#What I do know is birds and roaches are not mammals because they got no mammaries

[kinka-juice]

Mammal is anything what makes milk with a boob, is an endotherm (warm-blooded) and typically has hair. Mammary - > Mammal.

Of extant (still living) mammals the earliest split is the egg-laying monotremes. There are roughly five species of monotremes depending on your lumping and splitting: platypus, short beaked echidna, and three species of long beaked echidna.

The next split is "Metatheria", aka Marsupials, both from Australasia and the Americas. They do not form a complex placenta between mom and fetus, and they leave the womb early and move to a pouch, where they develop by drinking milk instead of using an umbilical cord. They are born at an extremely undeveloped state compared to the third group.

That would be the Eutherians. Every living mammal that is not a monotreme or marsupial is a Eutherian. Also known as placental mammals. Us, mice, bats, whales, aardvarks, etc. We have a placenta in the uterus and do most of our initial growing there fueled by our mom through the umbilical cord, not in an egg or in a pouch.

What all groups have in common, and no mammal has ever lost, is Milk. Milk does a mammal good. Yes, we also all are endotherms and have hair (well, some have lost hair, mostly for aquatic or fossorial purposes), but the big thing is milk.

If it drinks milk secreted from a mammary gland as a baby (Don't @ me about pigeons, penguins, flamingos or cockroaches, Crop milk and roach milk are different - and coconuts aren't mammals either) it's a mammal.

Here's about the best cladogram I can find, because there is no good illustrated cladogram on this topic for reasons I don't know. (Please don't ask where Turtles fit into amniotes, this is the worst question in tetrapod taxonomy, I was taught anapsida was real and that was a convenient lie by my Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Prof to avoid the Worst Question).

But because we often define groups by relatedness, not by traits, you can also define mammal as something like "any amniote more closely related to a lemur than a lizard". At least for extant species.

Fun milk-related mammal tangent: go read about the dayak fruit bat.

My bio info could be off- but marsupials aren't mammals, right? Please tell me that if they aren't, they also share hair/fur with mammals...

marsupials are a group within the larger group of mammals, the same way that bats are! they're both just specific weird types of mammal.

[aggressive-positivity-network]

I just need anything with the mercs and bugs. Like just arthropods in general. Please just the boys and some bugs, please 🥺

Mercs & Creepy Crawlies

Headcanons

Medic:

“Bug? Vhere?”

He is interested in all living creatures, so of course he would have no qualms with insects. Of course, he would prefer mammals, but whatever.

His favorite to study? Cockroaches!

He likes to use them as mini-science projects. When he gets bored or burnt out, he usually takes to the “Roach-Mobile,” using electronic signals to move the cockroach every which way.

He’s also a big fan of scorpions, millipedes, and the occasional revived fossil.

It’s one of the few things he likes about living in the desert.

Lately, though, since he’s become more and more exhausted, he usually hangs out in his butterfly room. That always seems to relax him.

Heavy:

Heavy usually doesn’t notice insects unless there’s a scorpion in his boot or a fly on his sandwich.

However, he unfortunately has a very rare allergy to ladybugs.

It usually doesn’t flare up unless they go to a campground or a park where there are a lot of ladybugs.

He sneezes something awful.

And when Heavy sneezes, you definitely notice.

It hasn’t gotten very bad over the years, especially because of the arid air around the base.

But one time they had a ladybug infestation after a shipment for Medic went wrong. Until Engineer exterminated them, Heavy was sick as a dog. He even swelled up a bit and ran a low-grade fever.

“Lady is little, but make big man feel sick...”

Any occasional ladybug in the base is practically killed on sight.

Demo:

Since he lived in Scotland, the only bug he is familiar with are worms, so he doesn’t really have much to say about the others.

Except, of course, leeches.

He is deathly afraid of them.

When he was young, he was attacked by a leech swarm in a lake, and he lost a lot of blood. He even had to go to the hospital.

Ever since then, he gets sick even looking at a leech.

Medic is thrilled. He has a nice, healthy, slightly obsessive interest in phobias.

The doctor likes to tease him whenever possible, and will always offer leeches as an option when Demo gets injured.

