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Stephanie Beavers

~ Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Then always be a dragon.

Tag Archives: nature

The pufferfish is more romantic than you.

03 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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#MondayBlog, animal, animals, author, castle, courtship, fish, fun, nature, pufferfish, romance, romantic, Stephanie Beavers, writer

Sir Romantic Fish

Ah, love in the animal kingdom. It’s not always happy or pretty, but every so often it is just. So. Cute!

Take the romantic little pufferfish (a particular variety of it, anyways), who creates beautiful, temporary designs on the ocean floor to woo the lovely lady fish.

Pufferfish courting designs

For my lady, a castle.

For over a decade, no one actually knew what made these underwater beauties were or why, but finally a team of researchers tracked the little lovebirds down. LiveScience notes that “[a]lthough the fish are only about 12 centimeters (5 inches) long, the formations they make measure about 2 meters (7 feet) in diameter.” That’s a big sandcastle for a little fish to build!

And it has to be a good sandcastle! The lady fish will come and inspect the male’s handiwork before deciding if she’ll mate with him. If the castle is a winner, they’ll lay their eggs in the center of the pattern, where the pattern itself creates an ideal environment – the ridges on the outside protect the silt in the middle where the eggs are cradled.

For more details, check out the LiveScience article and the video below!

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Birdies Loving Their Babies

14 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun

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animal, animals, author, bird, birds, ducklings, fun, geese, goslings, nature, nestlings, nests, sandpiper, Stephanie Beavers, swans, wildlife, writer

Today, in honor of the most wonderful mom in the world (mine), I am posting adorable pictures of birds taking care of their babies.

swan gosling

chicks hatching

riding on wings

sleeping ducklings

cute-bird-parents-341__700

cute-bird-parents-36__700

legs

cuddles

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Cute Contest 2: Tail Noms Versus Baby Foxes

30 Monday May 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun

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adorable, animals, author, babies, baby, baby animals, cat, cats, cute, entertainment, fox, foxes, fun, humor, kit, kits, kitten, kittens, life, lol, nature, pet, pets, snow leopard, squee, wildlife, writer

Round 2: Who wins the cute crown this time?
Today we have tail-nomming snow leopards versus baby foxes!

big cat

fox kits

adorable leopard kitten

squee so cute

predator relaxing playing

fox kit snow play time

fun snow leopard tail nomming

hide and seek peekaboo fox

ah eat mah tail cuz its tasty

napping baby animal

Mom's tail tastes good

Are leaves food?

I realize the snow leopards might be at a disadvantage, simply because they’re not all babies… but lookit them fluffy tails!

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How To Release A Cougar Without Getting Killed

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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animal, animals, author, cat, cats, conservation, cougar, mountain lion, nature, News, panther, Stephanie Beavers, trap, trapped, trapping, Utah, wildlife, writer

Most of us haven’t had the (mis?)fortune of seeing a cougar in real life. Maybe at the zoo, but even then they like to hide. These two wildlife officers in Utah come across one stuck in a bobcat trap, and they don’t have any tranquilizer darts handy to help them free it. So…they make do.

These guys are pretty brave in my book – that was not a risk-free procedure! But the cat is free and hopefully fine.

Seeing creatures up close like that (even on camera) always leaves me in awe at their design. Who can not be impressed by that beautiful creature? Plus, that cougar reminds me of a character in my next book… You’ll see!

Original article.

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These Here Are Drone-Killing Eagles

23 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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animal, animals, author, bird, birds, Drones, Dutch, eagle, eagles, future, nature, News, police, Stephanie Beavers, technology, wildlife, writer

Drones are an increasing problem, cluttering the skies, poking their noses where they shouldn’t be, and getting up to all kinds of mischief. Dutch police have gone back to nature in trying to solve this problem: eagles.

That’s right, these here are drone-killing eagles:

CNN reports: Dutch cops train eagles to hunt drones

Drones are now readily available to the public (and let’s face it, they’re pretty cool). My fiance even has one. I mean, it’s tiny and the battery only lasts about 10 minutes, but still. They’re proliferating. And when they’re getting too close to airports and flight-paths, measures need to be taken to protect the more important objects hurtling through the air – you know, the ones carrying people.

