#common garden lizard

[wikipediapictures]

Curious cat staring at a lizard (1/2)

“Curious Felis silvestris catus (domestic cat) staring at a passive Calotes versicolor (Oriental garden lizard), in Laos.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[antiqueanimals]

Common flying dragon (Draco volans) ; Oriental garden lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Reptiles and Amphibians of the World. Written by Hans Hvass. Illustrated by Wilhelm Eigener. Originally published in 1958.

Internet Archive

[literalite]

the epic guys that live in my backyard

[thinkmanythingsofit]

Viviparous lizard, or common lizard (Zootoca vivipara, scandinavia)

[lookingforcactus]

Because I'm feeling whimsical,

What the fuck do you mean that's a quilt??? Round 2

All quilts are contest winners from the quilt show Road to California, 2022. You can see these quilts and the other winners from that year here.

Best of Show Quilt

Title: Harlequinade Maker: Rebecca Prior Quilter: Jackie Brown Design Basis: Maker's Original Design "Harlequinade" is a theatrical quilt filled with visual clues guiding viewers to discover a hidden story. Inspired by Venetian Carnival masks and commedia del'arte characters, the quilt features the antics of Harlequin, the trickster, who has his own ideas about freedom and fun!

Director's Choice

Title: Welcome Home Maker: David Taylor Quilter: David Taylor Design Basis: Original image by Margo Clabo, used with permission I first saw this image from friend Margo Clabo more than a decade ago. It took years to convince her to let me adapt her photo into a quilt. The image it depicts is especially sentimental for her. The challenge for myself was to create a pieced pictorial background and recreate a traditionally pieced quilt by using my hand appliqué technique. The project size was overwhelming, but I'm thrilled with the finished quilt. So is Margo. Time to exhale.

Note: To be clear, that is not a photo with a quilt in it, that WHOLE THING is a quilt.

Best Machine Stationary Quilting

Title: Emerald labyrinth Maker: Kumiko Frydl Quilter: Kumiko Frydl Design Basis: Maker's Original Design As a starting point I used an image from the entrance to the EL Barkookeyeh Mosque in Cairo. Thinking of an elegant and intricate garden I added bursts of natural color and filled the area between the large elements of the design with finer ornament inspired by butterflies and plants. I set the circular image in a rectangular frame with a subdued complimentary design of rippled reflective pools.

1st Place: Animal

Title: Woodland Wilds Maker: Ann Horton Quilter: Ann Horton Design Basis: Maker's Original Design My morning hikes in the woodland hills of our northern California home inspired this quilt. The rabbits are always alert for danger. This machine appliqued, thread painted and embroidered view through a window is surrounded by wild flowers on hand dyed silk and again surrounded by other wild birds and animals. I love my wilds things in the woods!

1st Place: Human Image

Title: The Memories That Remain Maker: Lynn Czaban Quilter: Lynn Czaban Design Basis: Library of Congress Photos - LC-USF33-006183MI and LC-USF33-0061 I am fascinated by the human face and our ability to communicate without uttering a single word. The Portuguese word 'saudade' meaning a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something or someone that one cares for and loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again.

1st Place: Naturescape

Title: Desert In Spring Maker: Andrea Brokenshire Quilter: Andrea Brokenshire Design Basis: Maker's Original Design My Mom and I embarked on an epic travel trip we named our "Thelma and Louise Adventure" In Palm Springs, CA we visited the Living Desert Botanical Garden. This quilt is inspired by one of the photographs I took that spring day of a Prickly Pear Cactus in full bloom. I loved the leathery texture of the cactus leaves (paddles) and the almost translucent citron yellow blossoms.

2nd Place: Animal

itle: Not Today Maker: Kestrel Michaud Quilter: Kestrel Michaud Design Basis: Maker's Original Design The chase is on! The Roadrunner is after his next meal, chasing a Common Collared Lizard through a steampunk junkyard. The desert is a favored dumping ground for the detritus of progress, even in a fantasy world. A steam-powered industrial revolution creates iron refuse and pieces of broken machinery have been left to decay in dry desert air. That doesn’t bother these critters. To them, this is home. Will that lizard wind up as dinner? Not today!

2nd Place: Human Image

Title: Declaration of Independence - Voices of Freedom Maker: Nancy Prince Quilter: Terri Taylor Design Basis: Reproduction of John Trumbull's Painting The quilt is a reproduction of John Trumbull's painting which depicts the moment in history when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776. The quilt front and back were created in Photoshop and custom printed on fabric. Four thousand hours over 4 years was necessary to create the quilt. The back captures the story of the Declaration and its signers.

Note: I'm not at all patriotic. But credit where credit is due. That's a fucking quilt.

3rd Place: Animal

Title: Midnight Flight Maker: Joanne Baeth Quilter: Joanne Baeth Design Basis: Maker's Original Design Several years ago we had an injured Great Horned Owl roosting in our willow tree during the day. I took several pictures and was inspired to create him in fabric. The background features a painted sky, old buildings, melting snow and a rabbit on the run The foreground is the swooping owl which was constructed by painting and inking each feather and thread painting over fabrics and needle punched wool rovings

3rd Place: Naturescape

Title: Day Into Night Maker: Deb Deaton Quilter: Deb Deaton Design Basis: Maker's Original Design Inspired from photo by Robert Murray with his permission. When the Arizona sun begins to set, the sky comes alive. I saw this photo and knew the splendor of this landscape needed to be captured with fiber! Sky is hand painted. Raw edge applique. Mixed media used: oil pastels, color pencils, inks to enhance the fabrics and create more dimension. Cheesecloth: painted to create spikes of cactus. Tulle used to capture the sunrays. Machine quilted.

