#western spotted frog

[forestfeeling]

[cricketchirp]

One Night, Two Nights, Three Nights...

It was a dark and dreary night. Repeat. It was a dark and dreary night. Repeat. It was a dark and dreary night. While most folks would choose to stay inside curled up by the fire while drinking a hot toddy, a number of intrepid community scientists ranging in age from 3 to 70+, donned rain gear (even waders) and reflective vests, cleansed hands of soap and moisturizer, grabbed flashlights and…

[orofeaiel]

Spotted at the Frog Creek Meadow Campground - Gnome Home Carving, Violet-Green Swallows (!), Oxeye Daisies, Western Honey Bee, Milbert's Tortoiseshell, Columbian Black-Tailed Deer

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Fritter Away with the Mormon Fritillary

The Mormon fritillary (Speyeria mormonia) is a common species of butterfly found throughout western North America. There are multiple subspecies distributed throughout its range, which extends from northern Canada to the southern United States, following the Rocky Mountain range. They are found in a variety of habitats, including alpine grasslands, meadows, and sparse pine forests.

Larval S. mormonia are almost entirely dependent on violets for food, while adults will also feed on milkweeds, thistles, and daisies, as well as mud puddles and animal waste. Birds, rodents, lizards, frogs, spiders, and mantids are all common predators of both caterpillar and adult Mormon fritillaries.

Mating for the Mormon fritillary occurs in mid to late summer. Males regularly search open areas for available females, and following an encounter females lay their fertilized eggs in leaf litter near patches of violets. After about 10 days the eggs hatch, but rather than feeding the caterpillars enter a period of hibernation that lasts throughout the winter. Come spring, they emerge and feed on their host plant for just over a month. Pupation takes 10-12 days, after which they emerge as fully mature adults. In the wild, individuals can live up to 4 years.

S. mormonia are rather small, but brightly colored butterflies. The wingspan for females ranges from 25-27mm (0.98-1.06 in), while males are slightly smaller at 23-26mm (0.9-1.02 in). The top wings of both sexes are orange with black spotting, while the undersides are lighter yellow with white spots, and the body is covered in brown or tan fur.

Conservation status: The Mormon fritillary has not been evaluated by the IUCN, but populations are generally considered to be stable across the US. Its most common threat is the disappearance of its host flower species.

Want to request some art or uncharismatic facts? Just send me proof of donation of any amount to any of the fundraisers on this list, or a Palestinian organization of your choice!

Photos

John Lane

Mark Leppin

David Inouye

[sorrel-system]

List of my kintypes and theriotypes and such ^>w<^

Warning there are so so incredibly many oh gorsh -Jasper

|| * for especially strong kinship! ||

|| • for spiritual! ||

|| ~ for mental! ||

|| ` for past lives! ||

Red fox •

Red classic tabby and white Turkish angora •`

Sichuan takin ~`*

Long-tailed pangolin •~`

Fossa ~`

Western long tailed brush lizard `

Maned wolf •

Honey badger ~`

Mourning dove •

Blacktip reef shark ~`

Honduran white bat •`

Eastern indigo snake `

Harpy eagle •`*

Black fox mouse `~

Piebald roosevelt elk ~•`

Pumpkin toadlet `~

Striped hyena •

South African coati ~

Eurasian wolf `

Polyphemus moth `•

Western parotia •

Greater lophorina •

Crab-eating raccoon ~

Short nosed bandicoot •`

Lion head rabbit •`

Northwestern salamander ~

Red winged starling `

Serval •~

African wild dog ~•`

Gerenuk •*

Velociraptor `*

Frilled-neck lizard ~

Pachycephelosaurus `•~*

Spotted hyena ~`

Frog fae •`**

Sand cat ~`

Mohave Ground Squirrel ~`

Common Genet •~*

Caracal •`

Black shuck •~`***

Polydactyl black American short hair cat ~`

American pika •

Blackbuck •~

Western Tanager ~`

Barreleye fish~`

Northern flicker (male) •`

Fiddler crab •

Border Collie ~`

Kitsune with cross fox pattern, 7 tails, and 6 ears ~•`

Spider Orchid •

Moon •

Black hole •

Belladonna •

Porcelain clown doll •~******

CTX VL501-1 Ivory 15" CRT Monitor 0.28mm Diagzonal Dot Pitch (0.24mm Horizontal Dot Pitch) Dot Pitch D-Sub with Windows 98•~*********

Extra mystery thing!!

I have yet to find this in fiction and am not sure if it exists in depictions (conceptkin?) but a fossa-like being with long spindly legs and a long body and impossibly fluid movement and powerful, built back legs. It could think as a human and feel reasoning and somewhat shifted it's form as it ran. It had a long thin tail with spikey fur at the end and it jumped like a rabbit and I am positive that it was me but I have no clue how to describe what it's called (I was shifting for one of my other kintypes and accidentally discovered another I guess??)

[fishenjoyer1]

Fish of the Day

Today's "fish" of the day is the common loon!

The common loon, also known as the great northern diver, and great northern loon, scientific name Gavia immer, plays an important role in the marine and aquatic ecosystem. During the summer, the natural range of this bird stretches from Northern Canada, Iceland, and Northern United States. The winter range however is much more widespread, Icelandic birds wintering along the Western coast of Europe and the United Kingdom, where North American birds winter anywhere from Southern Canada to the gulf of Mexico. In the summer, these loons live along freshwater lakes and ponds, breeding in the warmer months. In the winter however, these animals flock to coast lines, bays, inland lakes, and rivers, where they will remain with their chicks until thaw. They can be identified by their distinctive calls, such as, the tremolo, the yodel, the hoot, and wailing. Each of which hold a different meaning and are used to communicate to other looks within an area, or migrating party.

Similar to many other water birds, the common loon is equipped with many adaptations for better fishing. They can dive into water as deep as 60m of depth, searching for fish, as that is what makes up around 80% of their diet. They have large and webbed feet along with powerful legs, which makes them clumsy on land but proficient swimmers. Due to this, the common loon tends to land on the water when it stops flying, and opting to spend as little time on the ground as possible. They prey primarily on fish, with a mouth that can eat fish as large as 10 inches in length, which they swallow whole. When fish are not abundant, they also will eat frogs, crustaceans, small plant matter, and insects. When in a small area, common loons are known for chasing out other water birds in an area before settling in for a season, and are intensely territorial. These birds have few predators, but the list is composed of: bald eagles, which attack adults on occasion, but primarily target chicks and juveniles, sharks, and larger mammals when adults are nesting. Eggs are often taken when the parents aren't looking, and chicks are often eaten by large predatory birds, and large fish.

Common loons are monogamous, and will breed together over multiple breeding seasons, defending over a small or large lake is entirely their territory, which they will chase possible predators and other water birds out of. Only one or two eggs are laid in a season, and the eggs can be anything between pale-brown in coloration with darker spots. incubation of the eggs is 16-70 days in length, and nests are hidden along the lake edge in long grasses, in a quiet area. If a partner dies during a breeding season, the living parent will find another common loon of either sex who is unmated and raise chicks with them. Then after hatching, the chicks will swim nearby or ride along their parents backs, and will begin flying at 11-12 weeks after hatching. After migrating, juveniles and adults no longer interact, and the breeding adults will return to the same territory they claimed the year before. During the breeding summer, non-breeding loons will exist in groups along unoccupied lakes or other water sources. Maternity occurs at around 6 years of age, and this is when loons begin breeding, with an estimated lifespan of around 30 years in total.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

Biologists have created small hotspot shelters that operate like little saunas to help vulnerable and endangered amphibians fight off a fast-spreading and deadly fungal disease that has been a major threat to amphibians for decades.

