Meet Ticket and Tailor, our Tamworth pig ecosystem engineers! 🐖🐖 They came to Heal Somerset as piglets before Christmas and we're smitten. They are brothers and never leave each other's side, always rootling around and squealing at anyone who walks by in the hope of food. youtu.be/8jmJG_3f-HQ?...

Advent Sci-Fact 24: Classical Music makes Dolphins Sociable! When played classical music, dolphins spent more time swimming in synchrony, and gently touched other dolphins more frequently! These effects would last for 20 minutes after the music stopped! Paper: tinyurl.com/22yjuzhl #SciComm 🧪🌍 🐬

Advent Sci-Fact 23: Humans can learn to echolocate! Learners, taught to echolocate in ten weeks, were able to identify the orientation of objects, navigate a virtual maze and apply the skill outside of training. Improving mobility of blind learners. Paper: tinyurl.com/2cy92ykv #SciComm 🧪 #SciSky

Advent Sci-Fact 22: Rats that drive are more resilient!🐀 Rats that were trained to drive small cars had hormones in their poop that suggest they’re more emotionally resilient! Some rats would continue to drive the cars, even when there was no reward. Paper: tinyurl.com/25vtahuz #SciComm 🧪🌍 #SciSky

Advent Sci-Fact 21: Same sex and heterosexual flamingos are behaviourally the same! Same sex flamingo pairs show the same incubation behaviours as heterosexual ones. Egg layers spends less time incubating, while partners incubate and defend the nests. Paper: tinyurl.com/2xvws6wb #SciComm 🌍🧪 #SciSky

Advent Sci-Fact 20: Skinks may return to Christmas Island! Blue Tailed Skinks, had a (mostly) successful trial reintroduction. 170 released into an “exclosure” became a population of >1k! Skinks were recaptured after invasive snakes breached the fence. Paper: tinyurl.com/24yjv5d3 #SciComm 🌍🧪 #SciArt

Advent Sci-Fact 19: Old Hummingbirds can learn new tricks! Adult Costa’s Hummingbirds sing new songs after being introduced to other hummingbirds. These songs could be a combination of their existing songs, or copy the song of the loudest bird! Paper: tinyurl.com/2cef4cf4 #SciComm 🧪🌍 #SciArt

Advent Sci-Fact 18: Herring Gulls copy human food habits! Gulls were more likely to approach and eat food if they saw a human eating it, and would express a colour preference, mimicking the human. They’re social learners, also mimicking other gulls! Paper: tinyurl.com/2bjltxo4 #SciComm 🧪🌍 #gulls

Advent Sci-Fact 17: Long-Finned Pilot Whales have many vocalisations! 40 distinct vocalisations have been recorded across two populations of Pilot Whales in the Mediterranean Sea. Sounds varied, and some occurred frequently – likely repetitive warning calls! Paper: tinyurl.com/26ok58pk #SciComm 🧪🌍 🐋

Advent Sci-Fact 16: Stressed Meerkats Pause Pregnancy! When pregnant females are evicted from their clans, they can pause pregnancy for up to 13 days, reducing stress on their body and embryo. Unlike other mammals, they do this after implantation! Paper: tinyurl.com/2bfdjncf #SciComm 🧪🌍 #physiology

Advent Sci-Fact 15: Urban Bees have Bigger Brains!🐝 Bee species that survive in urban habitats have bigger brains than those in natural environments. This may be due to a “cognitive buffer”: big brains are more flexible, better for changing habitats. Paper: tinyurl.com/28tfvq5q #SciComm 🌍🧪 #SciArt

Advent Sci-Fact 14: Mice sing in Call-and-Response! Female Alston’s Singing Mice sing more in response to male songs. Female songs are shorter and less frequent than male songs. This may play a role in courtship or help mice to identify each other! Paper: tinyurl.com/2a7cncsg #SciComm 🌍🧪 #SciArt

Advent SciFact 13: Chicks can identify objects at first sight! Chicks hatched in darkness, who imprint on an object via touch, can then identify it by sight, despite never seeing it before. Showing cross-sense recognition doesn’t rely on experience. Paper: tinyurl.com/2843demc #SciComm 🌍🧪 #cognition

