#carcass feed

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I have finally figured out the camera lens and the setting I need to catch clear photos of wolverines! Ugh, I just love them and their incredibly dense fur so much.

These two are Rainier and Ahma at Northwest Trek. They're full siblings, but were born in different litters, in 2009 and 2007 respectively. The easiest way to tell them apart is by their eyes - or, really, their lack thereof. They've both got some congenital eye issues that have resulted in the surgical removal of one/both eyes as they've aged into elderhood. Ahma is now eyeless, and Rainier still has one eye left (although a keeper did mention it may be getting close to that time, again).

As you'll see, though, they still get around spectacularly. When it comes to finding snacks, they do it by smell. I rented a lens specifically to take photos of this special enrichment day: an elk carcass feed. They got an elk spine and pelvis, both sourced from a safely-euthanized member of the herd at the same facility.

Photos containing the carcasses will be below the cut. The carcass chunks are not bloody or gory - they look kind of like something you'd find on a grocery store shelves - so I'd really suggest checking the photos out. Wolverines are super strong, super tough little guys and it was so cool to see these two really get into tearing apart huge hunks of meat.

Beyond here lies MEAT.

[animalphotorefs]

New species added: Wolverines

Yet another new mustelids for the repository wesite!

CW: photos at the bottom of this post, and on the repository page, contain images of a carcass feed. The section containing those images on the site is clearly marked.

FYI, two of these wolverines have missing eyes (healed) and/or cataracts. If the animal in these photos looks eye-less, it is!

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

The Exotic Animal Photo Reference Repository is permanently open-access and funded entirely by donations, please consider contributing if you can!

** Patreon ** -- *Ko-Fi**

[justaz]

i love merlin being so enamored by life and nature and all the beauty of the world around him, but as magic incarnate (a force that is neither good nor evil, it just is) i would love to see morally grey merlin. like ik we kinda get that with him killing people in arthur’s name and forsaking his people for the man he loves, but i mean like sorta dark and unnerving merlin who finds beauty in death and destruction and is fascinated by it. merlin who was conditioned on right and wrong but who still feels a pull to what others would consider wrong. finding wolves gorging on a carcass in the woods and feeling this pull to join them, to revert to a wild thing, to be animalistic and uninhibited. just forest nymph merlin where he’s so natural he’s unnatural.

[sea-lanterns]

Angey straight up throwing a whole deer carcass into the piranha tank on Halloween it ain’t feedin time this is gonna be a FEAST

A feast indeed. It is not often that I feed my fishies entire fics (they usually get semi-daily thirsts and drabbles) but October is the month to splurge, so I’ve prepared a five course meal for all my fishies to enjoy 😌

I hope you enjoy what I’ve cooked up, you all deserve it for being such good fishies :)

[dwmmphotography]

It is Scavenger Sunday, and Eleanore is demonstrating proper mouse eating etiquette at the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo.

[losingchipmunk]

I drew Shinobu for my swap au :D I think she's pretty!

[pop-punklouis]

if sharks have 1 defender, it’s me. if they have zero defenders, i’m dead

[princehendir]

Anyways my issues aside it was a really good day to be me at the Oregon zoo today.

[hauntingblue]

"If you're going to behave like children, then I will be your daddey" what a delivery.... excellent... chefs kiss

[bonefall]

Idk if I’m wrong or not but if I remember correctly doesn’t Clear Sky once slash Quick Water for daring to question him? I very vividly remember her confronting him about something and him getting pissed and slashing her over it.

I remember it being Falling Feather, but can't check the book atm (fighting a sea lion rn, yes i have my harpoon dw)

But yes he does lose his shit on one of the two, it's in The First Battle after Thunder comes back to SkyClan for (iirc) a negotiation purpose. She says goodbye to Thunder too nicely and Clear Sky reprimands her about it.

Afterwards, he jumps in front of the whole Clan and says that everyone is allowed to abuse her however they'd like until she's learned her lesson. He compares her to a snake in the dirt. They're allowed to bully her, steal her prey, and command her however they'd like.

But like, he was just sad about his wives, so it's ok actually.

[therat-k1ng]

I’m crying help-

[variaandroise]

I'm two seasons into The Magnus Archives. Current thoughts:

If I was thrown into England, TMA universe, the only thing motivating me to not try and find Jared and ask to read the shitty Canterbury Tales fanfiction is the fact I might die very, very painfully if he says no. No other reason. I, someone who listened to 14 Piecemeal and came out thinking "I want to do that to someone" and would eat human meat if it was offered, should absolutely be trusted to become a body horror abomination. I don't care I would be less human for this, I'm not sure I was one to begin with.

Jared's last name is now legally Hoppcraft, because that's what I've called him 90% of the time. Likewise, I'm changing Elias' last name to Boulevard because I can't remember his either.

The monsters from 34 Anatomy Class are hilarious and I want more of them.