Researchers from Macquarie University and the University of Melbourne developed the shelters as a way to help amphibians ward off chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease of the skin. 

As explained by Amphibian Ark, a conservation group, the fungi that cause the disease can grow in the skin of an infected amphibian. The fungi inhibit the ability for water to move through the amphibian’s skin, leading to heart failure. Outbreaks of chytridiomycosis have led to major declines in some amphibian species around the world, particularly in Australia, Mexico, Central America, the Andes region of South America and the western U.S., Amphibian Ark reported.

Globally, 90% of amphibians that are threatened by chytridiomycosis have become extinct in the wild or altogether, and 124 affected species have seen population declines of 90% or higher, Macquarie University reported.

In response, researchers found a low-cost way that they determined to be effective in improving the frogs’ resiliency to the disease. They used whatever materials were already available, such as bricks or PVC, to build small shelters for the amphibians. The idea is that the shelters will become warm enough that the fungal disease will not be able to grow or spread.

“The whole thing is like a mini med spa for frogs,” Anthony Waddle, lead author of the study and a Schmidt Science Fellow at Macquarie University’s Applied BioSciences, said in a statement. “In these simple little hotspots, frogs can go and heat up their bodies to a temperature that destroys the infections. As with many human diseases, such as influenza, chytridiomycosis is seasonal. Winter is a particularly vulnerable time for frogs, given there are few opportunities to heat themselves up. By making hot spots available to frogs in winter, we empower them to cure their infections, or not even get sick at all.”

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round Two: Heracles vs Heliothraupis

Heracles inexpectatus

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Unexpected Herculean Parrot 

Time: 16 to 19 million years ago (Burdigalian stage of the Miocene epoch, Neogene period) 

Location: St. Bathans Fauna, Bannockburn Formation, Aotearoa  

Heracles was a truly alarmingly large parrot, related to modern day Kea, Kaka, and Kakapo, known from the fantastic avifauna of St Bathans. Standing more than two feet tall and weighing about fifteen pounds, this animal was much larger than any expected from the St Bathans fauna, which represented the initial colonization of Aotearoa (Zealandia) after it returned above sea level. Heracles is also the largest known species of parrot, ever. It was presumably flightless, though it is uncertain if it was nocturnal like its living relative the Kakapo. Its exact ecology is still uncertain, given the material known from Heracles is limited and its living relatives have very disparate ecologies, though it is possible it was omnivorous similar to the Kea and Kaka today. The St Bathans fauna lived in a freshwater lake system, in a subtropical emergent rainforest. Separated from land bridges, the fauna was dominated by birds, with early relatives of the Kiwi, New Zealand Wrens, Adzebills, and Wedge-Tailed eagles found in the fauna, as well as somewhat modern looking Moas. Smaller flamingos, large fruit pigeons, and a huge variety of geese and other waterfowl are known. In addition, frogs, tuataras, other lizards, crocodilians, turtles, and many different types of fish are known from this fascinating ecosystem. 

Heliothraupis oneilli

Photograph by John C. Mittermeier, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: O’Neill’s Tanager of the Sun God Inti 

Time: Unknown to the present, Holocene, Quaternary 

Location: Western Bolivia and Southern Peru, South America 

Rarely do we get to talk about a newly discovered living species of bird, but this is one of those excellent times! This bird, a bright yellow tanager with a distinctive black stripe across its eye, was found in the Neotropics - specifically in the Yungas region. Given that Latin America has the largest number of bird species in the world, it makes a certain amount of sense that we may have missed some! First spotted in the nineties, it was properly identified and described over the course of the 2010s. The distinctive appearance of this tanager lead to it being nicknamed the “Kill Bill Tanager”, in reference to its similarity to Uma Thurman’s yellow jumpsuit outfit. Distinct in appearance and population from other tanagers, it was deemed not only a separate species, but an entirely separate genus. It is migratory, breeding in the northern Machariapo Valley and going down to the eastern Andes for the nonbreeding season. It lives in deciduous forests, and breeds in bamboo grasses. It is a loud and vocal bird, making distinctive songs and choruses that happen long after the dawn chorus of most other birds. As it lives in a fairly isolated region of these countries, its habitat is not particularly threatened at this time.

[hunted-moth]

 Just Like Him Chapter Two: Swimmin' With The Frogs

Wordcount // 8k

Summary // When Lori's husband and Carl's dad show up after being thought dead, everything changes. 

Warning // Language, Talks of death, violence, violence against women(Carol&Ed), the killing of walkers, 

OTHER STUFF//It is really dialogue-heavy with a lot of it coming straight from the show

A/N // This was gonna be one chapter but I just couldn't physically do it anymore lol. Good lord this took forever to edit, the fact that i wrote the other chapter, had school stuff, and WORK! jesus guys. So sorry this took forever lmao 

***: Major time Skip/scene change

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~The Quary Day Four~~~

The sun shown through the tents windows waking you up finally. You sat up, rubbing your tired eyes and looked around expecting to see Carl or Lori but their beds were empty. You stood up and put your shoes on and walked out of the tent walking down the small tral to camp fires.

There you saw Lori sitting down doing something while Carl played by himself by a car not to far away.

You walked up and sat down by her “Morin’ Lori” you said in a tired tone.

“Moring hun, how did you sleep?” she was checking on something in a cast iron pot.

“I slept okay I guess” You rubbed your eyes while sitting down beside her.

“Yeah I bet we couldn't wake ya up so we just let you sleep” she teased. You noticed a girl walking up to you two holding a red bucket.

“Any luck?” Lori asked, putting the lid on the pot. As she was walking up Lori grabbed a small metal bowl and a wooded spoon. The girl poured mushrooms into the bowl.

“How do we know if they’re poison?” Lori gave an unknowing look, you knew though.

“Uhh, there's only one sure way I know of” You waited for her to tell her, but she just started to fiddle with one.

“Ask Shane when he gets back?” The girl said Lori nodded “Yeah you got it” Lori got up taking the red bucket with her “Umm, I'll be right back Y/n, you think you two could keep an eye on that for me?” you both nodded your heads while she walked away.

You just kinda sat and looked at the fire when a voice interrupted, “I don't suppose you know if a mushroom is poisonous or not huh?” the blonde girl had asked you.

“Oh umm, yeah I do,” you said awkwardly, you grabbed the bowl and sat next to her “If a mushroom has white gills or white spots on its camp it's more than likely poisonous” You looked at her before you picked up a Mushroom.

“see this one is good because it has brown gills and doesnt have a bulb at the bottom” you sat it aside, and picked up a different one “but this one is bad, see? It has white gills and a bulb”

You looked at her again “Okay so these ones are bad?” She picked out four of them and showed them to you, you nodded your head “Yeah” she smiled “Wow, how do you know this stuff?” she gleamed at you.

“My dad taught me,” Her eyes seemed to light up “My daddy taught me and my sister how to fish” She smiled at the memory of her father “OH I never introduced myself, Im Amy” she smiled “and my sister is Andrea, were from Florida” 

“Im Y/n, im from western Georgia” You smiled at her, and you looked up at the sky to see it was a cloudy morning “You think it’s gonna rain?” you asked her, she looked up to the sky.

