Animals are Magical

[gini]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=xAB9-VGIkzM

[Eva2]

'Scientists Contact Whales in World-First Communication Experiment

https://www.sciencealert.com/scienti...W4lzy2Cx07OxA4

What do whale experts and alien hunters have in common? More than you might expect.

For a recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ, scientists from UC Davis, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) teamed up.

Their mission: Communicate with whales. And they did just that.

In a landmark experiment, the team had a 20-minute conversation with a humpback whale named Twain in her own language.

Twain and the scientists didn't talk about the weather or the latest fish gossip — we're still a long way from that level of understanding.

What did happen, though, was remarkable.

Conversing with whales
The scientists sailed a boat off the coast of Alaska and played what's called a "contact call" into the ocean to see if any whales would respond.

Contact calls are similar to a human greeting. Whales use them to call over other whales or let each other know where they are, lead author Brenda McCowan, a professor at UC Davis's School of Veterinary Medicine, told Business Insider.

"They are one of the most common signals within the humpback whale social sound repertoire," Fred Sharpe, co-author and principal investigator with the Alaska Whale Foundation, told Business Insider.

Sure enough, Twain swam up to the boat and circled it. For the next 20 minutes, the scientists emitted the same contact call 36 different times at varying intervals, and Twain responded to the call each time, even closely matching the intervals.

Meaning, if the scientists waited 10 seconds before playing a call back to Twain, she would in turn wait 10 seconds before responding, McCowan said. This type of interval matching suggests Twain was engaged in an intentional exchange, she added.

"It certainly felt like we had been heard," Sharpe told BI, emphasizing that their work is done with a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service and readers should not try this at home (or sea). "And we hope that she felt the same way, too."

"We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback 'language,'" McCowan said in a statement.

The calls came from humpback whales the researchers had recorded from a small group of whales just the day before their encounter. The group had included Twain, so it's possible Twain was responding to her own signal.

"We might've been playing back her own hello to her," Sharpe said.

So what does this have to do with talking to aliens?

Turns out, Twain's behavior could be akin to how intelligent alien races may seek humanity out, said Laurance Doyle, a principal investigator at the SETI Institute and coauthor on the paper.

Communicating with extraterrestrials
"An important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers," sort of like how Twain responded to the contact call from the scientists, Doyle said in a statement.

Doyle and his colleagues at SETI are working with whale and animal experts at UC Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation to create intelligent filters to aid in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

If extraterrestrials are out there, sending us signals, trying to communicate, we might miss them if we don't know what to look for, Doyle told BI.

By perfecting these intelligent filters, scientists could use them to identify intelligent signals from space in an attempt to make first contact with an alien race.

"There are diverse intelligences on this planet, and by studying them, we can better understand what an alien intelligence might be like, because they're not going to be exactly like ours," McCowan said.

The research is also testing the idea of whether or not intelligent alien life would even seek us out, Doyle told BI.

"Whale research has indicated if you're intelligent, curiosity comes along with that, and you want to make contact," Doyle said.

The scientists said they hope similar work can be carried out with other intelligent animals on Earth, including other cetaceans like dolphins, carnivores that cooperate to hunt, and other highly social species like meerkats and elephants.

This article was originally published by Business Insider.'

[boja]

https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status...18444432826468

[Bill Ryan]

No need to listen to the heavy metal music! But the finale of this short video is delightful. Watch to the very very end.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1708119477915717887

[Vicus]

[Johnnycomelately]

Three magical animals, bears, dogs, and humans, in Japan. Kind of a bittersweet story.

https://japantoday.com/category/nati...g-bear-problem

Dogs, antennas and honey for Japan's big bear problem

Today 05:46 am JST 21 Comments

By Simon Sturdee and Harumi Ozawa

KARUIZAWA, Nagano

Thousands of bears are being shot in Japan each year as they become more and more of a problem. Junpei Tanaka and his dog Rela, straining at her leash in the woods, have a kinder, smarter way.

People moving from rural areas and Japan's aging society -- plus climate change affecting bears' food and hibernation time -- are prompting ever more of the hungry animals to approach towns.

Reliable data is hard to find but bear numbers also appear to have rocketed, with one newspaper estimating they had roughly tripled in 11 years in some places. Sightings have almost doubled this year.

The increasing frequency of these powerful animals -- which in the case of brown bears can weigh half a ton and outrun a human -- coming into contact with people has created alarming headlines.

This year is on track to be the deadliest for humans since the government started collating data in 2006, with six people killed by bears, including one elderly woman in her garden in October.

The severed head of a fisherman was found by a lake in May. A bear was reportedly spotted with his waders dangling from its mouth.

Another 212 people, also a record, have been injured in attacks.

One bear attacked six people in a single day in October, including an 83-year-old woman and a schoolgirl waiting for a bus in the northern town of Kitaakita.

