NATURE
ONE BIRD BOUGHT THE LAND.
NATURE
One weird bird helped build 19 nature reserves.
A bird nobody had scientifically recorded helped trigger a conservation network protecting habitat across Ecuador.
SOURCEThe Guardian
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ALL THE SLOP
Every serving. No expiration date. Page 4 of 4.
WEIRD JOY
A SHED FULL OF GLOW.
WEIRD JOY
The glowworms came back. A garden shed was involved.
After a century away, tiny green lights are blinking again in North Yorkshire.
SOURCEThe Guardian
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WEIRD JOY
HE BOUGHT THE MARQUEE.
WEIRD JOY
Rick Steves bought his hometown movie theater so it wouldn’t die.
A century-old neighborhood movie house just got a very determined new owner.
SOURCEKNKX Public Radio
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WEIRD JOY
SNAKES, APPARENTLY, HAVE FRIENDS.
WEIRD JOY
The baby rattlesnakes are cuddling. Please adjust your worldview.
Livestream cameras in California, Colorado and Pennsylvania captured live rattlesnake births, dozens of newborns and baby snakes cuddling adults for protection. Apparently even rattlesnakes have a snuggle phase.
SOURCECal Poly / Project RattleCam
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NATURE
THE WATER IS COMING BACK.
NATURE
We drained the swamp. Now we’re un-draining it.
A 23-square-mile tract of drained North Carolina peatland is being rewetted, replanted and restored to hold water, reduce fire risk, rebuild habitat and stop releasing so much stored carbon. Sometimes progress is admitting the ditch was a bad idea.
SOURCEAssociated Press
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WEIRD JOY
TINY TRACKERS, BIG MIGRATION.
WEIRD JOY
The warblers have backpacks now.
Researchers are fitting tiny songbirds with Tic Tac-sized geolocator backpacks that record light and atmospheric pressure across entire migrations. Serious science has once again required an extremely small backpack.
SOURCESmithsonian Migratory Bird Center / The Conversation
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ANIMALS
A BRIDGE JUST FOR DEER.
ANIMALS
The deer have infrastructure now.
Washington’s I-90 Snoqualmie Pass wildlife overcrossing recorded its 10,000th successful animal crossing in July. Add 11 undercrossings and the project is nearing 40,000 recorded crossings since 2014. Apparently the elk were just waiting for civil engineering.
SOURCEWashington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) via Good Good Good
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ANIMALS
THE PARROT SAID NO.
ANIMALS
The world’s weirdest parrot refused to go extinct.
New Zealand’s critically endangered kākāpō population has reached 325, after a record 90 chicks joined the official count this season. The recovery program began in 1995 with just 51 birds. Extremely round bird: still here.
SOURCENew Zealand Department of Conservation / Kākāpō Recovery Programme
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WEIRD JOY
AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT LOG.
WEIRD JOY
The internet gave the baby porcupine an emotional support log.
Point Defiance Zoo welcomed its first prehensile-tailed porcupine baby in 121 years. Then the internet spotted the tiny porcupette clutching a log and named it an “emotional support log.” For once, the comments improved the story.
SOURCEPoint Defiance Zoo & Aquarium / Good Good Good
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ANIMALS
RELEASE DAY. TEARS INVOLVED.
ANIMALS
Crush went home. Everyone cried.
Crush, a loggerhead found cold-stunned and nearly lifeless on a Jersey beach in January, spent months in rehabilitation before being flown to the Azores, fitted with a satellite tag, and released back into the Atlantic. Good turtle. Good humans. Everybody go home.
SOURCELittlefeet Environmental / SEA LIFE Weymouth / Channel 103
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WEIRD JOY
COWS ON FIRE DUTY.
WEIRD JOY
Spain hired tiny cows to fight wildfires.
In Galicia, small, agile Cachena cattle and other grazers are being used to chew down fire-prone vegetation. A regional pilot is even using GPS virtual fencing to steer cattle toward areas that need clearing. Cow-based infrastructure has entered the chat.
SOURCEReuters / Xunta de Galicia
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