#and medic is a bird/baboon parent

[team-headcanons-2]

Heavymedic with being dads to abandoned baby- Like this needs it own lil hcs of how they would be dads. The baboon now has a sibling

IT RLLY DO SO HERE IT IS

Heavymedic parents bc awaaa

The baby is so tiny heavy can hold them in one of his hands and everytime he's just 🥺 bc THEYRE SO TINYYY

Oh you thought Medic had a terrible sleep schedule before the baby? This man now has a WORSE sleep schedule, babies are cute but they need 24/7 care for the first few months.

Heavy does worry for medic and does try to get him to sleep more often and care for the baby when it's a fuss at night but medic somehow always gets there first.

The baby is most likely named after some philosopher or author. I don't make the rules that's just heavy and medic 4 u.

I think the birds are jealous of the baby for getting medic's attention but grow to like the baby.

[bugslaststraw]

Medic Teamfortress2 for the headcanon ask game!

Realistic funny heartbreaking insane, got it.

A: I have a lot of small, generally accepted fanon kind of ones. He loves his birds, he has this weird but intense interest in baboons, he can play the violin, he kisses Heavy on the lips (several times a day), etc etc. Yes all of these belong in the realistic category.

B: Not so funny but the village where he came from, Rottenburg, was filled with crazy scientists and doctors. That's canon. My take is that his parents actually thought he was a pretty tame mad scientist for sometimes not killing his victims, for taking care of his birds, for being interested in machinery, for learning how to read etc, so they kinda didn't give him any attention or praise for his horrible acts as a child. That's why he needs validation/attention or he dies. I could easily bring Cheavy and Heavy into this but I'll spare you.

C: Not so heartbreaking, but he's incredibly good at faking confidence and smiles, so to the point where he kinda can't stop. He slips up but corrects himself without even thinking about it and this causes situations where it's really hard for him to admit that he's worried or sad, and usually he just tries to power through or gets angry. This is especially complicated when there's something he wants to tell someone that he cares about but just can't.

D: he did the bottom surgery of like at least one of the mercenaries. Can't decide which one. Maybe himself.

[daidreamn]

tf2 hcs :)

this was mostly self indulgent

-dadspy/spy/scout

Spy teaches Scout all sorts of shit. Mostly French, knife tricks, and how to change his voice. Scout’s pretty good at the voice trick, but his accent gets in the way a lot.

Scout stumbles his words a lot. His brain is just going too fast. Spy actually refrains from teasing him about this because he’s really self-conscious about it.

Scout fucking sucks at fighting Spies. Spy teaches him how to swing so the enemy Spy can’t deflect it with his knife, where to look if a Spy cloaks, and how to read a Spy’s behavior. Spy’s really hesitant about this since he doesn’t like people understanding him on that level. After Spy’s teachings, Scout kind of handles his bat like a rapier if he’s fighting Spies. 

Scout got his trypanophobia from Spy. Medic’s tendencies don’t help.

-helmet party 👉👈/soldier/engie

they,.y,..., they likee to bonk their headsssdtogether..,.,.,,,,

SOLDIER 👏 HAS 👏 AUTISIM 👏  ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY. HELMET OVER HIS EYES? LIGHT SENSITIVITY. WHACKING HIS HEAD WITH A SHOVEL? STIMMING. HE LIKES BOOTS BECAUSE THEY MAKE THE THUMP THUMP. BOOTS GO THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

Soldier likes Engie’s Gunslinger a lot. SO MUCH FUCKING SENSORY INPUT. go click and is smooth and hHhOLDD HANDSS,,..,

Soldier likes to hang out in Engie’s work space because there’s so much auditory input!! Engie gives him some random tool for him to toy with while he works!!

Engie has emotional attachment to his buildings. Especially the sentries. There’s a mini sentry in his workshop with a little pink bow. Her name is Betsy and if you fuck with her you’re as good as dead. 

Betsy and Soldier’s raccoons are tight. Betsy has a ‘puzzle mode’ that Engie programmed to make the raccoons smarter. Each time they solve a puzzle some food is dispensed. 

The raccoons like to hide in Soldier’s many hats. His hats smell like raccoons and it makes him so happy.

-pyro aka the baby

NONBINARY I C O N.

They are Engie and Soldier’s child. There is nothing you can do about it.

