Happy Easter!

Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and linkfest. The Wombat has Rule Five Monday: Blue Monday up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Happy Easter!

KOB4 Albuquerque:  CABQ Animal Welfare halts rabbit adoptions due to Easter

The City of Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department is pausing rabbit adoptions at all city shelters until Tuesday because of Easter.

AWD officials are reminding families that a rabbit is more than just a one-week commitment. They say rabbits need as much attention as a cat or a dog, as pet rabbits can live for as long as 8-12 years.

If you want to add a rabbit as a long-term family member, officials say to contact the New Mexico House Rabbit Society to find the right rabbit. You can go to their website or call 505-435-9916.

Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Stellar Blade up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Beach Report 6/8/21

This bunny was still in the camera from a few days ago. I saw it before Skye, so I got a decent shot of it.

The ancient mariner, also in the camera from earlier.

Our smallest butterfly, the Eastern Tailed-Blue. 

An American Lady, somewhat worse for wear, and hidden in the grass at the boat yard. 

I found this baby turtle sitting on a rock in the harbor. It might be a Map Turtle or a Painted Turtle, I'm not sure which.

A bit of a red tide today. It wasn't here yesterday.

Temperatures were in the upper 80s at home today, but only lower 80's at the beach. And a bit of a breeze from the south helped.

The best of 34 generally unremarkable shark's teeth, a small White Shark (hastalis), I think. Oh, and 1 Drum tooth.

The beginning of the area we call the tangle. 

Bunnies, Butterflies and the Beach

Skye and I left about 10:30 AM to visit the beach. We saw 9 bunnies on the way! My arms are about an inch longer as a result.

The Milkweed by the edge of the harbor is in full bloom, smells very sweet, and is attracting all kinds of insects, including this Zebra Swallowtail and bumblebee. . .

 As well as this American Lady (note the tiny white dot in the field of orange).

It was about 75 out, with a nice western breeze, which keeps you cool in the sun, but barely ripples the Bay. You might note Skye looks a bit skinny. When we boarded her to go to Pittsburgh, they de-haired her, and did a pretty good job. Hopefully that will help her stay cool.

Looking for fossils the hard way, with a screen. We found 16 shark's teeth between us, none of them especially notable or picture worthy

 Skye in the lead on the way home.

Somebody ignored the now faded "dangerous jetty" sign.

Beach Bunny Bonanza

A few beach pictures from the last two days. Yesterday was bright, mostly clear, warm and humid. Not a lot of wind although . . .

There was a large thunderstorm across the Bay on the Delmarva, which towered over the eastern sky. I was worried it might get us, but it never crossed they Bay, at least according to the radar.

A lab or Chessie in it's natural habitat. It really wanted to meet Skye and vice versa, but Georgia and it's owner worked hard to thwart their plans

Another Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly, puddling in the mud.

Today was much cloudier, not as warm, but just as humid. I went with Skye alone, as Georgia went shopping. I did pretty well on fossils despite being tugged by Skye, 14 teeth.

I spotted this beach bunny munching the Kudzu. I was lucky not to alert Skye and suffer an arm socket over extension. Thank goodness for zoom lenses.

A Spring Azure. Or is it a Summer Azure? Heck, I can never tell. If it's Spring, I guess they're a Spring Azure, and so on.

Behold the Mighty Bunny!

Reminds me of:

Did Bugs Bunny Do In the Neandertals?

Tricky Rabbits.

One of the classic themes of Loony Tunes is Elmer Fudd trying to hunt rabbits, and being unable to get Bugs Bunny because he is just too smart. Now, a British scientist hypothesizes that Neandertal Man died out because he was unable to take advantage of rabbits as a food source:

Dr John Stewart, Associate Professor in Paleoecology and Environmental Change at Bournemouth University (BU), is part of a team which analysed data on rabbit bone remains, found in archaeological excavations of caves in the Iberian Peninsula. They found that while rabbits were a crucial part of the modern humans’ diet, they were relatively under-utilised by Neanderthals.

“Rabbits originated in Iberia and they are a very special kind of resource, in that they can be found in large numbers, they are relatively easy to catch and they are predictable,” said Dr Stewart. “This means that they are quite a good food source to target. The fact that the Neanderthals did not appear to do so suggests that this was a resource they did not have access to in the same way as modern humans.”

 Even I can catch a rabbit.

The fact that Neanderthals – typically associated with hunting large prey over short distances in woodland settings – were seemingly unable to catch and kill such creatures is compounded by rapid changes in the environment. “The climate was changing and the ecology was decreasing in terms of the amount of animals they were able to hunt,” Dr Stewart explained. “If Neanderthals were more tied to these large mammals, the loss of them could have driven them to extinction.”

Cute outfits
but lousy cosplay

Evidence that modern humans were more able to hunt across large, open spaces – and used technological innovations such as twine and traps to help them catch faster,smaller prey, including rabbits – suggests that they adapted better to this change in surroundings. Dr Stewart said: “Modern humans had more that they could do – they had more possibilities and were more able to cope with the deterioration of climate than Neanderthals were. If modern humans thrived when Neanderthals did not, it must mean that modern humans were better at exploiting resources than Neanderthals.”

Unable to find a suitable "cave girl" with a rabbit, how about an unsuitable one? Maybe she could have caught a rabbit. . .

Wombat-socho checks in with "Rule 5 Sunday: Force It".

Tricks are for Snow Boarders . . .

. . . and lucky rabbits.