combat, favoring brute strength over more diverse or subtle means, yet berserkers tend to also be noted for the various skills they accrue in training their blood-frenzy. Berserkers may be quite knowledgeable in techniques of survival, or hunting, or herbalism as dependent on their backgrounds. For one to rely on strength alone is not enough, however mighty, and so berserkers tend to hide greater wisdom than meets the eye.

Boxer

Somewhere between a healer and a fighter, boxers are set apart from more typical warriors by their deep and intimate knowledge of the human body. Boxers are fighters who have received a degree of training as bonesetters, spiritual healers, or even chirurgeons. A boxer may in combat leverage this knowledge to target their enemy’s pressure points or vital organs, while out of combat they may apply the same techniques to their allies to alleviate pains or fix physical ailments. Boxers pay for their very specialized skillset by struggling in circumstances outside their training. They do not fare well against beasts lest they have knowledge of their anatomy and are not as able as dedicated healers to treat diverse illnesses. They do not do well in armor and may only competently use a set number of specific weapons. Still, the arts of the boxer are much respected by those who know of their reputations.

Beastmaster

The taming of wild animals is not an uncommon calling among certain tribes. Many warriors may hew closer to the path of the hunter, appreciating the company of a loyal hound or boar. Certain shamans may keep birds or other noble creatures as pets, believing them to grant good fortune, or training them to perform useful tasks. Skinchangers go a step further, and attempt to emulate and become as beasts. Beastmasters focus first and foremost on breaking the wills or otherwise earning the trust of wild animals of all stripes, allying themselves to the might of nature. These individuals are much more skilled at taming a larger variety of creatures than a typical hunter might, though even when they choose to simply use a dependable hunting-wolf, it is likely that their wolves will be better trained, and they will be able to command more of them at once. Some beastmasters end up taming great and fearsome beasts like saurians, great mammals, shellhides, and the like. They may even use such massive creatures as mounts. Others could specialize in directing much greater groups of smaller beasts. This could range from a small pack of hunting dogs, to entire swarms of vermin. If a beastmaster is able to safely forage and care for something like a wasps’ nest or a rodent warren-queen, they may even tame a whole horde of tiny pets.

Crafter

Creating things such as tools and shelter is a must-know skill for any human in the wide world, but for some it is more than a simple necessity. Some pursue the knowledge of material things the same way shamans pursue stories, or beastmasters and skinchangers pursue animal lore. Crafters specialize in creating items of exceptional make and identifying the uses of various materials. Bone, stone, wood, hide – even rare metals such as copper – all of these can be put to a multitude of uses by crafters, such as the making of weapons, tools, talismans, and more. Other crafters may specialize in larger projects, such as masonry, forestry, or boatbuilding. The downside is that crafters do not often make for good warriors or hunters and cannot be expected to do much more in combat than level their tools against the foe – though those tools are bound to be of exceptional make. Yet many bands of tribals do well to have one or more dedicated crafters among them, as just as they can put rare materials to good use, they are also quite adept at dismantling things. This can range from skinning a beast to chiseling a hole in the weak portion of a stone-brick fort. Likewise, groups with crafters always tend to accrue more loot, as crafters are skilled at pulling every last thing that could be of use from a fallen beast or a resource-rich area.

[ckret2]

Her (Word A) and His (Word B)

The language barriers, cultural assumptions, and personal baggage blocking communication between humans, aliens, and titans—as demonstrated by what should have been an incredibly simple question about Godzilla and Mothra’s relationship.

This is part of an ongoing series of one-shots set in a KOTM canon-divergent AU; but if you don’t want to read the others, the only things you need to know are: Ghidorah’s still alive and shacking up on Isla de Mara; Rodan’s been teaching Ghidorah his language and the nearest Monarch base has been eagerly recording the lessons; Rodan refers to everyone—including himself—by the names of the nearest geological feature they call home; and Rodan is oblivious to 90% of the history between Ghidorah and Godzilla. Links to the other fics are in the source at the bottom of this post.

This is actually set like... a couple fics in the future from where I’m writing right now, but it doesn’t really affect the main continuity. Inspired loosely by the ask I got earlier today like “What’s Mark doing now that he knows his theories are wrong?” that I answered “lmao he doesn’t know.” 

###

As Rodan and Ghidorah's conversations got more complicated and Rodan's language lessons to Ghidorah became more intricate, sometimes the hardworking crew at Monarch Outpost 56-B couldn't immediately offer a direct translation in the subtitles of their Rodan-to-Spanish/English language lesson videos.

Such was the case today, when they'd had to offer the following translation to a brief exchange that had taken place while Ghidorah was curled around the curve of the volcano and Rodan was hopping through the trees below:

Ghidorah: "What is Mothra and Godzilla's [relationship/interaction]?"

Rodan: "Godzilla is her [unknown word 1] and Mothra is his [unknown word 2]. The same way you[plural] are [unknown word 1 (plural form)]."

Usually, at that point, Ghidorah would ask for clarification, and Rodan would—through metaphor, synonym, story, or physical demonstration—offer a definition for the new words. But instead Ghidorah made what 56-B had dubbed his Confirmation Sound, and the exchange had quickly ended:

Rodan: "Do you understand?"

Ghidorah: "Yes."

And that was it.

By virtue of her work in paleobotany, Dr. Xochitl Flores Rosales had been hired by Monarch; by virtue of her ability to actually speak Spanish, she had received an emergency transfer to the three trailers on Isla de Mara that made up Outpost 56-B; and by virtue of her undergrad linguistics minor and college hobby of making YouTube videos synchronizing video game cut scenes with Linkin Park songs, most of her time was now taken up by creating Monarch-unapproved videos of Rodan language lessons.

This wasn't the first time Xochitl had posted a video with some words left blank. Some time back, Rodan and Ghidorah had left Isla de Mara for a few days, stayed mostly outside of the range of any cameras or recorders that could catch their conversation, and come back with their shared vocabulary doubled; Xochitl was still figuring out some of the words they'd started using while they were gone. Whenever she did, she updated the subtitles in the older videos and mentioned the updates in the next video. This, however, felt different. It felt like a Rodan-teaching-a-new-word situation, not like a Rodan-using-a-word-he'd-covered-where-Monarch-couldn't-hear situation. But he hadn't explained the words to Ghidorah—which meant the meanings should be obvious from the context, shouldn't they? But what were they?

Xochitl posted the video as usual, grumbled about the challenges of translating titans on her private twitter, and pushed her concerns aside to take her shift monitoring the titan activity on the volcano.

When she got back, she'd received commiserating likes from both Chen twins—they had their work cut out for them translating Mothra’s telepathic conversations—and an email from Mark Russell entitled "Latest translation vid." Ah. He was probably going to offer his opinion on how to translate the two unknown words.

Sure enough, when she clicked to read his email:

Dr. Flores-Rosales,

I had a thought about the two unknown words in the language lesson you put up today. What if they're indicators of rank in titan hierarchy? "Godzilla is her king and Mothra is his queen, the same way you are kings"; "Godzilla is her alpha and Mothra is his beta, the same way you are alphas"; "Godzilla is her leader and Mothra is his standard-bearer, the same way you are leaders," something like that. The fact that Rodan explains the word by comparing how Godzilla and Ghidorah have the trait in common makes it sound like he's talking about something unique to the two of them (four of them?), doesn't it? Let me know what you think.

Dr. Mark Russell

She'd considered the possibility—she didn't like it, because she wasn't too keen on how hard Mark was pushing the "cross-species herd with one alpha" hypothesis without anyone exploring the alternatives—but she'd considered it. It was on the list of possibilities, at least—a list that was unfortunately broad and woefully inconclusive.

She took a minute to think over her wording, then typed up a polite email acknowledging his suggestion and explaining that they hadn't heard the words in enough contexts yet for them to draw any conclusions.

###

"What is The Bug and Little King's relationship?"

The three of them were sure that the names that the red sprite called the bug and the little king did not, in fact, translate to "The Bug" and "Little King." But they didn't know what the red sprite's names for them did mean—didn't even know if names in the red sprite's language had meanings, many names in many languages didn't—so until they received a translation, in their minds, the names would continue to mean The Bug and Little King.

The question of the relationship between those two plagued them. Had plagued them for—how long had they been frozen?—for ages. Ever since they'd landed on this rock, stumbled on the bug that shone psychic lights too too deep into their minds, killed her, found she was simply reborn remembering everything about them except that they'd killed her; began hunting and crushing her eggs, been attacked by the little king, and found him ready to fight them at every one of her nests like her personal bodyguard. They'd grown to detest the little king as much as the bug. But they especially detested how the two of them fought side-by-side.

At last, they had someone they could pump for more information. They knew both the bug and the little king's names (sort of); they could ask about them without having to make a fuss about it, without having to draw it out into a long conversation that could be overheard and reported back to the bug and little king. This could be quick and simple.

Except that red sprite answered, without looking up from whatever curiosity he'd identified in the forest below his volcano, immediately and simply, "Little King is her something and The Bug is his something else." Two words they didn't know. At their puzzled silence, the red sprite glanced back at them and elaborated, "The same way you're something."

Something twisted inside them as they realized they knew exactly what he meant.