[sabertoothwalrus]

one of my favorite things about using inaturalist is how it’s gotten me familiar with even the common, less “impressive” species. especially since spring is rolling around and I’m spending more time outside.

Like, before where I’d just say, “oh look, a butterfly!” now I can say “oh look, a mourning cloak!”

Instead of “a squirrel” it’s “a fox squirrel.” Instead of “a snail” it’s a “garden snail.” Instead of “a rabbit” it’s “a desert cottontail.” Instead of “a ladybug” it’s “an asian lady beetle, which is invasive.” Instead of “a lizard” it’s “a bluebelly, but they’re really called western fence lizards.”

It’s harder to take the little guys for granted when you know their names, y’know?

[frostbitebakery]

LOUD.

part one two three four five six seven eight nine

“You’ve got something there,” Quin says, gesturing vaguely at his own shoulder.

“I’m aware,” Obi-Wan signs. “It’s some sort of monkey lizard fungus.”

The monkey lizard fungus giggles into his shoulder.

Quin nods grimly. “I heard the only cure is to placate it with sweets and hope for the best.”

Anakin precariously leans over, heels accidentally digging into still bruised ribs.

Obi-Wan bites his lips behind the collar but of course Quin immediately detects his movements turning stiff.

Quin holds out an arm, flexing his bicep with wiggling eyebrows. It has the desired effect and Anakin jumps from Obi-Wan, swinging around the elbow before hooking his knees over Quin’s arm.

“He’s heavier than he looks,” Quin strains out.

They walk to one of the mess halls that’s open around the clock and mainly offers food and beverages to those clinging with teeth to their sanity during exam season.

One of the cramming Padawans looks up from their dozen holo books displaying graphs, and squints at them. “Master Vos, there’s something growing out of your arm?”

“Monkey lizard fungus,” Obi-Wan signs, hiding a smile behind his collar at the Padawan nodding to themselves as if that makes perfect sense.

“What’s with them?” Anakin asks, looking at the sleep deprived tableau and hoisting himself up and swinging one leg over Quin’s shoulder.

“This is your future,” Quin says gravely and Obi-Wan is catapulted to melting stone fire Darkness “You were supposed to be my Master!” yellow familiar eyes from a smoking alive corpse and the grief is ripping him apart “—see once you take your first assignments. The only places you’ll be is either here or the Archives.”

It’s been years since he last had a vision. It’s staggering, his heart thumping in his chest like a clock ticking down the inevitable countdown. But it’s not.

He looks over to Anakin who’s already watching back with wide eyes, the fear in his hands gripping onto Quinlan. “I won’t let it come to that,” he promises, fingers thudding together heavily but he’s still shaking off the vision and Anakin’s fear is a taste in the air by now. He can’t not make promises he only hopes he can keep.

Quinlan is silent during their exchange, gloved hands keeping hold of Anakin. The calculating look in his eyes a guarantee Obi-Wan is going to get cornered later.

.

“Do you like Depa being your Master?”

Let it be said, paranoia is a common infliction amongst Shadows.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin sighs, voice breaking with puberty and annoyance. “Depa is wizard. She’s amazing even though she’s signed me up to all these classes.”

Obi-Wan looks over all the models, plans, and concepts with added calculations. There’s a data pad displaying language modules and another proclaiming the joys of agriculture. “It’s almost all in the engineering field,” he signs.

“Which makes her so wizard. You’d never have me taking up gardening though,” Anakin adds sullenly.

Don’t yearn for things I cannot give you, Obi-Wan has thought a lot in the past few years as the Galaxy seems to slowly steep in Darkness.

“Knowing what can poison you is important,” he signs, feeling restless and helpless. The mission he’s finished two cycles ago may still reside in his bones.

“I’ll just bite back,” Anakin says, tongue sticking out as he connects wires to ports. He presses a button and the thing he’s been tinkering with since before Obi-Wan left starts to purr smoothly. “Now she can even juice cocadooms,” he says, satisfaction purring just as smoothly in his voice.

“Well done.”

“I know,” Anakin responds airily and swivels around to face Obi-Wan fully. “You’re lurking in the shadows again so let’s get this tradition over with: Depa is an awesome Master and maybe I sometimes wish you’d have chosen me but,” he adds loudly when Obi-Wan lifts his hands to protest, “I also sometimes daydream Master Tiin had chosen me because he’s got his own modded Delta-7.”

The paranoia settles down as Anakin waxes over how wicked the new wing box skins and sensor fusions are, no, truly, you should see them, Obi-Wan!

[iliketangerines]

I know you're probably busy and mainly write smut, but if it's not too much to ask could I request some fluff between Reptile/Syzoth x gn!reader just being a little silly? Like they have very different love languages (reptile being a love biter and reader being a rock giver like penguins) and both are so confused about it (they aren't in a relationship yet and just show each other affection awkwardly). So Syzoth will randomly wake up to rocks at his door and reader will randomly be greeted with either their hand or arm getting bitten (lightly) until they finally explain what they're doing to each other.