There is technology that “detects radio signals from rogue drones and uses tracking technology to force the drone to land,” which is pretty cool, even though it’s only in the research stage. But we all know as software improves, some drones will become impervious to that.

CNN lists some other countermeasures:

Countermeasures cited in the report included signal jamming, lasers, and the deployment of missiles, rockets and bullets, where it’s acknowledged there is high risk of collateral damage, and potential for “catastrophic damage” if they miss their target.

But eagles are pretty awesome. Let’s hear it for more eagles. Because what could possibly go wrong?

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The Best Mousetrap: 150 Years And Counting

08 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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animal, animals, author, history, life, mice, mouse, mousetrap, museum, nature, News, Stephanie Beavers, writer

How do you know it’s a good mousetrap? Well, because it’s 150 years old and still working great. Apparently we STILL haven’t built a better mousetrap. IFLS reported.

This is the mousetrap:

Image credit: Museum Of English Rural Life (MERL)

Image credit: Museum Of English Rural Life (MERL)


It actually wasn’t intended to catch the mouse. You see, it’s currently in a museum, the Museum of English Rural Life. Turns out that the mouse got in during construction for the redevelopment of the museum. They had other traps set, and yet THIS trap still managed to catch one.

Here is the mouse:

Image credit: Museum Of English Rural Life (MERL)

Image credit: Museum Of English Rural Life (MERL)


Poor little guy.

Here’s IFLS’s report:
Staff at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) opened their emails on Wednesday morning to find a rather odd message from a confused assistant curator, saying: “There appears to be a dead mouse in this mousetrap which is not described as being there on the database.”

Within the 150-year-old mousetrap, the curators did indeed find a fresh dead mouse. The museum has a wealth of textiles, straw and wood in its collection, but the unfortunate rodent happened to cross paths with the “old, not obsolete” mousetrap.

Adding further curiosity to the story, the trap was not baited with anything other than a layer of dust. The mousetrap is able to capture unwitting pests alive with a seesaw mechanism. As the mouse walks along an internal plank, the pest’s weight will tip the seesaw over, leaving it trapped in bottom of the box.

The contraption was patented and manufactured in 1861 by Colin Pullinger & Sons of Silsey, West Sussex. On the side of the box, it accurately boasts: “Perpetual Mouse Trap” and “will last a lifetime.”

But here’s what I think is the best part:

…the mouse remains in the trap while we decide what to do with it. One option is a dignified burial, another is to desiccate it or have it prepared to remain as a permanent feature of the mouse trap for our new displays. We’ll let you know what we decide.

You may have died, little mousey, but you get to become part of history! Yay!

So, readers, are you impressed by the mousetrap? Or just feeling sorry for this unlucky mouse?

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These Birds Are Scarier Than You

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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animal, animals, author, badass, birds, clever, creepy, falcons, hawks, nature, scarier than you, Science, science news, smarter than you, Stephanie Beavers, wildlife, writer

Fiendish Falcons Keep Birds Prisoner Before Eating Them
Australian Raptors May Be Playing With Fire

So it turns out that birds are terrifying. Majestic, oh yeah, but beneath that majesty are some twisted little birdies.
proud brown falcon

There are some falcons in Morocco that, around egg-hatching season, take some pretty extreme measures to keep their food “fresh.” Why eat rotten bird when you can “[stuff] small birds into small crevices, ensuring they were tightly wedged in and unable to escape,” or dropping “small migratory birds [into] holes and fissures with their flight and tail feathers removed” so they couldn’t fly away. Now, I know nature can be cruel, and I don’t doubt that having fresh food for the hatchlings is an evolutionary advantage, but…yikes. This is downright creepy.