“I don’t know, it could” She looked back down and started stirring the pot, she looked sad and like her mind was somewhere else now. You decided to wander around camp eventually ending up by Dale’s side, watching him work on the RV.

“What are you doing Dale?” you asked, he lifted his head to look at you. He smiled a little bit.

“Oh nothing, me and Jim are just working on the radiator hose on the RV” who you guessed was Jim waved at you before going back to work. “It likes to quit on us a lot, which isn't good if we need to leave for whatever reason.” he explain to you.

“Oh, hopefully, we won't need to leave soon” You watched him as he poked and prodded at the thing, trying to figure out why it wouldn't work.

“Hey uhh, Y/n could ya hand me that wrench?” you looked down at the small amount of tools he had and reached down for the wrench.

“Yeah, here you go” he took the tool from you “Why do you have little tools?” you asked, you'd figured he’d have a lot more 

“Ahh well, I let the supply people barrow them, but now I kinda wish I just kept them, but they’re supposed to be back today so it’s not a big deal” You nodded your head in understanding “So how’s that book coming along Y/n? You like it so far?” he turned his head to face you 

“It's okay, im almost done with it, maybe a chapter or two left” You read a few chapters last night while you tried to fall asleep, maybe thats why you slept in.

“Dale got you reading that Case of the missing man?” Jim spoke up, you nodded your head when he looked at you, and he laughed “Dale been getting people to read that book since he’s got here” Dale rolled his eye while Jim moved closer to you “Between you and me, I think he’s been trying to get rid of it” he laughed and so did you.

“Alright, alright get back to work” Dale waved his hands dismissively with a smile. You watched as he continued to mess with the engine “Boy, this hose isn't long for this world is it?” Dale commented 

“No, sir” Jim responded dejected

“Where the hell are we gonna find a replacement” Dale said with an annoyed tone, in the background, you could see Amy pacing back and forth. She looked antsy 

“It's late” her voice was full of worry “They should've been back by now”, you and Dale looked up at her as she paced back and forth

“Worrying won't make it better” dale said but she just stormed off in anger, you got up to go find Lori, to see if Amy's fear was justified and if you guys should go out looking for them.

You found her taking clothes off the line and stood by her, she was watching Shane and Carl do something but you couldn't see due to their back being to you, but they were laughing.  

“He–” you were cut off by another voice coming over a radio 

“HELLO, BASE CAMP! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME”

Shane and Lori walked off toward the RV where another radio system was, Dale was already on the RV by the time you all got there

“BASE CAMP! THIS IS T-DOG, ANYBODY HEAR ME?”

Dale got on the radio “Hello, Hello, reception bad on this end, Repeat Repeat” 

“SHANE IS THAT YOU” t-dog’s voice carried over the radio

“Is that them?” Lori asked, the radio crackled before T-dog's voice came over again

“WERE IN DONW DEEP SHIT RIGHT NOW, WERE TRAPPED IN THE DEPARTMENT STORE,” ���he said their trapped” Shane committed the obvious

“GEEKS ALL OVER THE PLACE, HUNDREDS OF ‘EM WERE SURROUNDED” T-dog voice cut out

“T-dog, Repeat that last, Repeat” All he got was static. Everyone stood around in silence, not knowing what to do.

“He said the department store” Lori repeated what he said, Dale agreed with Lori and so did you. Shane looked defeated like he knew what was gonna happen “Shane” Lori started but Shane interrupted her

“No way, we do not go after them” he looked around at everybody “We do not risk the rest of the group, y’all know that” Lori looked at him with eyes of disbelief. But Amys was worse

“So we're just gonna leave her there?!” Amy looked pissed and Shane could sense she was gonna blow up, “look, Amy, I know this is not easy–” Amy cut him off “she volunteered to go, to help the rest of us” Shane just nodded his head in some kind of mock understanding.

“And she knew the risks, right?” Amy just looked at him with wide eyes “See if she’s trapped, she’s gone. So we just have to deal with that, there's nothing we can do” Her wide eyes narrowed at him in rage.

“She’s my sister, you son of a bitch!” she stormed off giving him the side eye. Lori and Shane stared at each other before Lori ran off to find Amy. 

It was quiet around camp, the not knowing if they were gonna live, and the fact no one could do anything about it. You were torn yourself, obviously, you wanted them to come back but sending people to get them could be for nothing, and in turn, endangering them instead. 

*

A few hours passed and everyone was still at a standstill on what to do. Amy sat in her and Andreas tent, still pissed at about not being able to go and help, with Lori trying to console her, at some point Lori gave up because she came out with an exhausted look on her face.

You were sitting with Shane, Carl, and Lori. She was giving Carl a haircut while you tried to finish your book, you only had a handful of pages left before you were finally done. You looked and saw Jim stringing up cans on some barbed wire around the camp. 

“Baby the more you fidget, the longer it's gonna take, so don't okay” she lectured Carl, 

“Im trying, but why do I have to get a haircut? And why doesn't Y/n have to?” he pointed to you “Well Y/n is a girl, so she can have her hair,” she countered his argument, “and if she wants a haircut she can ask” You shook you head playfully when she looked in you direction.  

“You think this bad, wait till you start shaving” Shane was cleaning his gun “That stings, that day comes when you wishin’ for one of yer momma’s haircuts” Carl just rolled his eyes

“I'll believe that when I see it” Shane and Lori just laughed, “Tell you what, you get through this with some manly dignity, and tomorrow I'll teach you and Y/n something special” he leaned in like he was telling a secret, so you leaned in to “I will teach you guys to catch frogs,” your face dropped in disappointment though.

“I already know how to catch a frog,” you said “Yeah, I already caught frogs” Carl agreed with you. 

Shane just laughed “I said Frogs, plural” he straightened his back “And it is an art form, my tiny friends, and is not to be taken lightly” You smirked at his cockieness “There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets.” you and Carl looked to Lori.

“Oh im a Girly girl, you talk to him” She directed your attention to Shane again “it's a one-time offer, guys... not to be repeated” he continued to clean his shotgun like he didnt care for your ansrew, but you saw his little smirk. 

You got a curious look on your face as a thought popped into your head.

“Why do we need frogs Plural?” you asked with a confused voice. Shane had a mischievous look on his face.

“You guys ever eat frog legs?” Carl got a disgusting look on his face. “They’re okay, not a lot of meat on ‘em” you shrugged.

“EWW, you’ve eaten frog legs?” he replied, you nodded your head when Shane responded.

“NO, yum!” he tried to counter but Lori agreed with Carl, “No, He’s right eww” Shane just laughed some more, elbowing you to join in

“When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now” Shane began to tease Lori, putting on a girl's voice "Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?" you and Carl began to laugh at his impression of lori.

Lori just gave him a look with shocked laughter “Yeah I doubt that”, she continued cutting Carl's hair “Yeah, don't listen to her man, you, me, and Y/n will be heroes! We’ll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs” you shook your head and tried to finish your book

“I would rather eat Miss Piggy” You looked up from your book and laughed “Yes that came out wrong”

“Heroes Kids, spoken of in song and legend. You two, Y/n and Carl.” he winked at Carl and you, “Think about it” You guys were laughing quietly when in the distance you heard, what sounded like a car alarm. 

