Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Welcome to today's issue of Carolina Naturally

'Nuff Said!

Today is February 3, 2023

Today is: Working Naked Day

On This Day In History

In 1928CE: Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names 'Sinanthropus pekinensis' (now known as 'Homo erectus')

Ain't That The Truth

Oh, and while you're at it - check out our sister blog Come What May for off the cuff and off the wall seriousness. Heck, who are we kidding, it's just fun and hilarity.

Editorial Comment

Today has been filled with the frustration of doing our job and someone else's job for them because they refuse to do it and then they have the nerve to claim they are doing their job and we are not doing ours.

It happens every time an incompetent person is placed in any position of perceived authority - much less actual authority. Such is currently the case at work, and it is getting a bit much.

We do want to give a shout out to our readers in Philippines and Poland and say thanks for stopping by to read Carolina Naturally.

Remember to have fun and enjoy life.

Editorial Staff

Take a Quirky Armchair Trip with Wonders of Street View

The website Wonders of Street View is a collection of the best images in Google Street View, whether they are funny, interesting, surprising, odd, beautiful, artful, historic, or superlative. It's not always streets anymore. Street View goes indoors, underwater, into the woods, off road, and into outer space. You might be treated to a glitch, or you might find yourself witnessing episodes of the human condition. Stay with it long enough, and you'll likely see places you've been to. You'll no doubt see places that you want to find out more about, and places that you'll never go.
Just be aware, this is one of those sites that will make your day disappear. But if you want to see any of these places again, you better grab a link from the "share" button at the bottom right, because there is no navigation, just a "random" button to take you somewhere else.

Alone in a crowd ...

Texas progressive arrested for questioning local government is getting help from an unlikely source

A progressive citizen journalist in Texas who's known for criticizing and trying to embarrass local authorities in Laredo is suing over a 2017 arrest where she says her civil rights were violated, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's reports.
Local authorities who were subjects of Priscilla Villarreal's criticism used an obscure Texas statute to claim that she had obtained “nonpublic information” from the government with “intent to benefit” herself.
Villarreal was looking to verify the identities of a Border Patrol agent who died by suicide and the members of a family involved in a deadly vehicle accident. The alleged "benefit" was her gaining more Facebook followers.
The Star-Telegram's report alleges that Villarreal was not jailed for her actions, but for her opinions -- and her case attracted support from unlikely right-wing allies who filed briefs on her behalf, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, Americans for Prosperity, Young America’s Foundation and Project Veritas.
Her charges were eventually dropped and the law used to prosecute her was determined to be "unconstitutionally vague," according to the Star-Telegram.
A federal district court threw out her lawsuit, saying that the officers who jailed Villarreal had “qualified immunity," but a three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit found differently.
“If the First Amendment means anything, it surely means that a citizen journalist has the right to ask a public official a question, without fear of being imprisoned," wrote Judge James C. Ho.
Read the full story over at the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

‘Absolutely repulsive’

At least three House wingnuts this week began wearing pins in the shape of an assault weapon on their clothing. wingnut bald-faced liar George Santos (w-NY), idiot wingnut Anna Paulina Luna (w-FL), and lunatic wingnut Andrew Clyde (w-GA) were all caught on camera with the pins, leading some to express outrage.
‘Absolutely repulsive’: Some House wingnuts are now wearing an assault weapon lapel pin

Belinda

This strange donkey orchid uses UV light to trick bees into thinking it has food

If you’ve ever compared a frozen pizza to the photo on the box, you know the feeling of being duped by appetizing looks.
In our latest study we show that animals – in this case, bees – are also prone to being tricked into making poor decisions, which explains a lot about how gaps in perception are exploited in nature.
When Charles Darwin was testing the theory of evolution 150 years ago, he looked at the interaction between flowering plants and the animals that forage to collect nectar.
This helped establish that flowers have adaptations to promote easier pollinator access, making it beneficial for the animal who gets a food “reward” from them. At the same time, it means the plants get pollinated and can reproduce.
This strange donkey orchid uses UV light to trick bees into thinking it has food

The Human Microbiome Is Going Extinct, Scientists Say

• Researchers say the human microbiome that lives in your gut is now endangered.

• The loss of bacteria and microorganisms reduces your chance at a healthy life.