One time, he even held up one for Demo to see.

Demo proceeded to scream, throw a grenade in Medic’s direction, and run like the devil in the opposite direction. He didn’t even take out the pin, just threw the whole, inactivated explosive.

Medic laughed and put it back in the tank, but hasn’t done it since...he already spends enough on the lab as it is.

Soldier:

He has and takes care of a pet scorpion in his Sniper Square.

Their name is Roman.

They literally have a bow on their tail made out of an old t-shirt.

Soldier feeds Roman insects, small frogs, and other meaty things - he even gave them beef jerky once.

He is pretty much immune to scorpion poison because Roman has stung him so many times.

Other than that, Soldier is pretty chill with every other bug.

Sometimes he’ll just be at the table.

Playing with a brown recluse.

Or even a black widow.

Like man, do you have any self-preservation instincts?

Sniper:

Bugs make his job a lot harder, especially centipedes and Soldier’s pet scorpion.

Sniper’ll be aiming for a shot, then he’ll feel a bunch of legs crawling on him.

Sometimes it’s sweat.

Sometimes bug.

He thinks dragonflies are pretty cool, though.

If one lands on the muzzle of his gun, he won’t take the shot. He considers it bad luck to startle a dragonfly.

Sniper isn’t afraid of any insects - I mean, come on, he lived in Australia - but he doesn’t like most of them because of how small, quick, and usually poisonous they are.

Just dragonflies.

In fact, he secretly likes collecting dragonfly stuff along with apricot stuff.

Pyro once got him a scented sticker with a dragonfly on a peach for Smissmas, and he almost went insane over it. He has stuck it on the wall of the Sniper Square, right next to the slit he shoots out of.

Pyro:

There aren’t many day bugs that Pyro likes.

Miss Pauling doesn’t them keep any, so what’s even the point?

However, fireflies are a different story.

Pyro catches massive amounts of them every night and uses them as a night light until morning.

Engie is in the process of making small “fire-bots” so that the firefly population doesn’t go extinct.

The only other bug Pyro is interested in is butterflies. He spends a lot of time in Medic’s butterfly room as a result.

His favorite is watching them come out of their chrysalis. He’ll just sit in the butterfly nursery and stare at them at they come out.

Pyro is very gentle with them, so Medic trusts her to go fetch all the new butterflies and set them free.

It’s their favorite job ever.

Engineer:

GRASSHOPPERS!

No, I’m serious, he is obsessed with grasshoppers.

When he is feeling burnt out, he can and will build as many tiny, robotic grasshoppers as necessary to feel better.

Sometimes he sets them loose and watches them hop around.

Any merc can walk in and see Engineer cross-legged on the floor, staring at an endless sea of robo-hoppers.

“Should I come back later?”

“Yeah.”

He thought about making robo-birds to catch them, but then thought about how he’d have to make robo-cats to catch the birds, and robo-dogs to catch the cats...he got so overwhelmed that he just put the grasshoppers away and took a well-deserved nap.

Scout:

Messes around with pretty much anything that isn’t poisonous

He was actually once dared to eat worms, succeeded, and then proceeded to eat a few worms whenever he could find them.

??????

Medic thinks it’s because of a vitamin deficiency, but no one really knows for sure.

Scout was also always covered in mosquito bites.

He refused to put on bug spray because of the smell and the fact he can’t stand still long enough for it to be applied.

Finally, out of sheer frustration of Scout’s whining about itching all the time, Engineer “came across” a dog tag necklace that suddenly took care of the bug problem.

Scout wore it proudly, and he hasn’t had a bug bite since.

Medic owes Engineer several favors for that one.

Spy:

He will not tolerate bugs.

He doesn’t like cockroaches, flies, scorpions, ladybugs, butterflies, or mosquitos.

But Spy has a special burning passion for spiders.

He will not visibly freak out, of course - he has too much pride for that.

However, he will take the magazine from under his arm and slam it down on the spider, instantly killing it.

He cracked a wooden table after seeing a black widow.

Medic has tried exposure therapy, but Spy has managed to kill every single one of his specimens.

But hey, it’s free pest control, so no one else is complaining.

