Entries from April 2008 ↓

From the Flickr photo/macro description:

Bats can’t launch from a flat horizontal surface, they need to fall first. Normally you should leave a healthy, grounded bat to crawl up something in order to launch itself, but in this case the bat was a healthy juvenile pipistrelle and in a house with three cats… I launched it out of the window before they found it.

Need help with a bat?
Call the Bat Helpline
0845 1300 228 [UK Number]

I wasn’t able to find a similar number for people in the United States, but please, please, be careful around bats. My grandmother was once bit by a bat, and she can tell you, rabies shots are not a nice thing.

Via Steve Brace’s Flickr Photostream! (Third Steve in a row!)

Emi’s Update:
In the US contact your local Bat Working Group (elsewhere I’m sure you can contact a bat conservation organization and they can help you out). Unfortunately the national Bat Working Group website is down, so I can’t link to it, but I’m sure you can pull up a local Working Group or conservation organization pretty easily on google…

The springtail, one of the most common animals in the world.
I didn’t know they existed.

I think David Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth is my new favorite nature documentary. It is composed of five 50-minute episodes about terrestrial invertebrates- insects, spiders, scorpions, worms, slugs, snails, and many other creatures that are typically ignored or thought of as gross.

The series starts with the story of how mollusks and arthropods were the first animals to come on land (episode 1), and how some species took to the skies (episode 2). An entire episode is devoted to the various (often incredibly clever) ways silk is used (episode 3). In what I thought was the best episode, insects (mostly ants and wasps) take advantage of life around them, some taking the role of parasite, some taking the role of defender, all being ingenious (episode 4). The series concludes with a survey of social insects (episode 5).

This series is gorgeous. To see these animals at a scale where we can see them like any other was incredible. The behavior and survival strategies these creatures have taken on are amazing to see. There is so much to life on earth that I think we just do not ever recognize. It was like seeing a documentary of an alien world. These creatures are just as interesting any other animal, they’re just smaller. It will be difficult for me to an organism as “just a bug” again.

I have some (possibly) negative thoughts on the series, but they’re minor. The first is the use of computer graphics. While it’s admirable how David Attenborough has adopted many new technologies that made this series possible, I feel that knowing something is CG just takes one out of the movie. I believe it’s only used on two occasions though, and it isn’t terrible. The second is the use of sound effects, it’s difficult to tell when something is really the sound of the environment or just something they put in in the editing room. The third is that David Attenborough interacts with the fauna, which I don’t mind so much but some people think that naturalists should only record behavior that has not been in any way influenced by man. Finally, it often seemed the story of mating was always told from a male perspective. I am not actually sure there is a better way to do this, as most of the time the male seems to be acting, and the female only indicates that she approves of the male, often with cues we’re not aware of. Just something I noticed!

STILL, I think this series amazed me more than Planet Earth (which Attenborough also lent his voice to). This is a world we do not often see and appreciate, and to see these creatures presented like any other transforms them from creepy crawlers to amazing and surprisingly beautiful animals. 9.5 out of 10 (I know, this is so useful considering I haven’t given anything else a rating yet.)

Amazon link (US) | Wikipedia link | Netflix link

(For full disclosure, the links are Amazon Associate links, so if you were to click on them, and make a purchase on Amazon, I would get a small percent of the money form that transaction. I’m not posting this to get money though, I really think it great! I am not part of a Netflix affiliate program as of this posting, and just include the link because that’s how I found this series, and I think it’s a good way to watch movies. If I were to somehow get some money from this though, I’d put some money (maybe 25% of whatever I got?) into a conservation program or get some libraries this DVD set. I’m sure my sister will help me pick a good conservation program. I’ll put up a disclosure page up sometime soon, I’m not trying to do anything to be evil!)

I just slept for fourteen hours. now I will post this picture.

I do not think I was that cute while sleeping!

Via Steve Sawyer’s Flickr Photostream!

Apparently April 27th is World Tapir Day!

The [uglorable] mascot of world tapir day.

From their press release:

World Tapir Day has been established to raise awareness about the four species
of tapir that inhabit Central and South America and South East Asia. Each of the
four species is in decline and is threatened by human activity such as mining,
deforestation, farming and hunting.

Tapirs are really neat, wonderful creatures. All four species of tapir are either endangered, or vulnerable of becoming endangered. It’s great to see efforts to raise awareness!

They’ve also got a cafe press store, profits of which go to support the Belize Zoo’s conservation program. I wouldn’t normally think of getting a cafe press shirt, but the mascot is so cute!

Link to the homepage of World Tapir Day

Thanks Anthony!

I really like golden lion tamarins. They have always appeared to me to be a creature out of fantasy rather than reality. They’re both so alien and familiar.

From Wikipedia:

The Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) also known as Golden Marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Cebidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the Golden Lion Tamarin is an endangered species and among the rarest animals in the world, with an estimated wild population of 1,000 individuals and a captive population of approximately 500. [more...]

Via Steve Harris’s Flickr Photostream!

I’m kind of annoyed when I visit a blog that features pictures of animals, and they update with something that isn’t a photograph of an actual animal. But dangit I was so ridiculously delighted when I saw this picture. I just had to post it!

Just… just… they’re wonderful!

Via Sarah’s Flickr Photostream!

A quick update, I’m feeling a little bit sick and I should be going to sleep.

Via Jude’s Flickr Photostream

(Oh, I should say, I am thinking about putting a small watermark on hotlinked images (images that are being hosted on uglorable.com but are being displayed on other sites), something that says the image is being hosted on uglorable.com and that attribution details can be found by going to the site. I feel like a jerk doing that though, because almost none of these pictures are really ours. It would allow people to find the original photographer though, and promote our site a little bit. What do you think? Leave a comment. Aaand this made this not so quick of a post.)

Is this too straight-up-cute for this blog? Prooobably. BUT OH MAN, I LIKE THIS PICTURE. And I don’t know what other blog I can send this to! Its nose looks a little weird though. Maybe that’s how I can justify its presence on this blog?

I think what I will do is just post things I like. It just so happens that most of the things I like aren’t cute in the most well-appreciated ways.

Via Jude’s Flickr Photostream

Last week Emi posted a picture of a malaysian tapir being kept awake by otters. Today I found a picture of a new world tapir actually being assisted in its sleep by a different kind of semi-aquatic mammal!

I’m not sure why the capybara is allowing the tapir to use it as a pillow. Does anybody know if these two species have a special kind of bond? That’d be neat! The idea that these two individuals just have a special bond is pretty cool too!

Via Kate Goodacre’s Flickr Photostream

I kind of feel strange posting animals showing their defense mechanisms, because I’m worried about what the animal is feeling when it’s performing them. Still, some are so distinctive and interesting! In this case the animal doesn’t look as intimidating as it does look cute though.

I always thought the Australians were great for getting rid of their one and two cent coins, but I didn’t realize these guys were on the reverse-side of the two cent coin. That must have been the coolest coin ever. Front side: THE QUEEN, back side: SOME FREAKY-COOL LIZARD.

Via wouter!’s Flickr Photostream