The first sickening translation they reached was one that fit exactly what they'd always feared and expected to be the dynamic between a warrior with the strength to destroy the world who nevertheless refused to use it and an overpowered psychic who appeared to direct the warrior's actions. The translation they reached was the little king is her slave and the bug is his master. But, no. Surely the red sprite wouldn't follow that up with the same way you're slaves.

"Aha," they said, uncomfortably.

The red sprite cocked his head. "Do you understand?"

The red sprite wouldn't speak to them like that. He'd never seen them as slaves. He'd never seen them in harness as a war machine rather than as they were now. He'd never seen them as anything but free agents of accelerated entropy. He had no reason to call them slaves.

Then, a similar word. The little king is her weapon and the bug is his wielder. The same way you're weapons. Or something similar—warrior and commander, monster and handler. The little king was something the same as they were, and the thing that he was belonged to her. That was what mattered. Him as her possession; him as something that could be possessed; them, too, as this same class of thing that could be possessed. Not possessed now, but possessable.

"Yes," they said. And then they turned away, watching the horizon, telling themselves that the psychic prickle they felt in the back of their minds was just that—all in their minds.

###

"What is Infant and Mariana's relationship?"

It was odd for Nido to hear the golden ones refer to the two of them by their proper names, the-one-from-Infant-Island and the-one-from-Mariana-Trench, rather than the more derisive "it" or "that one" they usually used when talking about either of them. Maybe they were getting over being on the losing end of that kerfuffle with them.

Without pausing his weeding, Nido said, "Mariana is her brother and Infant is his sister." He pecked up another unwelcome tree.

When the golden ones didn't reply—even to ask for elaboration—Nido looked up from the forest toward them. (The golden ones were, again, lounging around the volcanic crater instead of in it, like they had no idea what to do with a bunch of perfectly good lava.) Had they covered those words? Maybe not. "The same way you're brothers," Nido said.

The golden ones drew back, averting two of their gazes from him, and said, "Ihi." Which they usually only said when they got a word, but they looked anything but comfortable with this new knowledge. Maybe they got the words but weren't sure how they made sense? If they didn't know how Mariana's kind left their eggs in other kinds' nests, they might not understand how members of two totally different species could be siblings.

"Do you understand?" Nido asked, which he'd started using to prompt the golden ones to ask for elaboration when they seemed reluctant to ask on their own.

But they snapped, "Yes," and turned away from him; and he was left wondering whether he'd said something wrong. Did aliens not talk about family? Did the golden ones not like being compared to Mariana? Were they anti-adoption?

He hopped closer, considered asking; but decided not to bother with it until they decided to stop giving him the cold shoulder.

He continued his weeding, feeling like something had been lost in translation.

###

(Replies/reblogs are welcome & encouraged! Check the “source” link below for my masterlist of KOTM fics set in this continuity, as well as my AO3 and Ko-fi links.)

[shadowfae]

Hi im pretty sure I'm kin but I have doubts and shit because I have multiple kintypes. How do you know you're kin?

Okay, I’m home, time to jump right in. So, we’re gonna do this in two parts like we did the first guide I did on this. Part one: What Is Otherkinity, What’s Related To It: A Crash Course To Terminology. This is gonna be so we’re clear from the getgo on things. Part two: A Few Methods That May or May Not Work To Figuring Shit Out. This is some of the ways I know - but your experience will be deeply personal and unique, so don’t worry if you don’t stick to any one method, and it’s not about following the method so much as it is finding the answers and being satisfied with what you know.

This guide, however, will not go over most community things, like history and culture. That requires [groaning noises] sourcing things, and I hate doing homework. That you can hunt down from folks who have been here much longer than me. It also isn’t a comprehensive guide on experiences, because trying to mention everything would quite possibly kill me and requires a lot more teamwork and surveys and interviews and chasing down books that are no longer in print. So yeah, don’t expect everything.

I could just link the first guide I made, but it’s good to make a new one a few years later. Under the readmore, but let’s go!

Part One: Otherkinity, Related Experiences, and A Quick Guide To Terminology.

Side note - this is not a comprehensive guide of the terminology, there’s far too many terms and I am literally writing this entirely off the top of my head. If I forget stuff, don’t @ me unless it’s a glaring issue. :p 

Otherkinity: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Every one of those words is important. It is not necessarily spiritual or psychological, though it can be. You ID as the thing, not with it. It is you. You are the thing. It can be nonhuman or fictional or both, but not neither because that just leaves humanity. Some identify partially, and some identify wholly as nunhuman/fictional. I don’t ID entirely as nonhuman, but I do identify wholly as fictional, for example. (I’ll get into that later). It’s nonphysical, you can’t physically shapeshift, obviously. It’s involuntary, you don’t choose it. This isn’t a roleplay, this is identity at its base. It can be changed, but not easily, and not really voluntarily. It is also profound. It is a part of you, it’s never going away, you aren’t exactly who you are without it.

Therianthrope: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a nonhuman, physically real Earth-based animal, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Otherkin, but for Earth animals, like dogs or dinosaurs or bugs. 

Fictionkin(d):An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Often considered the other side of the Venn diagram to therianthropy. This is where you’re a fictional character or entity or member of a fictional species. Harry Potter or a Pikachu, it’s all fictionkin. 

Fictionkind is a bit of an older term, and there has been a push to use it more as ‘fictionkin’ has seen more use amongst those who think it’s a form of roleplay, trading cards, or who have figured out that they can misuse community terms into their purity cults in order to control others. As well, otherkind was one of our first terms, but you’ll rarely see it used. They both share an ending of -kin, which is not from ‘kin as in your blood family’ but -kind, as in mankind, elvenkind, so thus otherkind, fictionkind. It’s not a relating to, it’s a being of.

Theriomythic:An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a mythical nonhuman animal, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. This is for those of us who are unicorns, griffons, dragons, etc, all the nonhuman animals that do not physically exist but are not necessarily under what’s considered fiction. It’s one of the prettiest words we have, in my opinion. 

Phytanthrope: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a plant-based lifeform, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Otherkin, but you’re a plant. I’m including it here because it’s a very pretty-sounding word, and although not as common, certainly real and not something you might recognize. It’s completely interchangeable with ‘plantkin’, but it sounds cool, so.

Otherhearted: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially with a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Like otherkin, but you are not the thing, you ID with the thing. It is close to you, it is what you’d be if you weren’t what you are. The difference, to put it in layman’s terms, otherkin is #me and otherhearted is #god i wish that were me. But like, way more profound. Are you the thing, or is it just incredibly close to you? Both are a part of your identity, just slightly different. 

Synpath: Like otherhearted, and was made by someone who didn’t know the word for otherhearted. It caught on and the difference is mostly accepted as linguistic: if it’s a general noun it’s a hearttype, if it’s a proper noun and thus is a name or requires a capital, it’s a synpath. Tl;dr: you can be unicornhearted, but you’re a Harry Potter synpath.

Otherlink: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially with a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical and voluntary level. This one’s a little more recent. It is like a kintype, but it is voluntary, you can choose it, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a Big Thing like otherkinity. You will also see ‘copinglink’, which actually came first - that one’s an otherlink made to cope with something. (Both terms were made by @/who-is-page, aka a person you Need to be following if you’re gonna be on the tumblr community with us.) Otherlink and copinglink are incredibly handy terms, and when you need ‘em, you’re glad they’re there.

Shifting: An experience in which something ‘shifts’ in the mental or emotional shape to a different state of being, related to otherkinity and/or any related experiences. This one is such a common term, and hard to properly define without going into nuances. Mental shifts are when your mental state shifts to align better with a kintype, aura shifts are when your aura does that, shadow shifts are some sort of astral projection, astral shifts involve the astral realm, berserk shifts are extreme mental shifts that typically involve violence or loss of reason, etc, etc. Most of the time, if someone says they’re in an X shift, they mean mental shift. 

Multiplicity: An ontological experience in which a person is not alone in their body. Before someone @s me, I know it’s badly worded here. This is DID, OSDD-1, and endogenic systems, alongside a few other things. A kintype is you, a multiple is not you but also in your body. I won’t be going over this much as I am not multiple, but it’s good to know about. It’s not otherkinity, nor really related, but if you’re gonna learn about otherkinity, it helps to know about multiplicity. Also see soulbonding and tulpamancy.

Alterhumanity: An overarching community term for all those who do not feel completely, 100% human; or rather those who feel an altered version of humanity. Basically, someone got really tired of saying ‘otherkin, otherhearted, otherlinks, OSDD-1 and DID, endogenic systems, etc etc’ and made a term for everyone. It’s controversial on just who it defines as it also includes transhumanists (those who wish to physically become nonhuman, even if they ID as human) and many other things in a gray area, but as someone who’s gonna be typing otherkin, otherhearted, otherlinks, systems, etc etc a whole lot in this post? It’s handy. 

Phantom Limbs: An experience in which a brain maps out limbs that do not physically exist. This is originally a medical term, but it’s also incredibly useful. It refers to all limbs that don’t exist but you’re still pretty sure are there. Amputees experience this, and you know the rubber hand experiment where they hide your arm and trick your brain into thinking a plastic arm is your arm, and then hit the plastic arm and you feel pain? Yeah, phantom limbs. There’s also supernumerary phantom limbs, which is the Extra Bits like fangs and wings and horns and tails. Astral limbs, however, refer to the astral realm, and that’s a magic and spirit work thing, not an otherkin thing.

