earth

Didnt realize the photo quality is shit until now, sorry bout that.

Used to see black widows everywhere here. Never do, any more. These gals n guys have moved in instead it seems.

This one doesnt seem particularly bright as far as spiders go, it was starting to wrap up the leaf that got blown into its web.

They’re aggressive AF, and they’re everywhere here. Black widows seem to be sorta hermits. They will hide if you pay too much attention, but not the brown ones, they dont seem to shy away from shit. I find their spiky egg casings everywhere - lawnmower shed, garage corners, toolboxes used infrequently. Found one in my car a couple months ago (that was fucking fun - i went apeshit looking for the mama that put it there. A month of waiting to be bitten by an unruly spider.)

I looked for the source - I couldn't find it.

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Edit: SkingradGuard found it.

This is a really long read that I like to go back to every few years. It details a search for a German family of 4 that disappeared in Death Valley some decades before. Very neat retelling of all the cold case SAR detective work, speculation, and dead ends that go into such a venture. Also vivid descriptions of just how hostile and alien Death Valley is, and the level of preparation necessary to safely mount these excursions (hauling out water jugs to bury in the desert, etc.)

Last time I read it I was bored and found the exact locations on caltopo, just from descriptions on the blog.

Along similar lines, the same guy also hunted down a SR-71 prototype crash site in the same area: https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/area-51-and-other-strange-places/bluefire-main/bluefire/the-hunt-for-928/

It's a NYT comment.

There is one very cheap and easy way to reduce bird strikes around your home, if your windows are within reach. Take a bar of soap and draw squiggly lines with it on the outside of the windows that are at most 4 inches apart. If you use a travel-size bar the lines are thin and delicate, and I hardly notice mine. I did this is desperation after having spent much time researching other methods. They are all somewhat expensive.

This one costs about 39c. Since I soaped my windows last fall, I have had only 1 bird strike. One does have to resoap every now and then after a heavy rain, but hey, it's a good stopgap, and it gave me peace of mind. My cardinals are now safe. Migration season is coming soon. Now is the time to do it. I bet you have a bar of soap somewhere...

I like 70ºF weather.

Not exactly the biggest fan of winter weather.

I don't have the words to describe 70ºF winter weather, but it is very not a good thing.

how am i supposed to go about my day without having seen a beautiful wild animal picture

Local lake, about 25-30 minute drive from my house. I come here about once every six weeks, with the kiddos. Bike rides, hike some trails, burn some food on a bbq pit, etc etc. Im by myself this time so i just tossed a hammock, fly, a kettle, and a bunch of soy flavored ramen in the back of my crap-mobile and bugged out for elsewhere for my days off.

so close to touching grass.

Surf Scoter - eBird