US Helplines:

Someone is going to get something out of it. And it isn't going to be you.

The fact that this is 80 fucking years ago but still just as relevant is terrifying.

Everything is interconnected in ways that are unimaginably complex. I see this in my reading and in my observations of nature. Because of this I am starting to think that plant sameness both contributes to and is contributed to by animal sameness, especially birds.

Lots of invasive plant species in my area are spread by birds. But which kinds of birds? I'm not sure if we know.

But the species of birds which feed upon the berries of the invasive species, are likely to be highly abundant in the areas overtaken by the invasive species, spreading a larger number of seeds of invasive species into the other areas those birds go. When the high density of invasive plants excludes other birds, it causes even greater density and exclusionary capacity of the invasive species, and even more favorable conditions to the birds that feed upon them.

So basically, when plant sameness reduces the number of animal species (and fungus species) that can survive, and when this plant sameness is repeatedly reinforced through management of the landscape, it can start to perpetuate itself through the animal sameness that was created

What this suggests to me, is that there may be a critical threshold of fragmentation and destruction of habitat where invasive species removal by itself is pointless or worse, because the larger-scale landscape has too much plant sameness and animal sameness for native species to come back.

What to do...? Maybe choose plantings for the restored area specifically for vigorous dispersal and high seed and fruit production?

Native, quasi-native and cultivated food plants could all be appropriate, because the goal is to attract the dispersers that cannot survive in the invasive species monoculture environment and redirect dispersers that previously relied on invasive species for food.

This facilitates dispersal of plants between the newly planted restoration and other habitat fragments that can support non-monocultured wildlife.

The last sentence is everything.

What I was taught growing up: Wild edible plants and animals were just so naturally abundant that the indigenous people of my area, namely western Washington state, didn't have to develop agriculture and could just easily forage/hunt for all their needs.

The first pebble in what would become a landslide: Native peoples practiced intentional fire, which kept the trees from growing over the camas praire.

The next: PNW native peoples intentionally planted and cultivated forest gardens, and we can still see the increase in biodiversity where these gardens were today.

The next: We have an oak prairie savanna ecosystem that was intentionally maintained via intentional fire (which they were banned from doing for like, 100 years and we're just now starting to do again), and this ecosystem is disappearing as Douglas firs spread, invasive species take over, and land is turned into European-style agricultural systems.

The Land Slide: Actually, the native peoples had a complex agricultural and food processing system that allowed them to meet all their needs throughout the year, including storing food for the long, wet, dark winter. They collected a wide variety of plant foods (along with the salmon, deer, and other animals they hunted), from seaweeds to roots to berries, and they also managed these food systems via not only burning, but pruning, weeding, planting, digging/tilling, selectively harvesting root crops so that smaller ones were left behind to grow and the biggest were left to reseed, and careful harvesting at particular times for each species that both ensured their perennial (!) crops would continue thriving and that harvest occurred at the best time for the best quality food. American settlers were willfully ignorant of the complex agricultural system, because being thus allowed them to claim the land wasn't being used. Native peoples were actively managing the ecosystem to produce their food, in a sustainable manner that increased biodiversity, thus benefiting not only themselves but other species as well.

So that's cool. If you want to read more, I suggest "Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America" by Nancy J. Turner

I am on my way to being the best auntie ever or the worst sister-in-law that ever lived. Possibly both.

I am making my 2-year-old niece a plushy for her birthday. She is very hands-on baby and wants to help with everything and be involved in the center of attention. A few weeks after her birthday everyone is going dipnetting. She is two and can not help with dip netting or do anything but watch.

So I am making her a toy salmon. And I am making it so she can filet it. It has guts. It has bones. It is all one piece and child friendly, and I am debating using embedded magnets or velcro to hold the filets on.

She has a kitchen set with a little wooden knife at her grandparents house, who have already heard about this and think its a great idea. We are gonna teach this kid to clean and process fish. She already knows where meat comes from and she will want to get in and do what everyone else is doing which she can not do because the fish are only slightly smaller than she is.

So, salmon plushy

Ch😅

I love drawing pen and paper maps for my D&D campaigns, here’s a bunch of my recent ones

Being good to each other is so important, guys.

If you like frogs. Or possums. Or cool builds. Or happiness. This is the video for you.

My wife and I have a little game we play called "Speaking From Ignorance."

To play Speaking From Ignorance, all you need is a phone with a voice recorder, and another person who knows considerably more or considerably less about a topic than you do. The topic can be anything: from "how to bake a quiche" to "what happens in the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies" to "who is Florence Pugh" to "how does the traveling salesman problem work." All that matters is that one of you has a firm grasp on the material, and one of you absolutely the fuck does not.

Then the person who knows about the topic turns on the recorder, and says to the person who knows barely anything: "Hey - tell me everything you think you know about [X]."

The speaker is then not allowed to ask any questions. Nor is the expert allowed to volunteer any information. The expert is allowed to pipe up with a faintly incredulous "Oh--really? Do you--do you think so?" from time to time, but for the most part, the expert's job is just to sit there and make encouraging sounds while the speaker digs their own grave.

This is never not funny.

The reason you record it is because, very often, the first thing the speaker wants to do after finishing the recording is find out how you actually make a quiche, or whatever. Then you both get to go back and listen to how wrong they were.

We have a small library now of Speaking From Ignorance recordings, and I'm going to be listening to them until I'm eighty.