All the other mercs love them. Especially Medic, Engie and Soldier, and Spy. Spy understands their secretive nature and kind of relates.

Pyro’s room is by far the most heated. It also has a total of six sprinklers inside in case they're feeling fire-y. It also has lots of orange and red lights. Pyro likes their room a lot.

Heavy is used to Pyro’s behavior and plays along. They have tea parties every Saturday with Pyro’s stuffed animals, a beanie baby horse, a stuffed unicorn, a little cardinal, and a hamster, who Heavy has lovingly named ‘small horse’, ‘big horse’, ‘bird’ and ‘rodent’, all addressed to as ‘Мистер _____’.

Pyro’s favorite bugs are moths!!!! Butterflies too, but he sees moths more often.

-medic

Really bad short-term memory but scary good long-term memory. Will look for something while it’s in his other hand but can perfectly replicate the signature of someone who sold him exotic animal organs 8 years ago. 

Building off of that, he can forge the signatures of 27 different people, 26 of which are black market sellers, drug dealers, or wanted criminals. The 27th is his father.

He never had a medical license. It was forged. 100%.

Bad at self-care. Thank god for Heavy and Pyro bringing him snacks and coffee.

Finds Pyrovision fascinating. Often puts on the goggles if he’s stressed. A simple pair of Pyrovision goggles can do wonders for a sleep-deprived and homicidal German doctor.

He likes baboons. Especially for, but not only because of, their organs. He just thinks they’re neat. And by ‘thinks they’re neat’, I mean ‘has a worrying amount of trivia on baboons that he excitedly infodumps on whoever he’s operating on at the time, forcing them to listen and nod along, because this man is holding their intestines and, if given the chance, would gleefully sell them on the black market’.

-miss pauling

She’s some flavor of gay and you know it. We all know it. She doesn’t get any chances to date because of her work, though.

She has a little stuffed lizard named Mortimer that keeps her company. She’s had it ever since she was a child.

Was in the Girl Scouts. The knot skills come in handy.

The Administrator is her aunt. Her parents died and The Administrator took her under her wing. The Administrator taught her everything she knows-- decades of information on how to dispose of bodies, sweettalk the authorities, use money to fix your problems, snap necks, sever vital arteries, et cetera.

Despite her small figure, she’s fucking ripped.

Phones up different mercs for advice. Spy, Medic, and Engineer are on speed dial. She often calls Engineer when she’s driving or doing something so she has someone to talk to. 

-misc

The Administrator is asexual. I mean, purple, grey and black? She’s 3/4ths there in her color scheme alone.

Teufort was made entirely by the original RED and BLU mercs and built to be a playground for all of the classes. The building of Teufort was the first time both teams banded together to do something. The Administrator thinks back on it fondly.

Soldier’s raccoons can unload and reload a standard pistol in exchange for dog treats and it’s fucking terrifying.

-bonus! innovator (@scrapnick‘s OC)

Mixes words up sometimes. Has said “Fuck the shut up” or some variation multiple times before.

THERE ARE SO MANY FUCKING POST-IT NOTES AND NAPKINS WITH LITTLE DOODLES OR IDEAS ON THEM. She hoards them. Engineer is concerned. (Engie and Spy team up to get her one of those card binders with the clear flaps because Spy’s tired of finding post-it notes fucking everywhere)

Gives off a very specific energy, similar to that of that one post of the picture of the book that’s like “’women shouldn’t swear’ ‘get fucked’ he blinks in surprise”

[tepiddreamer]

do you know anything about why amaya is raked up right now? have the trainers offered any explanations? it would be nice to hear from them as there is a lot of speculation but no definitive answers

So I have heard nothing outside the normal trainer lines such as ‘raking is a natural form of discipline among killer whales’. Which is half true.

It is true that wild Orcas rake just like they do in captivity. But in captivity it is much more prevalent and even signs of abnormal behaviors amongst captive individuals.

In a wild pod, you will mostly see calves, adolescents, and males with rake marks*. Out of the entire group the youngest will have the most rakes. A mother will rake a calf for attention or punishment. How severe the raking is determines on the behavior, and other members may join in on the action. I have seen wild calves being tossed by pod members, or in some cases the rakes came from siblings attempting to assist a ailing calf. In the wild alloparenting is common, in that younger animals will be raised or ‘babysat’ by other members of the pod while the mother is off hunting or resting. But this kind of behavior is resolved quickly, and not as frequently as in captivity.

