Animals and Pets

it's her absolute favorite activity in the world!

[Image description: a very fuzzy, day old yellow duckling warms up in my hand on a chilly morning.]

This little nugget decided to spend a few extra minutes in my hand after we found its mother. The temperature was hovering around 60F which is a little too chilly for a duckling this young.

[Image description: several ducklings inspect my toes for caterpillars, occasionally grabbing the toes instead]

One of them found an inchworm on my foot the other day and now whenever I stop moving they go nuts trying to find more. It's cute until one grabs a toe or the hairs and does a death shake.

[Image description: week old ducklings pile on top of one another, almost managing to be nestled under their watchful mother. One duckling is jumping to reach the top of the bunch.]

There's always at least one in every clutch that seems to prefer being the last one to the party just to be top cuddler.

[Image description: a dozen ducklings in various shades of yellow and brown rest under the potting bench in our greenhouse]

Y'all - I'm so excited. We had a disappointing first round of hatching with only three ducklings, but Pearl (tail pictured) hatched out a whopping twelve! We're five days from our niece and nephews coming up to visit during their vacation and the timing is incredible

[Image description: a female Muscovy duckling is feathering out in white, grey, and beige - a coloring called "lavender" among breeders. Her duckling down remains on her head in patches, creating a pattern of freckles around her face]

My boy is 6, and has been gassing for a pet for a long time. We want to get him something, but our parameters are pretty narrow:

• Can't be a cat or dog (allergies)
• No rodents/mustelids (wife: ew)
• No snakes (wife: ew)
• No birds (wife: ew)
• No Arthropods (Wife: ew)

Reptiles/frogs/amphibians are ok in our books.

Ideally, I would like something he could physically handle on occasion but that's not a deal breaker.

Fish are cool, but kind of boring to a 6 year old maybe.

Crabs are cool, but seem kind of cryptic.

Would be amazing if it didn't break the bank and was somewhat easy to care for

Thoughts appreciated if you have any.

[Image description: a very fluffy Australian shepherd lays on his back to ask for tummy rubs but we like to call it his factory reset or restore default settings]

Sudo reset

Two people were thrown into the ocean after a humpback whale landed on their fishing boat off the New Hampshire coast on Tuesday morning, and the entire incident was caught on video.

The Coast Guard also confirmed that the men who were on the boat were recovered by other boaters and brought to Great Bay Marina.

Edit: ghost archive

We went camping for the first time since getting the twin pomskis. They did so good! The fluffier pomski (Bliss) and the little havapoo (Poppy) were in a heated competition for who could bring home more of the forest floor.

[Image description: a tree frog smaller than a U.S. dime pauses momentarily on the tip of my finger before resuming their day]

Don't ask me how I spotted it, because I genuinely can't answer that.

Alt text: a close up image of a juvenile leopard gecko. There is a wooden stick to the left of him and a glass jar in the background. Underneath him is a bed of dirt and mulch.

When I come in to check on him, he walks right up to the door of his tank! I guess he knows I'm the food-giver, lol.

echo loves the creek so much. definitely her most favorite activity. also my first time using sniffspot (private dog park; this one was about three acres and fully fenced in), and it felt like we weren't fenced in at all! there was a little walking trail and everything.

I adopted a stray cat outside my apartment a few years ago. She was originally aggressive both to cats and people, but after I started taking care of her she warmed up to the neighbors, too. Since she'd lived outside for about a decade, I let her out in the yard (supervised) and she came to love lounging and waiting for passers by to give her scritches.

Unfortunately, I've had to move. No more outdoor time for the foreseen future, partially because she's in a completely new town, and partially because there are so many birds around here I don't think I'd be able to keep her from running off.

There isn't even a window facing the walkway where she can interact with people through the window, which was another thing she liked doing in our old place. It's just me to entertain her, and I can be gone ten hours a day.

She has lots of toys and beds and things to climb, but since she loved the neighbors so much, I'm worried she needs a companion. Anyone else been in this situation? How do you help your cat adjust?

[Image description: three ducklings are out for a walk with one of the mother ducks]

In counter-clockwise order: Niji, Una, Karen, and Trés Chic.

One of our hens, Greensleeves, is still sitting on a clutch of eggs and we saw two more chicks beginning to hatch this morning. We're really hopeful for them to finish their hatch well and be up and about soon.

[Image description: a gray tree frog, Hyla versicolor, has gray and white camouflage which looks like birch bark. It is easy to see against the background of my hand and nearly impossible to spot when hiding in foliage]