Zookeeper Gabe’s Animal Thread Vol 10.0

[Zookeeper Gabe]

I've been waiting for it to hit my area for years, but it hasn't yet. About 5 years ago, we started getting moose in my area that have never been here before. I still think the Game and Fish fucks released them. But anyway, I thought they would for sure bring in CWD, but luckily, they didn't.

Yeah, it’s still not here yet either. So I can continue to enjoy venison.

 

[650lb Sumo]

 

[Bacco]

this motherfucker

 

[650lb Sumo]

I was reading about the Giant Redwood trees and they are so big they have all kinds of things living on them:

including microcrustaceans:

Harpacticoid Copepod

Spoiler

https://www.savetheredwoods.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf_camann.pdf

Surprisingly, we found harpacticoid copepods in decomposing litter on the forest floor, and in the redwood forest canopy up to 276'. Harpacticoid copepods are semi-aquatic microcrustaceans that occur interstitially in benthic sediments and groundwater. They were previously reported in wet leaf litter (although not in redwood forests), into which they presumably migrated from the groundwater. We obtained them from forest floor litter bags and from litter bags in the canopy at all three crown positions.This represented a first report of this organism in redwood forests and especially in the redwood forest canopy. The migratory scale of such colonisation was impressive. These copepods were approximately 0.008" long; their emigration to 276' represents a vertical displacement of 420,000 times their body length. Some harpacticoids are known to encyst during dry periods, and others presumably produce desiccation-resistant eggs. Colonisation of the upper canopy could therefore have occurred in stages, perhaps requiring many generations. Indeed, we think this most likely.

the Arboreal Wandering Salamander:

and the Sonoma Tree Vole:

 

[the ambush]

 

[JBSchroeds]

That hare is spoiling for a fight.

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Rabbits look so ridiculous when they do that, but it can be an effective defense.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

A wild orangutan used a medicinal plant to treat a wound, scientists say​

BY CHRISTINA LARSON
Updated 1:16 PM BRT, May 2, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant— the latest example of how some animals attempt to soothe their own ills with remedies found in the wild, scientists reported Thursday.

Scientists observed Rakus pluck and chew up leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation. The adult male orangutan then used his fingers to apply the plant juices to an injury on the right cheek. Afterward, he pressed the chewed plant to cover the open wound like a makeshift bandage, according to a new study in Scientific Reports.

Previous research has documented several species of great apes foraging for medicines in forests to heal themselves, but scientists hadn’t yet seen an animal treat itself in this way.
“This is the first time that we have observed a wild animal applying a quite potent medicinal plant directly to a wound,” said co-author Isabelle Laumer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany.

The orangutan’s intriguing behavior was recorded in 2022 by Ulil Azhari, a co-author and field researcher at the Suaq Project in Medan, Indonesia. Photographs show the animal’s wound closed within a month without any problems.

Scientists have been observing orangutans in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park since 1994, but they hadn’t previously seen this behavior.

“It’s a single observation,” said Emory University biologist Jacobus de Roode, who was not involved in the study. “But often we learn about new behaviors by starting with a single observation.”

“Very likely it’s self-medication,” said de Roode, adding that the orangutan applied the plant only to the wound and no other body part.

It’s possible Rakus learned the technique from other orangutans living outside the park and away from scientists’ daily scrutiny, said co-author Caroline Schuppli at Max Planck.

Rakus was born and lived as a juvenile outside the study area. Researchers believe the orangutan got hurt in a fight with another animal. It’s not known whether Rakus earlier treated other injuries.

Scientists have previously recorded other primates using plants to treat themselves.

Bornean orangutans rubbed themselves with juices from a medicinal plant, possibly to reduce body pains or chase away parasites.

Chimpanzees in multiple locations have been observed chewing on the shoots of bitter-tasting plants to soothe their stomachs. Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos swallow certain rough leaves whole to get rid of stomach parasites.

“If this behavior exists in some of our closest living relatives, what could that tell us about how medicine first evolved?” said Tara Stoinski, president and chief scientific officer of the nonprofit Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, who had no role in the study.

https://apnews.com/article/orangutan-medicinal-plant-self-medicate-68d4e94359ac95eaa873c64349d4abb7

- Theres pics on trhe link. I didnt post, because i am soft like this!

 

[Bacco]

wtf lol

 

[Osculater]

wtf lol

The male elephant was like "sink or swim little mother fvcker!"