#A glimpse of squirrels and deer

[lazyneonrabbitt]

Forbidden

Daryl Dixon x reader | SMUT 🔞

Strickt parents and werewolves don't mix, so you run.

The gates opened with that familiar creak that had you stumble out of your bed and stare out of your window.

Like clockwork you watched the community's hunter return from his trip. The beast man's steps were heavy as he carried in a large deer and a boar that hung over his back, together with a bunch of squirrels he'd strung up.

Almost ceremoniously the smaller hunted animals were taken from him as he slowly walked past your window.

You followed the movements of his large paws, wishing to be able to hold them in your hands on day and just rub at the pads. His tail wrapped up in that red rag that identified him from further away since his human form also carried it. You loved how his fur was the exact color of his hair and even the greying beard he sported carried over to his beast shape.

His tail swished from side to side with each step and it almost hypnotized you. So much that you hadn't noticed your father waltzing into your room and catching you staring at the one thing he hated most.

Like a disobedient child he grabbed you by the back of your shirt dragging you away as you let out a shriek at the initial contact.

Out of your view the hunter perked up at the sound, staring at your empty window. He found it curious to not see your familiar face there, now that he for once did fully look up. Your admiring from afar had him intrigued but he had never seen you outside to talk.

As your father dragged you out of your room you cried but your mother only shook her head with a saddened look in her eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you that ..thing! is the devil!" His shouts went right through you, your mother still not speaking and just standing by and watch.

Not that it surprised you. It had been like this ever since the group came to the community and the beast had saved many people.

Ever since the dead started walking your father had been insanely protective of you and to your luck he was one of the folks in charge of this housing area and held a high rank in the community.

You were his precious little girl and even now as an adult he still saw you like that and never let go of that need to protect you.

"Let me go!" You screamed at him, watching as your mom stood there in the door opening, doing nothing.

You managed to worm your way out of his grasp and sprint out of the front door.

Daryl had heard a shriek and paused his trek to the supply room. As he listened in he heard the yelling and stood at the ready in case someone needed to interfere.

He wasn't going to just rush in due to the opinion these specific people already had of him, so only of really needed he'd go in.

Not that it was, as the woman he had caught glimpses of now came stumbling down the porch steps, clearly in panic.

Running onto the street you collapsed yourself against the beast you knew your father wouldn't get near. You grabbed handfuls of his fur and cried your heart out. Crocodile tears, but the bystanders didn't have to know that.

A large paw came to rest on your back as your father rushed onto the street.

Daryl watched him holding a rifle, ready to shoot as he was calling him all kinds of nonsense names. After looking back and seeing the rifle you clung to his fur just a little tighter.

You felt the rumble through your entire body when Daryl let out a warning growl.

You dared to sneak a peek at your house, where you spotted your mother, again backed ip in the doorway and crying.

All you wanted to do was scream at her to speak up, but the rifle currently pointed in your direction silenced you. And then the familiar sound of a round loading into the chamber caught your ear and Daryl ducked further behind you. He knew your father wasn't gonna shoot you.

The scene was interrupted as your mother jumped forward to grab her husband's shoulders. "You can't! You'll hit her!" She cried as her hands were roughly shaken off the man's frame as he again took aim. "Don't worry, I'm a great shot."

You jumped up at his words, shielding Daryl's frame with a wide stance.

"Why would you even shoot him? He's a friend! He provides for us.." You felt Daryl's head rest against you in response and held a paw around your leg.

Your voice cracked as you yelled at your father, tears now anything but fake.

"Don't you see? That's a monster!"

A crowd had formed by now as you yelled at each other until Carol stepped in, wondering in her kindest voice what seemed to be going on.

You knew Carol, she was the sweet lady who brought food all the time. Even while being part of Daryl's group your parents quickly accepted her.

"Do you wanna lower the gun, please?" Carol approached cautiously. "You're scaring your wife and daughter."

The rifle lowered slightly before being used to aggressively point back as he continued raving about how his daughter was defending a demon.

"You don't even know him!" You snapped back before Carol could answer. It wasn't that you did knew him at all either, which your father made very clear as he cursed at your disobedience.

"You kept me locked inside, I couldn't get to know him.." You cried out between tears, feeling Daryl carefully nudge your hand with his snout.

"From what I'm hearing right now I think it's best you and your daughter are staying separated for a while." And before he could respond she added "she'll be staying in my home. We are friends and I know she's comfortable around me."

After some more back and forth without a pointed gun, efforts to avoid the argument shifting back to Daryl and finally some words from your mother the agreement was done. You were watched like a hawk as you and Carol packed your most important items up and eventually left for her home.

It was strange, spending your time in a new home. Even stranger to hear a shower running while thinking Carol lived alone as she never mentioned any housemates.

She helped you take your items upstairs and sort out anything you could keep downstairs like coats and shoes.

"You can do whatever you want in here. Just make sure to tag along with me if you wanna go outside for the near future, okay?" Carol tried her best to work with everyone's rules and requests and for now it seemed to be good.

You spent your first days relaxing and reading. Carol had allowed you to rummage through the books she kept in the living room and you found a thick book on werewolf mythology and history. Maybe she kept it to learn stuff about Daryl.

And you wanted to learn as well so you spent your time in bed with the book, reading about the strengths, weaknesses and changes of werewolves. There were chapters about their changed anatomy too that went into full detail.

During dinner you heard a door and stairs before a half asleep, grumbly Daryl emerged from the downstairs room.