In the wild the animals spend a great deal of time traveling from one place to another for food, socializing, traveling again, pod integrations, resting, and what can be considered play time. But the animals are constantly expending energy and being stimulated by other animals, sounds, objects in the water, and food.

In captivity the animals are given their food requirements, and spend less energy traveling or being mobile. While most animals do some kind of behaviors throughout the day to raise heart rate and trainer interaction (stimulation), the caloric burn is not equal to those in the wild. So they log. Or hang at a gate. Or elicit attention from a trainer. A calf will pester or bother another pod mate. And that pod mate now has free time and energy to expend on that calf.

I hate to ever use a human comparison to animals, but this is the best way to explain this. Human children between the ages of 3-7 enter what is known as the ‘push button stage’. A normal child this age is somewhat verbal**, mobile, and likes to explore. This energy can be creative or destructive. They will knock items over, tear them apart, kick/punch other individuals, ignore given commands, purposely or defiantly go against a rule or instruction, act out to garner attention, soil/disrobe themselves, enter/leave a forbidden area, and various other activities to illicit a direct response from parents/caregivers. Basically: what can I do to make you mad and give me what I want, and if I don’t get it I will act out, sometimes violently, to discipline my caregivers.

If you have never had children or worked with them, I recommend a quick view of one of those Supernanny programs. A tantrum/meltdown over not getting chocolate milk is a good example. A frustrated parent will give verbal warnings, put them in time out, and suffer as the child has a complete meltdown for not getting what they want and not being able to communicate their thoughts/feelings. Behaviors observed in baboon and great ape species so negative behaviors by juveniles and are punished by dominate family individuals, either by chasing/biting/grabbing the animals in submission.

Killer Whales have a similar process. Except they lack appendages like hands/feet. So they use a warning call, chase the individual, roll them over/hit with their tail flukes/rake with their teeth. A raking is a direct punishment, it does cause pain, although how much pain depends on how deep the rake is. A superficial rake will probably come down to a shock factor, a deeper rake is more than likely a painful reminder. A calf may not come when called, stray to far from their mother, rough play with another animal, may take a EED away, persistently want to nurse or ask for food, general aggravation of a tired mother.

In captivity is where the aberrations really start. And these aberrations differ from animal to animal and park to park. Here we see Shouka vocalizing before she purposely went after Ulises and went after his tail. A minute later Kalia and Shouka began fasting chasing each other then rolling/balling. This is a reconcile effort, in that touch can reconcile bad feelings. What set Shouka off is unknown, however in the last year I have seen her become aggressive towards the males and even Amaya. In Kalias case she would rather spend time with the trainers than with her daughter Amaya, who is very independent. Shouka will often be paired with Kalia and Amaya, and the 3 of them are a force to be reckoned with. Shouka has taught a great deal of behaviors to Amaya, and Kalia has passed her assertiveness onto her daughter as well. But this assertiveness has gotten her in trouble, she has a tendency to bully Ulises who will turn around and give it right back. Shouka seems to have a shorter tolerance for Amayas habits, and will quickly roll and rake Amaya, even with Kalia in full view. Amaya is pushing buttons, how far can she get within another whales personal space before they react. Kalia seems to become jealous of her daughter getting attention by the glass and by trainers, she has pushed Amaya away. Amaya has energy to burn and wants to be stimulated, but in a gated pool with bored adults its not happening, so she plays with the gate, or interacts with guests, baits birds, plays on the slide outs, elicits responses from Shouka, and wastes time.

Makani has lost his mother, the former matriarch of the San Diego pod. As a juvenile male, he is the bottom of the ladder, and the first to be disciplined. Luckily Makani has been taken in by Corky, but Corky is a no-nonsense whale and will quickly put Makani down. Recently Tilikum16 posted a video of Orca Encounter being interrupted by Makani after he tried to nibble Corkys tail, and Corky chased him into the show pool. Corky resolved the tension herself, but Makani stayed in the show pool. Ikaika is submissive to Makani, Keet does well, Nakai has rolled him, Ulises has raked him several times. The females don’t tolerate him well. This is not to say that this wouldn’t be happening if Kasatka was still around, he would still be on the bottom and raked up. Makani is testing his limits of what he can get away with and his own environment. He will push EEDs over a gate and vocalize until a trainer retrieves them.

photo@Makaiolover_lisag

Makaio is the youngest of the Orlando pod, and currently one of 5 whales in the pod. While he does have some raking, he is not as bad as the youngsters in San Diego.

photo@LunaBeluga

Sakari is also another juvenile whale in San Antonio, a member of 5 whales. She as well has superficial raking (notably on her saddle) but again not as prominent as the San Diego pod

So what is wrong here?