It's been far worse for the bears. On average over the past five years, 4,895 have been killed each year, according to figures from the Environment Ministry.

As of November 30, 6,287 have died in this fiscal year (to March), around 2,000 of them in November alone. Usually, they are shot.

"This year, it's expected to go as high as 8,000," said Tanaka, 50, a bear expert who works for the Picchio Wildlife Research Center.

This is prompting unease in a country -- three-quarters of it mountainous -- that thinks of itself as living in harmony with nature.

"For a long time, Japanese people co-existed with wild animals... They believed in the presence of gods in every kind of living thing and avoided unnecessary killing," Tanaka said.

"But now, it has become difficult to segregate the wild and human areas due to the change in environment, change in social structures and change in people's lifestyles," he said.

Tanaka says his project in Karuizawa, a town surrounded by woods in the shadow of a volcano 90 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train, is a "forerunner" of what can be done without resorting to killing the bears.

In the dead of night -- when the bears are most active -- Tanaka demonstrates the methods used by his organisation, which he says keeps both humans and bears safe.

He and his team set barrel traps, with honey inside, to capture any bears that start to lose their fear of humans. They are fitted with a radio collar and released, far away.

The town has also installed bear-proof rubbish collection points -- the slot for the door handle is too small for a paw -- and appealed to locals to be more aware.

But the key component in the non-lethal efforts is Tanaka's amber-eyed, keen-nosed canine Rela and the rest of the team of specially trained Karelian Bear Dogs, a sturdy and fearless breed originally from Finland.

"They are very reliable staff of the team. They are our colleagues," Tanaka tells AFP.

Picchio acquired Rela's mother from the Wind River Bear Institute in the United States, whose bear biologist founder Carrie Hunt has pioneered the use of dogs in bear control.

Heading out in his small van in the pre-dawn mist, Tanaka first waggles around a metre-long (three-foot) antenna to triangulate the location of any nearby bears fitted with a radio collar.

"You got the bear scent? Okay, let's go!" Tanaka says in English -- like all his commands -- to the dog.

He and Rela then head fearlessly out over the hill and once they find a bear -- unseen by AFP staying safely at a distance -- the dog emits a fierce bark and scares it away.

This "bear shepherding" method is unique in Japan, although other places are interested, said city official Masashi Tsuchiya.

"Bears are dangerous animals, so it is true that we did receive some voices from local residents that bears should be killed," Tsuchiya told AFP. "But thanks to the Picchio program, we have learned that we can control and monitor bears' behavioral patterns by identifying each individual animal, attaching a radio collar and pushing them away from the town."

Japan has two types of bears. Around Karuizawa they are all Asian black bears -- also known as moon bears -- and the bigger brown bears live on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Moon bears always live in forests and don't like being seen but brown bears, which are bigger, come out in the open. And while brown bears "bluff" attacks, moon bears do not.

"Most of the time they run away from humans. But once they get in trouble with a human and get into a panic, they attack," Tanaka said. "And they don't retreat."

[mountain_jim]

https://x.com/catturd2/status/1740342334011982080?s=20

[Vicus]

Posted by mountain_jim (here)
https://x.com/catturd2/status/1740342334011982080?s=20

My half sister was old enough to be my mother, she got two girls, we were all on the same age.
Her husband came once with a monkey for his daughters, same like in the video but his fur was golden brown.he make all kind of sh1t...

when I visited this other "family" part and sleep there one or two days I was the monkey (don't remember his name)favorite
Because I play with him like a boy normally does (more "aggressive"/challenger )for him and he liked it...

Every time I sleep there he did one of this two things:

1- He begun to spring on me yelling like a fool to wake me up! I trow the pillows at him and he liked it more! because now he can play more with me...

2- I woke up "normal" and he was cuddled with me and his soft little hand on my cheek ...

[Vicus]

Monkey see Monkey do

By lunch/dinner he watched us very carefully from the top of the door...he selected his "victim", me normally...

He came to my lap very "innocent "and then ...zap!.. he stole something from my food!

well, like boys just are, I wanted my fun too! one time I let him and then I gave him some beer (stolen from my sister´s husband...)
He liked it! and then he went drunk! rolling all over the places until he felt asleep!

Later was more cautious ...but I was more his favorite! well, he was a monkey boy too!

[onawah]

Talkative Frenchie Has The Most Unique “Voice”
The Dodo
15.1M subscribers

"Frenchie suddenly starts talking at age 7 — and his parents have very different reactions 😂"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=L1288hbVGqc

[Eva2]

Orca Leaps 4 Meters into the Air

[Eva2]

Bailey the laughing parrot:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ptvzXuDCb...0EoYETH4uTFnbL

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=e6EtmGzl3lI

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=CVznKgDFFPQ

[grapevine]

Penguins Need Help

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=flqt7wJs7Io

Thank goodness the photographers broke the rules

[gini]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0vc0TTQZEcU

. --16 min--1/1/2o24-'in this video, we will talk about Tardigrades and everything we learned about them in the last few months'

[Bluegreen]

Cats and Domino 2

Wait for it ...

