Oh, the Stoopid. It does so burn.

Nature is red in tooth and claw. Lions kill antelope, ladybugs kill aphids. We should change that. Whether the stupid animals like it or not. Or, you know, the global ecosystem. Whatever. Peace, man.

Wood Frog!

Last night, while loading some firewood into our shed, something hopped around the grass at my feet. I immediately suspected a moth, or perhaps injured dragonfly, but I was surprised to find a wood frog, Alaska's only ectothermic tetrapod. I grabbed the little amphibian and ran into the house. I put a bunch of my gecko's unused rock's in the cricket tank (there were no crickets), then filled the tank partially with water. Then in went the frog! It sat, barely moving, on one of the larger rocks before realizing that water was near. The frog scuried into the water and proceeded to float. Catsby realized that something was up and started meowing incesently.

I wanted to keep the frog, because during the winter, there's a good chance these frogs could die. They freeze themselves for two weeks at a time, but I felt sorry for the little guy. Gina reminded me that he'd probably rather be outside with his froggy friends, a point I conceded, so I let him go in our flower garden. I made Gina promise that if we found a frog in late September, she'd have to let me keep it. I'd like to help at least one frog get through the freezing winters!

The Ultimate Introvert

As you readers may have heard me lament before, chameleons are shy and antisocial. Both of my Jackson chameleons (Darwin moreso than Eldridge) would simply lean away from my hand, avoiding human contact unless actively picked up, at which point they would both sit on my outstretched fingers and pout. Eldridge would get over it and start exploring, but Darwin would just stare at me with a certain death gaze, utterly refusing to have fun.



Well, as bad as those two were, neither can even compete with the introversion of the Labord's Chameleon. According to a new paper in PNAS, these little buggers would rather spend most of their lives within the confines of an egg than be forced to explore the outside world. In fact, Labord's Chameleons spend 8 or 9 months in the egg and only 4 or 5 months outside of it. The animals reach sexual maturity within two months, breed, and proceed to die. When the dry season hits, all of the adults are dead, and the population consists only of embryos in eggs. The babies hatch 8 or 9 months later at the start of the rainy season, grow quickly, get lucky, lay their eggs, and drop from their perches. And so the bizarre, morbid cycle continues.

Most animals would opt to evolve a mechanism for getting through the dry season while still alive, but it would seem that Furcifer labordi has put all of its eggs in one basket, as it were.

Hat-tip to Zooillogix for reporting the story!

Highlight of the Day

Today when I got back to work from lunch, a little red fox (Vulpes vulpes alascensis) was exploring the parking lot. I like red foxes--they're ridiculously cute, and they have a very distinctive trot. The fox today was trotting from one end of the parking lot to the other end, but couldn't help sniffing around a few places to satisfy its curiosity. I had seen a red fox in my neighborhood a few months ago, and it seemed just as curious about me (from a distance) as I was of it. I was walking along the road, and it was on the opposite side of the road in the trees. I stopped and was looking at it, and it was looking right at me, sniffing at me. We both just stood staring at each other for about fifteen seconds before the fox lost interest and wandered off into the woods.

I like foxes.