Shane got up and so did you and Lori. you all rushed to the main area to see Dale ontop of the RV “talk to me, Dale! What do you see?”

“Can't tell yet” he yelled down to Shane, Shane took his rifle and walked over to look at the quarry ridge. A hopeful Amy asked if it was the supply group. “I'll be damned” Dale looked through his binoculars.

“What is it?” Amy asked, you tried your best to see but the trees and rubble made it hard from where you were “A stolen car is my guest” Dale thought aloud. The alarm got louder and louder before it finally pulled up into camp. It was a red sports car, an expensive one you guessed. 

The door opened to reveal the driver, who happened to baseball movie guy, he had a huge smile on his face, not knowing people were about to be yelling at him.

“Holy crap, will you turn that thing off” Dale badgers him, He just laughs it off “I don't know how to”

Then Amy and Shane are on him, “My sister, Andrea” “Pop the hood Please, POP THE DAMN HOOD PLEASE” “Is she okay? IS SHE OKAY" they both end up yelling at him.

“What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!” he got in the car popping it open but Amy wouldn't leave him alone about her sister “YES, shes okay, shes okay” you could tell he was already getting overwhelmed “Is she coming back?” amy persisted “yes” Glesnn said with a heavy sigh.

Shane managed to shut it off when he slammed the hood shut with annoyance.

“Why isn't she with you?” Amy was getting desperate “Where is she? She's okay?” he gave a final yes “Everybody is okay” he gave a cringing face “Well Merle not so much” glenn whispered under his breath. Now that everybody calmed down Shane could finally unleash on Baseball guy.

“Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?” Shane scolded Glenn but Dale came to his defense “I think we’re okay” but that just irritated Shane more “You call being stupid okay?”

 Dale, being levelhead, explained to Shane that the alarm was echoing all throughout the hills, so it be hard to find the origin of the noise for them, Shane gave him an annoyed look. So Dale did end up chewing out glenn.

“Sorry” he looked around awkwardly “Got a cool car” he tried to lighten the mood, but all he got were flat faces. From behind him, you saw a huge truck pull in, it looked like a movers truck. He looked back and gave a sly grin.

You were standing close by Dale when the truck pulled in. The first person you saw was who you assumed was Andrea 

“Amy” they ran towards each other with tears in their eyes. A man appeared and two younger children ran to him hugging him too. 

All the people who went eventually came out of the truck, and from the corner of your eye you saw Lori take Carl aside to talk to him, he looked like he was holding back tears. 

“You are a welcomed sight for sure,” Dale said as he hugged the father, “I thought we had lost you folks for sure”. Shane kept his eyes on Lori and Car.

 “How y’all get out of there anyway?” Shane asked, the baseball guy piqued up “New guy, he got us out” There was someone else new, maybe you won't feel so alone now. Shane gave him a strange look “New guy?”

“Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town” the father explained “Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello” he yelled to the “new guy”.And oiut came a man dressed in a sheriff's uniform, he had an uncertain look on his face “Guys a cop, like you” the dad continued. Shane looked at him with disbelief, like he just saw a ghost. 

New guy also had a look of disbelief. His eyes were watery too. “Oh my god” he started to walk forward and Carl started to run towards him, Lori not too far behind. “DAD, DAD” you could hear Carl's shrill voice yell, this new guy was Carl's dad, the same man he told you was dead.

They meet in an embrace, hugging each other like their lives depended on it. He picked him up and walked over to Lori who stood there shell-shocked. She eventually hugged him with tears in her eyes. The new guy and Shane locked eyes and they smiled.

***

“Disoriented.” he exclaimed  “I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but”  he licked his lips “Disoriented comes closest.”. It was night and you watched as Lori and Carl were in Ricks– as you come to learn– arms. Everyone was in their family's arm, it just made you feel even lonelier now without yours. 

“Words can be a meager thing” Dale explained, “sometimes they fall short”. Rick nodded his head and continued “It felt like i was ripped out of my life and put somewhere else” you gazed at the fire “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.” Lori was brushing Carl’s hair, like your mom use to do.

“Mom said you died” Carl spoke up in a quiet voice, rick nodded his head in understanding when he looked at his wife “She had every reason to believe that” he looked at his son “Don't you ever doubt it” Lori spoke up about it after looking around

“When things got really bad, the hospital told me that they were gonna medivac you to Atlanta, but it never happened,” she said in a small sad voice.

“Well im not surprised after Atlanta fell,” Lori nodded “and from the look at that hospital it looked like it got overrun” he had a disgusted look on his face, if it looked anything like that super market you'd probably have the same face to.

“Yeah,” Shane scoffed “Looks don't deceive I barely got them out” Shane spoke up. Rick smiled gratefully at Shane, “I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it.” Rick exclaimed Greattfully, Dale laughed “There go those words falling short again, Paltry things” Dale committed, things got quiet again as the Grimes family embraced each other. 

“Hey Lori, I think im gonna sleep outside tonight” Lori looked at you “Why is that hun?” you shrugged your shoulders “Just feel like it, its nice out you know” the truth was, you would feel like an outsider sleeping in their family tent.

Lori's face scrunched up “Are you sure you want to sleep outside?” you  nodded your head, but Dale spoke up “Why don't you sleep in the RV hmm?” you looked at Dale with big eyes.

“You sure?” he nodded his head, “thanks” you smiled at him. He reminded you of your grandpa.

In the distance you could hear wood clattering and then wood being thrown into a fire, you looked behind you to see a big man sitting back again with a bigger fire,

“Hey Ed, you want to rethink that Log?” Shane yelled to him. The big guy just yelled back, still sitting down “It's cold man”. The more you looked the more you realized that was Sophia's family. “Cold doesn't change the rules does it?” Shane shouted back “Keep out low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?” 

It was a good rule to have, but Ed didn't seem to care “I said it’s cold, you should mind yer own business for once” he shouted back, Shane got up and walked over to Ed. The air was tense and everyone was quiet. You couldn't hear what was said since he was whispering. 

When he came back to his spot Dale spoke what was on his mind, “Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?” Daryl was still on his hunting trip in the woods so he didn't know anything yet “He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind.” you agreed with Dale, if your brother was left behind you'd be pissed as well.

T-dog spoke up, saying he’d tell the other Dixon what happened, which turned into a debate on who should tell him between T-Dog and Rick, but Glenn spoke up about how it would look better if Rick told him since he was white, as opposed to T-dog who was black. 

“I did what I did, Hell if im gonna hide from it” You gave props to T-dog for being brave. But Amy spoke up “We could lie” That was also a good idea you thought, but Andrea thought otherwise “Or tell the truth, Merle was out of control,” she brought up “Something had to be done or he’d have gotten us killed” andrea leaned forward to talk to Lori.

“Your husband did what was necessary, and if Merle got left behind it was nobody's fault but Merles” she finished her thought. But Dale disagreed 

“And thats what we tell Daryl?” you looked around dumbfounded “I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” he looked to Andrea “Word to the wise we’re gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt” Dale was being realistic, which was good, cause either way the outcome would lead to an upset Daryl.

“I was scared and I ran, im not ashamed of it” T-dog stated, Andrea just agreed and asked why it was relevant “I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that” he explained “Not that chain, not that padlock.” he rambled on “My point Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us” T-dog walked away, probably to his tent to go to sleep.