I wonder if I should add Ms. Pauling in the future...what do you guys think?

@leepogo

[rogue-seeker]

file: mind conflicted, networked bodies

tw: Starscream being bastard and pushing boundaries, Soundwave being creepy Soundwave, body weirdness

Note: This takes place in the NEST base arc of Rogue Seeker before Skywarp and co. show up. Hexbolt is an OC, an uploaded human mind who inhabits a network of drone bodies and fought against the Autobots in the Invasion three centuries prior.

---

"Fascinating, this plethora of bodies."

Starscream grinned and commented as kha purveyed Dr.Hex's collection of drones with gleaming optics. It wasn’t hard to get into the old workshop, after all Starscream was former SIC of the Decepticons and sparkbonded to khyr ship, The Nemesis,  kha had bypass codes for all of nir chambers.

The Organic Intelligence, Hexbolt and NEST had moved into the ship centuries prior, but their inferior tech hadn’t unlocked most of the locked rooms.  Still, their...occupation was enough that places like this drone workshop now existed.

Kha holographic crest pricked up in interest.

There was the near-human replicant frame, winged and tailed. It was curled in a nest of blankets and pillows on a shelf-loft with human-sized tools, furniture and living quarters with a small kitchenette and a bathing area. It’s breathing was shallow and slow. Starscream took a mild note on the differing scales that the Organic Intelligence used for their differing sized bodies

Tucked away into shelves and cubbies on the shelf-loft was the smaller frames. Kha sneered at the drones in the shape of organic Terran insecticons and fictional ones like the creepy food insecticons from Bugsnax. Artificial birds and small mammals stared at khyr with dead eyes.

On the wall above the sleeping replicant, was the unmoving Kafka-esque drone, in the visage of an Earth roach, its wings crowned with a human face.

Starscream’s holographic feathers flattened against khyr helm in disgust and kha swept khyr holo tail feathers over the roach drone in reflex.

[Starscream: Explain presence.]

Soundwave’s private message burned in the lower right corner of khyr HUD.

Starscream spunned on khyr heel and looked in the darkest corner of the workshop. Ah, there.

Soundwave, keeping sentinel. Zir pigment nanites had shifted to be pitch-black and zir biolights was off. Ze was nothing but a mech-sized silhouette, their visor flashed in the darkness.

[I just need to ask them something, Soundwave. Nothing to worry your pretty helm over.]

Soundwave didn’t reply, but kha could tell they were recording.

Starscream shook khyr helm and turned around. Kha paid zir no heed, let zir go back to being the silent one.

The network was silent, each drone body had empty eyes and dim optics.

Starscream wasn't sure if anyone was home.

Just because the near-human replicant was breathing, didn’t mean there was a mind to pilot it.

Soundwave's presence had a way of ensuring that Hex wasn't around, let alone in what was their private quarters.

There was only one way to find out.

Starscream picked khyr way past several old mechframes, while Soundwave's helm slowly turned to watch khyr movements.

Sitting against the wall was an old familiar drone frame, it leaned against the wall, its four hands clasped in its lap as its legs were outstretched before it.

"Ah, I remember this one. The satellite-former that my darling Skywarp once built, based off that ancient extinct codeline. You used to own this as a drone, Soundwave."

Ze did the barest of nods.

Khyr talons reached out to caress the side of the helm.  Kha remembered Skywarp craving violence and metal to grow that frame.

It's faceless visor flashed and its engines rumbled and its vocalizer crackled.

DESIST

The frame boomed out, sounding exactly like Soundwave when angered.

In the corner, Soundwave's data cable unfurled.

In a flash, the Satellite frame leapt to its feet and slapped the data cable away, its own talons glinted.

DESIST

"Ah, so someone is home!" Starscream smirked, khyr own denta flashed in the dim lighting.

"You're an ass. The hell you want!? I was sleeping." Hexbolt said.

"Ah, is that anyway to speak to your elders? After how I settled the status issues between you and Soundwave here?"

Hexbolt turned on their heel and tilted its helm, EM field tense and tight against their frame.

Starscream just cackled.