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, and no pressure to do it, I just thought it'd be a cute idea.

courting rituals

a/n: i love syzoth and he needs to be more lizard like

pairing: syzoth x gn!reader

warnings: none :)

you rock back and forth on your heels, staring at the rock in your hands and admiring how it shimmers in the sunlight of the White Lotus

there’s a whoosh of air behind you, and you turn around to face the swirling fire and light coming behind you and find Syzoth and Kitana with Lord Liu Kang walking out of the portal

you bow to them respectfully, and Lord Liu Kang greets you as well

tucking the rock into your pocket, you welcome them to the White Lotus and start their tour, apologizing that Kung Lao and Raiden wouldn’t be here for their tour because the two of them were busy training the new initiates

you lead the three of them through the grounds and eventually you do reach Kung Lao and Raiden in the training grounds putting the initiates through some tough sets

Syzoth walks by you the entire time, head nodding excitedly with every fact you tell him, and your heart beats in your chest and your face warms as he talks to you

the tour ends a bit early, and you let them scatter about the White Lotus to explore on their own

Syzoth stays with you, deciding to keep walking with you, and you laugh nervously, digging the rock out of your pocket and handing it to him as a gift

he blinks at the rock, bowing his head and thanking you for such a pretty gift, and your face warms at the compliment as you wave him off and say that it wasn’t any problem

a few of the initiates walk by, complaining loudly about the sets that Raiden was taking them through, and you cringe as they start to curse loudly

you give Syzoth a sheepish smile and ask if he wants to go somewhere quiet, and he nods, saying he’ll go anywhere you take him

it makes you clam up and simply hum and nod at his compliment, trying not to stutter and fumble over your words like an idiot

walking through the compounds, you lead him to the gardens once more and take a path that leads to the small pond that exists within the small area

Syzoth sighs and lays down on the grass, stretching his body out onto the grass, and you avert your gaze to not stare at how his arms flex and stretch underneath the sun

he looks back at you, wriggling about to get a bit more comfortable, and he pats the grass next to him, telling you to lay down next to him

you clear your throat and walk up next to him, sitting down and laying next to him, and you fold your hands neatly onto your stomach as you stare up at the cloud formations in the sky

Syzoth sighs, soaking in the sun, and he says that he’s never really had the luxury to ever be able to do this a lot

you turn your head to look at him, and nearly squeak when your eyes meet his

he says that it just isn’t common in Zaterran culture to sunbathe unless there is someone else around to also share in the experience

it’s a very intimate process of sharing body heat, usually between close friends, and Shang Tsung wasn’t exactly the kind of guy he wanted to sunbathe with

you nod, trying to wrap your mind around the information, and you press your lips together, the word friend echoing in your head

your fingers fiddle with each other as he talks more about the sunbathing process and then about Zaterran culture in general, and you listen attentively to his words, absorbing the information and learning everything you possibly could

the sun passes above overhead, and soon the sky turns orange and yellow as the moon starts to make its appearance above

Syzoth stands up, shaking himself similarly to how a dog would shake off water, and he holds his hand up to yours, asking when he’d be able to see you again

you take his hand and pull yourself up, not quite sure of when he and Lord Liu Kang would meet once again, and you say as much

he lets out a small oh, looking slightly downcast before fixing a quick smile on his face

holding out his arm, he asks to escort you back to the portal, and you nod and take his arm, the both of you walking together

once you both reach the portal, he lets go of your arm and walks next to Kitana and Lord Liu Kang, waving goodbye to you as you do the same

a few weeks later, you jump up and down on the tips of your toes as you wait for Kung Lao to arrive to the portal

Lord Liu Kang stands by the portal platform, and Raiden makes small talk with him

you have another rock in your pocket, one much prettier than the one you gave him last time, and you really really hope he likes it

Kung Lao finally arrives, out of breath, and Lord Liu Kang shakes his head, but the small smile on his face betrays how he really feels

opening the portal, all four of you walk through, and you find Syzoth waiting there at the base, waving up at you happily

you keep your composure, resisting the urge to just bound over there and greet him, and you walk with Lord Liu Kang and the others down the steps

first, you bow to him, and he bows back to you

when the both of you stand back up, you dig your hand into your pocket and hand him the new rock, and he smiles and thank you for the rock, admiring it in the sun before pocketing it

once again, he holds his arm out, and you take it as he takes you on the tour of Sun Do and then leads Lord Liu Kang to the meeting room with Empress Mileena

Kung Lao and Raiden leave to explore the town together, but you decide to stay with Syzoth

he beams at you and leads you to the palace’s gardens, more beautiful and majestic than you would’ve ever thought, and he leads you over to a small meadow

settling down onto the grass, stretching out his stomach and his arms, he lays sprawled on the soft grass and beckons you to lay with him

you do so, and the two of you just make small talk about everything and nothing

it’s casual and nonchalant, but you find yourself scooting closer and closer to him until you’re pressed against him completely

you’re on your side, and he’s on his, the both of you staring into one another’s eyes

you wish you could lean in and kiss him, but his eyes glance above your head and he shoots up out of the grass, saying that you’ll be late to arriving home with the others

pouting at him, you get up and hook your arm into his, and he leads you back hurriedly to the portal to find the other three waiting for you

he waves to you, and you wave back to him

over the next few months, the two of your visit each other whenever you can, and you give him a pretty rock you’ve found while on missions and he takes you sunbathing in all different types of beautiful and calming environments

it’s a strange ritual, but you didn’t mind, you loved it in fact

you just wish it would lead to something more, always always you get close to each other, so close that you could kiss but nothing ever comes out of it

you’re visiting Outworld again, and instead of leading you anywhere, Syzoth leads you deeper and deeper into the palace until he finds a pair of grandiose doors and pushes them open

inside, you can see that it’s Syzoth’s room, decorated to hell and back with all kinds of plants and greenery

he flops onto his bed, where the sun beams directly onto it, and he calls you over to sunbathe with him again

walking over, you gasp as you find every rock you’ve given him lined up perfectly on the windowsill, catching the light and shining down on Syzoth

your voice is almost a whisper as you ask that he’s kept every single one, and he says that he has, of course he would, he doesn’t understand why you give him rocks but he loves them all

you look down at him, stretched out on the bed and absorbing the sun, and you say that he doesn’t know why you give him rocks