• You’re the one killing off your own microbiome.

The human microbiome is endangered. And that’s not a good thing for your health—or the health of the rest of the world.
The Human Microbiome Is Going Extinct, Scientists Say. The End Will Be Devastating.

Too Skinny?

Look! New JWST Shows a Billion-Year-Old Spiral Galaxy in Stunning Detail

In this latest image from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we’re seeing spiral galaxy LEDA 2046648 as it looked while the first multicellular organisms were clumping themselves together here on Earth. 
The spiral galaxy in the foreground of this latest image from JWST is a billion light years away; its light had to travel across space for a billion years to land on JWST’s mirrors last summer.
Look! New JWST Shows a Billion-Year-Old Spiral Galaxy in Stunning Detail

Stockpile of 2,000-year-old gemstones found in Roman bathhouse drain

Archaeologists recently uncovered a stockpile of 2,000-year-old glittering gemstones clogging the drain of a Roman bathhouse near Hadrian's Wall in Carlisle, England.
The 30 engraved, semi-precious stones — known as intaglios — likely dropped out of the ring settings worn by bathers who took to the waters sometime during the second and third centuries A.D., The Guardian reported.
Stockpile of 2,000-year-old gemstones found in Roman bathhouse drain

Red

What To Know Of A Rare Elizabethan Era Ship's Discovery (& Its Role In Early America)

Shorelines are constantly moving. Visitors to the Gates of Thermopylae are surprised to find the narrow passageway the 300 Spartans held is gone, with the sea having silted up, while the Gulf of Finland will close in the future as the land continues its post-glacial rebound. In southeast England, a flooded quarry has been found to be hiding the wooden hull of a ship from England's Elizabethan era some distance from the sea.
The Elizabethan-era ship was found hundreds of yards from where the coast is today. The ship is a remarkable find and one that even is of interest to the United States. The ship reveals some of the evolution of English shipbuilding that lead them to be able to colonize North America and found the colonies that would go on to form the United States.
What To Know Of A Rare Elizabethan Era Ship's Discovery (& Its Role In Early America)

Archaeologists find 5,000-year-old tavern in Iraq, refrigerator still intact

A 5,000-year-old tavern with an open-air dining area and a partial kitchen was uncovered by a team of archeologists from the Penn Museum in Iraq.
The tavern is located in the southern ancient Iraqi city of Lagash, now known as Al-Hiba. Archaeologists discovered that it had benches, a refrigerator, an oven and remains of old food. 
Archaeologists find 5,000-year-old tavern in Iraq, refrigerator still intact

Stone Age rock paintings discovered in France

Around 4,000 years ago, Neolithic painters in south-eastern France immortalized warriors, battle scenes and burials on a cliff. Now 120 of their works have just been discovered.As the French regional newspaper La Provence reported on Wednesday, the paintings were discovered on a cliff in the Mercantour National Park in the French Maritime Alps, only about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the "Vallee des Merveilles," or the "Valley of Wonders," which is known for its some 40,000 Stone Age rock engravings.
The newly discovered paintings, which are estimated to be 4,000 years old, depict warriors, combat operations and funerals.
Stone Age rock paintings discovered in France

Scientists Discover 319-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Brain

A very long time ago, a fish died, was buried in sediments and eventually became fossilized. Today, 319 million years later, it's the star of a study that reveals "the oldest example of a well-preserved vertebrate brain." 
University of Michigan doctoral student Rodrigo Figueroa led the study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. The small fish is Coccocephalus wildi, a type of ray-finned fish. Living examples of ray-finned fish include swordfish and trout. It's a diverse group made up of about 30,000 species.
Scientists Discover 319-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Brain

After miraculous comeback, damselfly in distress again

When the damselfly reappeared in France in 2009 after a 133-year absence, it was considered a small miracle.
But the dragonfly's smaller cousin hasn't been seen in four years, sparking fresh fears it may be gone for good -- a worrying indicator of the health of the world's precious wetlands in which it breeds.
Damselflies face menaces on multiple fronts. In Asia, the wetlands and jungles in which they live are often cleared for crops like palm oil. In Latin America their habitats are razed to build houses and offices.
In Europe and North America, pesticides, pollutants and climate change have posed the biggest threat.
After miraculous comeback, damselfly in distress again