"You really are like Soundwave, even moving your helm like zir."

Hex just flexed their claws. " Yeah and without me, you wouldn't even be awake with a working body. I doubt you came here to compare the two of us. What is it?"

Soundwave nodded in approval in the background.

Starscream knelt down and picked up the toaster body from its cubby on the shelf-loft. It warbled in annoyance. "I see this little one's currently connected."

The toaster pouted on its screen.

Its little nubby legs flailed.

Soundwave's data cable snaked its way from zir corner to the back of Starscream's neck, kha could hear the slow spin of its tines whir menacingly.

Heh.

Hex folded their arms, all four of them, and silently watched, the visor had the recording mark. No doubt they were studying the dynamics between khyr and their adopted parent.

Starscream gently ran khyr talons over the toaster body and handed Hexbolt's small drone body to the satellite frame. Handing them back to themself.  The toaster warbled in appreciation at being back with theirself.

Soundwave's threat didn't relent.

Behind a giant isopod body, several fryder drones watched warily. Kha reached out for them and they skittered underneath.

Another data cable reached out, this one aimed for the base of khyr helm, the tines on this data cable spun even faster.

The old satellite frame ex-vented as the toaster body wriggled itself free. It nubbled its way over to Soundwave, who picked it up with gentle spindly digits.

It chirruped happily.

The satellite frame's claws started to crackle.

"Both of you get out. I went to sleep. Alone for a reason." Hexbolt turned to look at Soundwave, both faceless visors stared straight at each other.

The toaster whined sadly.

Both satellite-mech and toaster eyed each other, a silent battle of wills.

Starscream chuckled.

"Mind conflicted, aren't you? A part of you wishes to stay with Soundwave and recharge like a good sparkling, the rest of you is determined to stay independent and free of flock and adopted creator."

Whirring tines started to slow.

Soundwave's grip on the toaster tightened and the toaster nestled in zir grip.

The satellite frame backed away from both of them and turned their back on both of them.

"Out."

The toaster beeped.

"Yes, that includes you!"

Hexbolt's satellite frame looked over their shoulder. "Well?"

Soundwave nodded, and zir data cables withdrew back into zir now glowing frame. Ze picked up the toaster to its helm and it nuzzled the Voidwing's chin.

Soundwave stalked out the doorway, zir e-m field flickered happily.

"Fascinating. With your network, both your wishes came true. Independence and a good snuggle." Starscream laughed.

"I told you to leave."

"Ah, I need a favor of you."

"Right, when you harassed me awake." Starscream purred and khyr tone became silky.

"It's for science."

Hexbolt's turned around and leaned against the wall, arms crossed and right leg planted on the wall behind them. Their faceless helm cocked in interest.

"Okay, you bastard, I'm listening."

"This frame, you built. " Khyr claws swept over khyr frame. "It's flawed."

Hexbolt sagged a little as they hunched over and their most outer two arms tapped their claws against the wall.

"....I'm not surprised. You are the first and only Cybertronian I've tried to revive. My old mech prototypes fell apart, until that modified Thunderbolt jet came together."

Starscream's smirk grew.

Khyr holo tail feathers slowly curled around the once human drone network in front of khyr. The lack of belligerent debate was surprising but welcome. So different then from dealing with Megatron.

"Yes, you see the problem then."

Their faceless visor recorded the hypnotic movement of khyr holo feathers.

"At least that works, eh? I got the holographic feathers down. That took a while."

Starscream tsked. "Actually."

Hexbolt's helm dipped down.

"It's missing a whole spectrum of color, in the UV range. Among others that don't come naturally to your biological cameras."

"...I see. I was guessing from old video and simulations ran on my network. You understand. The few surviving cybertronian appliances  aren't really interviewable."

Starscream nodded. "Still impressive for a species with your limitations. But you know." Kha said, airily.

"It's limiting your communication opportunities. The missing range is a disability. Though....do you even need that to communicate with Soundwave?"  Hexbolt's helm looked straight up at Starscream, it bored into khyr, despite the younger network being half khyr size in that form.

Starscream scowled and khyr holo feathers flashed neon blue, the color of life, energon, and rage.