Published 1st November 2023 (4:22)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=CMhrRQSUX9w

[Tintin]

Wow, just wow

[palehorse]

Posted by Bluegreen (here)


Cats and Domino 2

Wait for it ...

Published 1st November 2023 (4:22)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=CMhrRQSUX9w

These are alien cats
my cat sleep and eat basically lol

[Harmony]

Just love the above video Tintin, THAT's the kind of world I see and have dreamt about

[Johnnycomelately]

Story of a saltie in a tinnie, ends well. Might have been a freshie, doesn’t say, but it was big.

I like how the fishing man had a ‘spidey’ sense, how he acted to survive, and that he thought to acknowledge help from what we call the spirit realm.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-...boat/103279494

DES investigates as Queensland fisher describes 4-metre crocodile jumping into his boat on NYE
Monday 1 Jan 2024 at 11:17pm

A Queensland fisherman's ordeal of a crocodile leaping into his tinny with its "jaws wide open" has sparked a state government investigation and warning.

Mackay local Richard Brookman said the close call on New Year's Eve was "one to remember".

The 45-year-old said he had been fishing for about 4 hours in his 3-metre tinny up Jane Creek at St Helens Beach, an hour north of Mackay, on Sunday night.

At about 10pm he had "that eerie feeling that something was watching me".

"I turned the headlight on and had to look up the creek and there's these eyes coming straight for me."

The experienced fisherman said initially he was not afraid of the reptile, which he estimated to be at least 4 metres long, but that changed as it moved closer.

"It wasn't until they [the animal's eyes] actually got pretty much in line with me that I'd seen how big he actually really was, and I thought, 'Oh, I'm in trouble'," Mr Brookman said.


"He went up past me and then he swung out to the middle of the creek and then drifted back with the tide.

"I stood up to go back down to the back of the boat, then he went under and I thought, 'This is not going to end well'.

"Within a blink of an eye, he was on top of my boat, and it was sliding down towards me, jaws are open."

Mr Brookman said he had to jump over the crocodile to retrieve his anchor before the animal over-balanced and fell into the water, which he said caused the rails of the tinnie to bend.

He said he felt "numb" after the close call.

"It was just sort of sheer luck then that he slid out. I think my [late] grandfather was looking after me," Mr Brookman said.


The ordeal has left Mr Brookman shaken, scared and worried that a similar incident could happen to somebody else.

"Even now, I still see the flash of the croc going over the top of my boat, the boat going up on its side.

"It is a dangerous big animal and the only thing I can think of is if you've got a couple of kids in the boat — he's not scared of humans, he's not scared of boats and he could take anyone out."

Incident under investigation

The Department of Environment and Science (DES) is investigating the incident after speaking to the fisher.

"To launch themselves at a boat near a boat or at a person, it's not what we would call typical [crocodile] behaviour," senior wildlife officer Jane Burns said.

"It is concerning behaviour, so it is definitely getting investigated and we'll look further into this animal's behaviour."

She said incidents of crocodiles jumping into boats were usually accidental.

"When people are in very small, narrow stretches of creeks and there are animals on banks, it's just natural behaviour for them to try and get into the water as quick as possible and sometimes they will skip across a vessel or come very close to it, but they're simply trying to just get into the water," Ms Burns said.

But she said an animal of this size was unlikely to be afraid to approach a smaller boat.

"An animal would look at a smaller boat more as something to his size that he would feel comfortable to go up and investigate," Ms Burns said.

"So we definitely encourage people to choose a bit bigger boat when they're fishing in croc country."


She said while this animal was not previously known to the department, precautions had been taken.

"In this particular case, there has been recent warning signs put up at the boat ramp," Ms Burns said.

"That's the nearest point people will use to launch their boats into this body of water.

"Wildlife officers will go out into the creek to do a behavioural assessment during day and night hours.

"So we really just have to determine whether the animal is still there and whether it will be declared as a problem crocodile."

Calls for relocation

Mr Brookman said he wanted to see the crocodile relocated and raised the issue with Mirani MP Stephen Andrew, from One Nation.

Mr Andrew, who had previously called for a crocodile cull in north Queensland, alerted the department.

He supported calls to relocate the reptile.

"This is a dangerous thing. It's happening more and more in Queensland and they need to do something," Mr Andrew said.

"The reason I've got so much urgency on it is I know that a lot of people go and poach [crab] pots this time of year and they're even going at night-time."

[onawah]

This doggo really has such a lot to say, and he is very expressive!
I just wish I could understand exactly WHAT he is saying....
But I can't help wondering if he is actually a critic and his remarks are like : "Blah blah blah...you humans sure like to talk a lot!!!"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JJwWxfGl4Us

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mpB22SPd7y8