*

After a while everyone went to sleep, before you went to the RV you stopped by the tent and grabbed all your stuff, you said goodnight to Lori and walked to the RV. When you walked in Dale called you back, walking down the hall you stopped in the doorway to see Dale setting up a bed for you, “it's not much but it's something, I uhh even put up a curtain for ya here” Sure enough you saw a curtain split down the middle separating the room in half.

“Thanks,” you smile. You set your stuff down and lie on the stiff bed. Outside you could hear the thunder roll in again from earlier. You looked outside the window to see the rain hit the window. The sound of the rain helped you drift off to sleep.

~~~The Quary Day Five~~~

The next morning you woke up early and looked for Carl and Sophia. You wanted to explore the area a bit more and you got the okay from both Lori and Carol. You found both of them at a little round table.

“Hey do you guys want to go explore?” they looked at you with wide faces “I already asked your moms, and they said it was okay” they both replied with ‘yeah’s’, they got up from their spots and followed you. You decided to go through a trial that leads to the woods, you were hoping to find some deer or any kind of bigger game.

As you three walked the trail you started to smell something awful, your first thought was an animal died nearby, but the closer you got the more you started to hear the horrible gurgles of blood from an eater. You pulled back the leaves to see an eater feasting on dead deer.

Carl and Sophia screamed and backed away, they yelled for their parents as you backed away grabbing an arrow from your quiver, notching it in your bow aiming it at the eater to make sure it didn't attack you or the other kids. 

“Stay behind me” they continued yelling, you were shocked the eater wasn't drawn to the screams.

You heard Lori's cries and looked back to see everyone running towards you three. The men had weapons and ran past you when you pointed in the direction of the thing. You followed not far behind. They all circled the eater with weapons ready, they pushed you back to protect you but if you needed to you could still shoot it.

The thing finally seemed to notice you all and stood, it stared at Rick before it lunged at him, but someone batted it away. The thing fell to the floor and everybody started beating on it. All taking turns. Finally, Dale took an axe to it, cutting its head off. Everybody seemed to calm down after that.

“Thats the first one we’ve had up here” Dale exclaimed with an exhausted voice “They never come this far up the mountain” he looked around shocked.

“They’re running out of food in the city, that's what” Jim replied.

Everyone just looked at it in disgust and confusion when they heard rustling in the forest. You aimed your bow in the direction of the noise as it got louder and louder.

When out from behind a tree you saw Daryl walking out with his crossbow. Shane just scoffed when he saw him. 

“Son of a bitch.” he cursed “That's my deer! Look at it.” he walked up to it, then looked at the eater “All gnawed on by this” he started kicking it “Filthy! disease-bearing! motherless poxy bastard!” 

Dale tried to calm him down “Calm down son, thats not helping” but it just pissed him off more.

“What do you know about it, old man?” he got up in Dales's face “Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on Golden Pond"?” he insulted him, you wanted to laugh but it wasn't the right time.

“I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison.” He keeled down to take his bolts “What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?” he asked looking at the others.

“Would not risk that” Shane replied, Daryl just sighs “That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel” he grabbed the rope holding them “about a dozen or so. That'll have to do.”. He began to walk off when out of the corner of your eye you saw the rotter's head move “Oh god” Amy and Andrea walked off.

“Come on people” Daryl noticed this and shot it in the face “it gotta be the brain, don't y’all know anything?” he walked off with his now bloody bolt. You all followed him back to the main area. You could see Lori and Carol comforting Carl and Sophia.

“Merle,” nothing “MERLE, get yer ugly ass out here” Dayrl continued walking “I got us some squirrel lets Stew ‘em up” he began to look around for his brother, and the other caught up to him. “Daryl, slow up a bit, I need to talk to ya” Shane called out to him

“About what?” he stopped in front of the RV, Shane continued to walk up to Daryl “About Merle. There was a” he paused “There was a problem in Atlanta.” Daryl froze, and looked around, “He dead?” he asked. Shane shrugged his shoulders “We're not sure” he looked at Daryl. You could begin to see Daryl get mad

“He either is or he ain't” he began to circle Shane, with the rest all catching up. 

Rick decided to speak up “No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it” Rick started but was cut off by Daryl “Who are you?” he said with snark as Rick walked up to Daryl.

“Im Rick Grimes” he introduced himself, Daryl scoffed a bit “Well Rick Grimes, you got something you wanna tell me?” Rick stood in front of Daryl “Your brother was a danger to us all,” he started “So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there” You moved closer to Dale, more like behind him just in case 

“Hold on. Let me process this.” he began to pace back and forth a bit “You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and YOU LEFT HIM THERE?!” he yelled at Rick, who just stood there, taking it. Rick hung his head low “Yeah”

Daryl stepped back, looking rick up and down, with a scowl that could scare an eater. With a grunt, he threw the squirrels at Rick and started to charge him but Shane intercepted it. T-dog noticed it and came running. While on the ground you noticed Daryl pull his knife out and get up

He began to swipe at Rick, before Rick grabbed his arm and made him drop the knife Shane came up on him from the other side. They rustled him down to the ground “BEST LET ME GO!” he yelled, trying to fight the hold Shane had on him. Shane eventually got him in a chokehold, one that Daryl said was illegal.

Daryle eventually stopped fighting, rick got into his face “I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?” he looked to Shane “Do you think we can manage that?” Shane nodded his head, and after a minute Daryl mumbled the best yes he could before Shane let him go. 

Daryl was still on the ground when Rick got up close with him again “What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” he explained when T-dog spoke up “It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it” he admitted

“Couldn't pick it up” Daryl retorted back to him with snark.

“Well, I dropped it in a drain” T-dog admitted, daryl rolled his eyes and scoffed before he stood up, throwing dirt at T-dog “it supposed to make me feel better it don’t!” 

“Yeah well, maybe this will” T-dog stood by Shane, it made you wonder if he stood there in case Daryl tried to lunge at him too “I locked the chain to the door so the geeks wouldn't get at him” he looked at Daryl “with a padlock, that's gotta count for something right?”

Daryl just looked around, and wiped his eyes, “the hell with all y’all” he cursed you all “Just tell me where he is so I can go get ‘em” he looked to Rick but Lori was the one to answer 

“He’ll show you, isn't that right?” they both looked at Lori, her voice and tone were almost taunting, but you guessed Rick didn't see it like that

he looked around for a moment, “I’m going back”, Lori just stormed back into the RV. daryl scoffed and walked away. Everybody just stood around, not knowing what to do. Rick walked off to his tent, picking up his clothes on the way.

*

You tried to comforter carl but you have still shaken up yourself. You made sure to never be that close to an eater since you got split from your family. You would jump at evey small noise coming from the woods, every heavy breath sounded like one of them, and when lori grabbed your hand it made you jump.

“Its just me hun, You're okay” She rubbed your arm gently and spoke softly “what you did was very brave but its okay if you’re scard” you reflected on what she said and looked away ashamedly.

“I didnt even do anything though, Daryl was the one that killed the ‘poxy bastard’” you huffed and crossed your arms. You were a coward, you couldn't even kill it when it’s back was to you. 

“You're still a kid, I didn't expect you to kill the thing, but you made sure Carl and Sophia were safe, and that's brave” You nodded your head and smiled softly. From down the hill, you could hear Shane talking to someone, he seemed to be heated

“Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why?” Rick and Shane came into view “Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?” Daryl looked at Shane with annoyance 

“Hey, choose your words more carefully,” Daryl warned him but Shane just rolled his eyes “No I did, douchebag is what I meant” he stared at Daryl with judgment “Merle Dixion, The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dyin’ of thirst.” from what you experienced when you first met merle that comparison checked out.