Paratype: An identity that is related to one’s alterhumanity but does not precisely adhere to any known definition. This was made by @/aestherians as a ‘fuck it you’re related and I don’t really know how but you’re worth mentioning’. It’s a ‘misc’ term, when you’re not sure if it’s a hearttype or something else but is important to your identity. It doesn’t always mean you’re questioning it, but it’s there. It’s new and does need to catch on, but it’s pretty handy.

ID: Short for ‘identity’ or ‘identify’. Occasionally used as shorthand. Be wary of someone who insists that an ID is ‘more you’ than a kintype. A kintype is an ID. So is a hearttype, or a linktype, or anything else. ‘ID’ is just an umbrella term that has been occasionally misused.

Kintype / Theriotype / Fictotype / Hearttype / Linktype: The noun versions of being otherkin, therianthrope, fictionkin, otherhearted, and otherlink/copinglink respectively. You are otherkin, you have a kintype, you are fictionkin, you have a fictotype, etc. If I catch you using ‘kins’ after this I will eat you.

Awakening / Questioning / Kinfirmation: A few terms to describe one’s journey through understanding their alterhumanity / otherkinity. Awakening is generally the moment you start feeling alterhuman or otherkin. For some of us, we’ve always been like this, for others, we just suddenly notice it. Questioning is whole journey from awakening to understanding and being sure of things. You’re never really done questioning, but when you’re happy with it, technically you’re done. Kinfirmation is a controversial term, sure. It’s otherkin + confirmation. Basically it means the opposite of awakening - the moment you’re sure, you’re done questioning, you’ve confirmed that this is a kintype. Awakening is how you start questioning, kinfirmation is how you finish. It’s controversial because it sounds stupid. But I like puns, so I’m keeping it. (You can slap ‘kin’ into any word and make it hilarious. That’s why I use a ‘kinformation’ tag. :p )

Banned / False Terms: kinning, kins, kinnies, etc - just don’t. Please, just don’t. This is how you make sure nobody takes you seriously and you get dismissed as a troll. ‘Kinning’ as a verb implies that otherkinity is a choice, which is prevalent and dangerous misinformation, and most of the community says burn it with fire - and for good reason. ‘Kins’ is just what people say when they don’t know the word ‘kintypes’, and implies you know very little about this. ‘Kinnies’ is a term made by antikin that’s quite controversial. On one hand, it’s hilarious to use to spit back at them, on the other hand it’s rude, on one foot like ‘kins’ it makes you look stupid, and on the other foot for a fair amount of folks it looks too much like ‘tr*nnies’ to give anything but a gut reaction of horror. (‘Kinnie’ is not a slur and does not hold the same societal weight, but as a gut reaction if you’ve had ‘tr*nny’ thrown at you, ‘kinnie’ isn’t going to make you feel all that great either.)

.

Part Two: A Few Methods That May or May Not Work To Questioning Kintypes and Related Alterhumanity.

So we’ve learned terms, and now there should be little confusion in what we’re talking about here. If you were expecting a step-by-step list, you will absolutely never get one, not from me or from anyone else.

Your journey through awakening, questioning, and ‘kinfirmation will be your own. It will be unique. You will never start in the same place as someone else, you will never finish in exactly the same way. The questions you ask will not be the questions I will ask. You do not need to justify it to me. You only need justify it to yourself. A second opinion always helps, sure, in case you missed something, but it’s not my job to tell you what you are. That’s yours.

So let’s take a look. At this point, one should hope you’ve awakened. It has occurred to you that you’re not quite human, you’re not quite what you physically are. You are aware that this is not a common experience. There are lots of things that could draw you to this. Homesickness is the big one. Memories, sometimes. Habits you shouldn’t have. Methods of thinking that don’t have a reason that makes sense. A feeling of belonging, of hiraeth. Your identity is not entirely your experiences in this life, this moment. Shifts are also a pretty big indicator. And so, so much more that I can’t possibly put a name to.

You know you’ve got Stuff going on here, but you don’t know what, it may be multiple things, it may be one thing. You said it may be multiple things, and fuck, it sure might be. It is for me, and lemme tell you, when those things like combining that makes it harder to sort them out. But you kind of have to, if you’re here and asking these questions.

You’re done questioning when you’re happy. You don’t need to know everything, and tbh you never will know everything. That’s okay. You just need to be happy with what you’re sure of. 

So you’re not entirely human, or you think you might be fictional. Shit happens. But you’ve got to figure out what you are, if you’re not that. For some of us, it’s obvious. For some, not so much. I’m the sort of ‘stare it in the face and not recognize it’ person, because I’m stupid, but that’s a way to do it. 

Your first step, of course, should be to take every sign you’ve got of this, every indicator that makes you think the craziest thing of all, ‘oh shit I’m not human’ / ‘oh shit I’m fictional’. Because kid, this isn’t a conclusion you immediately come to. Think about it, for a moment. If you’re actually here, with this conclusion in mind, there’s a reason you think that this is it. So gather all the reasons you’ve got, notice a few more and grab those too, and stick them in a box. Or write them down. Just put them somewhere and take a look at what you’ve got.

Now figure out if X habit here is related to Y homesickness of Z aesthetic, if that’s a Normal Human Thing or a Odd Alterhuman Thing. The lines will blur. You will have something that’s a Normal Human Thing, but in context is possibly an Odd Alterhuman Thing. Note that it’s both depending on perspective, and continue.

Try not to define stuff too much. Before you say you’ve got wings as supernumerary limbs - do you have wings, or just a weight on your back? Because those ‘wings’ might be wires, or a saddle, or gods know what else. Note that it’s a weight, check to see if it’s not a normal human thing medical issue, that you think it’s wings, what it feels like other than a weight, if it’s just there like clothes or if you can feel through it like your hands, and whatever else you’ve got.

You should probably figure out what you’re working with before you start putting it together. If you’re sorting by colour or by shape, essentially. Question things. Do you know it’s this because that’s just your first reaction, or do you know because that’s what it is and you’re not arguing the sky is blue? 

Do not, and I repeat, do not overkill it. Keep questioning to a quiet thing, if you must sit down and dedicate time, do not do more than an hour or two. Brains do confirmation bias. You’ll see shit that isn’t there, or make things up to fit the puzzle you think you just solved. When you do sit down to question, write down exactly how you got from point A to point D. Take some time away after, and revisit it, see if point C still holds up on its own.

Try not to question too little and assume things, try not to question too much and make yourself full of doubt. Some things just are, okay? You don’t have to convince yourself it’s not That, that you aren’t sure, that it can’t possibly be. Sometimes it’s just like That, and that’s okay. It’s all right to accept the impossible. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t, you’d be dismissing me. Don’t take things at face value, but sometimes, what they are inside is exactly what it says on the tin.

This is going to be long, and great at times, and sucky at times, and downright confusing. If you turn to divination like tarot and pendulums, ensure they work before using them on this, and like all things, take with a grain of salt. Tarot that someone else does on you? Yeah, okay, it’ll work. Asking someone on the internet to use a pendulum for you? No. Do not. That is not going to give you a good answer on anything.

If you can do it for a different part of your identity, you can do it for this - as a decent rule of thumb. 

You may want to ask why you’re like this, if it’s spiritual or psychological or how it happened. Key word may. A lot of us do ask why, and sometimes find answers, but if you’re “Idk, I’m just an elf, don’t ask me,” then that is also completely fine! So long as you’re happy with that answer. 

Multiple kintypes can make questioning an utter nightmare. Tackle them one at a time, use elimination methods, check if X is a symptom of Y kintype or Z hearttype or gods know what else. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t effin’ know, and deal with it later. You won’t get this overnight. You’ll be questioning for at least a month. Anything less and ehhh, you sure, buddy? You might be right, but under a month and you might’ve missed something critical - it just isn’t enough time to be absolutely sure. Like marrying someone, this takes time to understand and learn. Bad example, but it works.

You may be questioning for years. Happens to the best of us. My friend Gryph spent five years asking ‘is this a hearttype or a kintype’ and was only sure after I used the ‘#god i wish that were me versus #me’ comparison and it made enough sense that they figured it out on the spot. That was like, three years ago. It was actually kind of funny considering Gryph was like, twice my age at the time. 

Point is, this takes time, sometimes you just know, sometimes you really don’t. It’s weird, it’s unique, it’s personal, it’s an adventure and if you’re here you’ll probably be glad to go through it. Some of us are actually not happy with being otherkin, and would trade it away if they could. This is also normal. Not as well-spoken about, for obvious reasons, but it happens.

The key is introspection. It’s not divination, it’s not what someone else says - though that can help. It’s introspection. It’s about you, it’s what you are. It’s what’s right, what is true to your story. It’s a truth of the world, something you understand a split second before it defines itself, something that really just doesn’t give itself easily over to words.

There’s no step by step guide to otherkinity, to alterhumanity. Nobody could make one. But if you’re sure that this rings true, that this is the key to a part of you, then to you I say only two things.

Welcome to our subculture. I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Luteia 💚

[draconicmagicalgirl]

Pokemon Paragon: A Summary

It’s said, eons ago, when the Original One came into being, that it hatched from a cosmic-sized egg. But what ever happened to the remnants of that egg, once the Original One was born?