I'm going to dig up (fictional) Robert Smirke's grave and spread his bone marrow on toast. I get that his architecture is specifically anti fear entity, but every single time architecture is mentioned...

Why the hell is "Craig Goodall" (72 Takeaway) a pseudonym? Why would he need to do that? (Don't answer, I genuinely want to find out for myself.)

Also, in reference to the first thing, I think someone would find my reaction to Hive amusing. (Also me clarifying what I meant because I don't feel like retyping it.)

Like yeah, you don't precisely think of humans as special, that we can agree on. But you're wrong about how we are nothing special. (Seriously though, something does indeed look at what we would call a corpse the same way we look at what we call a carcass. I don't think there's a true difference between the two, we just make the distinction to put our minds at ease. (This is not an original thought. Obviously.))

Episode that freaked me out the most was 18 The Man Upstairs (Nauseating... And an unfortunate waste of good meat.), that or 36 Taken Ill (I just really hate rot.)(Funnily enough, these aren't even things I'd list for "Greatest Fears". They're just things I dislike). Favorites are a bit hard to choose, though high up are 9 A Father's Love, 10/56 Vampire Hunter/Children of the Night, 19/20 Confession/Desecrated Host, 42 Grifter's Bone, 48 Lost in a Crowd, and maybe 77 The Kind Mother, though it immediately precedes what is so far my least favorite part so it's a bit tainted.

[blue-banditt]

There's like 20 flies in my kitchen and I literally just cleaned they came from nowhere and they're carrion feeding flies so there's definitely a dead body somewhere in my walls I'm GONNA LOSE IT

[heckyeahponyscans]

The H5N1 (bird flu) virus is going around, and cats are proving especially susceptible to it. A big cat sanctuary in Washington state had TWENTY of their big cats (cougars, tigers, etc) die of bird flu.

There have also been cases of indoor-only domestic cats getting sick or even dying of bird flu after contracting it from raw cat food. And of course coming into contact with birds also puts your cat at risk.

To keep your cat safe:

Keep them away from birds, preferably keeping them entirely inside. If they are indoor-outdoor then remove any bird feeders from your yard to make cat-bird contact less likely.

Do NOT feed them raw food of any sort, including freeze-dried raw food. Freezing will not kill the virus!

A lot of raw pet food companies are using PR speak to assure customers that their raw food is safe. Remember that at the end of the day their priority is to make money and stay in business. Unless they are testing every bird carcass for the virus their assurances are meaningless, and they certainly are not testing every bird because it would be too expensive.

Cooking kills most viruses and bacteria, including H5N1.

[agent-oo-z]

Warning! This post will contain images of animals at zoos receiving carcasses as food and enrichment!

If that is something that will upset you or make you uncomfortable:

PLEASE DO NOT CLICK THE READ MORE!

I am also going to talk about why carcass feedings are important in this post.

Hello there! I hope you’re excited to learn about carcass feeding, because boy howdy do I love talking about it.

But first! Some images and a video!

Here we have the lionesses of the family pride at the Denver Zoo enjoying some pig carcasses!

So why do zoos do carcass feeds? There’s a variety of reasons! For one it can be used to elicit natural behaviors. The animals have to put in more work and effort, use their teeth and claws to tear at their food. This provides exercise, mental engagement, and helps to keep them healthier overall. Having a varied diet is a huge part of maintaining health for all creatures.

Carcass feeds are also a good way to educate the public! Educators, volunteers, staff, and keepers can explain to guests why a carcass feeding is being done. They can talk about what benefits the feeding has for the species in question, they can discuss the species adaptations related to hunting and eating, they can even just talk about enrichment as a concept!

Something you might not know about carcass feedings is that keepers often have to butcher the carcasses! Depending on where the carcasses are sourced they may arrive at the zoo completely intact. Depending on what animal is supposed to receive the carcass it may need to be made smaller, or made into multiple chunks to ensure every member of a group can get their own piece. Certain body parts may need to be removed for the safety of the animals.

[yeyinde]

thinking about Simon who just gets out of prison for murder after he's been locked up since he was 18, and starts working at a slaughterhouse for his parole. a big, scary dog who has bloodstains all over him, permanently crusted in the crease of his nails because he prefers field dressing over dragging the carcass inside the shop. who always smells of iron and sweat, and looms over you like he was trying to keep everyone else from looking at you. possessive, but you only know him from rumours and blog posts. his stare, the intense, hungry way he looks at you always gives you the creeps.

he's bad news. and he tries to woo you by feeding you meat from the animals he butchered (getting angry whenever you buy cuts from someone else), and won't go away even when you tell him to leave you alone. you've heard the rumours. read the news articles. nothing about this man is any good—

but he won't, of course. the thing about prison is that you need to hold onto the things that you have and take the stuff that you don't. a sort of cutthroat survival that has raised him better than his own mother. so, when he finds you (something he doesn't have, but wants), it's just in his nature to take.