You looked to Lori again as they continued fighting. You could tell she was getting more and more annoyed, but you were to engrossed in the conversation.

“so you and Daryl,” everybody looked at her “thats your big plan?” Rick looked at Glenn “Oh come on” he sighed, 

“You know the way, you've been there before, in and out no problems” Rick explained “You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask” he paused “I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too” rick looked to Lori.

Shane went on about how Rick was risking three men now, but T-dog spoke, about how he wanted to come to. Daryle just scoffed at him, asking why, T-dog just said he wouldn't understand.

“That's four,” Dale said aloud, Shane just paced back and forth “It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick.” He pointed a finger at Rick “Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities.” he proclaimed  “They come back, we need every ablebody we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect the camp.” 

rick started going on about how he had a bag of guns, and how he dropped them in the city. All kinds of guns, from shotguns to handguns. And about 700 rounds of ammo.

“You went through hell to find us” Lori started, her voice getting angrier “Yo-you just got here, and now you gonna turn around and leave!?” you could tell Carl was getting worried about his dad, “Dad I-I don't want you to go” rick looked conflicted now. 

“To hell with the gun. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in.” Rick walked closer to you guys, stopping at Lori as she stood up “Tell me. Make me understand.” Lori argued, 

“I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died.” He explained the best he could to her “It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him.” Rick pleaded with Lori

“What's stopping you?” She crossed her arms and looked down.

“The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped.” Lori couldn't even look at him “He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer.” he finished

Shane asked if it was ‘our walkies’, and Rick said yes. Andrea asked why he couldn't just use the CB they have. But Shane just explained that their walkies were old, from the seventies, and only worked with each other, not even on scanners. 

“I need that bag” Lori nodded her head, and Rick walked around her to keel down to Carl, you still had a hand on Carl's shoulder “Okay?” he asked him, and he nodded his head. He looked at you and nodded his head. 

You all watched as they left in the truck, taking Dale's bolt cutters with them. It was quiet for a bit, Carl went to their tent to lie down, and Lori followed him.

*

You tried to finish your book, on your last chapter, and it was actually getting good when Shane and Carl came up to you “Hey Y/n, you want to catch some frogs, plural, with us?” you shut your book and stood up,

“Yeah!” running with carl to the quarry. 

You and carl waited for Shane by one of the banks where you saw some of the women washing clothes. 

“Okay, so the plan is,” Shane began “were gonna rile up the water and wait fore ‘em to swim out and catch ‘em, got it?” he looked to you two for understanding, and you both nodded. You were excited but after about thirty minutes you couldn't catch or even find any frogs.

“Im not gettin’ anything” Carl announced in a flat tone. You waded through the water towards carl as you nodded your head in agreement. 

“Yeah. Being all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know something's up. That's what's going on. Just going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” Shane got up from his rock, and motioned you over to him, “So here's what we gonna do” You stood by Shane as he told you guys what the new strategy was 

“me and Y/n are gonna scare the frogs your way Carl,” he handed Carl a net “And you’re gonna catch them with the net, got it?” he looked at both of you, and you both said yeah “You are the key in all this, okay?” Carl nodded “All we’re gonna do is go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter.” he patted your shoulder “And we’re gonna drive 'em his way, okay?” 

“Yeah,” you got into your position and Shane laughed

“What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you with me?” he spoke to Carl

“Yeah. Yeah.” Carl exclaimed excitedly 

“Hell yeah. Give me your mean faces.” you and Carl gave him your best mean game faces “Are you ready?” he exclaimed one last time, “YEAH” 

He got into position, he looked at you, and you looked at him, Then he started to thrash in the water so you did the same, trying to kick up rocks from the quarry floor, thrashing your arms. Carl had his net in the middle of it. You and Carl laugh while Shane bobbed in and out of the water. He even began to lightly splash you

“All right, they're coming your way. They're coming your way. Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on.” he shouted excitedly “Catch them frogs. Catch them frogs. They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!” 

You trashed around some more before Carl brought the net close to him

“Just dirt” Carls face dropped, “maybe they’re somewhere else?” you said. Shane just shrugged his shoulders “All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket” You helped Shane with the bucket, plunging yourself underwater

When you came back up you saw Lori coming down the path and stopping in front of Carl “Hey, Carl, what did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?” you waded over to them and sat down on a rock

“But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?” Carl argued “Yeah, we were just about to move to another bank,” you told her as you ringed some water out of the bottom of your shirt.

“It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp” she guided him up and out “I'll be right behind you, and you can stay if ya want Y/n” As Carl walked away you just looked at yourself self “I  think im gonna ask for a towel first” you waded through the water trying to get to the women washing clothes

You could hear Shane and Lori, talking but could only make out bits and pieces of it “You stay away from my son. You don't look at him. You don't talk to him” You heard Lori say “hell you should stay away from Y/n”, the more you moved the less you could hear. Finally, you made it to Amy, Andrea, Jacqui, And Carol. With Ed, not far away.

“H-hi, do you guys have a towel?” Jacqui looked at your soppy wet clothes.

“my lord child, you look like you just walked through a hurricane” She put the piece of clothing down and began to look around “All we got is a wash rag sweetie” You took the rag from her, thanking her, and began to dry your self the best you could so you weren't sopping wet when you went to change

Juqci went right back to work, and Ed was right behind them smoking. You could feel his eyes on you “Hey, why don't ya maker yer self useful and start washin’ them there clothes” he pointed to a pile by Jacqui. You looked at them and noticed Andreas' face was full of annoyance

“Ed tell you what,” she got up, walking towards him “you don’t like how your laundry is done, you're more than welcome to pitch instead of telling a kid to” She threw some clothes at him “Here”, he caught them and threw them back at her face

Amy got up trying to stop Andrea from blowing her lid “aint my job missy” he took a puff of his smoke.

“What is your job Ed?” at this point, you stopped to watch Andrea fight with Ed “Sittin’ on your ass all day smoking cigarettes?” he flicked his smoke by her feet 

“it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch tell ya what” he looked at Carol “Come on, let's go” Carol got up meekly, with an apologetic look on her face. You didn't know her super well but she always looked small and scared

“I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed” Andrea got in carols way, blocking her from Ed 

“And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me.” Carol walked up trying to pass Andrea but she tried to convince her to stay, but Carol just didn't listen “Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, All right?” he pointed his stare at carol “Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later.” he gritted through his teeth

“So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed” Jacqui stated, your eyes widened from shock “Yeah, we've seen them.” they all started to surround Ed while he laughed, getting angry by the second 

“Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on” he ranted, he grabbed carols arm and started to walk away with her 

You all started to protest, you even grabbed onto her shirt, pulling it lightly “Carol, you don't have-” All of a sudden Ed yelled

“YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT! I TELL YOU WHAT!” then he struck Carol across the face. All hell broke loose as they started to grab at Ed, trying to get him away from Carol as he tried to get at her. Eventually, you and Amy pull Carol away, and you can hear her sob in Amy's arms

Then all of a sudden Shane came in and started to drag Ed away. Jacqui pulled you behind her, shielding you. Shane threw him on the ground, he started to punch him, standing over him. You could hear Carol yelling for him to stop. Even the others were yelling at him to stop, saying he was going to kill him.

