An animal sanctuary in the Okanagan had avian flu detected in some of their birds. In contrast to Universal Ostrich they complied with the CFIA rules, culling some of their animals and quarantining the rest. Today they have learned their flock of peacocks will not have to be culled

Obviously ferns are also deeply queer but that's really not unusual in nature 🤷🏼‍♀️

Literal pickle. Dill flavored.

I suppose it is indeed the right day to spend my morning enlightening the unenlightenable about how the landscapes they enjoy only exist because of Indigenous stewardship.

List of Senate Democrats who are demanding that Rubio expedite the investigation of the State Department's backlog of Israeli war crimes cases since 2023. •Chris Van Hollen •Jack Reed •Jeff Merkley •Elizabeth Warren •Edward J. Markey •Peter Welch •Brian Schatz •Tim Kaine •Patty Murray •Tina Smith

Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family. Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!

You can support my work Protecting People, Pets, and Foxes in a Wildland–Urban Interface through the San Juan Island Community Foundation sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

Hymenopterists, what’s up? Sleeping in pairs? Weighing down the seed head for Bee Reasons?

#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140

The Acarology Summer Program (71 years strong!) returns to Univ of Arkansas summer 2026: Soil Acarology: May 25-June 12 Medical & Veterinary Acarology: June 15-20 Limited to ~15 students for personalized instruction. Registration: training.uark.edu/portal/train... #Entomology #bugsky #invert 🧪

The seed oil of Paullinia cupana has cyanolipids that ARE cyanogenic. Has anyone tested the seeds of Acer or Aesculus for cyanolipids? They weren’t included in the family in the 1970s, when cyanolipid research was popular. 📷: Paullinia cupana Bernard Dupont CCBYSA2 #Sapindaceae #Botany 🌾🧪

I spent a few years reading bad books by worse people to save you the pain. Having read the first page of the Nuzzi excerpt Under medical advice I cannot get drunk enough to make reading that worth it and I suggest you don't try either unless you really thought Twilight was intensely good prose.

Someone just called the far right a "cancer in society," and as a person living with terminal cancer I find this really offensive. I mean, cancer isn't killing people on PURPOSE. Cut it some slack.

anyway she sure looks good to me! she's floppin her dang tail all over the place and rollin around and hollerin, she doesn't look distressed, she looks... excited? i can't read whale body language but she doesn't give me a "suffering an agonizing death" vibe

A lot of people are going to walk away from the Ghislaine Maxwell coverage with the impression that our prison system isn’t punitive enough but I’d say it highlights how most everyone else is treated with *deliberate* cruelty.

The picnic table is back! It took a trailer and a backhoe to get it there (and presumably to take it out) since it is topped with heavy aggregate. The community rejoices (but doesn't seem to be forgetting that is was removed without consultation or that the neighbor is encroaching). Not my photo

Say what you will about cows, but zero of them are Nazis

Double checking which local heritage apples make great pies before sharing them for the holidays: Yellow Bellflower is a resounding yes! Nice texture (quite firm, despite how tender it can be fresh and how bruisable they are), and delicious flavor. Easy to slice. So good fresh though....

Your seasonal reminder that I design t-shirts (and related products) for grumps, queers, and weirdos. Impress your relatives at Thanksgiving Dinner! Surprise Grandma with the perfect Hanukkah present! Support a queer, trans independent artist who's been job-hunting since April!

The plot has thickened: it's obvious from deeds and county GIS that one of the neighbors is occupying nearly 30% of the public land (with a gravel parking pad and planted trees) apparently without either authorization, or push back from the county.

I voted NO. As long as there is still any time left to reverse the MAGA health care hike, I believe we should do everything we can to force Republicans to the negotiating table. The fight for health care does not end tonight.

