creatures Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

2-minute read

Whether or not we get treated fairly is one of the metrics that humans use to assess the quality and potential longevity of our relationships. Ideally, we seek to collaborate with partners in all realms of our existence who acknowledge our contributions and expectations and are as attentive to our treatment as they are to their own.

Unremedied inequity can lead to a negative interpretation of events, a breakdown in communication, and an unwillingness to cooperate on future endeavors. According to a series of landmark studies, we share our desire for fair treatment and rejection of injustice with some savvy members of the animal kingdom—particularly when it comes to equal pay for equal work.

Do I Look Like I Just Fell Out of a Tree?
Behavioral researchers from Emory University examining non-human primates’ response to equal versus unequal rewards for completing a task revealed that the perceptive animals did not respond well to being taken advantage of.

When chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys and their task partners both received cucumber slices for their efforts, they were equally satisfied with the outcome. Given a choice, however, the animals prefer to be paid in grapes. If only one partner received grapes, the unfair compensation resulted in outright primate protest from the other, and refusal to either continue the task or to accept the inferior reward. In some cases, the work stoppage and reward rejection were accompanied by water spitting and cage-rattling to drive the dissatisfaction home.

Interestingly, to preserve a valued long-term relationship, some chimps would react to the unfair treatment of their partners by refusing the better reward. Researchers believe that the short-term sacrifice was not necessarily driven by a desire to do the right thing but to increase the odds of future cooperation by maintaining a basic sense of fairness. Similar to the realm of human relations, more equitable individual outcomes for the chimps had a greater likelihood of leading to more stable and harmonious interactions in their communities—wise apes.

ICYMI Nature News

A Wondrous Whale Event
The lucky passengers of a National Geographic Antarctic cruise experienced an extraordinary event in January, the gathering of 1,000 fin whales. You can check out the largest pod seen in over a century here.

Must-See Eagle TV
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Big Bear bald eagle nest cam, you’re in for a treat. You can keep 24-7 tabs on how expecting raptors Jackie and Shadow are coping with California’s wintry weather while waiting for the arrival of their eaglets. Visit the nest!

Get Ready to Wear It Wild
If you’ve been looking for a legit reason to wear your zebra-striped jumpsuit or cheetah-patterned chinos to work or school, you are in luck. You can sign up today for the World Wildlife Fund Wear it Wild challenge and commit to one day of wearing a creature costume of your choice to fundraise to help protect nature. Whether you’re inclined to present as a tiger, tapir, or tree toad, you can find out how to participate here.

And Finally, Snow in NYC
Winter without snow is like cake without frosting. It took a long time, but after almost four worrisome months trending towards tropical, snow has finally fallen in NYC. Not big news, perhaps, nor a big pile-up, but we’re excited about it nonetheless. And more, please!

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Lisa S. French February 28, 2023

Spots, Stripes, and Solids: Wild Cat Camouflage

1.5-minute read

If you were a wild feline trying to creep through the canopy of a rainforest undetected or stalk the tall grasses of a savanna in stealth mode, which pattern and color would you choose for your pelt? Striped, spotted, or solid? Brown, beige, grey, or maybe green? Green might seem like a natural choice, but as you’ve probably noticed, mammal fur doesn’t come in green (and here’s why).

Of course, lions, tigers, and leopards don’t pick their own pelt patterns. Through the process of evolution, nature provides each of the 40 wild cat species with coloring that ensures they don’t stand out in a crowd. According to a University of Bristol study, the differences in patterning relate to how, when, and where the animals hunt. Cats, big and small, are creepers and leapers. Their primary meal acquisition strategy is to stalk their prey until they are close enough to pounce. Blending in with background colors, shapes, and textures makes keeping a low profile a whole lot easier.

Researchers believe that the more complex the animal’s surroundings, the more intricate the pelt pattern. Cats like the fancy-furred clouded leopard that live in dense tropical forests have evolved with dark-spotted, patchy pelts that blend in with shifting patterns of shadow and light compared to solid-colored cats like lions that spend their days prowling wide open, relatively tree-less grassland environments.

