@RoomPotion@CvatikPhoto Brodie used Fairly Odd Parents as part of his justification of shapeshifters. You got it brodie. Just put the fries IN the bag next time. Preciate it
Around 5.5 million bees discovered beneath a cemetery in New York
Researchers studying a vast aggregation of ground-nesting mining bees beneath an Ithaca cemetery believe the population has existed there undisturbed for more than 100 years
There are only 35,000 venus flytraps left in the swamps where they grow. Poaching is killing them off.
Venus flytraps grow naturally in only one place on Earth: a 90-ish-mile radius around Wilmington, North Carolina. Wild populations have collapsed due to habitat loss, fire suppression, and decades of poaching for the houseplant trade.
Stealing them from the wild has been a felony in North Carolina since 2014, punishable by 25 to 39 months in jail. Conviction-rate enforcement is slow, and a poacher can still dig up several hundred plants in an afternoon.
Here's how to tell a nursery-grown flytrap from a poached one (US Fish & Wildlife Service guidance):
1. Look at the tray. Nursery-grown plants are propagated through tissue culture, so they're uniform in size. If the plants in the tray vary noticeably in size, some of them probably came from the wild.
2. Look at the soil. Nursery soil is uniform, sterile peat moss. If the soil has sand, gravel, or natural debris mixed in, that's wild soil.
3. Look at the pot. Nursery-grown plants come in clean pots. If there are other small plants, mosses, or "weeds" growing in the pot, the flytrap was likely dug from a bog.
If you want one and want to do it right, buy from a specialist carnivorous plant nursery. California Carnivores, Plant Delights Nursery, and FlytrapStore (in the US) all sell exclusively tissue-cultured plants. Big-box stores and roadside vendors are the highest-risk sources.
@uncledoomer Tick populations in the north east have been steadily climbing for years. Everyone only cares now because the disease they carry makes people sick to eat red meat. Oh no! Big fatty can’t have a good American burger anymore. Boohoo
At one point during the 2024 election cycle, Trump was promoting a massive "Great American Fair" for the 250th anniversary. He proposed the Iowa fairgrounds for it and promised each state their own pavilion
I was really excited about this idea. The 1893 World Fair (celebrating 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering America) was a massive event, years in the making. It's covered by history books.
I knew that 2 years was not really enough time to make something that tremendous happen, but I had hoped that Trump might push forward that vision and that some passionate people might bring it to fruition. I hoped to travel to it this summer with my kids.
What a wonder it would have been, to see each state proudly represent itself to have a grand event that brought us all together for a singular moment.
It's awful that such a grand idea has eroded into this sad display.