Advent Sci-Fact 12: No more turtle doves? Turtle Doves have declined 63% in 50 years. They’re losing food and nesting sites and being hunted (legally and illegally). There are many ways to help! From scattering seed to cleaning feeders. Visit: operationturtledove.org #SciComm #Conservation🌍 #xmas

Advent Sci-Fact Day 11: Beaver Ponds Improve Biodiversity! Beaver Ponds in Germany host more unique species, and more species of conservation concern, than nearby river and forest habitats. The ponds had particularly high numbers of bats and birds! Paper: tinyurl.com/2b76lhqk #SciComm #SciArt 🧪🌍🦫

Advent Sci-Fact 10: Penguins Hear Underwater! Gentoo penguins have adapted to hear underwater sounds. Their hearing is more sensitive than other aquatic birds, and their responses vary by volume. They may also be impacted by human noise pollution. Paper: tinyurl.com/24o2h3ga #SciComm 🌍🧪 #SciArt 🐧

Another thing I made this year. Pigeon history!

Advent Sci-Fact 9: Invasive squirrels do not avoid predator scent! Grey Squirrels (Invasive in the UK) do not avoid feeders with Pine Marten scent. Native Red Squirrels visit scented feeders less frequently, for shorter visits and are more vigilant! Paper: tinyurl.com/23u944wq #SciComm #SciArt 🧪🌍🐿

Advent Sci-Fact 8: Active Crocodiles are less sociable! Active Estuarian Crocodiles are less social than inactive crocs, despite traveling through more territories. This may be an adaptation for avoiding costly conflict with other crocs. Paper: tinyurl.com/2dowrkxo #SciComm 🧪🌍 #SciArt #crocodile

Advent Sci-Fact 7: Heat Impacts Bumblebee Foraging!🐝 Bees at higher temperatures had lower metabolic rates, but made fewer, faster visits to many flowers, compared to bees at lower temperatures. Researchers believe this may be due to heat stress. Paper: tinyurl.com/28ge2hh2 #SciComm🧪🌍 #SciArt #Bee

Advent Sci-Fact 6: Wolves have unique expressions for fight and play! Wolves at play have relaxed open mouths and don’t display gums. Fighting wolves show gums, sometimes including a pink spot above the teeth. This may help in communication! Paper: tinyurl.com/2dgs97pa #SciComm #SciArt 🧪 #wolves

Advent Sci-Fact 4: Bats have distinct personalities! A Seba's short-tailed bat displays the same traits when measured repeatedly. Some are always docile, inactive, and shy, while others are always aggressive, active, and bold! Paper: tinyurl.com/22grzpso #SciComm 🧪 #SciArt #animalbehavior 1/2

Advent Sci-Fact 4: New headlights hurt moths! Unlike us, moths can’t blink in bright light. Moths are more likely to fly erratically towards pulses of cool toned phosphor-LEDs, compared with warmer and RGB lights. Meaning new headlights are more harmful. Paper: tinyurl.com/29avcnnx #SciComm 🧪🌍

Advent Sci-Fact 3: Juncos learn their songs as babies! Dark eyed Juncos in noisy urban areas sing higher songs than those in wild mountain areas, even after 3 years in identical environments. Higher songs are heard more easily in busy cities! Paper: tinyurl.com/29vyp9bm #SciComm 🧪🌍 #SciArt

Advent SciFact 2 Cockatoos choose to dunk their crusts, not eat them dry. Several Goffin's Cockatoos have been seen dunking rusks in water before eating! This behaviour shows strong impulse control, investing time to transport and soak their snack. Paper: tinyurl.com/233uct6p #SciComm🧪🌍#SciArt

Hi @bsky.app! We're Heal, a rewilding charity in England working to raise money, buy land and rewild it. Our first site, Heal Somerset, was acquired in Dec 2022 and it's now a haven for skylarks, hares, glow-worms, wild-living beavers and much more. Excited to share our journey with you 💜

Advent Sci-Fact 1: Stressed cuttlefish are pessimistic. 🦑 Dwarf Cuttlefish learnt horizontal stripes meant a treat, and vertical stripes did not. When presented with diagonal lines, stressed cuttlefish did not look for a treat, but "happy" ones did! tinyurl.com/29v7xhmm #SciComm #Animal #SciSky