It seems that when it comes to surviving in the wild, there’s no such thing as too matchy-matchy for felines—maybe that’s why leopards never change their spots.

ICYMI Nature News

Cancer Detecting Lab Ants
French scientists have trained ants to detect cancer cells through tiny supersensitive receptors in their antennae. This is how they do it.

Bringing Back the Kelp Keepers
The Center for Biological Diversity is on a mission to protect and restore Pacific Coast kelp forests by reintroducing ecosystem engineering otters to Oregon and Northern California. What an otterly good idea!

Bald Eagles in Brooklyn?
For the first time in over 100 years, a pair of bald eagles are trying to build a nest in the Jamaica Bay wetlands. Egg-citing! You can learn more about the new arrivals and NYC’s total raptor mania from the good people helping to restore urban bird habitat right here.

FWP Carbon Capture Report
New Year. More trees. We’re rolling on with Tree-Nation in 2023, planting more community-supporting, habitat-restoring, planet-cooling trees in places where they provide the most benefit. The trees we planted from April 2022 through January 2023 capture carbon equivalent to 6,166,444 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle, 2,748,608 pounds of coal burned, or 302,191,960 smartphones charged. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for your support!

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Lisa S. French February 10, 2023

The Planet Cooling Power of Whale Poop

1.5-minute read

In nature we never see anything isolated,
but everything in connection with something else
which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Sometimes, solutions to our most complex problems come from unexpected places. Could the restoration of great whale populations help us to combat climate change?

If left to its own devices, nature has a tremendous capacity to heal itself and protect us from the harmful impacts of a rapidly warming world. When we maintain greenhouse gas emissions at people- and planet-friendly levels, Earth systems can absorb enough GHG’s to keep global heating in check. Currently, about 25% of the CO₂ emissions that contribute to global heating are absorbed by oceans. Most of the carbon dioxide in oceans is consumed by microscopic algae called phytoplankton. Like trees, the tiny green plants utilize CO₂ for growth. Globally, phytoplankton absorb as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as tropical rainforests. Similar to the effects of deforestation, a reduction in phytoplankton can lead to more GHG emissions in the atmosphere and more heating. That’s where whales come in, or more specifically, the poop of whales.

According to scientists at the University of Tasmania, great whales have a big role to play in helping to cool the planet by dispensing the iron that carbon-absorbing phytoplankton need to grow. Adult whales in the Southern Ocean can eat two tons of iron-rich krill a day—that’s about 40 million mini-crustaceans. Because what goes in must come out, the krill consumed by whales converts to a whole lot of iron-infused phytoplankton fertilizer. By recycling an essential nutrient at a concentration ten million times higher than occurs in seawater, whales contribute to the continued functioning of one of Earth’s most important carbon sinks. The Tasmanian researchers estimate that a 12,000-strong population of iron-excreting sperm whales could stimulate the growth of enough phytoplankton to remove 200,000 tons of carbon annually—the CO₂ equivalent of 17,000 cars traveling 9,320 miles a year.

Marine biologists believe that tens of millions of whales were removed from oceans in the thousand years of active whaling prior to the international moratorium in 1982; this estimated 90% decline in the planet’s largest inhabitants has likely altered the functioning of marine ecosystems. As if we need another good reason to keep on saving the whales other than their all-around awesomeness, protecting and restoring populations of the colossal animals will help maintain healthy oceans that continue to absorb GHG emissions and reduce global heating. A win for the super-poopers is a win for people and the planet.

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Lisa S. French November 20, 2021

Back in Black—and Orange: California Monarchs

1-minute read

If you’re in need of some good news this week, we’re happy to oblige with a hopeful update from the Pacific Grove monarch butterfly sanctuary in Northern California. Since the 1980s, the number of monarchs west of the Rockies has dropped by an alarming 99%. In 2019, as reported by the Washington Post, there were zero sightings at the sanctuary. Zero. This year, observers counted 2,500 monarchs in the pollinator’s Pacific Grove migratory rest stop. That’s good news, indeed!