"No. Zir codeline didn't rely on holographic displays for communication."

The ex-Winglord reached out with a claw and gently tapped on the face-screen.

"This? They used."

Hexbolt raised an arm and pushed away khyr claws as Starscream laughed softly.

Hexbolt straightened their back and looked straight up at Starscream, with that eerie blank face. Unlike Soundwave, they never displayed anything to the adult Cybertronians. Kha had only seen them display to other humans and khyr shared creations with Soundwave. 

"I'll send you some textbooks on human consent and you send me what you need fixed.  Display an understanding of human consent culture and I'll start on your new improved form."

Starscream's optics shuttered.

Hexbolt continued, "Deal? Can't be that hard, Winglord. Just some simple reading you need to get done, while I have to build a whole-"

Starscream scowled. "Please. While your work is quite admirable for your species, I'll still be supervising and giving aid as needed."

"Of course, such supervision and aid doesn't need face tapping. Unless there's some form of cultural meaning, I'm not aware of." Hexbolt looked Starscream up and down. "Now get the fuck out of my workshop, unless you want to know why I survived the Autobot Purges."

Starscream's optics narrowed along with the glowing optics on their holographic feathers.

Khyr crest flattened against khyr helm, streaked with irritated grey. "This will be a fruitful venture, yes? I'm more then happy to let Soundwave know of your progress and emotional state."

Hexbolt stiffened.

"Yes, ze will be quite pleased to know that you agreed to work with me on this." Starscream smiled and slowly sauntered out of the workshop.

The door slid behind khyr as Hexbolt's blank face screen recorded khyr.

-end-

[aerodactylheresies]

Insect Enrichment

          It’s relatively common knowledge that vertebrate pets require environmental stimulation in order to stay happy and healthy. When it comes to arthropods, however, few people bother to provide enrichment, either because they feel it unnecessary, or, as I felt, just don’t know how exactly to approach it. In keeping Guyana spotted cockroaches (aka dubia roaches, Blaptica dubia) over the last year, I’ve found them to be surprisingly complex in their behavior, and have tested several types of enrichment with them that I feel I could share to help others in the same position as I was.

          First, for those who don’t know already, what is behavioral enrichment, and why is it important? Enrichment refers to any practice that seeks to provide animals with stimuli that will encourage them to engage in natural behaviors in order to maintain mental and physical health in captivity. This results in longer, healthier, and happier lives for the animals. For more intelligent animals such as mammals and birds, this often takes the form of toys and food puzzles, which is what many people immediately jump to when they hear the word. However, for arthropods, enrichment must take much more diverse and subtle forms.

Enclosure Design and Population

          The first and easiest form of insect enrichment is enclosure design, which can be easily and effectively applied to any species with just a bit of research. While needs such as water and food can easily be met in an empty plastic container, and may keep your insects alive and well, going a little bit deeper and researching your species’ natural environment can give you big head start before even trying more complicated methods of enrichment. The first piece to consider is substrate. While many species don’t need a substrate, many others find it a necessity. Different species will likely have different substrate needs, but most have easy to find info online. Substrate is an important and easy way to allow burrowing insects access to their most common natural behavior. Another factor important for nearly all insects is some form of shelter. Whether it be a piece of bark or upturned egg carton, allowing your insects to hide from view will greatly reduce the stress of captivity for them. Many insects also have more specific environmental needs. Arboreal insects will likely appreciate the ability to climb objects within the enclosure, while other insects may prefer to stay grounded. Do research into your species for setting up their enclosure. These needs should be attended to first and foremost, before any more intricate enrichment.

          Despite the common notion of insects (besides ants and bees) as unsocial creatures, many have complex and interesting social interactions in nature. In caring for my roaches, I’ve found it interesting to observe their behaviors and have even felt that some have personalities (one of my males, who’s wings never fully formed, is amusingly the most aggressive, chasing the other males around). I think it is important to allow species that commonly live in groups to interact with their own species in order to stimulate their natural territorial (and in some cases, hierarchical) interactions. However, some species are solitary, notably mantids, and this should be accounted for too. Choosing how many of a species should go in an enclosure is as fundamental as the enclosure itself, and integral to overall welfare.