Syzoth shakes his head, and you laugh and pinch your nose, saying that you’ve been giving him rocks because you liked him

you thought he didn’t like you back, so you’ve just been respecting his boundaries

Syzoth sits up on the bed, mouth agape as he tells you what you think the sunbathing has been before

you point at him and say that it was for close friends, and he says that it was for close friends but also lovers, as a bonding experience

you put your head in your hands and start to laugh, realizing how much of an idiot the two of you have been, and he laughs as well

it’s just the sound of both yours and Syzoth’s laughs and giggles in the air until Syzoth finally stops, letting out a wheeze and then clearing his throat

he holds his hand out to you, asking you again to sunbathe with him, and you smile at him and take it

he draws you into his arms, your face only a breath from his, and he asks if he can kiss you

you breathe out that he can, and he leans his head forward, lips melding to yours

the rest of the day is spent sunbathing

[heronoegg]

I mean this in the best way possible: If i looked up the word "spaghetti" in the dictionary i would find your art style.

On another note, i request bnha wing au lore, such as how similar their diets are to their specific bird species and birds in general as well as how cities look like, and a picture of Northern Goshawk Sero (because apparently they're the most acrobatic birds according to google.)

i don't even like spaghetti all that much if im being honest hjbghjfb it hurts my stomach and tomato makes me break out yet here i am eating pizza

anyway Sero is actully a sparrow because the pun was too good for me to pass it.

original colors and one i blasted with filters because i like doing that jvkgf hcj

i didn't want him being a hawk cause in their society Hawks are viewed as the "better" birds (by better i mean like Hawks though raptors are viewed as stronger, more successful, beautiful/handsome ect they are so this and so that) Sero's quirk compared to Bakugo influences my choice of making Bakugo a Hawk and Sero a common bird - a sparrow. there was another reason but i forgot what it was

Now as for your other questions.

-How similar are their diets to their specific bird species and birds in general

I mean, i wouldn't say somebody is eating another person, but it's not severely uncommon in their world that a person would eat another person if they were starving enough and there was nothing else around. Raptors would sooner eat a rat before another person they'd have to be severely pushed into eating another person and it's only raptors/predators cases that have eaten other bird persons but that hasn't happened in a long time (at least that they know about) It's frowned upon to eat people jfknvbghfj

They do eat seeds, they grow vegetables, they eat roots, they grow fruits, bugs that aren't sentient, they eat other little critters that aren't sentient, they eat rats that aren't sentient - they have some form of non-sentient cattle cause if rabbit people like Mirko exist that means rat people exist, i don't think sentient cow or pug people exist but bugs and lizards aren't off the table there are sentient bugs and lizards cause bug people are incorporated in wing society.

-how do cities look like?

I actually have this written out. Ok so in this AU for somereason i never explained but the planets flora grew to like massive height so giant trees that reach the clouds exist, flowers that are big as houses exist, plants making people look like bugs even if they are a bird exist but normal size land, plants and trees exist as well.

living arrangements

Bird people

they typically nest in tree houses or live in hollowed-out trees that serve as single-family homes or communal living spaces almost that of hotels.

Higher branches are reserved for the rich or successful - safety and status all that noise.

Mid-level branches have platforms and hanging structures it's middle-class neighborhoods. The poor/under paid live in shrubs where bugs live or smaller trees closer to the ground floor but still elevated enough that they aren't touching the complete ground.

Houses include perches and structures robust enough to support winged living. Regular furniture but adapted for wings and tails. Beds that provide space for wings i imagine their round?

People do still do nest-building - i think my friend said Deku's mom owns a nest. -it's an older generation thing, i assume they integrate natural materials into their living spaces either inside normal homes or in custom-built house.

i think the bird houses are my favorite thing in this AU cause i sit here and think about how their houses look alot

I think of balconies, roof gardens, open spaces it's really cool in my head think of skyloft from skyward sword but without the clouds kinda? i had skyloft in mind when i was making this AU

Bat people

They prefer caves or cave-like structures that can be built into cliffs or large trees. Wealthy bats love spacious caverns higher up, lots of privacy and security from predators

Middle-class bats may have communal roosts on ledges or hollowed parts of large trees, while the less fortunate find shelter in smaller crevices and overhangs closer to the ground but still vertical enough for their needs.

Bug people

those with butterfly or moth wings build around massive flowers and tall vegetation.

The rich live high in canopys but i think bugs are the lowest ranking species here.

some might dwell on large leaves or within the stems of tall plants, lots of vibrant communities akin suburban life. it's silly jhtbgfhj

Some individuals may resort to makeshift accommodations among thickets or low-lying plants, some elevation to facilitate their flight-based movement.

There are no streets; travel is facilitated by flight between different areas. There are lots of glades and clearings that serve as social and trading hubs for interaction between different species and economic classes.

i have other things about this AU but i wanna save it for it's own post i just wanted to answer your question.