While the 2021 sightings aren’t a guarantee of more monarchs to come, taking action to make the planet more hospitable for butterflies by increasing pollinator habitat, reducing pesticide use, and combating climate change will improve the odds of long-term recovery. If you’d like to help ensure that monarch butterflies east or west are back to stay, here are some make-it-better organizations offering handy tools to enable you to lend a hand with monitoring and mapping the migration of the winged beauties across the United States:

And if you’d like to attract monarchs as well as other pollinators to your personal patch, we’re firm believers in the plant-it-and-they-will-come paradigm. You can find useful info on how to garden to increase biodiversity by cultivating habitats in your backyard, front yard, side yard, or window box here. Because whatever else is going on in the world, and something’s always going on, it’s better with butterflies. Just ask our in-house butterfly gardeners, Frankie and Peaches.

To encourage budding young pollinator gardeners in your school or neighborhood, you can order milkweed seeds from Save Our Monarchs to hand out as a special butterfly-saving treat this spooky season and year-round. Wishing you a happily hair-raising Halloween!

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Lisa S. French October 23, 2021

moth long tail butterfly (Actias dubernardi)

Moths: Sonar-Jamming Night Fliers

1-minute read

Did you know that you have sonar-deflecting insects fluttering around your patch after dark? No? Well, look up at your outdoor lights and say hello to the Lepidopterans, aka moths.

Why do moths need anti-sonar capabilities, you ask? Just who is tracking these secret pollinators in the night sky? Bats!

The web-winged nemeses of moths use echolocation to stealthily ping and then swoop in on flying food sources. To equalize the odds of survival in their air space, some moths have developed sonar jamming mechanisms to disrupt bat signals so they can live to fly another day.

And how do these bat-attack countermeasures work? According to researchers at Boise State and Wake Forest Universities, moths have evolved with a range of adaptations to protect themselves from predators. Some species have developed ears, some are highly skilled at evasive flight, and some, like tiger and silk moths, use sensory illusions to alter bat reality and redirect tracking sonar away from essential body parts.

To reduce a bat’s ability to home in on its dinner target, tiger moths produce ultrasonic clicks that jam sonar and the spinning hindwing tails of silk moths scramble returning echoes. While night flier fake-outs aren’t 100% effective in preventing airstrikes, by exploiting vulnerabilities in the auditory systems of bats, these evolutionary adaptations give moths a fighting chance at survival.

If you’re wondering why we need moths anyway, then you haven’t met this extraordinary fellow. In addition to their nice-to-have-around existence value, these nighttime pollinators help maintain healthy habitats for other wildlife by promoting plant biodiversity in meadows, pastures, woodlands, and roadsides. Plus, like their pollinating bee pals, moths are smart. They’re able to learn floral scents that have been altered by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) so that they can keep on pollinating pollution-affected flowering plants. Smart, strangely beautiful, and consistently pollinating—what’s not to like?

Btw, fair play to bats regarding moth plucking. They’re also important night pollinators that contribute to the functioning of food webs and balanced ecosystems.

Throughout September, you can learn more about beneficial insects like moths and the critical role they play in supporting the health of our planet during the NYC High Line’s month-long horticulture celebration. Check out free bug-fest events here.

Speaking of essential fliers, be sure to have a look at the Bird Photographer of the Year 2021 winners. Outstanding!

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Lisa S. French September 2, 2021

Bird’s Eye Compass

1-minute read

Oh, the places they’ll go…

Every spring and autumn, one in five birds travel the byways and flyways of our planet between northern breeding grounds and southern winter sanctuaries. Some species migrate astonishing distances nonstop—no layovers, no in-flight movies—like the bar-tailed godwit, which flies 7,000 miles between Alaska and New Zealand, in just seven days.

So how do nature’s long-distance frequent fliers choose the best possible migration route and stay on course to reach their destination? Send over the video if we’re wrong, but we’re pretty sure that no one has ever seen a bird consulting a sat-nav app with an intensely focused look on its feathered little face. Through evolutionary adaptation, avian navigators have developed a special retinal flight guidance mechanism that helps them to perceive altitude and direction. To locate where they need to go to survive takes no more effort than the blink of an eye.