Well for one is pod size. The San Diego pod is now at 10 whales, 5 females/5 males. There is a good mix of Older female (Corky), Older Male (Ulises), Middle Age (Keet, Orkid, Shouka), Teenage (Ikaika, Nakai, Kalia), and finally juvenile (Makani, Amaya) These whales are often broken into 4 groups with Dominant/Cycling (Kalia, Shouka, Amaya), Intelligence (Orkid, Nakai, Ikaika), Balance (Corky, Keet, Ikaika, Makani), Size (Ulises, Keet). Throughout the day these smaller groupings will be intermingled or switched out from pool to pool for husbandry or shows. Some whales do not do well mixed (Corky/Ulises), are direct family (Kalia, Amaya, Makani, Nakai) or are used for high energy behaviors (Ulises, Kalia, Shouka, Orkid, Nakai). Some animals like Corky and Ulises are put into underwater viewing due to ‘tank pacing’, they swim in circles all day long and keep park guests interested. Others log all day like Keet. But by keeping them separated they cannot form a cohesive pod. Dominate behaviors from Kalia and Shouka lose traction with other whales like Orkid or Corky when they are kept in different pools for days at a time. They can hear each other, they can maybe see one another, but cannot enforce matriarchal behaviors until they are in the same pool together. Kalia and Shouka were recently kept separate for 43 days due to not being on birth control, this further adds tension to the group, then possible hormonal/sexual frustrations from being placed back on BC. This group cannot easily be put entirely together due to tensions within the pod.

They also can’t escape one another. Ulises will relentlessly be bullied by Shouka and Kalia for hours and trainers will ignore it (my last visit in July I was privy to this first hand in that Ulises had new rake marks by the end of the day, and was chased during a dine program, yet trainers made no move to switch him in to another pool). Amaya will hang at a gate while Kalia and Shouka log near trainers. While Corky does adore Makani, I sense she wants time away from him sometimes. When the whales have a ‘disagreement’ I do argue that sometimes separating them needs to be done sometimes. You mix them up daily for enrichment and stimulation but ignore the warning signs that they are not a cohesive group.

In San Antonio Takara and her 2 daughters are often together with access to another pool, the 2 youngster often entertain themselves with following trainers or splashing guests. The 2 males are often separate in another pool, except for main shows. Takara gets plenty of trainer time and alone time.

In Orlando there has been a great deal of disruption. Medical problems, separation due to cycling, storm interruptions (rain delays and show stops can frustrate a animal that is used to routine), loss of the UV area to interact with guests, and new/unconfident trainers. But it is still a smaller group that can be easily separated or put together as one if needed.

TL:DR Amaya and Makani are heavily raked due to aberrations in a captive environment. They are basically toddlers pushing their nearest tanks mates buttons and suffering the consequences. These consequences are exacerbated by confinement, irregular groupings, boredom, and frustrations.

Wild whales rake but captive animals act out.

* males with give each other rakes during sexual play with another male. Also mammal eating or stranding ecotypes may have more skin damage from the type of prey they are hunting

** In the last 15 years cases of Autism and lower brain development have increased. The number of non-verbal children by age 5 has drastically increased. Even with a limited vocabulary a child can convey basic feelings, but can become stressed or frustrated when they cannot come across clear or what they need. Scientific studies and research must be updated to account for the raising numbers of children who are non-verbal or limited vocabulary after the age of 5. I did not included children in late stage prepubesent/puberty as hormonal changes due alter behaviors.

[theramseyloft]

My mom thinks pigeons are gross and stinky and stupid. How do I prove her wrong? How do I tell her that these animals are beautiful creatures in need of help?

Aesthetic appeal varies widely between individuals and misinformation is rampant, but here are some photos of different breeds of healthy pigeons and just a SHIT TON of links about pigeon intelligence and service to humanity.