The shells, made of stardust and cosmic energy, merged together. The remnants of energy from the Original One’s birth fused with the shells, and became a being. This being had a slim body, many sets of beautiful rainbow wings, and a large ring over its head that shone with all sorts of colors.

This being opened its eyes, and saw the world that its ‘other self’ had created. It saw the humans, and their bonds with the creatures called Pokemon. Fascinated, it chose to experiment with these bonds, curious as to the true potential they held.

And that is what leads up to today: the existence of Paragons.

The Basics

The title of ‘Paragon’ has many uses, but in this context, it refers to a duo - a single human and a single Pokemon - who share a bond like none other. These duos are in possession of a unique gem called a Soul Shard, said to be made of the human and Pokemon’s auras, which allows the human of the duo to transform and fight alongside their partner, harnessing the Pokemon’s powers for their own use.

The creation of Soul Shards is still something shrouded in mystery. These gems are never simply found; all over the world, people have reported finding themselves clutching Soul Shards after awakening from a mysterious dream they can remember no details of.

A Soul Shard can be used right away. As long as the human of the duo is connected to it in some way, they are able to transform. For ease of access, and to be certain the gem is not lost, however, many prefer to add it to some sort of accessory they often wear, or an item they often carry. Necklaces, brooches, rings, whatever you can think of, it’s likely been done by some Paragon out there.

This is all heavily classified info, however. The existence of Paragons is kept secret from the general public, not only because it’d put them in extreme danger by those seeking that power (or, perhaps, seeking to exterminate that power), but also because a group of Paragons calling themselves ‘Team Spectral’ has popped up in recent years, across many regions, and knowledge of this group going public could cause widespread havoc.

In order to combat them, the International Police formed a section of their organization called the ‘Prism Unit’, a subdivision made up of solely Paragons and a select few non-Paragons who could offer a talent of theirs to the group.

And so the battle between the Prism Unit and Team Spectral continues...reaching a head in the distant region of Lemua, where knowledge of Paragons is, uniquely, a widespread thing.

Transformations

A Paragon’s main draw is, of course, the ability to transform using their Soul Shard. This grants them a unique outfit resembling the Pokemon they’re bonded with through the shard, a fitting weapon, and the ability to use powers similar to the moves Pokemon use. This, of course, requires the Soul Shard to be connected to the user in some way, either through direct on-skin contact or through some sort of accessory. The gems themselves are the size of a Key Stone, so there are many possible options for how one can wield their own.

The actual appearance of the transformed Paragon’s outfit depends on two things: the Pokemon they’re bonded with through the Soul Shard, and their own character. If two Paragons are closely bonded, their transformed appearances will often resemble each other. 

(Note: Unlike in certain anime, hair color and style does not change as result of a transformation. That’s limited to a specific thing we’ll get to later.)

Weapons, on the other hand, often are directly related to the Pokemon the Paragon is bonded with. A Beedrill Paragon will often have a lance or drill arms, a Decidueye Paragon will often have a bow, etc. There are also some more unique weapons, like, for example, a certain Musharna Paragon having a giant gourd bottle as a weapon. There’s even been an example of an Aegislash Paragon using the Royal Sword Pokemon itself as a weapon, the two fighting in sync as one powerful force.

Should a Paragon bond with a Pokemon which has not fully evolved yet, the Paragon will evolve alongside them when they do, obtaining a new appearance and new powers. Occasionally, their weapon will also power up and obtain a new form, and on rare occasions, their weapon will change entirely.

Moves + Synchro-Skills

Moves used by Paragons, predictably, are often drawn from the moves the Pokemon of the duo can normally learn. If the Pokemon can use it, the Paragon can train themselves to use that same move. In the end, though, Paragons are their own beings, and can occasionally gain the ability to use moves that the Pokemon cannot normally learn.

Then, there’s Synchro-Skills. These can only be used when the Paragon and Pokemon are truly fighting as one, and are unlike any other move out there. Each Synchro-Skill is unique to the duo, and even two Paragons who are bonded with the same species of Pokemon will have different ones. Using these skills takes quite a bit out of both members of the Duo, however, so it is wise for a Paragon to learn to determine when is the exact right moment to use it.

Mega Evolution

While Mega Stones have only been found for a few specific Pokemon, it is possible for any Paragon with a fully evolved Pokemon to reach a temporary state similar to Mega Evolution. The Paragon transforms alongside their Pokemon, and temporarily obtains an extravagant new form (a new outfit, new hairstyle & hair color, and possibly additional features such as large wings) and extraordinary powers, including a new Synchro-Skill that can only be used while in this state.

Mega Evolution takes an extreme amount of energy to pull off, especially for the Paragon, so after transforming back, it’s almost certain that the duo will collapse. In this sort of state, it can be dangerous to their health to change even into their normal Paragon form, so it’s recommended that the duo get a substantial amount of rest before doing so.

Abilities Beyond Transformation

The more a Paragon transforms and uses their powers, the more that that side of them will bleed through to their normal self. For example, a Paragon bonded to an Ice type will be somewhat cold to the touch, and, vice versa, a Fire Paragon will feel warm. Ghost Paragons might gain the ability to sense, or even see, spirits of the dead, and Psychic Paragons might gain small psychokinetic abilities, though nothing major.

The specific species can also cause unique powers to emerge. For example, a Paragon bonded to a Pokemon with the ability to manipulate aura/life force, like a Lucario or a Honedge, might gain the ability to sense these forces, and mildly manipulate them, to a degree.

Soul Shard Details + Specialities

While each Paragon may have their own unique abilities, certain ones are similar enough to be grouped into Specialities. This system easily allows one to identify what a Paragon specializes in, whether it be stamina, raw attack power, speed, etc.

Of course, considering how each Speciality’s Soul Shard looks different from the rest, one has to wonder if the being who grants this power meant for this sort of grouping system all along.

While Speciality is most often influenced by the primary type the bonded Pokemon is, in the case of a dual-typed Pokemon, the Paragon’s Speciality can rarely draw from the ‘sub-type’ instead.

Pictured are the six Soul Shard shapes currently known to exist. As mentioned earlier, the gems themselves are about the size and width of a Key Stone.

As for color, that depends on the type of the Pokemon bonded with. A pure-typed Pokemon will result in the color going in a gradient from a lighter shade to a darker shade (ex: a Grass Paragon’s Soul Shard going from a lighter green to a darker green). A dual-typed Pokemon will result in one color slowly fading into another (ex: a Flying/Normal Paragon’s Soul Shard going from the first type’s listed color to the second’s)

Specialities In Detail

Striker Types: Steel, Fighting, Dragon Key Stat: Atk Combat Role: Hard physical hitters, making opponents flinch

Sorcerer Types: Ice, Psychic, Fire Key Stat: Sp. Atk Combat Role: Special attackers, some weather effects

Defender Types: Ground, Rock, Normal Key Stat: Def Combat Role: Physical tanks, buffing defense & debuffing attack

Shielder Types: Water, Dark, Ghost Key Stat: Sp. Def Combat Role: Special tanks, buffing sp. defense and debuffing sp. attack

Dasher Types: Electric, Bug, Flying Key Stat: Speed Combat Role: Fast-acting, occasionally hard hitters, affecting others’ speed

Absorber Types: Grass, Poison, Fairy Key Stat: HP Combat Role: Healing skills, inflicting statuses that lower HP, absorbing HP

Team Spectral

Team Spectral doesn’t operate in solely one region. They’re all over the place, causing havoc and wiping out Paragons unaffiliated with them, uncaring if it causes the existence of Paragons to become public knowledge. While the identities of a majority of the members remain a mystery, there is some knowledge by certain authorities of certain members which act as admins among the group, being gifted with special titles and known to be incredibly dangerous and powerful.

“The Scarlet Princess” Speciality: Dasher Soul Shard: Ariados Last Spotted: On a ship seemingly headed to Galar.

“The Bronze Witch” Speciality: Shielder Soul Shard: Gourgeist Last Spotted: Near Laverre City, Kalos. Vanished soon after reported.

“The Golden Wrecker” Speciality: Sorcerer Soul Shard: Girafarig Last Spotted: An unknown forest, seemingly in Kanto.

“The Emerald Snake” Speciality: Absorber Soul Shard: Serperior Last Spotted: Agate Village, Orre. Vanished into the desert soon after reported.

“The Cobalt Blanket” Speciality: Striker Soul Shard: Altaria Last Spotted: Riding on their Pokemon, away from Hoenn.

“The Orchid Aegis” Speciality: Defender Soul Shard: Aerodactyl Last Spotted: ???

“The Colorless” Speciality: ??? Soul Shard: ??? Last Spotted: Never spotted, only heard of from tracked conversations.

The Prism Unit

In response to the emergence of Team Spectral so many years ago, the International Police recruited a multitude of Paragons and created the Prism Unit, a team dedicated to tracking down and apprehending the members of Team Spectral. Some do have other jobs beyond that, but PU missions take top priority when they’re assigned.

Out of the entire group, there’s a select few referred to as the unit’s ‘A-Team’. They tend to be assigned the most important missions, and are the leading offense against the forces of Team Spectral.