[anipgarden]

What Kind of Plants to Add

This is my sixth post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert–just an enthusiast–but I hope something you find here helps! 

I’d love to be able to give a quick and easy list of things to add, but frankly I can’t do that. I can strongly encourage you, however, to look at these categories of plants and do further research to discover what’s native to your area, so you can plant things that’ll have the most impact in your particular area.

With that being said, I will mention a few plants as examples. This is in no way, shape, or form me telling you that you have to or even should buy these specific plants. Not every plant works well in every place in every garden, not to even mention across countries. Above all, if you’re wondering what plants you should be adding, I can wholeheartedly say plants that are native to your area--or at least nonnative non-invasive.

Flowers

Flowers are some of the most common ways people work to increase biodiversity in their gardens, and who can blame them? Seeing pops of color out your window, and directly seeing the impact via butterflies and bees visiting the garden? It’s a win-win for us and the wildlife!

Flowers--especially native wildflowers--are a quick, easy, and cheap way to increase wildlife traffic in your garden. Perennial gardens are more likely to get you the most bang for your buck, as they’ll come back year after year if you treat them well. But don’t dismiss annuals--if you get ones that easily reseed, they’ll eagerly return on their own! If you can, do your best to ensure that the flowers you plant all have different blooming periods--that way, your garden can support wildlife throughout the year instead of for just one brief season. 

Flowers are environmental super boosters. Their nectar and pollen can feed insects and birds, their stems and leaves can provide nesting materials for all sorts of creatures, and their seeds are a popular food source among birds at all times of the year.

Climbing Plants

Climbing plants can be fantastic options for maximizing your impact. If you have limited ground space, growing up can provide interest as well as additional habitat for all kinds of creatures.

Training plants up a trellis, fence, or bare wall offers food, shelter, and habitat. Trumpet vines, passionflowers, honeysuckles, and more will provide sweet nectar for pollinators as well as nesting and hiding spaces for other wildlife like birds, bugs, and lizards. Do note that in some cases, climbing plants can actually affect the structural integrity of walls and roofs if allowed to climb too much and too far along a house, so be careful. 

Bushes/Shrubs

Bushes provide shelter for creatures, which then provides hunting grounds for other animals. Their fallen leaves and petals can be food and shelter for detritivores, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals--and they also provide good cover for moving around the garden, for creatures who like to stay hidden. They can be a bit more pricey to obtain--unless you get cuttings or seeds and are willing to wait--but they’ll definitely be worth it, and they’re typically low-maintenance once they’re established.

Bonus points if you get a flowering and fruiting bush, like bottlebrush, serviceberry, lilac, or others. This’ll make your bushes not only a place of shelter, but a food source as well--and depending on the kind you pick, may be food for you too! Making a garden border with a series of bushes can be a great option to providing lots of habitat, if you can manage it.

Shrubs with pithy or hollow stems are excellent options for supporting solitary bees. Some examples you could look into are elderberry, raspberry, blackberry, or sumac.

Trees

Trees have a high up-front cost and take awhile to grow, but once they’re settled in place they provide crucial habitat to all kinds of creatures! Insects will be attracted to flowers they may provide, or to nest in the wood. Others may eat the leaves as food, or use them as nesting materials. Birds will perch and nest in trees, and feed off the fruits and seeds and insects that also use the tree. Squirrels also use trees as nesting places, piling up dead leaves into huge clusters to raise their young in, and will absolutely feast on any nuts the tree may provide. Mice, badgers, and more will feast on fallen fruits or seeds, and bats roost in the trunks when given the chance. Detritivores eat fallen leaves and decomposing fruits, providing further food for hunting creatures. Trees can also be good for us--they help block out noise and air pollution, and are the poster child for taking CO2 and making it breathable oxygen. Not to mention they can provide plenty of food for us, too. Nesting grounds, hunting grounds, shelter from weather, and more--trees are, in my opinion, likely to be the best way to boost biodiversity long-term. If you can get your hands on a sapling for cheap and can care for it for awhile, I’d definitely give it a shot! Make sure the tree won’t get too big for where you’re growing it, though--you’ve definitely gotta plan for the long-term before you plant any. 

Some trees can be grown in containers. Though they won’t become gigantic branching behemoths, they’ll still do their part to support all the life that depends on them. Growing a tree from seed may take awhile, but could be an easy option to getting one if you have the patience--the trees are more than happy to help you, as they drop tons of seeds and fruit in fall for you to gather. 

Groundcover

Bare soil is the enemy of microbial life in the soil, and while small pockets of bare soil can be great nesting places for bees and other insects, having swaths of empty soil should be avoided. Groundcover plants grow low to the ground in a sprawling habit, and will often spread quite easily on their own. This is a great way to provide shelter, keep soil temperatures cool, block out weeds, and give your soil life a chance to thrive.

Sometimes, ground covers don’t even have to be planted in the ground. Shallow-rooted plants like succulents, ferns, and alyssum can be planted into cracks in stone walls, and moss can be planted by making moss graffiti and painting it onto a surface. As with climbing plants, do make sure that you don’t cause extra damage to important walls and housing foundations.