This is my Feral service pigeon, Ankhou. 

I have severe ADD and social anxiety, am on the autism spectrum, and struggle with depression. 

When stressed or overstimulated, I shut down and lose time. I can go for hours with out moving, eating, or drinking, but am not asleep, and if responsive, may be nonverbal.

My husband prevents me from shutting down when he’s home, but when I’m home alone, I may just be stuck like that.

Ankhou doesn’t like it when that happens to me, and taught himself to prevent it or snap me out of it if preventing it wasn’t possible through escalating cuddles and harassment. 

He starts by cuddling up against me and grunting to get my attention, then preens my hand or ducks his head under it for petting. If that doesn’t work, he escalates to pinching until something makes me respond and then snuggles with me until I relax and am able to start moving and doing the normal Dani things.

This is Gastby, one of our rescues who has since gone to his new home. ^v^ Best guess, he’s a homer x roller cross.

Grayson and Spirit are Racing Homers, both found crashed out after their bodies had burned their own muscle in the mad dash home.

The impulse to stop and eat during a long flight home has been bred out of racers, so they fly nonstop and once they run out of food in their crops and bellies, their body burns their muscle for fuel until they either get back home or drop out of the sky, too thin and exhausted to move.

Spirit was a funeral bird, blown off course in a storm. The funeral was in Atlanta. She ended up three hours away in Augusta, crashed out in a parking lot and mistaken for a dove. 

Sylver and Apollo are Burmingham Rollers, bred to perform areal acrobatics in sight of their loft. They can home, but not very well, and occasionally get lost.

As they are rarely banded, it is hell to trace them back to their breeders. 

They are bred to start backflipping mid flight and roll, pulling up as close to the ground as possible with out actually striking it.

Man, Pugsly wouldn’t station to save his life. XD

He’s a Portuguese Tumbler, another (tiny!) performance breed that does brief, exheuberant little flippies in midair.

These are non standard color Archangels. Bred for a specific color and pattern, being miscolored and mismarked is a SEREOUS show fault. for these!

I stopped breeding them because they are a very high strung, flighty breed that does better in a spacious loft than indoors.

Friar Tuck is a Black Nun. 

LOVE the look of this breed, but they absolutely refuse to brood eggs, often laying them on the floor and wandering off.

One of the least intelligent breeds of pigeon, they are, however, EXCEPTIONALLY docile and friendly, and would make wonderful pets for any one uninterested in breeding.

Orel is a Luscerne Gold Collar. 

OH these broke my heart! These were my DREAM pigeons! Just as sweet tempered and easily handled as they are beautiful!

But their squeakers are SO quiet and docile that the parent’s feeding response is never triggered!

Young pairs have to be primed using a baby of a different breed with a longer beak that yells louder, which puts them at a firm NO on my list of potential breeds to perpetuate.

Like the Nun, they are WONDERFUL pets, if you don’t want to breed! SWEETEST temperament! Even if they don’t like you, they will still let you pick them up and pet them.

Loaf is a Frillback I fostered for another breeder, shown as a peep and in her breeder’s loft as an adult.

Frillbacks are HUGE! Over a pound! And their fluff and muffs can need trimming for successful copulation. I... may reconsider these if I end up with enough space to comfortably house a pair...

They are a SUPER mellow breed!

This is one of my Old Dutch Capuchine hens at the vet. 

One of the first breeds I ever researched, they are famously sweet tempered, tight setters, devoted to their chicks.

Their mane is glorious, but not SO exagerated that it impedes their vision or feeding their young.

Great pet. Good breed for beginners that want to raise some pretty pidge.

Brunhilde, may she rest in peace, was an Old German Owl, another of the first breeds I researched when I got into pigeons.

The Owl family of domestic pigeon breeds are named for their round faces, short beaks, and great big eyes.

And let me tell you, that sweet expression is no lie! The owl breeds are renowned for their tractability. 

Antonio was a Valencian Figurita, the world’s smallest breed of pigeon.

These little pixies among pidge are also considered an Owl breed. Jaunty, bouncy, energetic, and curious, these are friendly little birds about the size of a Ringneck dove, and about the closest you really get to a cage bird among the purebred pigeons.

Aaand saving the best for last, the Classic Old Frill is not only my favorite among the Owl breeds, but my favorite breed of pigeon PERIOD!