Lucida Morgentaler // Keppel Age: 17 Gender: Female Speciality: Striker Soul Shard: Aegislash Role: Leader of the A-Team Side Job: Baker in Sinnoh

Kannon Miura // Cotton Age: 17 Gender: Female Speciality: Sorcerer Soul Shard: Froslass Role: Intelligence Officer Side Job: Innkeeper-in-training in Alola

Belric Pursglove // Maroon Age: 39 Gender: Male Speciality: Defender Soul Shard: Rhyperior Role: Fabricator Side Job: Office Work in Kalos

Henneke Louffen // Powder Age: 19 Gender: Male Speciality: Shielder Soul Shard: Cloyster (Shiny) Role: Lead Strategist Side Job: Barista in Kalos

Nesina Calandri // Smoke Age: 14 Gender: Female Speciality: Absorber Soul Shard: Toxicroak Role: Field Agent + Occasional Sleeper Agent Side Job: Odd jobs around Alola

Tessa Calandri // Vanilla Age: 14 Gender: Female Speciality: Dasher Soul Shard: Togekiss Role: Field Agent + Occasional Sleeper Agent Side Job: Odd jobs around Alola

[thegreenhorseman]

We hear it every year, year after year…”This is going to be the worst year for ticks yet.”  It seems to get worse every year.  If this is unfamiliar to you, you might be fortunate enough to live in an area where the concern is not so prevalent.  In the northeastern United States, however, you’d be hard pressed to find a group that hasn’t expressed concern.

Why ticks?

These tiny vile creatures spread several diseases, most commonly Lyme Disease.  Since May is Lyme Disease Prevention Month let’s work to understand HOW Lyme is transmitted. We’ll also explore some steps we can take to keep ourselves and our animals (horses, dogs, cats) safe.

In 2017 nearly 30,000 cases of Lyme disease were diagnosed and another 13,000 were suspected as “probable.” Most of these cases originated in the northeastern United States as seen in the map below thanks to CDC.gov.  The chart following shows the upward trend of Lyme disease throughout the years.

Cases confirmed in the United States 2017.  Courtesy of CDC.gov

Cases of Lyme Disease in the United States 1997-2017 courtesy of CDC.gov

Ticks are arachnids, or eight-legged creatures, that thrive in deep grass and wooded areas.  Often areas where our horses enjoy, of course.  There are several different species of tick and they all have different life cycles, feeding habits, and habitats.

What is a bit more alarming is a new tick to the United States called the Asian Long-horned tick, which can reproduce without a mate.  The video below talks briefly about it.

Most of the time when we think of ticks we think of the most common threat; the deer tick/black-legged tick.  The deer tick is often the source of Lyme disease along with several other illnesses including Anaplasmosis, Powassan, and Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever.  Blade suffered from anaplasmosis in 2017 (Blade’s Got the Blues and Equine Affaire). 

The deer tick begins its life cycle as an egg laid by the females in springtime.  By summer the larva emerges from its egg and waits for a host.  Hosts are typically birds and small rodents.

Freshly hatched ticks they are free of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.  Only when they feed on their hosts do they pick up the pathogens.  In the United States the bacteria transmitted is either Borrelia burgdorferi or Borrelia mayonii.  Across the pond in Europe and Asia you are more likely to find Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii.

The birds and rodents that feed tick larva carry these species of bacteria without illness; they are simply hosts.  By fall the tick falls from its host and enters its nymph stage. The nymphs are barely visible to the human eye.  These critters lay dormant through the winter but by April/May they begin to emerge again.  They wait for a host to walk by so they can catch a ride.  Using their barbed mouth parts, the tick digs in for a blood meal.  The pathogen inside the tick enters the salivary glands and can be released through the tick’s saliva.  These hosts include us and our loved ones.  Nymphs are often the cause of Lyme disease since they are small and difficult to spot.

By fall the nymphs become adults looking for new hosts.  At 45°F they seek wooded areas to survive the winter.  When they emerge again in spring they continue to look for hosts and mate.  A single female tick can lay 3000 eggs!  After a two-year life cycle the new batch of larva hatches and begins the cycle again.

As you can see, we can become infected by both the nymphs and the adult ticks. The more hosts carrying the bacteria, the more likely it is to spread to us.

The hallmark sign of Lyme disease is the bullseye, a circular rash around the bite.  Symptoms may appear weeks after the bite.  This appears in a majority of cases…but what of our equine friends?

Horses suffering from Lyme Disease may have subtle symptoms.  They might be off mentally, emotionally, and physically.  They may be sore or lame, lethargic, grumpy, neurological, or have a low-grade fever.  Lyme is known to mimic other issues so a vet is critical in ruling out other problems.  Lyme will also elude testing, as there are many cases of Lyme that appear negative on test results.

I’m even learning that Lyme can be a cause for some headshaking in horses.  Headshaking is not commonly listed as a symptom nor have any of my vets over the past two years suggested the possibility.  This is, however, something I plan on looking into after this research. As you may know from past articles, Blade developed headshaking about 18 months ago (shortly after his run with anaplasmosis). Though our tests were negative it could have been one of those instances with a false negative.

Once Lyme has been diagnosed (or suspected) there are a few treatment options.

The most common treatment is called Doxycycline, an ingestable antibiotic often given in a powdered form with food.  A similar drug is called Naxcel.  Despite their popularity with horse-owners they only happen to be 50% effective.

The most effective treatment is more pricey… a study in 2005 reported 100% effectiveness.  The reoccurrence levels were considerably lower in the study as well.  What’s this treatment you ask?  Daily intravenous oxytetracycline.  My vet once called it the “gold standard.”  The reason most horse-owners don’t opt for this treatment is the administration. Having a vet visit and administer the shot every day for 3-5 days is pricey so most horse owners use the Doxy.

If I remember correctly I paid somewhere around $450 for three daily IVs of Oxytet for Blade.

So what are some ways we can prevent this problem from happening in the first place? As the Benjamin Franklin saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Lyme vaccines for horses are not available yet.  Studies have shown some effectiveness using canine vaccines on ponies, but it is still far too early.  There are no studies out (yet) showing the safety of this methodology.  Until we have vaccines we are tasked with the footwork that we should be doing anyway.

Checking for ticks often is the first thing you should be doing. Check yourself, check your dogs, check your cats, check your horses.  It takes 24 hours for a biting tick to transmit the disease.  I tend to find most ticks under the cheek, the neck, the chest, and the barrel (especially up behind the back legs).

There are a lot of Facebook experts who have tips, tricks, and endless opinions on tick removal.  The simplest thing you can do is use a good pair of tweezers and pull the tick up slowly and steadily so you remove the whole bug.  Another useful tool can be found in most pharmacies and pet stores.  The tick twister.  This little hooklike tool comes in a couple sizes (at least mine had 3 sizes in the package).  When you find a tick you slide the bug between the openings at the end so it becomes wedged.  From there twist and pull gently.  I have successfully removed many ticks using this tool and I love it. After a tick is removed you may choose to save it in a plastic bag for testing.  Apply alcohol or antibiotic ointment to the affected bite wound to be safe.

Since ticks prefer wooded areas, you can try to stay out of these areas.  That’s easier said than done if you enjoy the outdoors.

Keeping the grass and pasture mowed can be helpful.

Removing piles of leaves and moist ground cover is an excellent way to prevent ticks.  That leftover hay pile?  Let’s get rid of it!

Keeping down the rodent population could be useful.  Non-poison rodent traps, barn cats, and proper food storage go a long way.

Chickens and guinea hens love to eat ticks!

DEET and permethrins are of course some good chemicals that have proven efficacy for the prevention of ticks and other pests.  Some people use them others don’t.  That’s your choice to make.  There are many products on the market including fly sprays, spot-on applications, and even wipes.

I have had mediocre success with feed through pest repellant.  The more I use it the less effective it seems to be (though the first year seemed to make a big difference).

If you are opposed to chemicals more research has been finding useful essential oils that are as effective as the CDC recommended products. The key to the best product is perfecting the volatility ratio of oils.  High volatility essential oils disperse into the air faster.  This helps by preventing ticks from attaching in the first place.  Lower volatility oils will disperse into the air more slowly and have a longer lasting effect.  Check out the Tisserand Institute’s “Tick Talk” (link below) for more information on these oils.  I’ve also shared with you their formulation for DIY tick repellant.

Credit to Tisserand Institute

The thought of ticks and the disease they spread makes my head hurt.  Lyme disease is rarely fatal but it does lead to some frustrating and debilitating complications.

Other diseases like Powassan are rarer but a lot more deadly; this virus is associated with brain swelling.  Here in New York we are already beginning to hear reports of Powassan virus.  One group has found 25-50% of deer in the Adirondacks are positive for the virus and it only takes 15 minutes for the tick to transmit the virus to humans.

Whether Lyme, Anaplasmosis, or Powassan we can take steps to stay healthy and prevent ticks from biting.  It may take some time and effort but it’s completely worth it.

What are some of the methods you use to keep ticks at bay?

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

http://ssequineclinic.com/pages/services_lyme.html

https://ker.com/equinews/lyme-disease-horses/

https://equusmagazine.com/management/protect-against-lyme

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/animal-health-diagnostic-center/testing/protocols/lyme-multiplex-horses

https://igenex.com/ticktalk/2018/01/01/a-closer-look-at-the-different-types-of-ticks-and-how-to-identify-each/

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/graphs.html

http://www.aldf.com/deer-tick-ecology

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html

https://www.lymedisease.org/get-involved/take-action/lyme-awareness-month/

https://tisserandinstitute.org/tick-talk-2/

https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2019/02/powassan-virus-on-the-up-tick/

What Ticks Me Off We hear it every year, year after year..."This is going to be the worst year for ticks yet."  It seems to get worse every year. 