This post is already getting a bit long, so I’ve decided to cut it for your sake. I’ve got a bit more to say though. Click ‘keep reading’ for the rest!

Novelty

          Novelty is an important concept in animal enrichment. Changing features in an animal’s enclosure or care forces them to relearn actions and break habits. This keeps them mentally and physically active, and can easily be applied to most any species, vertebrate or invertebrate. The easiest way to apply the concept of novelty is simply changing the locations of objects in the enclosure from time to time. By moving shelter, water, or food, your insects will have to learn the new locations of these objects. Don’t move too much at one time though! Many insects will get stressed if you completely upturn their enclosure each time you want to give them enrichment. Simply move small pieces at a time to encourage exploration without causing too much stress. The easiest (and from what I have seen, most effective) thing to move is food. Don’t just put the food in one place; moving it around the enclosure (or even hiding it under something) can encourage investigation and foraging, mimicking skills necessary in the wild. You can add structures to climb and put food on to of that even. I recently put a cardboard tube in with my roaches, with food in the top. Though at first they were confused, they eventually found their way up! Though you may worry that your insects may be unable to find their food in its new location, don’t worry. Most insects have very keen senses and will likely find it eventually, though you should consider whether your location is appropriate for your specific species.

Variation of Food and Scents

          A more specific technique derived from novelty is varying food. Many herbivorous and omnivorous species, such as roaches, will benefit greatly from semi-random variation of food. By changing what type of food you give them, you will keep your insects engaged in feeding, as they will not become disinterested with any one food. Different types vegetables contain different nutrients, and switching up which you use allows your insects to select the exact ones they need to stay physically healthy. Most insects also have highly sensitive antennae, which give them a great sense of smell. Varying food will give the enclosure different aromas depending on what is fed, giving the insects a reason to use their senses to investigate. Scents can also be added from non-food sources, although you should be careful to research any possible pesticidal characteristics of anything you add to the enclosure. I have personally experimented with occasionally adding herbs to my roach enclosure, with great success, as the roaches quickly become excited towards the strong scents. Simply varying food and scents in an enclosure helps to keep insects active and curious, resulting in longer, healthier lives.

To Conclude

          At this point, it should be clear that enrichment exists for more than just vertebrates, and is actually very easy to provide with just a little research and effort. I really hope that some of the people who read this find it interesting and helpful, and I hope that this information will be useful in caring for insects. I know many people don’t really like arthropods, but I’ve found them to be fun and engaging pets, and highly recommend them. Thank you for reading all the way through, it means a lot. Best wishes in future invertebrate care, and feel free to ask any questions you have!

[fbwzoo]

For my masters project, I wrote a book for teachers about proper care of class pets. I'm thinking of revisiting it in hopes of getting it published, and am working on updating its info. What small animals do you feel are best suited to school life - assuming that the teacher is a proper caretaker (and as a teacher, I know that assumes a great deal - that's what the point of the book is, that teachers who choose to have class pets are obligated to model proper caretaking for the students).

Gah, I find this really hard because I really just…don’t believe in classroom pets. :-/  I’ve had very bad experiences with it personally, and I rarely hear GOOD stories about classroom pets. So the whole thing just seems like a horrible idea to me.

That said…I guess these are the ones I would suggest if the teacher is really willing to put the effort in and make it work out for the animal, not just the classroom & kids, along with my reasoning.

- Invertebrates: I saw a post discussing this recently…I can’t recall if I reblogged it or not. If I remember, I’ll try to find it. There’s a fair number of invertebrates with pretty easy diets, not a lot of special temperature/humidity needs, can be kept in small tanks (5-10g) & are big enough to be interesting to watch. Also generally pretty cheap to buy, set up, & maintain. Bonus of teaching kids the interesting parts of bugs, their important role in various ecosystems, etc. Examples include roaches, other beetles, preying mantids, isopods…I’m sure I’m forgetting some. 

- Mice: NOT to be hands-on for the kids; can keep a couple females together in a small enough tank to be reasonable for classroom - 20-30g; don’t need particularly special temperature/humidity; relatively easy diet to manage in classroom setting. 

