r/zoology

The cage in the background is the size of a pick up truck

Found this little guy, I thought his white markings to be quite unique. Maybe a piebald? Had a short tail I got to see before he took off.

This has been in my family for years but no one seems to know what kind of cat it came from. The story is someone got it from China in the 1980’s or 90’s. My guess is snow leopard but can someone please help me identify it? It would mean a lot to me thanks.

Edit: Thanks for all the helpful comments. I’m going to go through the proper channels now and make sure it goes somewhere legally where it can be preserved or teach others. Sorry to upset anybody we aren’t like red dead redemption out here poaching I was just genuinely curious. I rarely post on Reddit should I just take it down or is that a mod thing?

They're growing very fast, what can you recommend to give them and keep them warm ?

Hi everyone,

Anyone here interested in AI interspecies communication (e.g. projects like the Earth Species Project) and its potential impact on wildlife conservation - and ecosystems in general?

Obviously it's in the realms of science fiction at the moment. I had a go at imagining what this kind of future could look like, written in first person from the AIs pov, in a piece of very short speculative fiction.

The Last Queen of Colony 14-J

Hope you find it interesting!

I live in Mississaug, Ontario, Canada for reference. This is the best video i could get of it, but it seems to have little to no tail, and climbs like a koala lol.

In late winter, all the way up to late summer, reindeer can be seen tapping and rubbing on their antlers. We Sami reindeer herders say that the reindeer are crafting their antlers. Obviously we don't know if "crafting" is really the right word here, as we aren't scientists, so we don't know excactly why they do this.

However, the reason the crafting word is used is because of the reindeer behavior and the antler growth in general. When the antlers are growing, reindeer will tap and rub their antlers with their hind legs. First, the reindeer usualy rubs the antlers with their hind legs. They have a tube like organ on their hind feet, sitting between the hooves, which could secrete a liquid that helps in the antler growth. Then when they are done rubbing, they will then start tapping on their antlers with their hooves.

The reason i think the "crafting" word is used is because of their behavior in summer. Reindeer antlers grow in the summer, and reindeer can be seen tapping on them. However, you can actualy tell how the summer has been by looking at the antlers. If the majority of the herd has good antlers, then the summer has been good. However if a large part of the herd has smaller antlers, then the summer has been dry and bad. This also corresponds to their tapping. In good summers, when food is plenty, reindeer will spend more time crafting their antlers. In bad summers, reindeer spend more of their time walking around and searching for food, and thus they spend less time crafting their antlers.

Again, we Sami aren't scientists, so we have no way of actualy knowing why reindeer exhibit this behavior. The tapping could aid in antler growth, or there could be another reason they do this. I personaly think the word crafting is used because of their behavior. When they aren't grazing, they are then spending their time crafting their antlers, making them as large as possible.

It looks like some kind of insect is attached to its back. The scorpion seems to be struggling and trying to get it off

I tried iNaturalist, which didn’t help as much as I’d hoped. Thought I’d give this a shot instead!

I went down to see the Cahaba Lily blooms over weekend near West Blocton, AL USA (my first time in the area) and these snails were ALLLLLL over the submerged river rocks. Varying sizes, but all small and striped like this one. I figured they were invasive based on their abundance, but I just learned that there are some hyper endemic species around this area. Should have done more preparatory reading about it! I’m totally kicking myself over this singular, after thought of a photo. At least I got one! Can anyone help me figure out who this is?