Host Plants

Host plants get their own section, because plants of all kinds can be host plants for different creatures! It’s common to think only flowers can be host plants in the beginning, but in reality, many bushes and trees are host plants to dozens of species of butterflies and moths. Honestly, I feel that factor's not talked about enough. Look up what insects live in your area and what kind of host plants they need, and plant some if you can! Bonus points if you can plant a variety of them--I know that there’s hundreds of kinds of milkweed, each one flowering and leafing up around different times of the year. Planting several varieties of milkweed, then, would provide monarchs with food through several seasons, allowing many more of them to grow up in your garden!

Nectar Plants

Plants that provide nectar to insects is a great foundation to increasing biodiversity! This is, of course, many native wildflowers (and even nonnative wildflowers, though be sure they aren’t invasives who’ll do more harm than good), but many native bushes, vines, and trees will also provide nectar to hungry pollinators! 

Keystone Species

To be frank, some plants can have a bigger impact than others in a landscape. By all means, every bit helps, but if you want to boost biodiversity quickly there are a few plants that can essentially serve as the backbone of local ecosystems that you can grow in anything from a balcony pot to a small patch of your backyard. These plants can be different depending on where you are, so do your research to find out what would be best to grow in your area. If you can’t get them all? That’s alright! But even hitting just a few of these target species really can do a lot.

That’s the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about things to keep in mind/continue to do once you get plants in the ground! Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[wikipediapictures]

Cat playing with a lizard

“Seated Felis silvestris catus (domestic cat) playing with a passive Calotes versicolor, (oriental garden lizard), facing it, in Laos.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[libraryofmoths]

Moth of the Week

Buff-Tip

Phalera bucephala

The buff-tip is part of the family Notodontidae and was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. They are best know for their resemblance of a broken birch twig when at rest. The name buff-tip comes from the color on the head and edge of the wings, buff: “a light brownish yellow, ochreous colour, typical of buff leather.”

Description The body is hairy, with a buff colored patch on the head followed by a brown ring. The upper body visible from under the wings is a mottled gray to match the forewings. The rest of the body is covered when resting and is a cream white with gray, cream and or brown legs. The forewings are also mottled gray with brown patterning and a buff patch at the tip mirrored on both sides. The hindwings are the same cream as the lower body. The antennae are brown and hidden when camouflaged.

Average wingspan: 55-68 mm

Males are smaller than females

Diet and Habitat Common food plants for this moth include the Norway maple, birch, chestnut, hazel, oak and many more. Caterpillars are social as young larva and eat in groups which can cause the defoliation of their host plants. Adult moths do not feed.

This moth is found across Europe and in Asia to eastern Siberia. It is very common in the British Isles, more so in the south than in the north. They prefer habitats with deciduous trees like open woodlands, scrubs, hedgerows, and urban gardens.

Mating Generally, the buff-tip can be seen from May to July, which is most likely their mating season. This moth is strictly nocturnal so it is also most likely they mate during the night. They have one generation per year with the females laying the eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves. The young larva are sociable and grow to be solitary through 4 instars.

Predators In order to protect itself while resting during the day, this species has adapted to look like a broken birch twig. This deceives common day time predators of moths such as birds and lizards.

Fun Fact This moth has been considered a pest in Lithuania for eating apple trees in the 1900s. High levels of environmental nitrogen compounds can increase outbreaks of the buff-tip.

(Source: Wikipedia, Wildlife Insight, London Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation)

[fulloftheloveyouwant]

Ghoul's first pets headcanons

Summary: The ghouls and ghoulettes all get their first pets after Copia allows animals in the abbey.

Warning: None! It's just fluff!

Length: 1.9k words

Note: First post yay! You know those pictures of Phantom holding the puppy? Yeah.. I got inspired.

Special thanks to my beloved wife Salem who proofread and helped me post this. @thewisemasterotaku 🫶

Despite Phantom having experience with dogs due to a few encounters here and there, he immediately asked for a pet bat. The others attempted to dissuade Phantom but he remained determined on getting a pet bat.. At least until he learned he couldn't replicate their care habits.

He ended up bouncing back and forth between a pigeon or a puppy, a pigeon was just the next best thing to a bat. At least to him. But, he ended up adopting a puppy. A mixed breed dog with a medium length coat that's a broken pattern of brown and white. He named the pup "Mr. Wiggleton." Or.. Wiggles for short.

As you could assume, the puppy was very wiggly.

Phantom spent almost every waking moment with his new companion, he ignored everyone else for about two weeks straight and then once he was over it he started to show off Wiggles to anyone who'd even look his way.

While he's inexperienced as a owner, he does his best and the others are willing to help him whenever something does happen. Wiggles goes everywhere with him as long as it's mostly socially acceptable. Yeah.. Mostly.

Mountain who was already familiar with a variety of animals (namely the wild ones around the abbey,) was overjoyed to find out he could get a pet. He chose quickly, much quicker than anyone else. "A rabbit. A continental giant if I'm to pick." He asked rather politely.

So, about a week later and there's now a massive rabbit roaming the greenhouse with Mountain basically hovering over her 24/7. He named her Marigold after watching her demolish his months-long project in the greenhouse, multiple plants decimated in record time.

He was actually pretty amused by it, applauding his little eating machine and treating her to some dandelions after noticing she liked the common flower. Besides, he was able to recover his greenhouse garden back to its previous beauty and redirect Marigold to eating a private garden he made for her.

Overall, while he's very protective of Marigold and hovers over her a lot he's actually pretty good about caring for her and making sure she has all the hay or treats a rabbit could ever need. Plus she gets to free roam when Mountain is out.. Hard to miss the massive brown rabbit hopping about.