- Gerbils: Also not to be hands-on for kids; again, can keep a pair of same sex gerbils in a similar sized tank as mouse; also a relatively easy diet, no special temp/humidity needs. They do need plenty of digging space & care must be taken with enrichment because they’ll chew it. 

These are really the only mammals I’m comfortable even suggesting. I’m still hesitant because both are prey animals that can be easily stressed by noise, so I would consider it necessary for the teacher to watch behavior & health and be willing to remove the animals to their own home if the noise & activity prove to be too stressful. I’m not comfortable listing any other mammals - most need much more space than most classrooms are willing or able to provide, or they need more hands-on socializing, or they have more specific care needs that could get tricky.

- Crested gecko: Similar to above, this is the only reptile I think I’m comfortable with suggesting. I’m not as great on reptiles, so there might be some other potential options. But most reptiles need special heating, lighting, need live prey or frozen rodents for prey, etc. All of that gets a lot more dicey in a classroom setting where heating elements may not be allowed or may get turned off by cleaning staff. Crested geckos don’t really need special heating/lighting (but care does need to be taken that they don’t get too warm, some classrooms can have issues with that), they can be fed a balanced commercial diet that’s easy to prepare, they can be kept in a relatively small tank, they’re fun to watch. 

…That’s all I got. Fish can be more difficult to move since the tank must be drained, it would likely be harder to do water changes in most classrooms, etc. Otherwise I’d suggest possibly a betta fish in a 10g tank. But ehhhhh. Birds are an absolute no, hermit crabs require too elaborate of a set up to really be ideal in a classroom (and are not easy to dismantle for taking home on school breaks). 

I’m sorry, I’m not sure how helpful this was! There just aren’t a lot of animals that really are reasonable to have in a classroom setting for the vast majority of classrooms & teachers. If a teacher is very dedicated & has permission from their superiors, they could check into curriculum-based programs that some places run - I remember my Fisheries & Wildlife courses discussing a fish program of some kind. I know sometimes there are programs with chicks in more rural areas, but I’m also rather skeptical of how good those are - it just depends on who the chicks go home with & the care they get. I’m guessing most just turn into farm hens, but still. 

Another potential alternative idea you could include is doing classroom indoor or outdoor (if possible) gardens. Plants generally need less care, but it’d still be a decent lesson in care and could integrate well with a number of science & environment lessons. 

[brigdh]