[peggy-cherepaha]

Did Noah’s Flood happen? Short answer: No.

Is Noah’s flood possible as it is described in the Torah/Bible? Let’s do some calculations to see how feasible keeping two of every animal on the ark for 40 days would be:

First off, after doing some research, it seems that the Torah/Bible itself is confused about how long the flood lasted and how many of each animal was brought on the ark. I’m going to go with the classic “40 days and 40 nights” and two of every animal, a male and a female, so that they could reproduce.

Allow me to use estimates that are in favor of the existence of the flood as it is described.

From the Torah, the ark dimensions are 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits. 1 cubit is at most 20 inches. Our ark is 500 ft x 83.3 ft x 50 ft. Giving us a volume of 2,082,500. I am going to assume that this entire volume is available for the animals.

To have some reference:

Empire state building (without antenna):

1,250 ft x 424 ft x 187 ft, V=99,110,000 ft^3

Largest oil tanker:

1,504 ft x 226 ft x 34 ft, V=11,556,736 ft^3

Titanic:

882 ft x 92 ft x 34 ft, V=2,758,896 ft^3

The titanic held about 3,327 passengers, which is about 830 ft^3 per person not including any cargo/machinery.

Back to the ark:

We have identified over 1,500,000 species in the animal kingdom on earth. Estimates of the total number are much higher, but to be generous, we will only use the ones we know of.

An estimated 50-80% of all life on earth lives in the ocean, and so would not need to be put on the ark.

Again being generous, we assume there are only 300,000-750,000 species of animals that live on land and need to go on the ark.

Two of each animal means we need space for 600,000-1,500,000 animals.

If we divide the space evenly between each animal, not including food or water needed for them, we get 1.39 ft^3 - 3.47 ft^3 per animal.

 But let’s assume each invertebrate (bug) needs only 2 in^3 (0.00116 ft^3) of space.

About 90% of all animals are invertebrates.

540,000-1,350,000 invertebrates would then need a total of 626 ft^3 - 1,566 ft^3 of space.

This leaves 2,081,874 ft^3 - 2,080,934 ft^3 for our remaining 60,000-150,000 vertebrates giving 13.9 ft^3 - 34.7 ft^3 for each animal.

 This looks pretty good until we consider that this number does not include space for all the food and water for the animals for 40 days. Let’s assume that the ark is able to collect enough rainwater every day for all the animals and that all of the animal waste is thrown in the ocean. That leaves a 40 day supply of food for each animal left to bring on the ark. We also need to assume that they bring on enough food to keep the animals healthy since the carnivores will likely go without food for a while since the herbivores need enough time to breed and bring their populations back up.

 One elephant eats at least 200 lbs food per day. How much space does 200 lbs grass take up? It’s hard to find numbers for that, so let’s assume they could condense the food the way we can in modern times when we make emergency rations. A 1 lb ration pack takes up 21 in^3 = 0.012 ft^3. A one day supply of 200 lbs for our elephant takes up 2.4 ft^3. A 40 day supply takes up 96 ft^3. This is well beyond the allotted 34.7 ft^3 the elephant gets.

 Of course the smaller animals would not need the full 34.7 ft^3 for themselves and all their food, but even medium size animals may not have enough room for themselves. Horses need at least 15 lbs of hay per day, and we will assume this is the same for zebras and other horse-like animals. Their 40 day supply of 600 lbs of food takes up 7.2 ft^3, leaving at most 27.5 ft^3 for each horse. An average horse is about 5 ft tall, 8 ft long, and maybe 1.5 ft wide. This means that just the horse has a volume of about 60 ft^3, so there is no way any of the horse-like animals will be able to fit in their allotted space with their food. This is also not even considering that there needs to be room for hallways for Noah’s family to move through to take care of the animals.

 I must admit, I am not the first one to look at these numbers and realize that there is no way for one family to keep and take care of two of every animal for 40 days on one boat. It’s clear that the ancient people who wrote this story didn’t have any idea of just how many species we have. They were likely limited to a few hundred animals they could find in the middle east, and the dimensions given for the ark would likely be much larger than any structure they had ever seen built.

 But creationists and many religious people insist that the Torah/Bible is divine word, and that there must be an answer to these problems. Answers in Genesis, a prominent creationist website, insists that instead of two of every animal, only two of every ‘kind’ of animal was brought on the ark. What is a ‘kind’? Nobody knows. Creationists have not been able to come up with a formal definition for a ‘kind’, likely because it doesn’t make any sense, but regardless they insist kinds can be easily identified. They use examples like how every wolf, coyote, and domestic dog is part of the ‘dog kind’, and so Noah would only need to bring two wolves on his ark. But we run into a problem when we try to decide which ‘kind’ animals like the fox, the echidna, and other such strange animals belong to.

In any case, Answers in Genesis quotes a book called “Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study” by John Woodmorappe, a creationist who says he has a Bachelor’s degree in biology but he doesn’t say where he got it and I can’t look him up because that’s not his real name. Since I am in my third year of a Biological Engineering bachelor’s degree program in an accredited University, I like to think I have more credibility than him. He also claims to be a high school biology teacher, which really gets my blood boiling.

John says that if we use ‘kind’ instead of species, then there would only be 16,000 total animals on the ark. How did he come up with this number? I have no idea, and I’m not going to actually give him money to get access to his book, so I guess those calculations will remain a mystery.

Using the 16,000 number, there would be 130 ft^3 for each animal, and assuming each animal eats as much as the horse we calculated for earlier, it still leaves 122.8 ft^3 for each animal.

So now we have enough space for each animal, so the next question is what happens to the animals after they leave the ark.

 I already mentioned that the carnivores would be in trouble. If they started eating the herbivores, it would be mutually assured extinction. However, they wouldn’t be able to go without food for the years it would take for the herbivore populations to be sufficiently large. Answers in Genesis proposes that the carnivores could eat the rotting corpses of all the animals that were left behind. This may delay the problem, but it wouldn’t fix it. There is a reason carnivores generally do not eat dead, rotting meat like detritivores; it’s because dead meat becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. The bacteria breaking down the meat is the reason it rots. Carnivores do not have the bacteria in their digestive systems necessary for eating rotten meat. A carnivore that is desperate for food might eat a rotten corpse, but that animal would die soon after from a bacterial infection. Carnivores are also not able to survive on a diet of plants like omnivores, as they can’t digest the plant matter and so will not get the nutrients they need to survive. There would, however, be plenty of marine life available to the carnivores, and surely a starving animal would eat anything they could, but this still is not adequate, as many carnivores are just not able to hunt in the ocean.

 There is another problem we are faced with, and that has to do with genetic bottlenecking. This is when there are too few of a species so they are no longer able to carry on the population. Let’s say that we have only two wolves on the entire planet. These two are able to reproduce and have a litter of 5 puppies. Well now those puppies have no other wolves to breed with except their siblings, and any offspring born from incest will have horrible health problems and will likely be infertile. Thus are wolves will go extinct in a matter of generations. This would be true of every one of the 16,000 animals that were brought on the ark. From this point, many people will wonder how we could have so many animals if the theory of abiogenesis (the current, best supported theory to explain the origin of life) proposes that all life came from just one organism. The answer to this question is quite simple, as we believe the first life was a mere self-replicating group of molecules whose offspring would have been identical. Many single-celled organisms reproduce asexually, which means that they can make an offspring all by themselves. As we go to more complex organisms, what we see is an individual may be born with a genetic mutation that makes it different to the others in its population, but it is still similar enough to reproduce with the others. It takes a long time for mutations to pile up and the population has two groups that slowly lose the ability, over generations, to reproduce with each other. A more direct form of speciation occurs when there is a geographical barrier, such as a piece of land becoming an island, and the isolated population is large enough to sustain themselves as they mutate and change.

 But in the scenario where only two of each ‘kind’ were brought on the ark, we would not be able to avoid genetic bottlenecking, as there are only a few animals we know of that can reproduce asexually, and with each ‘kind’ being so dissimilar, the animals would not be able to reproduce out of their ‘kind’. So even if two of every ‘kind’ were kept alive on the ark, it would take mere decades for all animals on earth to die off. Our only hope would be the very few number of animals we know of that can create genetic clones, so maybe Noah’s flood would make sense if our Earth was populated by humans, marine life, and some all-female herbivorous lizard clones.

 I wanted to go back to where these creationists insist that from one ‘kind’ of an animal we can get many different species, I mean ‘varieties’, of that animal. Let’s look at bears, and assume that two grizzly bears were brought on the ark and were able to magically acquire the ability to successfully breed a new population. How would this population of grizzly bears give rise to polar bears? From what I know about biology, I would supposed that a few grizzly bears migrated north to an area that got a lot of snowfall. Then one day a baby grizzly bear is born with a genetic mutation that causes its fur to have no pigment rather than the typical brown pigment. That bear would have an advantage to its siblings because it would be better camouflaged in the snowy landscape and so could sneak up on prey better. Since that bear is well-fed, it would have many offspring, most if not all of which would have the genetic mutation that codes for non-pigmented fur from their parent. Those white bears would be again be more successful than the brown bears and the process would repeat until you are left with a population of white grizzly bears. Oh wait, I just described evolution! Dang it, I was supposed to be describing it the way a creationist would. I guess another way it could happen is god reaches his hand down and plucks up a few grizzly bears, turns them white, gives them more fat, and puts them down in the arctic.

