Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Leaves everywhere! And still falling.View attachment 2401309

That is a chicken paradise. A little rain and those will be prime hunting grounds.

 

[BY Bob]

One other little oddity note, I see more of the men here in the predator and pest section, I’ve noticed, than on any other forum group.

Hmmmmmm..............

 

[BY Bob]

You can also love your hens, and eggs too! And I can love my Roosters, despite being a woman! Lol

@WhoDatChick thinks Trump’s neck is HOT!

 

[micstrachan]

Wow! Thanks everyone for bearing with me last night... that was all exhaustion and autocorrect errors, believe it or not.

Yes! There are varying levels of toxicity in different animals, and also different ways in which it effects the bitten (hopefully a prey item!) animal or person. Some venoms interact primarily with the nervous system, others on the heart and cardiovascular system. There are also venoms that work on a molecular level destroying the area around the bite. It’s quite fascinating, and these different qualities are what makes venom so useful in medications. Some venoms act in multiple ways at once as well.

Toxicity is measured by LD50, the lethal dose required for to kill 50% of the subjects in a test group. Another factor is the amount of venom injected at a bite, some snakes deliver a large amount, whereas others inject just a few drops. Rattlesnakes, and most other vipers, tend to inject fairly large amounts of venom, whereas the coral snake injects far less, but is still quite lethal. And something else super fascinating that has been happening, with climate change effecting the ranges of snakes, is different species of rattlesnakes are now interbreeding and this is effecting the qualities of the venom in the hybrid offspring. Australian snakes are primarily Elapids, with neurotoxic venoms, if I recall correctly.

I LOVE YOU! You are a wealth of information on the subject. Thank you for sharing with us!

 

[BY Bob]

I think there might also be a little cultural machismo going on. “I’ll protect my flock and trap and kill them predators!” is seen as acceptable male behavior, but cuddling chickens is somehow less masculine? I’ve never been great at following gender norms... and see kindness and love for animals as a strength in anyone, regardless of gender. It’s one of those things we need to fix in society, like the beauty/body image Pressures that are so accepted that no one stops to consider how it is conditioning is to think as a society, or the heath affects on young girls.

I agree Kris. Love and caring of animals should not be limited to a single gender. All humans should exhibit these traits. The world would be a much better place.

 

[MaryJanet]

Hear hear to your soapboxing Kris!

I've put mine in a spoiler so folks can ignore it if they wish.

Spoiler: Soap boxin'

The beauty myth is not ok for young women and girls. I find ways to say,, "that's so clever/kind/generous! Did you do that?" instead of "so pretty."

And generation labelling leads to generational blaming when the truth is most people do the best they can with what they've got. What matrers is how nations spend on supporting people. I'm not satisfied with education funding in Australia at all levels. We need smaller classes and much smarter teachers who are much higher paid and respected. I think we do healthcare quite well but we've got a long way to go on supporting other Australians who live with disabilities. I'm not convinced our economy has been well managed over the last 20 years or so. I question why during the Australian resources boom homelessness grew. The politicians missed that opportunity.

I think the politicians are way too partisan and that's not great for the nation.

 

[BY Bob]

I really think that that’s another generalization we should all skip out on. The generational labeling. So much goes into every individual’s experiences and makes them unique. It’s just another way to divide people. We are all in this mess together, and pointing fingers and demonizing anyone isn’t going to help matters... why can’t everyone just find a passion (preferably chickens, with cats coming in a close second) and get along?

That passage is oddly reminiscent of the Rodney King speech during the riots, “can’t we all get along”

 

[MaryJanet]

That is very kind of you to say. Sometimes I think I share more than I should on this website but it just slips out. Right now I am living in fear that I am going to be pulled into court over something. My heart sank Wednesday afternoon when the election bureau showed up on my phone. Fortunately, it was just someone thought they might have left their drivers license at the polls. I will be so glad when everything is done.

I have to decide whether to run for re-election next year. I have doing this for nearly 16 years now and right now I don’t know if I have the stomach to keep doing it. Posts Ike yours make me feel better about what I have been doing. It truly is much appreciated.

At this time, with all the genuinely nasty poltical division in the US, it's genuinely heroic work.

 

[BY Bob]

But then you type it out, and sometimes people don’t get it! Then you come off as a jerk and everyone starts telling you how mean you are
At least that’s been my personal experience on a few occasions.

That is the great danger in written sarcasm. I will frequently warn people with a [sarcasm alert] if I am going to try it at work. Mostly I just don’t try it.

 

[Ribh]

Hear hear to your soapboxing Kris!

I've put mine in a spoiler so folks can ignore it if they wish.

Spoiler: Soap boxin'

The beauty myth is not ok for young women and girls. I find ways to say,, "that's so clever/kind/generous! Did you do that?" instead of "so pretty."

And generation labelling leads to generational blaming when the truth is most people do the best they can with what they've got. What matrers is how nations spend on supporting people. I'm not satisfied with education funding in Australia at all levels. We need smaller classes and much smarter teachers who are much higher paid and respected. I think we do healthcare quite well but we've got a long way to go on supporting other Australians who live with disabilities. I'm not convinced our economy has been well managed over the last 20 years or so. I question why during the Australian resources boom homelessness grew. The politicians missed that opportunity.

I think the politicians are way too partisan and that's not great for the nation.

I think politicians are far too well paid. It makes them forget how ordinary people struggle. Perhaps politics should be an unpaid service to one's community...?