Reading Wednesday

The Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island by Mac Griswold. A fascinating piece of microhistory focused on a single family farm in Eastern Long Island. The Sylvester Manor, as it's now called, was first settled by an English-Dutch family in 1652, and the current house dates to the 1730s. And yet was still being lived in as a normal family home! Griswold, the author, literally stumbled over the house while rowing around Long Island and made friends with the current owners, eventually even convincing them to allow multiple seasons of archaeological excavation in their front yard. The book is based on those excavations, as well as historical research, family legends, and Griswold's own speciality as a landscape historian (she was particularly interested in how the various trees and shrubs came to the plantation). Although there's three centuries of history to cover, the focus is very much on the first generation of the family, with everyone later than 1801 getting short shrift. Which was fine by me, since that's the period I was most interested in. Griswold makes a valiant effort to put the focus on the enslaved Africans and Native Americans of the plantation, but inevitably there's simply many more documents and details available about the white masters. I think she does a good job with what she has to work with, and does produce some fascinating finds, but it's just not much in comparison to the European history. As is, sadly, so often the case. Sylvester Manor was a northern provisioning plantation, which means that it grew the food, bred the horses, and crafted the barrels necessary for the running of their partnered sugar plantation down on Barbados. The history of Northern slavery has been mostly forgotten (or erased, depending on your perspective), and this book does an excellent job of demonstrating how closely tied together North and South were economically, rather than the antagonist perspective you get from many simplistic histories of the Civil War. A good book, though I'm still searching for my one ideal history of NYC slavery. (For a comparison, if you want to read just one book about slavery in the NYC area, I'd highly recommend this one over last week's New York Burning.) The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World by Abigail Tucker. Despite loving my two cats very much, and enjoying watching YouTube cat videos as much as any person on the internet, I am not actually one to read many books about cats. Everything from cozy cat mysteries to true-life inspirational cats turns me off. In fact, a cat on the cover is more likely to make me turn a book down than to pick it up. (I might make an exception for I Could Pee on This, and Other Poems by Cats.) And yet here I am, reading a book about cats! The Lion in the Living Room is a pop-science book (very much in the style of Mary Roach or Sarah Vowell) about the history of cats. Her main topic is how they became domesticated – or if they even are domesticated – looking at the archaeology, biology, and history of humans' relationship with cats. She also covers topics from how good cats actually are at controlling rats and mice (spoiler: not very), Victorian cat shows, newly developed breeds, the impact of cats on the environment, the rise of the NTR (Neuter-Trap-Release) approach to controlling street cat populations, the history of the LolCat meme, toxoplasmosis (the parasite in cat's urine that might attract sufferers to cats), Egyptian religion, and interviews internet star Lil Bub. There's a ton of fun and fascinating facts sprinkled throughout the book. I particularly liked it for its straightforward scientific approach to cats, without much fluffiness, which unfortunately seems to be causing many negative reviews (I guess if being told that housecats are massively contributing to the extinction of birds and small mammals hurts your feelings, this may not be the book for you. Though I don't know how any reasonably well-informed adult doesn't already know that). Highly recommended for a breezy look at the history and science of cats. The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn. A novel I'd been stumbling across in different bookstores for the last several months, always being intrigued by the cover but never quite enough to buy it. And then I found it for $2 in a second-hand store and finally brought it home. Well, I'm glad I only paid $2. In 1999, Jacob Thacker is a doctor with the South Carolina Medical College, currently stuck on administrative duty as he recovers from a Xanax addiction. This past makes it easy for the Dean to blackmail him when a construction team uncovers dozens of human skeletons in the college's basement. Jacob is ordered to cover it up without the press finding out, even if that means reburying the bodies somewhere secret. In alternating chapters the book jumps back to the 1850s and 60s to tell the story of Nemo Johnston, first enslaved and then free, who is also employed by the South Carolina Medical College. The school's very first Dean used Nemo as 'resurrectionist', a grave robber with the task of procuring dead bodies, mostly of other black men and women, for the school's students to practice on. Nemo is, of course, the source of the skeletons Jacob is being forced to deal with. Jacob is kind of a terrible human being. He refers to his partner as a "woman in a man's world" because she's a lawyer; describes an ethnically Japanese coworker in this way: "Janice is as American as he is, but he can never help feeling that there is some reserve of samurai in her, some native allegiance passed down in the genes, that views him as the foreigner every time they meet"; and, when he first learns about the existence of Nemo, calls him "the poor, dumb bastard". It was around that last line when I decided that the author was deliberately writing Jacob as a dick, and perhaps that is the case since Jacob's entire plotline revolves around gaining enough courage and empathy to not accede to the cover-up. But since it takes being fired, blackballed, and rescued from his ensuing suicidal despair to consider that, hey, maybe the current African-American community has a right to their ancestors' remains!, I think the author drastically underestimated how incredibly horrible Jacob comes off as. Even if that wasn't the case, Nemo's story is simply vastly more interesting than Jacob's. Unfortunately he gets much less page time and not really a plot arc so much as a series of random vignettes at different times of his life. At one point he gets elevated to the role of teacher – a black professor of a medical college! in the South! before the Civil War! – but how this came about or his feelings regarding it are never explained. And some of what little page time he gets is taken up by the story of white nurse Sara Thacker, who (spoiler, I suppose, but it's super obvious from page one) turns out to be Jacob's great-great-grandmother. I think Guinn was trying to do something about class or women's rights with this idea, but the plotline honestly is so thin that it feels like a last-minute addition which never got fleshed out enough to be worthwhile. At least Nemo doesn't turn out to be Jacob's great-great-grandfather, because I honestly spent at least fifty pages terrified that a tragic mulatto novel had somehow been published in 2014. Overall: interesting premise, terrible execution.

(LJ post for easier comments | DW, ditto)