There will NEVER come a time where I do not want to raise this breed!

They are the total pidge package! Sweet, friendly, mellow, tractable, EXCELLENT parents! and the icing on this perfect little treat of a bird is its breath taking beauty!

Look at it!

That breed is a work of living art and they KNOW! Oh, I could gush for ever about them!

As for why the stray Ferals need help, I’ll let Ankhou tell you.

Ankhou was NOT pretty when he got here. 

He was about four weeks old.

For reference, this is what a four week old pigeon SHOULD look like.

This baby is one of my COFs, but she is the same age as that sad naked skeleton above her.

Ankhou was found in a parking lot, running in circles around the base of a lamp, crying or his parents, who were present, but not able to anything to get him to safety.

Here is Ankhou again, doing his job at my Sister in Law’s house and preventing me from going into shut down.

And once more, here he is so that you can see that his lack of feathers is not genetic. With regular feeding and a good diet, he grew feathers in. It took six months, which should really tell you what bad shape he was in when he got here!

So what happened? His parents had clearly not abandoned him.

The process of domestication changed pigeons in some pretty fundamental ways. 

Pretty much all wild birds have a breeding season, where hens are triggered to produce egg making hormones by the length of the day or change in the weather.

That’s been bred out of domestic (and thus also feral) pigeons. If they aren’t literally starving to immediate death, they are biologically wired to produce peepers NON STOP!

Ankhou was so emaciated that his body lacked the fuel to grow feathers.

Pigeons are more devoted to raising their squeakers than they are to keeping themselves fed.

Even with more than enough food to go around, in the loft of a breeder that cares for them so they don’t have to go anywhere to forage, four week old baby pigeons OUTWEIGH their parents at weaning time! 

Think about that, and look at that pitiful living skeleton again.

In order for him to be so thin that HIS BODY HAD TO PRIORITIZE GROWING MUSCLE OVER GROWING FEATHERS, BECAUSE IT COULD NOT DO BOTH!!!, his parents must have just not been able to find enough food.

Not surprising, since it’s pretty hard to find grain and seed mix in a city. 

Feral pigeons are as domesticated as show birds. They are not wild animals, and deserve the same concern you would show a lost or stray puppy, because that is what they are.

There are not enough homes to take in all the stray pigeons, and being trapped would do the adults way more harm than good.

But if you see a pigeon that is visibly injured, has visibly tied up feet, or lets you get really close to it with out trying to get away or tries but has trouble keeping its balance or getting airborn, THAT bird needs immediate help and will not be ok if left alone.

Here are some links that may help prove that pigeons aren’t stupid. Some of these I’ve posted before, but here they are all together.

The stupid reason people hate pigeons.

http://www.audubon.org/news/the-origins-our-misguided-hatred-pigeons

Pigeons natural pattern recognition abilities can be used to help diagnose breast cancer

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/pigeons-can-spot-breast-cancer-medical-images-180957323/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141357

Pigeon hearts are helping us understand human heart disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060729133950.htm

Pigeons are an accurate enough model of human brain function to be used to understand the way our brains work.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120302101541.htm

Pigeons are capable of higher level cognition on par with baboons.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212141143.htm

Pigeons are more self aware than toddlers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613145535.htm

Pigeons learn to categorize the same way as toddlers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150204184447.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140402095107.htm

Pigeons can learn to READ IN ENGLISH and KNOW WHEN A WORD IS NOT REAL!!!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160919111535.htm

Homing pigeon flocks are genuinely democratic, choosing whether or not to follow based on their assessment of the leader’s competence. 

http://www.audubon.org/news/in-homing-pigeon-flocks-bad-bosses-quickly-get-demoted

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150609213053.htm

Pigeons have a genuinely democratic society.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100416214045.htm

They have been utilized to monitor air pollution.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160719144733.htm

They recognize faces exactly the same way we do.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110411171847.htm

Because their brains are wired like ours.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717095336.htm

Pigeons have the cognitive capacity to appreciate art.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630075622.htm

Pigeons understand and make regular use of public transit.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130108122724.htm

Their understanding of risk vs reward is alarmingly similar to ours.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140827092105.htm

In conclusion, it is a FACT that pigeons are intelligent domestic animals.

Be kind to them. 