Haven’t had enough cruel animal brilliance? How about this one. There are many stories and evidence to suggest that birds of prey in Australia are starting fires to flush out prey. They’re not just taking advantage of existing wildfires that drive small creatures from their homes. Oh no, They are “picking up smoldering sticks and dropping them in unburnt territory.” It’s another creepy, evolutionarily advantageous behavior.

“Reptiles, frogs and insects rush out from the fire, and there are birds that wait in front, right at the foot of the fire, waiting to catch them,” Gosford said. Small fires often attract so many birds that there is insufficient fleeing prey for all, so a bird that was being beaten to its lunch might benefit from starting a new fire with less competition.

So yeah, you could say that these birds are scarier than you. When was the last time you started a fire to flush out lunch?

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Snakes Are Slimy After All

28 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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animal, animals, author, nature, reptile, reptiles, robots, Science, science news, slimy, snake, snakes, Stephanie Beavers, wildlife, writer

So, snakes are pretty cool. But before I really knew anything about them, I heard people call them “slimy.” However, when I first met (and was able to touch) a snake, I found that their scales actually felt dry to the touch. I summarily dismissed sliminess as an insult by those who dislike snakes and moved on. Apparently I was a little too hasty.

Here’s the Secret to How Snakes Slither

Well, I was and I wasn’t.

Scientists have found a surprising explanation for snakes’ effortless slithering: A mind-bogglingly thin coat of fatty lubricant embedded on the snakes’ scales.

Thin really does mean thin. And snakes use this lubricant to keep from getting stuck on things as they drag their bodies along. This discovery points “the way toward new kinds of industrial lubricants and coatings, not to mention improved designs for snake-inspired robots.”

Snake robots. Heck yeah.

green snake is secretly slimy

So why didn’t we know snakes really were slimy?

Unlike creatures such as snails, which smooth their path by secreting and leaving behind trails of wet lubricant, the snakes’ lubricant stays embedded on the scales themselves, forming a durable, slick layer similar to what keeps our joints lubricated and limber.
And since the snakes’ lubricant doesn’t wipe off, people handling snakes were none the wiser.

Once again, scientists are seeking to imitate nature’s advanced “technology” to get ahead.

Nature has figured it out over millions of years,” says Weidner. “We can try to understand its little secrets.

Check out the article linked at the top for more details. It’s pretty cool.

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Sounds of the Sea Organ

03 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun, News

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art, author, Croatia, entertainment, instrument, music, nature, sea organ, Stephanie Beavers, water, wind, wonder, writer

So this is awesome:

Thanks IFLS (“Sea Organ” Makes Haunting Music With Ocean Waves)

This amazing instrument using the natural wind and waves to create music. It was created in an attempt to revitalize the war-ravaged Croatia, to “bring life to the desolate concrete and return the creativity that the destruction of war lost.”

Check out the link above to see the how of its workings, it’s kinda cool. But this is the kind of creativity our world needs more of. It’s a little-known gem of the world, a unique masterpiece meant for beauty and little else.

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Vegetal Overlords Arise

23 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News

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apocalypse, author, cyborg, nature, News, plants, Science, science fiction, science news, Stephanie Beavers, technology, vegetal overlords

I seem to recall writing about super-plants taking over the world once before…oh yes, I For One Welcome Our Vegetal Overlords.

So you know, we are bringing our vegetal overlords into being: Scientists Develop World’s First Cyber Plant.

The scientists on this project say:

This technology could allow scientists to regulate growth and chemical processes in plants, as well as harness photosynthesis to create new solar cells.

Oh course, it could also help our vegetal overlords reach new heights. Cyborg humans? Boring. Thing of the past. Cyborg plants? Plague of the future.

Seriously though, the article is cool and you should read it. The possibilities are vast, from learning more about plants and how they work, to turning plants into digital displays.

What do you think, readers? Seriously cool, or seriously another step towards the apocalypse? What’s next in the rise of our vegetal overlords?

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Calling - Ebook Calling On Fire by Stephanie Beavers!
Two brothers with magical abilities seek to stop an evil mage only to find the fate of an entire race in their hands.
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