Dewdrop wasn't a fan of the idea at all. "No. I'm not taking care of something." He flat out denied and denied, eventually the other ghouls left him alone about it because he refused to get any animal or even entertain the idea of one.

That only changed after Mountain found an injured lizard outside. Its body temperature was low and Mountain couldn't raise that himself leading him to find Dewdrop to help the injured lizard. "Please?" "This.. This is ridiculous but- Fine."

He took the lizard and would slowly heat up his body, watching as the lizard regained energy. Periodically Mountain would visit with the lizard again and again, it would be fed and full each time and Dewdrop would proclaim that he was glad it was gone again each time but he started to miss the small lizard whenever he wasn't with it..

Mountain deemed the lizard unsuitable for the wild and only then did Dewdrop step up to take care of it full-time after their two weeks of rehabilitation together. Him and Mountain set up an entire enclosure that was only slightly too big for the small lizard.

While he never named the lizard, Mountain liked to call the lizard "Little Dew" because Dewdrop would take the lizard everywhere with him. Dewdrop would ignore anyone who said he didn't want a pet a few weeks back, he can't let the lizard know his previous feelings.

Swiss was next in line to receive a pet, originally he had been pretty confident on getting a dog. He'd assumed their personalities would match well and the thought of playing catch for hours with a companion seemed vastly amusing, however Aurora mentioned ferrets loosely in conversation once and it was love at first sight.

They're silly, they bite, they wiggle, they're playful! Swiss became enamoured with the animals immediately, he spent hours searching up on the web of how to take care of them, their care requirements, general diet, everything.

He only bought one once he was absolutely certain he could take care of it. Plus by then half of his room was now dedicated to the ferret alone, toys, tunnels, bowls, a massive cage- It was perfect. But it was even better watching his ferret enjoy all of his hard work.

The first ferret he named Lemon, his second ferret was unexpected but when he saw a rehoming ad he couldn't resist going to go swoop up that ferret too! A lot of careful introducing later and he had two ferrets. Lemon and Lime.

They are his pride and joy, he plays with them for hours daily and lets them occasionally roam in the greenhouse whenever Mountain is out with Marigold. They climb on Mountain every time like he's a massive scratching post which Swiss laughs at repeatedly before retrieving them. Then they'll climb on him instead, perfect!

Aether was somewhat hesitant on getting a pet, not because he didn't like animals but rather he was worried that his love for the other ghouls would be affected if he had to share it with an animal. But.. The others managed to sweet-talk him into it, saying it wouldn't be a big deal.

So, Aether got exactly what he wanted. A bonded pair of guinea pigs. He'd liked guinea pigs ever since being summoned and enjoyed their cute little noises. He was the most meticulous about caring for his animals, being so detailed that the others had a hard time understanding what he was even doing sometimes.

He spent a lot of time with them and learned to balance it with his daily activities. The other ghouls were correct that it didn't change anything, but Aether was definitely much happier hearing them wheek every time he approached their enclosure to play and feed them.

They'd climb all over him and groom his hands or arms, plus whenever he wasn't in his room they'd be looking around just waiting for him to return. He always gave them treats whenever he returned, unable to resist their cute noises and squishy little faces.

He named the long furred pig Jekyll while he named the short furred one Hyde. He had read the book a few months back and enjoyed it heavily hence their names.

Rain wanted a pet but didn't know what. He'd befriended the schools of fish in their lake, he'd even helped Aether befriend a flock of ravens close to the abbey. But having an actual pet himself..? It seemed strange.

He could get fish! But then he'd feel bad for containing them in a tank and not letting them be free (even if they were domesticated) so he decided against fish. What about a turtle? While not a terrible idea, he wouldn't have the space to set up an enclosure for it. Snails, crabs, axolotls? No.. None felt right.

He spent a while moping about this actually, it frustrated him that nothing seemed like the perfect pet. He sat outside one of those nights while moping and heard the familiar croak of a frog.. Now, a frog? Maybe that was the perfect pet.

He did his research, he selected an Australian green tree frog because it's apparently fairly social and also more beginner friendly (he was terrified about accidentally killing his first pet.) Mountain and Aether both helped him set up the proper perimeters and adjust a tank weeks before he even got his first frog.

Once the frog arrived, he was scared to even interact with it besides feeding times. He didn't want to somehow kill it and this fear set a lot of barriers between the two. He at least named it- Ivy. It seemed fitting with his green colours and relatively calm demeanour.

Overtime, Rain warmed up more to handling Ivy and Ivy got used to Rain being a more constant presence. A few months down the line and the two were about as inseparable as they come. Rain was actually a perfectly okay pet owner but he still gets random pangs of anxiety when others try to handle Ivy.

He eventually ended up getting more frogs for Ivy to interact with, the other two being named Juniper and Sage respectively.

The idea of a pet came to Cumulus and Cirrus instantly. "Rats!" They both excitedly shouted once Copia finished his announcement, everyone else turned to stare at them. Truth is, they'd both discussed this beforehand and both of them wanted dumbo rats. Copia allowed it and the duo were setting up the night after.

They received their dumbo rats only a day after finishing their cage. They were both collectively excited about the rats, they were also the only two to name them after songs they've played. Cirrus named her male Miasma while Cumulus named her female Elizabeth.

They were easily the most in love with their pets, both of them constantly took them around everywhere and exposed them to everything. It wasn't an uncommon sight for them to scare someone by revealing their rats that were hiding in their sleeves..