High Wire Act

Missouri farmers trap what they thought was a 'crazy-looking cat' — ended up being an African serval

A wild cat that’s native to Africa was recently found and rescued from a live trap in Missouri after a farmer emailed a tip to a wildlife sanctuary that specializes in big cat care.
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, responded to the emergency rescue email and retrieved an African serval that had been living in the forested area in Ava, Missouri, which is a small rural city in the Ozark Mountains.
In a press release issued on Friday, Jan. 20, the sanctuary revealed that locals had spotted the sub-Saharan cat passing through the area in the last half year, but they didn’t know it was an exotic animal.
Missouri farmers trap what they thought was a 'crazy-looking cat' — ended up being an African serval

The US Has a Wild Hog Problem

Despite not being native to North America, wild hogs are positively thriving on the continent with the population in the U.S. reaching record numbers in recent years. 
According to a new report from National Geographic, around six million feral swine run hog wild in at least 35 U.S. states (for context, six million is also the population of Massachusetts). That’s largely due to their adaptability…and the fact that they can produce up to two litters of four to 12 piglets every 12 to 15 months, starting at the age of eight months.
But it’s not the fact that they wreak havoc on agricultural crops, or that they can be dangerous, that’s most concerning to experts. It’s that they carry diseases. And, more specifically, human diseases — leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, brucellosis, swine influenza, salmonella, hepatitis and pathogenic E. coli, chief among then.
The US Has a Wild Hog Problem

California’s final monarch butterfly count is in, and it’s even better than last year

The final tallies are in, and it’s been another good year for monarch butterflies in California. In total, 335,479 of the important pollinators were counted across 272 overwintering spots across the state from Nov. 12 through Dec. 4, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, an international nonprofit organization that organizes the counts annually. That’s a notable jump from 2021, when 247,237 were counted in California, and 2020, when 1,899 were counted, according to the Xerces Society’s data. “We can all celebrate this tally,” said Emma Pelton ...
Read More

Neanderthals hunted enormous elephants that fed 100 people for a month

Neanderthals regularly hunted and butchered elephants in Europe thousands of years ago, according to an analysis of marks made by stone tools on a trove of bones.
The find suggests the ancient humans either lived in larger groups than previously suspected or that they had ways of processing the flesh, so it didn’t spoil, says Wil Roebroeks at Leiden University in the Netherlands, given the amount of meat involved. “These elephants are really big calorie bombs.” 
There has long been debate over whether Neanderthals, distant cousins of modern humans, could have hunted the straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). These extinct giants stood 4 metres tall, making them larger than modern African elephants and woolly mammoths.
To find out more, Roebroeks’s team took a closer look at elephant bones found alongside other animal remains and stone tools in a quarry near Halle, Germany, which was dug out from the 1980s. The bones have been dated to about 125,000 years ago, when Neanderthals were the only humans known to be in the area.
Neanderthals hunted enormous elephants that fed 100 people for a month

Strange Rare Fish From Time of the Dinosaurs Washes Up on East Coast

A rare and strange fish from a species that dates back to the time of the dinosaurs has washed up on the U.S. East Coast.
The dead Atlantic sturgeon was spotted by naturalist and photographer Allen Sklar on the shore of Assateague Island, a 37-mile-long strip of land along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. He took several images of the large fish, which measured about 3 feet in length.
"I drive the 12 miles of beach about 100 days a year and so see a lot of stuff others don't," Sklar, who specializes in Assateague's history, wildlife and ecology, told Newsweek. "This was the second sturgeon I have seen [dead] in 27 years of driving on the island."
The Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) is a large fish found in rivers and coastal waters from Canada to Florida. It can reach lengths of 14 feet and a weight of more than 800 pounds, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
These fish, which generally live up to about 60 years, have a distinctive appearance, with five rows of protective bony plates, called scutes, that run along their body; long snouts; and shark-like tails.
Atlantic sturgeon were once far more abundant than they are today. But overfishing during the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as habitat loss, led to a drastic decline in their numbers. These fish were prized for their eggs, which are considered a source of high-quality caviar.
Strange Rare Fish From Time of the Dinosaurs Washes Up on East Coast