*That was mean and speciesist of me.
HUMANS mate weirdly. ๐
I'm sure plenty of other animals would spew chunks if I explained all our weird, elaborate ways of getting it on.
@MLClark Singing lemurs, the worldโs oldest living primates! โค๏ธ๐โค๏ธ https://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org/top-10-facts-about-lemurs
@MLClark Tbf, we take mating weirdly to entirely new levels.
It is an art form, especially in its depravity but also in its awkwardness. ๐ Even birds of paradise ain't got nothing on our whackadoodle moves and fetish forums.
Ducks'll fuck you up, man. ๐ฌ
When going among ducks, don't forget your counter-corkscrew hoo-ha!
@MLClark I be leopard slugs don't roofie each other or lie about how many slugs they're sleeping with, for instance.
@MLClark The #Florida lovebug. Our semi-annual equivalent of the plague of locusts.
They're called lovebug because they fly in the air while mating.
A ltitle over a decade ago, it was so bad we were driving down the streets through swarms that looked like the biblical myth.
During lovebug season, you have to wash your car immediately, otherwise the acidic residue will damage your car paint.
Huh! Since they didn't evolve for cars and asphalt, I wonder what that acidic residue does for any soil they'd have otherwise mated over. What richer ecosystem cycles did we disrupt by getting in the way of so many frottingly airborne lovebugs? ๐ฌ
@MLClark Well, they're not native to #Florida, so there's that ... I used to tell my audience not to squish the lovebugs on their clothing or skin, because it would leave a brown spot. Just flick them off.
My joke was, "After they mate, the male dies but remains attached to the female. Ladies, fill in your own punchline." Which typically got a laugh from half the audience.
It also happens to be untrue, but anything for a laugh.
:) Just like the male in some anglerfish species: little more than swimming sacks of gonad that bite into the giant female to mate, and eventually fuse to the whole.
Nature is pretty lazy when it comes to its post-procreation components!
@MLClark Nothing says foreplay like a rope of mucus.
@MLClark What happens in the forest stays in the forest.
@MLClark I think folks should know about
white cheeked Turaco of West Africa, which I only learned about this month!
This clip doesn't show the vivid red underwing, but my clip from #StueyAndEleanorOnTour does.
Oh, what beautiful expressive creatures! ๐ Absolutely new to me, thank you!
@MLClark
I don't know if this is unusual or not, but I've always been a fan of horseshoe crabs. They're very attractive, IMO, and they have blue blood, and are extremely ancient.
I also love the little green lizards that routinely invade my basement. Anoles. So cute!
Horseshoe crabs are SO GOOD.
Most folks don't know they aren't crabs! They're like very specialized sea spiders/ticks. But convergent evolution has given us crab-forms so many times, from so many different evolutionary pathways, that I think we all know who's *really* best suited to life on this weird old world. ๐
Thank you for sharing the love! ๐ฆ๐ฆโค๏ธ
@MLClark Thank you for this idea, and the interesting video! ๐
Now you know how to sex your own horseshoe crabs! ;)
@MLClark Hmm, Peacock Spiders and Ocean Sunfish. Sunfish tend to be thought of as stupid, but they aren't. They are rather unfortunately designed for their environment, but they aren't dumb.
And Peacock Spiders are just groovy.
Oh, the critters that seem like utter misfits are such wonders, aren't they? Here they are, showing up for the fact that evolution doesn't favour perfection - just, what works more often than not at any given time. Thanks for the two lovely recs!
@MLClark I love the three "false widow" spiders living in my front porch. They look similar to black widows but are not related.
They have the most potent venom of any British spider, but even then, unless you're allergic, the bite is pretty harmless. They're very shy too.
@MLClark Earwigs. People do not know enough about earwigs, and think they are scary.
I made the mistake of googling cuter pictures of earwigs and found that our friends in the furry/scaly community have... definitely filled in some blanks when it comes to the lack of broader earwig love. They've... maybe taken it a touch too literally, even? ๐ But it's the internet, so Rule 34 always applies. Good call all the same!
@MLClark I want to add to the spider votes. I have two spiders (Itsy-BItsey type) in my house, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom, and I don't know what they're living on but I presume small bugs are being eaten. And there was a wolf spider in my bathroom, but I haven't sen it in a while. I hope it's okay.
Huzzah! I'm so thankful that you and @stueytheround have stood up for our dear spidey-friends. They are wonderful house guests. I hope your wolf spider is doing well, wherever it's decided to roam.
@MLClark I need to know more about quokkas. That smile is pretty cute, but what's the downside of a quokka? I bet it's rabies.
In more seriousness, we should get to know our salps. They're an extremely unusual critter positively blooming in population size due to climate change. Their presence isn't always a sign of a healthy ecosystem.
They also mate weirdly! In the asexual part of their lifecycle, they clone. But in the sexual part, they start in female clusters, then swap to male clusters after gestating a load.
Not to worry, folks! When climate change takes us out, we'll be replaced by some things weirder! #Nature