According to new research in Nature, migratory songbirds like the European robin have photosensitive proteins in the retina of their eyes that get activated by light and function as a compass that follows directional information from the Earth’s magnetic field. The birds’ brains automatically interpret the magnetic signals that guide them north to food resources and safe nesting grounds in the spring and south to warmer habitats in the fall. Because she’s smart like that, Mother Nature has equipped our feathered friends with precisely what they need to successfully manage life-sustaining comings and goings.

FYI – U.S. Bird Health Bulletin: Songbirds in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states are currently facing an unknown disease epidemic. Until wildlife researchers can determine the origins, the Audubon Society has up-to-date information and precautionary recommendations to prevent the spread of disease on your patch, how to report sightings and symptoms, and how to handle stricken birds. The pathogen is most common in young Blue Jays, European Starlings, Common Grackles, and American robins, so keep your eyes peeled out there for birds with vision problems, eye swelling, and neurological symptoms.

On a cheerier note, if at long last you’re planning on hitting the flyways and highways to do a bit of roaming of your own this year, whether you’re an old-school map-o-philiac or a sat-nav nomad, wishing you safe and very happy travels.

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Lisa S. French July 14, 2021

Endangered Species Day: Say Hello to the Hairy-Nosed Wombat

2.5-minute read

We think one of the best ways to honor Endangered Species Day (May 21) is to increase awareness of the most precious wild creatures remaining on our planet because we believe that to know them is to love them and to love them is to protect them. So, to aid the conservation of a rare one, we’d like to introduce you to the critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat. A species is classified as critically endangered if its population has declined by at least 90%. At last count, there were only 250 of the iconic Australian marsupials left in the wild. Although conservation scientists are working diligently to prevent the hairy-nosed wombat’s extinction, the cuddly-looking critter remains one of the most at-risk animals on Earth.

For your ESD information, here’s a wombat what’s what:

Claim to fame:
In addition to having an unusually furry snout, the northern hairy-nosed wombat is the largest, plant-eating, burrowing mammal on Earth. The average weight of an adult wombat is about 70lbs—roughly the same weight as a golden retriever. Now, that’s a big digger! By comparison, a burrowing groundhog weighs only 9 lbs.

Aboriginal name:
When the Dharug people of southeast Australia first came across the short-legged, bear-like marsupial, they christened the animal wambad, which officially evolved into wombat in 1798. Although they’ve also been called native badgers and native bears, we think they definitely have more of a wambad look about them.

Preferred Hangout:
Underground. Wombats are expert excavators, digging 70 to 100 ft of tunnels, 10 to 13 ft below the earth with multiple entrances for easy access. The northern hairy-nosed wombat’s burrowing habitat once spanned parts of New South Wales and Queensland, but now they can only be found in Epping Forest National Park and Richard Underwood Nature Refuge in Queensland. However, their reduced range hasn’t stopped the wombats from digging in—they’ve tunneled out 470 burrows in their Epping Forest habitat.

Social style:
The nocturnal hairy-nosed wombat is a social distancing specialist, spending about 70% of burrow time on its lonesome. In 1300 hours of video recorded in Epping Park, there were only 12 social interactions. Although wombats occasionally burrow hop, they prefer home base, avoid unfamiliar situations and aren’t particularly chatty. When the introverted marsupials do vocalize, they communicate through whispery squeaks. You can listen to the cautious chittering of the common wombat here.

Favorite foods:
The wombat might look a bit like a bear, but it eats like a bunny—90% of its diet is grasses.

Special skills:
What’s good for the wombat is good for healthy ecosystems. Burrowers help to improve soil quality and plant diversity and create habitats for other endangered animals like wallabies, echidnas, and bettongs.

Why they need TLC:
Between 1870 and 1920, the northern hairy-nosed wombat was nearly wiped out. Researchers believe that their burrows were destroyed to eliminate pests that inhabited their tunnel system. Habitat loss, invasive species, and competition for food resulting from worsening drought continue to take a toll on the critically endangered animals.