You watched in shock as he pummeled the guy. His face was all red and swollen by the time he was done “You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!” he yelled at him, Ed gave a weak yes. “I’ll Beat you to death Ed, I’ll Beat you to death!” he punched him one last time before he got up

Carol was crying as she ran to her “husband”. Apologizing to him like it was her fault he got beat for hitting her, even though he struck her first starting all this. Shane walked away, and you followed him, not wanting to hear any more of Carol's sobs.

*

It had been about an hour since you saw Shane beat Ed, you'd been hiding in the RV. Shane did come by to apologize, saying you shouldn’t have seen that. You just shrugged, saying he deserved it for hitting her.

Eventually, you left the RV and climbed the ladder to the roof to sit with Dale

“Hey kiddo, I see you got some dry clothes on?” you smiled and sat in one of the deck chairs closest to him, “how are ya, kid? I heard you saw what happened down at the quarry” 

“Im okay, rather not talk about it” You brought a knee up to your chin “I finished the book though!” you looked at Dale with a smile.

“Ohh, and what did you think of it?” he was looking off into the distance, since that rotter came into camp, more people were on high alert.

“It was okay, i kinda predicted that the man would come out of nowhere, helping the crime bosses” you started to explain “Then turn around and help him then disappeared again, never to be seen again,” you said in that ‘spooky’ voice people do

Dale chuckled as he looked around, his eyes stopped in one area. He brought his binoculars up to his eyes, you noticed this and walked up beside him “What is it?” he looked down at you, handing you the binoculars 

“Im not sure, it looks like Jim is diggin’ something” You look through and it is as Dale told you, Jim was hard at work digging something over the cliff overlooking the camp “We should probably check it out” he started walking towards the ladder so you followed him

When you walked up to Jim, he was hacking away at the dirt, it was hot as hell outside, making you think he was crazy, but dale was worried for him.

“Jim? You okay? You keep this up, you're gonna keel over out here. Drink some water at least.” you stepped over to him “I brought you some water.” you offered him but he just kept digging, didn't even look at you or Dale as you spoke.

You turned to Dale not knowing what to do. 

You and Dale began to walk down the path deciding to tell people about it, scared for Jim's safety. You got the camp to see everyone surrounding Amy and Andrea. They went fishing earlier, and from what you could see they caught plenty of it.

“Hey Dale” Andrea called to him “When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace.” she joked. But you and Dale still kept your concerned faces

“I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone,” he started “but we may have a bit of a problem.” he pointed towards the cliff Jim was at.

“He’s been at it for hours, based on how many holes he dug” you pointed out to Shane as he came up to see for himself “We tried to offer him water but he didn't respond or even look at us” you added, Shane just hmmed, “lead the way” he started to walk so you and Dale showed him, some other decided to follow to.

When you got up there you could see that Jim was already starting a new hole.

“Hey, Jim.” he tried to grab his attention “Why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please.” Jim looked at Shane with an annoyed look on his face.

“What do you want?” he asked with an aggressive tone, he noticed all the people staring at him with concerned looks, you still had the water in case he wanted some.

“We’re all a little concerned, thats all man” he stopped his shoveling and looked at all of you, “Dale and Y/n say you’ve been up here for hours” Moreles interjects “I tried to offer you water but you just ignored me” you walked up to Jim and offed the water again.

Jim just gave a strange look, like it was normal “So?” Shane countered “So, what ya diggin’?” Jim looked down, trying to find his answer, the air was thick with worry and Shane tried to fix “Are you trying to head to China Jim?” he joked.

“What does it matter? Im not hurting anyone” he went back to digging his hole and Dale stepped up to talk to his friend. 

“Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today.” he gestured to the woods “You can't keep this up.” his voice was laced with concern for his friend. But Jim just scoffed and kept up with his digging “Sure I can, Watch me.”

Lori walked up from behind, standing next to Dale with her arms crossed “Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my kids and Carol's daughter.” you were taken aback when Lori described you as her kid.

But Jim didn't share your reaction, instead, he got defensive “They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself.” he started to get more and more defensive as he talked “Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?”

He got back to digging once again as Shane exchanged glances with the others. 

“We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe.” he put his hands on his hips like he didn't know what to say.

“I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?” Jim stopped again, giving Shane an attitude when he talked.

“Or what” he stared at Shane with annoyance.

“There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you.” you could tell things between them were getting tense. Jim stood in front of Shane, with the shovel on his shoulder.

“And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?” he looked around at all of you “Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it.” he yelled “See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you” he leaned into Shane's face. Shane looked like he wanted to yell at Jim

“That was different, Jim.” Shane started to defend himself before you and Amy started defending him 

“You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife” Amy spoke up first “Yeah, he hit first, Shane was just helpin’ Carol” Jim started yelling at you all

“That is their marriage. That is not his.” he pointed in Caroal's direction, and she looked away in shame “He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?” Shane just shook his head and walked up to Jim, he asked Jim to hand over the shovel but Jim just kept it away, walking away from Shane

Jim pushed Shane away and began to try and hit Shane, but he ducked just in time. You gasped and jumped away, and hid behind Dale. he put an arm in front of you shielding you in case. When Jim missed Shane got up and tackled him to the ground. 

Jim started yelling at him, saying he had no right, as he subdued him to the ground. He pinned his arms behind his back like he was arresting him. Shane tried to calm him down the best he could but nothing worked as Jim continued to freak out.

“Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?” Shane tried and tried but nothing worked. Instead, it sparked Jim's fear more.

“That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter.” you could see from behind Dale that jims eyes were getting wet, from tears 

“They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands.” you couldn't help but relate to him, it’s how to ended up here in the first place “You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family.” he was so quiet, and sad. You walked away and headed down the path. You felt tears stroll down your cheeks thinking of your momma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next // We Ate Some Fish And Things Got Crazy

Previous // I Met Two Old Guys In The Woods

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl

// Masterlist //

[cooali]

day 9 bird of the day 🦜

the california scrub jay is a bird native to western north america. it doesnt migrate and can be found in cities and towns, they are quick to become tame and are frequent visitors to bird feeders! people often refer to the bird as a blue jay, but that is a completely different species.

they are a midsized bird, with a loud, harsh and scratchy call most people dont enjoy. when they mourn a fellow srub jay, they can make these screeching sounds for minutes next to the dead bird as a type of funeral song. they forage in pairs or small family groups, and feed on small frogs and lizards, eggs and insects. nuts, berries and even fruit and vegetables from backyards complete the diet.

the scrub jay stores food in caches all around their territory, and rely on excellent memory to find these hiding spots again, often after a long period of time!!! they have shown to have the ability to plan ahead and make sure to hit the caches in a certain order, as to be fully stocked for the future. this ability to plan for the future makes them the only non-primate and non-dolphin capable of this trait!!!!

another strategy they use is to steal from caches placed by other birds and species!! they also have the ability to mimic the sounds of other animals to defend themselves. so it is no surprise they are among the most intelligent of animals :)!

[cricketchirp]

My Reawaking