[viralhottopics]

Scientists Think Mummy Is Just A Hawk, Then A Scan Reveals Tiny Baby Bones

When the mummy was first uncovered decades ago, scientists thought the tiny bodyinside must have belonged to a hawk.

Mummifying a hawk wouldn’t have been unusual in Ancient Egypt. Hawks were associated with the god Horus, the god of the sky, hunting, and symbolic of Egypt itself.

The mummy was discovered long ago, back when there were no such things as medical scanning technology or the other equipment that archaeologists and researchers now use to piece together the past.

Back then, archaeologists decided it must have been a hawk based on its tiny size, but never opened the wrappings for fear of doing irreparable damage.

But today, thanks to the technology at our disposal, we can tell a lot more about mummies than we could in the past, from what they might have looked like in life to what their belongings were really made of.

A team of scientists at the Maidstone Museum in Kent, England has been examining the tiny mummy, as well as the mummy of a young woman known as Ta-Kesh, and were able to learn some startling things about both of them.

They discovered that Ta-Kesh was not 14 when she died, as initially thought, but rather in her mid-twenties, and that she’d also been living with a spinal injury.

And when they scanned the tiny hawk mummy? They found it wasn’t a hawk at all, but a human.

In fact, it was the mummified remains of a miscarried baby, who died at only about 20 weeks into the pregnancy, making this mummy the youngest human mummy ever recorded.

So who was this baby, anyway?Continue reading below to find out!

[H/T: Daily Mail]

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When this tiny mummy was discovered in the 19th century, archaeologists thought it was a mummified hawk.

The Ancient Egyptians regularly mummified animals that were important to them, including cats, baboons, crocodiles, and even fish.

These animals were all held sacred in Ancient Egypt, and associated with gods. Hawks were identified with the god Horus. On a personal level, people also mummified their pets.

Mummifying both human and animal remains was believed to guarantee the deceased a peaceful journey into the afterlife.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

Archaeologists probably thought it was a bird based on its tiny size, but it turned out that this mummy was not a hawk at all.

Thanks to modern imaging technology, we’re now able to look inside mummies without damaging the delicate wrappings and tissues inside.

And when they looked inside, they found not bird bones, but tiny human bones.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

It turns out that the 2,300-year-old mummy is actually that of a baby who was miscarried at about 20 weeks of gestation, making it the youngest human mummy ever found.

“Thanks to the CT scanning, we are able to learn much more about collections in a non-invasive way, wihtout damaging the integrity or condition of the artifacts,” says Maidstone collections manager Samantha Harris.

“For example, withour access to the technology, identifying and learning about the baby mummy would’ve been impossible without causing irreversible damage from unwrapping.”

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

So who is this baby, anyway? Well, no one is sure yet, but theories are evolving.

One even suggests that the miscarried baby was the secret love-child of a pharaoh and a secret mistress, but that’s a little far-fetched!

Likely, the remains of the miscarried baby were given the honors of mummification and burial by the grieving parents, and sent off with blessings to the afterlife, where the family would eventually be reunited.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

And the baby wasn’t the only discovery that the museum made, either. Thanks to a large grant, they were able to do more research on their Ancient Egyptian collection.

The museum’s most famous mummy, that of a young woman named Ta-Kesh who died some 2,700 years ago, was given a scan, too, and revealed some of her own secrets.

Ta-Kesh is not related to the baby mummy.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

For one thing, she died when she was much older than previously thought.

19th century archaeologists put her at about 14, but the state of her teeth suggests she was in her mid- to late-20s, maybe older. She also had a spinal injury.

Researchers are now looking into her family to help determine exactly who she was.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

Thanks to scans, researchers no longer have to worry about damaging the brittle, ancient mummies to learn about how they lived and died.

They can also use the technology to reconstruct Ta-Kesh’s face to see what she might have looked like when she was alive.

Facebook / Maidstone Museum

Lyn Palmer, manager of the project, says, “It will personalize Ta-Kesh. It will mean that our visitors will be able to see what she looks like.”

It’s pretty amazing what can happen when some modern technology is used to figure out the past.

Without it, we might still have thought the tiny baby was a hawk! And who knows what other amazing finds we’ll make in the future?

Check out the brief video of Ta-Kesh’s CT scan below, and SHARE this incredible discovery with anyone who loves history!

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from Scientists Think Mummy Is Just A Hawk, Then A Scan Reveals Tiny Baby Bones