How to help:
Like many of Australia’s amazing species, wombats need help to survive the increasing threats of climate change and habitat loss. If you would like to find out how you can support the work of scientists and volunteers dedicated to ensuring the northern hairy-nosed wombat can tunnel on, visit the good people at The Wombat Foundation.

To learn more about the status of threatened wildlife globally, check out the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List—the world’s most comprehensive source of information for endangered flora and fauna. For a compelling overview of where we are on the wildlife conservation front and where we’re headed, we highly recommend The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert.

And because we’d like to leave you with some hopeful news, you can learn about a bold initiative launched by Leonardo DiCaprio to restore some of the planet’s rarest species at re:wild.org. The other good news is you don’t have to be a celebrity to help protect and preserve wildlife. You can find local ESD events, educational material, and more recommended reads at Endangered.org. Then head on over to World Wildlife Fund to sponsor a favorite creature year-round. Until we get Endangered Species Day off the calendar, it’s all hands on deck.

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Lisa S. French May 21, 2021

Exploring Space on Fennec Fox Feet

1-minute read

Perhaps when fennec foxes dream, they dream of space—of lunar landscapes and secret missions to Mars. In their sleep-time adventures, they trot through lonely valleys on shifting sands under the glimmer of falling stars, and think to themselves, “Yes, I know this place. It was a long, long time ago, but I’ve been here before.”

Space, the final frontier—of fennec foxes? What could the elfin-eared, canine desert dwellers possibly teach us about space exploration? Well, if you were going to design the perfect vehicle for a planetary mission, you’d want to consult an expert in traveling on harsh terrains. And there are no more punishing landscapes than the Sahara and Sinai deserts, where the pint-sized animal makes its home.

Over four million years, the fennec fox evolved to withstand the high temperatures, violent winds, and scorching sands of North Africa’s desert regions. While the fox has developed several physical adaptations to help survive the heat, like it’s extraordinarily oversized ears and brain-cooling nose, mechanical engineers researching biologically-inspired solutions to traveling in the desert are particularly interested in the mobility advantages of the animal’s ultra-fluffy feet. The interwoven stiff hairs covering the bottom of the fennec fox’s paws enable it to easily navigate sandy terrain. Those advanced traction capabilities are just what land vehicles need to motor around demanding extraterrestrial environments.

NASA-supported researchers at Clemson University’s Creative Inquiry Program found that coating tires with bristle-like fibers similar in texture to the hair on the paws of fennec foxes significantly increased soft soil traction. The new concept inspired by physical characteristics of a creature that evolved to survive extreme conditions may help to improve space rover technology and allow us to go where no humans have gone before—(Pluto anyone? Don’t forget your thermals!). Sometimes, our most ingenious innovations in science, technology, engineering, and medicine have the most unexpected origins—like the tiny fur-soled feet of an ancient species of desert fox.

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Lisa S. French May 3, 2021

Survival of the Friendliest

1-minute read

Much has been written about the stress-reducing, joy-inducing power of human friendship. In good times and in bad, positive social interactions can provide a life-affirming sense of community and belonging. In addition to being psychologically restorative, the company of trusted friends has also been proven to reduce the risk of health problems and increase longevity.

Researchers studying whether members of the animal kingdom experience similar benefits from sociability have determined that for adult female giraffes being friendly is also more than just a nice idea—it’s a lifesaver. Compared with other environmental factors (food sources and distance from towns), chewing cud and slurping savanna water in familiar and amiable company is critical to their survival.

And just how do giraffes configure friendships to increase their lifespan? Do the endearingly long-necked animals benefit more from having exclusive besties, or do they gain a greater advantage from mixing and mingling within a larger group? According to a January 2021 study, it appears that female giraffes that are more gregarious and form stable associations with at least three other group members, live longer. Similar to human friendship groups, giraffes that connect with other members of their community (known as a tower) may experience life as more predictable and less stressful. And faced with ongoing environmental change, compared to lone roamers, giraffes inclined towards sisterhood also benefit from cooperative calve care and the sharing of important knowledge about the location of food and predators. When it comes to survival in the Serengeti, it looks like sticking your neck out and being gir-affable results in a life-extending payoff.