This bill doesn’t address the core issue that millions of Americans will no longer be able to afford ACA insurance coverage next year. I’m willing to work with anyone to create a path forward but this isn’t it.

please learn about your local ecosystems. please. its so sad and strange to me how many people live in a place and learn nothing about the land that surrounds them and the ways in which that land has grown and changed and flourished for hundreds of years before your town even existed

Turns out Yellow Bellflower apples are wonderful on pizza with chicken and blue cheese. (And Blue Pearmain are great stuffed with sausage and baked; and Gloria Mundi make a wonderful addition to chestnut stuffing rolled in pork loin)

Feed everyone.

#RecipeOfTheDay is Roast Quinces! Though actually I’m not sure this even qualifies as a recipe, since all you do is quarter them and roast them. But if you’ve never cooked with quince before, this is an excellent place to start. www.nigella.com/recipes/roas...

Straight people, for the love of everything: if you can’t stand your spouse, divorce them. Don’t do standup comedy or a YouTube series or anything normalizing being miserable in a marriage. “My husband has me considering Acqua Tofana ha ha ha” Hilarious!

walker beauty apples, painted by deborah griscom passmore, 1904

he would pay for SNAP is all i'm saying and he's not even nice to me

/2 1. Real human beings will suffer from even a brief stay. 2. The government's position is transparently dishonest and in bad faith. 3. The Supreme Court has lost any benefit of the doubt. They have lost the mandate of the heaven that is the rule of law.

There's a lot going on out there, but I am completely absorbed in the discussion and civic engagement going on over a picnic table that disappeared from a public beach.

#BirdGlamour says BOO! this Halloween with the Spotted Lanterfly! Calling southeast Asia home, these planthoppers were first noted in Philadelphia in 2014! Populations are checked by parasitic wasps in southeast Asia but are an invasive species in N.A., going after agriculture and lumber crops. 🐞

Was this the best use of my time today? No. Is it the most amusing way I could have spent the last 90 minutes? Absolutely. Pattern is free here: bit.ly/4nGGCGc

Ellis: "It is difficult to see how an injunction ordering the government to comply with the Constitution can be harmful."

[Goose meme] Ruin the workplace for who RUIN THE WORKPLACE FOR WHO, MOTHERFUCKER????

just tell your partner what you want. ask to get your needs met. communicate. tell them if you are upset. just you know, talk to them and be honest?

the year i’m having

Claytonia lanceolata, our Western Springbeauty, blooming above Minturn #nativeplants #FallBackFlowers #FallBack to May 5 🌿

It's election day! To all my fellow US folks: make sure you get out & vote. The eels demand it of you. Eels, of course, are citizens of the world. So they can't vote in local elections, and they have to rely on you to do it for them. Even if you won't vote for you, be a proxy vote for an eel! 🗃️🧪

Happy pub day! A book for our times and beyond. Get a copy for yourself and 2 for others who might need it.

Yukoners voted 56% to change the voting system away from FPTP. I was at the booth yesterday. So many people didn’t know about the plebiscite. The fact that the numbers were that high without good communication about it is promising. But we just elected a govt who said they will not listen to it.

Turns out they (the first three) are all good. No clear winner. Best flavor was Yellow Bellflower, best texture probably Blue Pearmain, and I would (and will) happily eat any one of them baked again soon.

Anyway, SNAP should be universal. Just like school lunches in NYC. Not everyone needs it to survive but everybody gets it, no means testing. There should also be a lot fewer regulations on what you can buy with SNAP and discounts, not bans, on hot prepared foods.

I'm trying to track down confidently identified trees of Monmouth Pippin (different than Monmouth Beauty) sometimes also called Red Cheek.

Hey y'all. If you are voting in Washington, just a reminder that if you haven't dropped your ballot yet, please use a drop box if you can! Because of cutbacks and changes in USPS service, there are concerns about ballots getting the appropriate postmark. Find your closest dropbox!

Another reason to love Blue Pearmain (as if anymore reasons were needed): they are scrumptious as baked apples.