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Moonlight meanderer
Banes
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ozoneocean wrote:

Hahaha! As long as I get called handsome :)


Not me. One thing I will not abide is a damn liar!

usedbooks
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I decided to retire from breeding rats, a hobby older than all my other hobbies. I started in 2001. Man, life can change a lot in 20 years. I had the rats through it all. (I was a teenager when I started. o_o I am now an old.)

I nearly lost a favorite pet in labor in February. But I wanted to end on a high note, so I have some new baby rats, my last baby rats. Tbh, it feels pretty good. I loved breeding but it was stressful, and hobbies should bring joy, not heartache. I'm keeping nine of my 15 new babies. I plan to continue keeping rats in the future but not breeding them.



I love genetics and breeding. My plan is to eventually get a couple acres and raise chickens. I have three pet hens now (middle of the city, small city yard). Chickens are fun and easy, and (most importantly) I don't feel any emotional bond to them.

Ozoneocean
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L.C.Stein wrote:
Good luck, Oz!!
Thankyou!

Banes wrote:
Not me. One thing I will not abide is a damn liar!
Awwww, you're pretty though ^_^
usedbooks wrote:
I decided to retire from breeding rats, a hobby older than all my other hobbies.
WHOA! That's the end of an era!!!! Probably best though, yes. You've been involved with them for so long O_O

————————–

I FINALLY got my first vaccine dose yesterday.
Next one in a month.

Posted at

Another day and I still don't know what to do with this guilt I feel when I draw!

Ozoneocean
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Why do you feel anything when you draw?

usedbooks
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Ozoneocean wrote:
usedbooks wrote:
I decided to retire from breeding rats, a hobby older than all my other hobbies.
WHOA! That's the end of an era!!!! Probably best though, yes. You've been involved with them for so long O_O
I plan to continue staying involved with them, as pets. Just not the stresses of breeding. I feel way too guilty when things go wrong, and too anxious about finding good homes. – Plus, when I started, all I had were the rats. I was in college, no cats or dogs allowed in the apartment. I own a house now. I have more than rats. ;)

On that note, I am preparing to adopt a second dog. So, that will be something.

L.C.Stein
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usedbooks wrote:

I love genetics and breeding. My plan is to eventually get a couple acres and raise chickens. I have three pet hens now (middle of the city, small city yard). Chickens are fun and easy, and (most importantly) I don't feel any emotional bond to them.

I went on a walk earlier this week and saw a neighbor who had a chicken coop with at leats 5-6 chickens. Not gonna lie, the thought of fresh eggs is tempting. I have the backyard for it, plus it's fenced in so they can roam around. I'd worry about the extreme heat and cold we get.

Ozoneocean
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I'd like to get a sheep or a goat as a pet :)

bravo1102
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Live in Hawaii like my niece does and you'll have free range chickens walking around your yard.

My sister-in-law raises chickens. Pheasants didn't work out well because the eggs though tasty are tiny. Though Amazon has reasonable deal on a plucking tool.

My great uncles raised carrier pigeons for racing. Used to be a thing that people did.

usedbooks
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Chickens are the easiest animals I ever kept. Very self-sufficient. I live in a place that has 90+ degree summer days and at least a couple good winter snows. They manage heat with no problem (just need water and shade). For cold, they just need a pile of straw in the coop and huddle together. Pick hardy breeds and you're set.

The coop I made them is a dog pen wrapped in hardware cloth and covered in a tarp. Feed is cheap, and they can eat pretty much any food scraps.

Out in the country, people lose chickens to predators a lot. The only thing I know is lurking in my urban neighborhood is a skunk. Several of my neighbors have hens, and two have roosters. One has lost a few chickens, but she doesn't have a secure coop. They just roam her yard.

Chickens are supremely stupid animals, though. Bird intelligence runs a spectrum and chickens are definitely at the low end. It makes them pretty reptilian (and predictable, since they follow instinct and routine). Tbh, it's refreshing to have animals around that I don't feel so sentimentally attached to.

bravo1102
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Where my sister in law lives has foxes and it's suburban. With all the building up every patch of woods in Woodbridge township has a full menagerie of wildlife and feral cats. A few years ago found a new born kitten outside a nearby building while working security in a refinery.

usedbooks
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bravo1102 wrote:
Where my sister in law lives has foxes and it's suburban. With all the building up every patch of woods in Woodbridge township has a full menagerie of wildlife and feral cats. A few years ago found a new born kitten outside a nearby building while working security in a refinery.
I've seen opossum tracks on my porch basically in the middle of a city. I've seen raccoon roadkill on the street too. There's more urban wildlife than we realize. (Haven't had a bear in my neighborhood yet, but they've been within five miles.)

Ozoneocean
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There are foxes, rabits and feral cats here to and I'm on the coastal side of a highly urbanised area that's been urbanised for over 150 years. One has to wonder HOW feral foxes even GOT here! Bunnies and cats are understandable, they could escape or be released any time. But Foxes were never kept as pets… They are not native here and just don't even EXIST here normally.

They were probably introduced over 150 years ago for hunting in certain areas and have somehow manged to eek it out in the narrow stretches of vacent land and small patches of bush between the suburban sprawl of city and the beach.
These creatures ar so WELL adapted to living along side humans.