 But wait, some of you may be surprised by what I said. The process I described was evolution? But what about the sudden appearance of a new animal? What about the lightning striking mud to make living goo?

Actually, evolution is defined as the change in allele frequency in a population due to selection pressures over time. That means that organisms randomly acquire mutations and are more successful or less successful in breeding than their competitors due to that mutation, and thus pass on or do not pass on their mutation to their offspring. That’s it, end of story.

Creationists often seem to be confused, or try to confuse, people about what evolution means. The theory of evolution does not include speciation, it does not include abiogenesis. They want to muddy up the waters so that it’s difficult to understand what they are talking about because they don’t care about the truth, they care about people believing in them.

 So that’s it, this was a fun little thing to do, but I hope I was able to educate some people or at least let people see things in a new perspective. My numbers are pretty rough, but again I gave every advantage to creationists. I also simplified many concepts so that I could just get the point across, not teach an entire biology course. Know that I don’t have a problem with religious people, I have a problem with the religious people that manipulate and lie to try to make reality fit with their religious documents. I am totally open to answering questions or hearing your thoughts on all this. I am also open to new ideas, but know that I have heard just about every creationist argument and am prepared to refute them with hard data. I do have a formal biology education, as well as a personal interest, so I have a lot of biology knowledge and am always willing to learn more. Thanks a bunch if you stuck around this long!

[shadyblazeblizzard]

Well decided to do another one of these, and I wanted to do a bug pokemon, and Butterfree seemed like the best option. So without further ado "Pokemon have always been a strange specimen to examine and study. In certain regions they are everywhere and practically replace all the niches in their environment taken by traditional animals. Also they are simultaneously different from practically every Kingdom of organisms, but share a lot a similar features, so much that they practically deserve their own Kingdom of classification. Now I know that I am not the first, nor the last person to study these creatures, but I also can't help but examine a few and document what I find. I will try to stray from the digital encyclopedia of the Pokedex. The Pokedex has a massive catalog of most pokemon discovered, however it is a mishmash of countless contributors with their own findings, interpretations, and biases that contradict each other, and are sometimes too ridiculous to be true" "I have chosen the pokemon 'Butterfree' to document first, as it is extremely common to find in nearly every region. But even though it is commonly caught and trained, I want to study more about its anatomy and its natural activities. Many pokemon undergo a sudden metamorphosis, commonly referred to as 'evolving' even though they really aren't the same. This also supports that Pokemon should be classified as its own Kingdom. 'Evolution' is a sudden metamorphosis in typically up to 2 stages, and are triggered by multiple, and strange methods. I will be talking about one of the stranger methods of 'evolution' in a future entry. Typically by 'leveling up' or by getting stronger, as it helps to make the pokemon gain more power and abilities to better survive in the wild. It is like the 'Survival of the Fittest' rule of nature, where species must grow and adapt to survive in a competing enviornment. Butterfree's line is such an example. Butterfree's first stage is a Caterpie. It is very similar to the animal caterpillar and so is the entire line, adding to the mystery of how pokemon act and look so similar to animals. But thats a question for another day. Caterpie is very vulnerable to predators and is often preyed upon, and 'evolves' into the cocoon stage Metapod. Metapod is like a butterflies chrysalis form, but with a tad more mobility and control as it can still move a bit and is well known for hardening its body to repel predators from eating it. Soon after the cocoon hatches and Metapod turns into its final form, Butterfree" "Butterfree is the most powerful form of the species, and is commonly caught by the trainers as one of their first pokemon due to caterpie's status as being weak, common, and easily trained. Butterfree has many new abilities that make it able to survive on its own. Its most well known ability is the power inside its wings. Now I'm not talking about just the appearance of wings, as of course a butterfly like creature would have it. Its set of wings are very strong, perfectly able to summon powerful gusts of wind that can blow away some opponents. But the most amazing thing about them is the powder that comes from it. Inside the wings seem to be some sort of organ or sac that can create powder of different and amazing effects. One type is poison powder, which can poison the target if inhaled ( luckily brought plenty of berries to counteract the effects). A stunning powder that causes body paralysis and stupor if inhaled. And the most commonly used sleep powder, which causes extreme drowsiness when inhaled ( this happened a lot when I was documenting). Butterfree will use this powder as its main method of attack. It can easily affect any predators and often times I've seen Butterfree use these powders to ward off predators that threaten their young or just other small bugs. The Butterfree family also seem to be a counterpart in a way to the Beedrill line, having similar stages of 'evolution' and both famously inhabiting Viridian Forest in Kanto. I have seen a few instances where Butterfree use their powder to stop a swarm of Beedrills when they get ornery ( I'm glad they did as I almost got attacked by one) . But also Beedrill swarms will often ward off predators when Butterfree's powders aren't enough. It seems to be a bit of a symbiotic relationship. Though Butterfree are less aggressive than Beedrill, which makes them much easier to study" " Besides the powder and its wings, Butterfree has another attack, strangely one that would be classified as one of the 'psychic' type moves. I have seen that sometimes Butterfree will use 'supersonic' and 'confusion' at some opponents. Butterfree doesn't seem to have any exceptional psychic abilities, so this is not a traditional psychic type move. Upon further research, Butterfree seems to use its antennae and it's compound eyes to  create radio-waves to disorientate and hurt enemies. Or possibly they are more sonic. Its hard to tell as they seem to affect pokemon more than humans. I like to imagine that its like a cicada buzzing but much worse and in your mind. Asides from that Butterfree has strange looking feet, but they actually have a much more useful purpose than one may think. They 1. Act as a counterweight from its massive and powerful wings, allowing it to fly much easier and more gracefully. And 2. The feet are coated in small fibers that allow Butterfree to grip to many surfaces for long amounts of time. Though its tiny clawed hands don't seem to have much of a use, other than gripping onto surfaces and grabbing things.  Butterfree has a big nose that's is full of smaller holes that allow it to sniff many scents and identify and track them. It is useful to find berries, flowers, and sap. Butterfree also has small fangs used to puncture the skin of berries and to dig into bark to find tree sap" " Butterfree is a very beautiful and cute pokemon, which helps its popularity. However it is really recommended for starting trainers as its easy to raise and use, but does not work well against the stronger pokemon of the region. And speaking of region, Butterfree will often gather along the seashore during its mating season. Many trainers will release their Butterfrees for this event, wanting them to make a family. It is a very heartbreaking, but happy time. Butterfree has markings on its wings that indicate whether it is female, making it easier when masses of them come together to find a partner. During this event, Butterfree will begin a migration across the ocean to find a new suitable place to raise their young. I believe this is why the Butterfree line is found in so many reasons, as its a method to insure the species survival by spreading them far and wide. Many Butterfree are slightly different according to the region they grow, such as Butterfree in Jhoto having a symbiotic relationship with the pokemon Heracross, and Butterfree in Alola competing with Cutiefly" "Butterfree is a simple, yet intriguing specimen to study. It is so similar to the basic butterfly so many of us know.It is very simple and common, but maybe that's the charm. It is like a fundamental part of nature that is reflected in the pokemon species. It is facinating to see such an exotic type of organism act like a simple animal. It's an example of why Pokemon are so facinating and why so many people try to catch, train, battle, and research them. It almost making me consider focusing more on Pokemon than other creatures. In fact, if I catch a Butterfree, it will help me study it more and its abilities will no doubt help me study more specimens. Am I too old to be a Pokemon trainer? Where can I get a starter? Or are they only given out to ten year olds?" So what do you think about the entries? Have any other suggestions for video game creatures to have an in-depth look at them? Please tell me if you do.

[livingcorner]

How To Get Rid Of Grubs – Tips From A Pro Gardener

Grub worms eat the roots of your lawn or yard. If left untreated, they will become adult beetles and will feast on your plants’ leaves. To treat grub worms in the garden, homeowners usually apply a readily available commercial grub killer to their lawn.

So, when you have grubs in your lawn or garden can be a right pain in the proverbial backside. Just knowing they are there in the first place is difficult, as the signs of having grubs can be very similar to other common problems.

You're reading: How To Get Rid Of Grubs – Tips From A Pro Gardener

And when we do know that they are there – how do we get rid of them?

Knowing how to get rid of grubs starts with having a little information under your belt, so you know what you’re looking for and the best approaches for defeating these lawn-killing pests.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. All opinions are our own we pride ourselves on keeping our articles fair and balanced. For more info see our disclosure statement.

What Are Grubs?

First of all, what are “grubs”? It’s a pretty general term and can refer to a number of different kinds of thick, worm-like beetle larvae that live in your garden soil.

They exist as dormant eggs through the cold winter months, and then hatch in the spring to burrow around and eat the roots of your plants.

Eventually, they will change into their adult forms and lay more eggs that hatch into next season’s grubs, starting the cycle all over again.

Some species can take more than 1 year to complete the cycle, but the idea is the same.

How to Identify Them

So how do you know you have grubs? Your first signs are likely going to be problems with your grass and other plants. Odd patches of grass will start to die off and turn brown, without any apparent cause. If you do have a grub problem, the damaged grass should pull up easily since the grubs have been eating away the roots underneath.