In any given year, I've said good-bye to you, my dear vernal pool in late May or early June. But this year of Twenty-twenty-three has been like no other as you've retained water beyond your ephemeral season. When upon July 14 I peered into your shallow depth, I was greeted with frog legs growing upon tadpole bodies, a sight not witnessed in your waters ever before. In years past miniature…

[endlingmusings]

[ Pepijn Kamminga holds the only Attenborough's long-beaked echidna museum specimen in the world. ]

"Until now, the only evidence that this particular species 'zaglossus attenboroughi' existed was a decades-old museum specimen of a dead animal. "I was euphoric, the whole team was euphoric," Dr James Kempton told BBC News of the moment he spotted the Attenborough echidna in camera trap footage. "I'm not joking when I say it came down to the very last SD card that we looked at, from the very last camera that we collected, on the very last day of our expedition." Dr Kempton headed a multi-national team on the month-long expedition traversing previously unexplored stretches of the Cyclops Mountains, a rugged rainforest habitat more than 2,000m (6,561ft) above sea level. In addition to finding Attenborough's "lost echidna" the expedition discovered new species of insects and frogs, and observed healthy populations of tree kangaroo and birds of paradise. Aside from the duck-billed platypus, the echidna is the only mammal that lay eggs. Of the four echidna species three have long beaks, with the Attenborough echidna, and the western echidna considered critically endangered. Previous expeditions to the Cyclops Mountains had uncovered signs, such as 'nose pokes' in the ground, that the Attenborough echidna was still living there. But they were unable to access the highest reaches of the mountains and provide definitive proof of their existence. That has meant that for the last 62 years the only evidence that Attenborough echidna ever existed has been a specimen kept under high security in the Treasure Room of Naturalis, the natural history museum of the Netherlands."

- Excerpt from "First ever images prove 'lost echidna' not extinct" by Jonah Fisher and Charlie Northcott.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

The Smooth Newt with the Smooth Moves

Also known as the European newt, northern smooth newt, or common newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), the smooth newt is one of the most common species in Europe and western Asia. It is also the only newt species found in Ireland. There are currently three recognised subspecies distributed throughout this range, and four others have been reclassified as distinct species. The common newt is able to survive in a variety of habitats, including deciduous and coniferous forests, wetlands, meadows, parks, and gardens. Their only requirements are sufficient sunlight and water with sufficient vegetation.

Like most newts, the northern smooth newt spends the majority of its time foraging for food on land. Their diet is carnivorous, consisting of insects, worms, snails, slugs, and larvae. When available, L. vulgaris may also eat the eggs of its own species. In turn, many animals prey on the European newt, including waterbirds, snakes, frogs, and larger newts. To avoid these predators the smooth newt is active mainly at night, and will secrete a toxic mucus when threatened. While active, they are largely solitary but from October to March several individuals will hibernate together under logs or leaf litter burrows.

Almost as soon as the common newt emerges from hibernation, they begin migration to their breeding sites-- usually the ponds in which they spawned. Males undergo a dramatic transformation, growing large crests and becoming brightly colored. When a female enters the water, the male swims around her and sniffs her cloaca. He then vibrates his tail to fan his pheromones towards her. Finally, he will swim away and, if the female is interested, she will follow him. He then deposits a packet of sperm, or spermatophore, that the female picks up for fertilization. Rival males may try to lead the female towards their own spermatophores, and clutches of eggs often have multiple fathers.

Females deposit anywhere from 100 to 500 eggs, each of which is carefully wrapped in aquatic vegetation. Larvae hatch after only 20 days, and quickly begin developing. Unlike frogs and toads, newt larvae have external, feathery gills, and develop their front legs first. After about three months, the larvae absorb their gills and leave the water as newtlets or efts. However, when temperatures are particularly low and aquatic prey is abundant, some adults retain their gills and stay aquatic in a phenomenon known as paedomorphism. These adults are fully capable of sexual reproduction, and when moved to areas with a larger population will often metamorphose into terrestrial adults.

Adult smooth newts are rather small, reaching only 9–11 cm (3.5–4.3 in) and 0.3–5.2 g (0.011–0.183 oz). Males are slightly larger than females. The head and back are dark brown or olive, while the underside is much lighter. Both males and females have dark spots on their bellies, and males also sport a bright orange stripe. In the spring, the colors in males become more vivid and the spots grow larger. Males also develop a large yellow crest that runs from the head to the table, and is dotted with dark bands.

Conservation status: The IUCN has designated the European newt as Least Concern, as it is common over most of its range. Threats include habitat destruction and the introduction of invasive fish species.

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Photos

Philip Precey

Derek Middleton

Christoph Moning via iNaturalist

Kristýna Coufalová via iNaturalist

[this-is-where-i-hide-my-bullshit]

One thing that Asian horror movies do FANTASTICALLY is when they have the ghosts show up but they’re very subtle and hard to spot, especially when they do it in broad daylight. It’s way creepier when the ghost is able to stalk people without the characters noticing, and especially when the audience doesn’t notice until like the 3rd viewing or someone else points it out. Like a character working at their desk and if you look very closely in the background you can see an eye watching them from the slightly cracked door of their closet.

Western ghosts are too loud and unsubtle, they really too much on screaming jump scares and making their presence known very early in the movies. A ghost that stalks and hides like a predatory animal and only makes itself known to “play with its food” when it’s too late for the victim to escape is way more terrifying. Building up an unsettling atmosphere slowly like boiling a live frog will always have a more effective payoff and will leave the audience with lingering dread and unease even after the movie has ended.

[critter-of-the-day]

25th of October 2024: Red-spotted Glassfrog

Halloween isn’t just about creepy invertebrates from the deep, so for this Frog Friday, here’s the Red-spotted Glassfrog (Nymphargus grandisonae) a species of frog named such due to their translucent skin, meaning that if you look closely, you can see some their bones and internal organs. You can also use the patterns of red spots on their back to identify distinct individuals of this species [1].

They are very territorial, and the males of the species can frequently be found fighting other males, at times holding one another in a wrestling position for several hours, oftentimes while dangling from leaves. The forms of wrestling can be quite variable, but have been documented on video, which you can see here. This can lead to injury to one another, as they have spikes on their arms they ram into their opponent [2]. They were also the first glassfrog (a family encompassing over 150 species) to be observed fighting another species of glassfrog, Espadarana prosoblepon [3].

They don’t just fight but also mate on leaves (as well as rocks). After mating, they female will deposit her eggs there or somewhere close, but above a water source [4]. If the eggs survive and do not fall victim to spittlebug flies (Cladochaeta) [1], the tadpoles will then be able to drop into the water below where they spend their time in the sand or leaf litter before completing their development [5].

They are found in Columbia and Ecuador, specifically on the Western slopes of the Western and Central Cordilleras. While they are sometimes found near roads and appear to be tolerant to habitat disturbances, they are always found near the forest [6].

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [Image]

[fellowshipofthenoodles]

who is most antisocial of your reptiles/herps?

(in categories)

Snake:

Gecko:

Amphibian:

✨bonus category✨

Invertebrate:

Snake: Breadstick - hates everything

[ID: Breadstick the light and dark brown western hognose curled into a heart shape, his tail is spiralled and his head is flattened]

Gecko: Teacake - don't perceive me ever

[ID: Teacake the brown crested gecko with black spots inside a 3D printed hide with only most of her head visible]

Amphibian: Bathtub - buried 99% of the time

[ID: Bathtub the yellow and orange pacman/horned frog half buried in the dirt and surrounded by fake plants]

Invertebrate: Petal - terrified of everything, even his own food

ID: Petal the black jumping spider with white bands on his legs peering over the top of a walnut hide filled with moss]