I really feel that this sort of thing is a sorely neglegcted aspect of the study of nature and animals- animal populations that increase because they adapt so well to human populations.
- people are SO completely focused on "native animals" that suffer, but never about those (as well as ferrals) that do the oposite AND how those impact native animals.
They only focus on ferral cats.

But in the city here there are many native species that exploded in populations because of humans and have massively impacted other native species.

—–

Even things like bumble bees and honey bees. All over the world these creatures are responsible for the death and decline of native polinators. People still buy into the crap about the decline of bees but the reality is that the honey industry is soley reposnible for that issue. They instodued and non-native species, killed off the native ones, and then created unsustaibaley giant populations with genetic simalarities with intestive farming practices that are prone to disease and other weaknesses… Of course there will be die offs. It's the fault of the honey industry.

/rant

Sorry, this stuff is a huge and complex subject and I always dive into it

bravo1102
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With our panic driven mass media, the facts about animal populations gets lost in hype. Population will fluctuate. There will be die-offs but species are pretty good at adaptation. The symbiotic nature of various non or semi domesticated species with humans has been studied, especially when it comes to rats. You always read about a species being displaced but the studies on survival, even thriving among humans is there but it doesn't fit into the sensationalist media reporting model. Panic persists. But good news pops up and is forgotten.

Take deer in NJ. Humans got rid of their natural predators so they're everywhere. Constant hazard on many roads. If wolves cougars and bears were still around wouldn't have these problems, but instead we have humans. Deer populations are regulated by predators. That's how the ecosystem works. But it's hunters killing Bambi! It's the same thing as a lion on the plains of Africa, just this predator is wearing bark skin camouflage and an orange hat.

Ozoneocean
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Tell me about it… I have a Romanian friend that keeps on posting about the record numbers of bear attacks in Romania now that bears are protected and the population is exploding. Wolves too.
I take that with a pinch of salt because he's pro-hunting, but there's no denying there have been some horrible attacks.

———————–

Great interview with Bluecuts, Damehelsing and Pitface on the Quackcast tomorrow, talking about the DD Horror anthology!

Ironscarf
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I'm ridiculously over excited to have 13 subs on Ghastley Heights - original working title, No 13! I don't know why that makes me so happy, but it does.

Genejoke
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And it's now friday the 13th… creepy.

Ozoneocean
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Oh god… listening to a show on radio 4 and this person is going on about being a witch, wicca, paganism, the occult, poltergeist etc.
…and yet she has a degree in anthropology. UGH!

That's like becoming a vaccine denier even though you're a doctor… although that also happens so it's a bad example :(

I don't mind people having fun with the imagery and mythology of magic and stuff, it's fun. It can look cool.
But don't think any of it's real. You're not 5 years old.

bravo1102
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Wouldn't be the first anthropologist who became entranced with magical thinking. Just look at some of the work on shamans or the witch craze. They get so into it they forget their bullshit detection kit and end up believing all kinds of woo-woo.

Ironscarf
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Don't knock it. One guy who was on my university course has a nice little side gig as a shamanic healer.

Genejoke
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Ozoneocean wrote:
Oh god… listening to a show on radio 4 and this person is going on about being a witch, wicca, paganism, the occult, poltergeist etc.
…and yet she has a degree in anthropology. UGH!

That's like becoming a vaccine denier even though you're a doctor… although that also happens so it's a bad example :(

I don't mind people having fun with the imagery and mythology of magic and stuff, it's fun. It can look cool.
But don't think any of it's real. You're not 5 years old.

It's no different than any other religion really.

dpat57
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Genejoke wrote:
It's no different than any other religion really.
Ozoneocean wrote:
…and yet she has a degree in anthropology. UGH!
Anthropology is a science, I tell you!

Important edit: the above was intended as a joke, the posts read as if anthropology was being regarded as a religion and– Never mind, I'll close the door on my way out.

bravo1102
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dpat57 wrote:
Genejoke wrote:
It's no different than any other religion really.
Ozoneocean wrote:
…and yet she has a degree in anthropology. UGH!
Anthropology is a science, I tell you!
It most definitely is as the recent reevaluation of a lot of classic work is showing. Margaret Mead was a bunch of hooey? Natives tell investigators what they think the investigators want to hear and even play them for fools?

But magic and magical thinking are best approached with one's bullshit detector handy. Or if need be call in a skeptic and stage magician to root out the flim-flam and woo.

Genejoke
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dpat57 wrote:
Genejoke wrote:
It's no different than any other religion really.
Ozoneocean wrote:
…and yet she has a degree in anthropology. UGH!
Anthropology is a science, I tell you!

HAH! although I was referring to wicca and paganism etc. All religions seem to have some supernatural or scientifically iffy element. Ozones "what are you 5" comment made me laugh because the same logic he uses applies to major religions and I wondered if he would say the same about those.

Anthropology is a science, but given what it's the study of I can imagine belief could come into it a little more than some other scientific fields.
what do I know, I'll never claim to be an expert…

On a different note, there's been a mass shooting in the UK. granted it's not the first but they are uncommon, anyway the thing that got me was the shooter has been said to be involved in Incel culture. It made me wonder, would something like that have happened without the internet making it easier for such subcultures to evolve?

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Moonlight meanderer

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