Cirrus liked singing to Miasma and frequently dancing with him while in the comfort of her room while Cumulus took Elizabeth to practice frequently, practicing on keyboard with her little companion cheering her on.

Cirrus and Cumulus both immediately wanted mice afterwards but Copia decided that the rats were enough for them both currently.. They didn't need more animals being dragged to practice or being serenaded to.

The last one to get a pet was Aurora, she waited for a long time contemplating her many options. There were so many animals that could suit her personality! However the one she ended up falling for was cats. Pigeons were a very close second after her and Phantom had spent time months ago talking about them back when he was undecided on getting a pet.

She really liked the idea of having birds, but she ended up taking in the stray cat that lurked around the abbey. A pitch black cat that stalked them like a shadow, she adored the grumpy feline.

The cat had got injured one day for reasons unknown which is what made her take them in fully, the cat had already been nicknamed by others usually being "Misfortune" but she changed their name to "Lucky" instead to counteract the previous name.

The two were already bonded for the most part and after helping fix their leg up she finally was able to see he was a neutered male. He clung to her like she was his only heat source frequently and he was still allowed to roam the abbey but only inside of it now.

Aurora would take Lucky on walks frequently and even sunbathe with him outside or just carry him around. Lucky went from being a really grumpy stray to Aurora's most beloved possession, plus he was much nicer now! He'd still bite Swiss whenever he approached though..

Note: I own a rabbit myself so it only felt natural to give Mountain one too! :D although his is a giant and mine is a dwarf lol. But the whole tall ghoul big bunny vibes were immaculate to me. Plus he'd be so gentle with a rabbit! Ahh.. I could go on and on.

[mutant-distraction]

Robin Rajan

Danaus genutia(common tiger) butterfly on lantana flower, oriental garden lizard in the background.

Location: Parasuvaikal,lndia

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

FOSSIL FRIDAY: CERATOSAURUS

Ceratosaurus, the "horned lizard" is probably one of the coolest dinosaurs discovered. It was described by Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete specimen from Garden Park, Colorado.

It is one of four large theropods in the Morrison Formation of the U.S. and the Lourina Formation of Portugal. There is currently only one accepted species: Ceratosaurus nasicornis.

Allosaurus, Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus at the BYU Museum of Paleontology.

Ceratosaurus is a medium-sized theropod. The type specimen is about 17 ft (5.3 m) long but other specimens indicate it could get more than 20 ft long. It is characterized by deep jaws that supported proportionally long, blade-like teeth, a prominent, ridge-like nasal crest, and a pair of crests over the eyes making it appear very dragon-like.

It had fairly short arms especially compared to its contemporary rivals. Each hand had four fingers with the three larger ones sporting a claw.

It also had a row of osteoderms that ran down it's neck, back and tail.

It is thought that Ceratosaurus was a solitary hunter. None have ever been found in close proximity to another. In a paper written by Donald M. Henderson in 1998, he stated that Ceratosaurus' taller skull indicated a resistance to bending. Its long, broad teeth would present increased frictional resistance to penetration due to increased surface area.

It had powerful adductor muscles that would increase the overall stresses on the entire skull. Having a deeper skull would relieve that by increasing the flexural rigidity and thus the strength. Think pit bull or hyena.

Ceratosaurus is only represented by a handful of specimens, far more common than Torvosaurus but still much less common than Allosaurus. There are two ideas floating around about why this is. One, there simply weren't as many of them. Two, it preferred a habitat that just didn't preserve fossils as well. Whatever the case may be, I hope that we can help answer some of these questions with the potential specimen we found at the Evil Tree Bonebed.

Possible Ceratosaur ischium (and it's a whopper for size).

Want to help recover the Ceratosaurus? Then come join us this summer at Colorado Northwestern Community College! Check out the link for more info. Hope to see you there!

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Lampropholis guichenoti, more popularly known as the grass skink, Guichenot's grass skink, the pale-flecked garden sunskink, or the penny lizard, is a small species of skink found throughout western and southern Australia. Its primary habitat is grasslands and scrublands with plenty of vegetative cover, though they are also a common sight in suburban backyards.

Though a nondescript brown, the penny lizard can be identified by a black stripe running the length of its body. Females can be distinguished by the light orange or reddish tint to their underbellies, while males are light grey. However, identifying the grass skink may prove difficult, as their small size makes them extremely good at hiding; on average an individual is only 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) and weighs less than 2g (0.07 oz).

Male L. guichenoti are extremely terrirotial, and will fiercely defend their territory from other males- particularly in the spring. Breeding begins in September or October and continues throughout the summer. After mating, the female will lay about 2-6 eggs in a communal clutch alongside other females; in total these clutches can contain up to 250 eggs. These eggs hatch approximately 30 days to hatch, and young are fully independent upon emerging. On average, the grass skink can live for 2-3 years in the wild.

Because of their small size and lack of defensive systems, Guichenot's grass skink is an easy prey target for many species. Birds and feral cats are the primary predators, but the grass skink can also become a meal for larger lizards and snakes. The main way L. guichenoti avoids being lunch is by dropping its tail-- a common skink tactic. The tail continues to wriggle after being dropped, distracting the predator while the skink makes its escape and later regrows its tail. The penny lizard itself feeds mainly on small insects like crickets, isopods, earthworms, flies, and ants, as well as the occasional fruit or vegetable.

Conservation status: Lampropholis guichenoti has not been evaluated by the IUCN, but its population is generally considered to be large and stable.

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Photos

David Paul

Colin Silvey

Reiner Richter via iNaturalist