As the world turns, if you’re feeling more sociable today, and you’ve got a bit of a spring in your step, it could be because March 20th marks the vernal equinox. Or perhaps you’re particularly chirpy this Saturday because it also happens to be World Sparrow Day. You can learn more about how to keep the little brown fellows flying from the Audubon Society. Now that’s something to tweet about, friends!

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Lisa S. French March 20, 2021

For Cicadas, the Waiting is the Hardest Part

2.5-minute read

In about six to eight weeks, billions (or possibly trillions!) of periodical cicadas will emerge from the earth at the same time in the Eastern, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Some things have been bugging us about this mass insect invasion. Why do cicadas only pop up-top every 13 and 17 years? What do they do underground for all of that time? And why are there so many of them? We thought we’d do a little digging and find out, so here’s a quick Q & A about the noisy critters to keep you up-to-date on your insect info—you know, for Trivial Pursuit.

What is this ginormous bunch of bugs called?
The astonishingly large populations of cicadas that emerge from the earth at precisely timed 13 and 17-year intervals are called broods. In 1893, the broods were assigned Roman numeral designations by American entomologist Charles Marlatt. The 2021 17-year Brood X is made up of three different species with distinctive color patterns, sizes, and behaviors. Every 221 years, the 13 year and 17-year broods come out together in one tremendous bug fest. The next time that will happen is 2118. Optimists: schedule your 97-year cicada reminder with Siri now.

Why the extended percolation time?
About two feet below the earth, baby cicadas, known as nymphs, begin the long preparation for their emergence by feeding on fluid from tree and plant roots until they have matured enough to dig tunnels and crawl to the surface. The brood making their debut this year began their journey way back in 2004.

How do cicadas know when to launch?
Some biologists believe that fluctuations in root fluids might serve as cues for marking the passing years, and that cicadas may have a built-in timing mechanism that prompts them to start tunneling upward. Soil and bug body temperatures reaching a specific level could trigger the synchronized “let’s do this” launch.

What’s all the noise about?
For the first two weeks of their short, four to six-week lives, male cicadas gather in a colossal insect chorus to serenade the lady bugs. By contracting their rib membranes, the singing insects create surreal-sounding cycles of raucous buzzing that can reach 100 decibels—equivalent to the noise level of a jackhammer or a jet flyover at 1,000 feet.

Why are there so many of the little buggers?
There is safety in numbers. Cicadas are a non-toxic source of food for all manner of creatures including birds, squirrels, cats, dogs, turtles, snakes, and spiders. But even the hungriest of the hungry can only eat so many of the crunchy insects from a billion-bug buffet. Emerging synchronously in enormous numbers helps to ensure that enough cicadas will survive to sustain their brood and come back to sing another year.

When do cicadas go underground?
Female cicadas lay anywhere from 2-30 eggs in tiny nests on pencil-sized twigs. In about six to ten weeks the eggs hatch, the nymphs fall to the ground and burrow into the soil and the amazing prime-numbered life cycle of the periodical cicada begins again. Pro-tip for Brood X states—hats on when roaming under tree canopies this July and August.

Is 2021 Brood X emerging at a location near me?
The American Forest Service has created a handy map indicating where and when the 13 and 17-year broods emerge. You can check it out here.

Are there any songs about cicadas?
As a matter of fact, there are quite a few! These are some top picks:
• The Squirrel Crossed the Road/Jane Siberry
• Day of the Locusts/Bob Dylan
• Sicka Cicadas/Kathy Ashworth

So that’s this bug’s life—thirteen to seventeen years under the ground and only about six weeks under the sun. Perhaps the cicadas are not singing, but complaining—and who could blame them. Whether your response to the synchronized mass emergence of cicadas is “oh, wow” or “oh, eww”, we think you’ll agree that the recurring natural phenomenon is pretty remarkable.

And that’s this week’s Wild & Wondrous. Don’t forget to spring forward. Welcome back, light! Btw, today, 3.14, is also Pi (Π) Day, so if you are into numbers or into pie or into both, go wild!

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Lisa S. French March 14, 2021