Once you can see the dirt, you should have a clear view of any grubs. They don’t burrow too deeply Depending on the specific species (we’ll get to that in a moment), they’ll be an inch or so in length, cream-colored with a dark brown head, and usually curl up in a “C” shape when the sod is pulled off.

Read more: Attracting Praying Mantis – Using Praying Mantids For Pest Control In Gardens

Another tip-off that you have a grub problem is the increased activity around your yard from raccoons, skunks or birds. These animals love to eat grubs, and will come in droves for the easy snacks. So finding patches of sod all torn up and dug through can mean you have grubs, even if they’re not the ones who directly did the damage.

For more specific species identification, it gets a little tougher. We’ll discuss the different kinds of grubs in the next section.

Types of Grubs

In North America, you’ll likely be finding grubs from a few different families of beetle. June beetles (also called June bugs or even May beetles) are the most widespread, but you may also have Oriental beetles or European chafers. They all look very similar when in the grub stage and most home gardeners aren’t going to be able to tell one from the other without a little research and possibly an insect identification guide.

While technically there are some species of grubs that are harmless to your grass, most will be a problem. If you see grubs in the dirt without any actual damage going on, you might want to wait and see what develops before you reach for the insecticide.

How To Get Rid of Grubs

Now we can get to the important details on how to get rid of grubs. You have two general options: pesticides or a more natural route.

One point to mention before you go to war on the grubs, they are a natural part of the ecosystem and you shouldn’t necessarily worry about them unless there are large numbers. If you check under the grass for about a square foot, and only find 5 or 6 grubs, then you can just leave them alone. They aren’t going to cause much of a problem.

Pesticides

For commercial pesticides, you have a few choices. Most will come in either liquid or granular form, and can contain compounds like carbaryl, imidacloprid, or halofenozide. These are known as “curative” products as they are designed to kill existing grubs.

You’ll have to check with the instruction on how and when to apply because not all products target grubs at precisely the same stage. That means some may be put out on the lawn later in the season than others. Check the labels.

Some products can deceive you into thinking they are effective against grubs by showing a grub on the packaging when they actually do not kill grubs at all. Be sure to read the instructions on the packaging to ensure you are buying a product that will actually work.

Take note that even though chemical products might seem more effective, they will kill a lot more than just the grubs. That can have a negative effect on the health of your lawn since there are so many beneficial insects living down there as well.

I have had great results with Bayer Advanced Grub Killer. Give it a go!

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RESTRICTIONS: Not for sale in CA & ME

Natural Options

If you want ideas on how to get rid of grubs naturally instead, there are effective ways to take that approach.

Parasitic/Beneficial Nematodes

One of the most popular is to introduce parasitic nematodes into your lawn, which can be purchased online or at garden stores (they’re alive, so buy right before you plan to use them). They sound a little scary but they are just microscopic organisms and are harmless to anything but a grub.

Neem Oil

Neem oil is another naturally occurring pesticide that can help against Japanese beetles and lawn grubs. It inhibits their feeding, grown and breeding.

Simply mix some neem oil with water and spray it on to the infested parts of your lawn. Follow the instructions on the pack for the exact amount of neem oil required.

Read more: How to use compost – Burke’s Backyard

Milky Spore

Milky spore is another natural bacteria that can help if you are dealing with Japanese beetle grubs specifically.

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Dry Them Out

Another simple way to kill off grubs is to let them dry out. They only thrive in moist soil and will die during a drought. Avoid watering the grass and you might find that is enough to kill them. Granted, it may not be the best choice for the grass but many species of grass will bounce back after a dry spell.

Timing is Everything

Timing can be important too. Spring and early summer can be the best time to target a grub infestation, as they are the most vulnerable then. Once they are in their hard pupae casings, they are much harder to kill. And of course, when they are in their adult phase, they aren’t under the ground any more and will require different tactics.

Still Got Grubs? Don’t Worry

While pesticides and natural methods can get rid of the majority of grubs, it is inevitable that some will remain.

If you find a grub here or there when working in your yard, don’t stress too much. It is highly doubtful that you will ever be 100% grub free.

As long as there are no signs of problems, you can rest easy.

Bonus Info: A Little Prevention

Sometimes the best way to get rid of lawn grubs is to keep them out of your soil in the first place. That means targeting the adult beetles before they have a chance to lay their eggs. When they are in their adult beetle form, they are dealt with just like any other above-ground garden bugs.

Usually, a standard insecticide will work. Even a natural repellent with pyrethrins can be enough to deter the beetles from spending time in your yard and laying their eggs. You can even go old-school and use the pick-and-crush method to kill off any of the large beetles you see in your yard.

If you can’t get a handle on your grubs this way, there are also commercial preventative products you can buy that contain many of the same chemicals as the grub-killers. These are intended to either kill/repel the adult beetles or kill the eggs before they hatch, and are labelled as “preventative” control products (as opposed to the previously mentioned curative products). A popular choice of grub preventer is Grubex – you can find it on Amazon here.

So next time you have to deal with lawn pests, now you know how to get rid of grubs.

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/how-to-get-rid-of-grubs-tips-from-a-pro-gardener/

[jodybouchard9]

Garden Grubs: How To Slay the Nasty Worms in Your Yard

Ian Dyball/Getty Images

Have you noticed any dead or spongy patches of grass on your lawn lately? They could be the work of garden grubs. While these gross little wormlike creatures are harmless to humans, they may murder the heck out of your garden.

Brown grass or clusters of dead plants are always concerning for homeowners. But if you haven’t been hit with a nasty drought lately, or doused your lawn in toxic chemicals, you may be playing host to these unwelcome pests.

Here’s the low-down on everything you need to know about garden grubs, and how to kick them out of your yard.

What’s a garden grub?

Garden grubs feed on grass roots.

N-sky/Getty Images

Garden grubs are essentially baby beetles, but that doesn’t mean they’re cute. You’d probably prefer to see these writhing white larvae on the opposite end of a fishing pole.

“Lawn and garden grubs are juvenile scarab beetles,” says Dan Bailey, president of WikiLawn. “They get into your lawn when an adult beetle lays eggs, usually a few inches into the soil. When they hatch and progress beyond the larval stage, they begin eating grass roots.”

But before you start googling “scarab beetle,” hear this. Scarab refers to the Scarabaeidae family of beetles, which has 30,000 species.

“There are many different kinds,” says Kristiana Kripena of InsectCop. “Most commonly encountered ones are the larvae of June bugs, European chafers, masked chafers, billbugs, Oriental beetles, and Japanese beetles.”

Whatever the type, without your own personal Timon and Pumbaa, you’ll need to mount a serious plan of attack to get rid of these grubs.

How do I know if I have grubs?

If you haven’t met the little buggers personally (which would be likely to happen as you are digging around in your lawn or garden) it can be hard to know for sure when you have them. Here are a few ways to identify these stealthy pests.

“Grubs always have a C-shaped body, brown head, and three pairs of legs,” says Gina Harper of Harper’s Nurseries. “Grubs feed on roots, so if you see [that] a patch of grass lifts without roots holding it down, or brown spots that never turn green and an increase in activity from birds, raccoons, and skunks—that means you have a grub problem.”

You should also become suspicious if you start seeing an increased beetle population in your yard, especially if your lawn starts mysteriously dying a year after you first spot them.

“Grub problems occur in a regular three-year cycle if not managed,” says Harper. “The most significant damage occurs the year after the appearance of the beetles.”

How to get rid of garden grubs

These nasty little things can be a real pain to get rid of. Fortunately, there are some tried and true methods that actually work. And none of these methods involve illegally importing any meerkats or warthogs. Hakuna matata!

Nematodes

If you know for a fact that larvae are feasting on your grass, then it’s time to head to your local gardening store (or Amazon) and pick up some beneficial nematodes.

“The most effective and natural way of getting rid of grubs is using beneficial nematodes,” says Harper.

These microscopic worms may sound benign, but they’re actually one of the best solutions for killing your garden grubs. Here’s how they get the job done: Once in the soil, nematodes will seek out your unwanted guests and infect them with a potent bacteria that kills them in 48 hours or less.

Milky spore

Another natural way to kill your garden grubs is using something called milky spore ($40, Lowe’s). However, it only works on Japanese beetles—meaning that you need to know what kind of grub you’re dealing with.

Here’s how it gets down to business.

“Once grubs eat the milky spore, it will reproduce inside the larva, eventually killing them, in seven to 21 days,” says Harper. “As the grub decomposes, it will release new spores that multiply and kill other grubs.”

Drought

Beyond the classic nematode or milky spore method, we’ve also heard of people trying a self-inflicted drought to rid their yard of grubs.

“The eggs prefer damp environments and will die if they don’t get water,” says Kripena. “Therefore, not watering the lawn will help with the problem.”

Definitely what we’d call a scorched-earth solution.

One method to stay away from? Aeration—aka the ultra-sophisticated practice of poking holes in your lawn to make it grow better.

“Aerating the lawn is not a great way to deal with the issue, as it won’t really eradicate the pests,” says Kripena.

Sure, you might kill a few, but not enough to solve the problem. And trust us on this one, grubs are a bit like Pokemon. You gotta catch ’em all.

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