"Morning, Pookie. Made your favorite." Carol got up to grab him a plate as Daryl sat down at the table and greeted you tiredly.

You three ate dinner mostly in silence with Daryl still being half asleep and you being too nervous to speak and were internally worrying if the way you ate was normal.

And of course Carol caught on as you two washed the dishes as Daryl had passed out on the couch almost immediately after putting his plate away.

"His hunting trips tire him out, he sleeps almost the whole time for like four days after." She gives a loving glance at her best friend. He looked like those old world dads that took their after work nap while moms cooked dinner. It was cute, honestly. And that little peek of happy trail underneath the ridden up hem of his shirt was pretty distracting.

You continued the dishes and laughed with Carol, who promised to take you along on her trip through the community to clear her list of tasks.

You finished up and headed back upstairs to continue study your book, eventually passing out with it open beside you.

It wasn't long before Daryl joined you in the bed, laying down behind you and pulling you close into his chest. Your body warmed up immediately as his soft growly breaths fanned your ear and his hard length pressed against your clothed backside.

A soft sigh left you as you pressed back against him. You wondered what he looked like, bit you weren't going to interrupt him and ask. His hands slipped the fabric off your body and you felt his thick cock slip between your thighs.

Your breathing picked up as you felt his hand snake to your front and guided himself between your folds and pressing in oh so slow.

You moaned as he slid in and out at a calm pace with his hands grabbing at your chest.

He felt so good inside of you and you could feel yourself getting so, so close--

What? A knock on your door woke you from your dream.

"Yer okay?" Daryl's raspy voice wondered, but as he breathed in he needed no answer. Your panting clearly wasn't from a nightmare. Your bedside lamp was still on and his old lycantrophy book was open next to you on a ..more intimate chapter.

When you didn't answer his question in embarrassment but seemed to be okay in any other way he gave you a huff and a smile. "'M headin' fer a shower. Wan' me back here after?"

A very shy nod was all you could muster before he left with a quiet "back in a bit."

As the door closed you put the book away and curled away under the blankets. Entirely flushed by the situation and embarrassed of how he caught you just now.

You were so caught up in your own misery you hadn't realized he walked into the room until your mattress dipped on the side and the blanket was lifted off your head.

Wide eyes, caught off guard, stared up at him. His hair still wet and a soft smile on his face. "Hi," was all he said before dipping his head down and nuzzling your cheek, not wanting to kiss you without being sure you'd allow him to. He kept his seated position at your side until you gave him the okay to come lay down.

But it was clear you were still a bit shy from before.

"Can ya show me what ya want?" His voice was much softer than usual, sending shivers down your body that collected all the way down to your core.

You rolled onto your back, hands slowly coming out from under the blanket to hang still halfway between you two for a moment before they settle on his arms and tug ever so softly, scared to seem too forward. He let his arms be moved, one ending on each side of you and his body soon followed.

The blanket stayed in place to form a comfortable barrier for you to remove when ready, but for now he was content like this. "Wha's yer next plan, pretty lady?" His hand lifted to caress your cheek and brush a strand of hair out of your face. You didn't answer but without thinking you stared down as your mind went back to your dream and the book you were reading.

Daryl caught your eyes moving down his body and let out a soft laugh. "How 'bout ya share tha' dream from earlier. Can do tha' for real this time."

A short moment of silence passed that Daryl used to take in your features properly this time until you finally nodded. "Okay."

You moved the blanket down while Daryl moved off it to give you more space to move, patting the mattress behind you for him to lay down. Feeling the mattress dip behind you really kicked your nerves into high gear and Daryl noticed. He placed himself down gently, an arm over your waist to test the waters. He had no clue how experienced you were or weren't thanks to your living situation so tonight wad all at your pace. Although it was getting difficult to keep his urges to himself as his mind howled at him to 'just take and claim her'.

Your soft voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Can I.. see you?" It wasn't the whole question, but it was all you could get out.

"Take ma clothes off?" A shy "Please" was all he needed to take off his shirt and shuffle off his sweats. "All the way?" He questioned before removing his underwear as well on your request.

"Can yers come off?" His fingers had already found the hem of your shirt and the elastic of your panties, slowly moving his hand around your bare skin.

"Uhuh." Your hips lifted just enough for your shirt to be pulled up and rolled back to lift your shoulders for it to come off entirely. With the blanket slipped down Daryl's eyes found your chest immediately and looked at you with pleading eyes.

When you gave him permission his lips were on your skin, sucking and biting at the sensitive flesh. You arched your back in response, pressing your ass right against his hardening member and earning a soft moan from the man. Humming in response you repeated the motion until a hand gripped at your hips. Quickly stilling all movement as you felt claws digging into your skin. You pushed down the blanket to see. The skin around his fingertips had darkened and his nails had grown into long, thick claws. The deep rugged breaths fanning your ear had you look back at him only to see bright blue eyes and sharp fangs. His ears now pointed our from underneath his messy hair.

"Please.. show me?" They still weren't the words you were trying to say but you couldn't get them out, too embarrassed to ask.

The question mulled around in Daryl's mind for a moment, wondering if he was really going to change for her.

But who was he to deny her request? He knew he wouldn't hurt her and had seen her more often than not staring from her window.

So he nodded. "Yeah, alright." To which she smiled widely, unable to hold her excitement in.

A quick kiss was shared before he lifted himself up to his knees as he let the change wash over him. It was a quick process for him these days and it only caused some mind discomfort that faded as soon as the change was done.

You watched him shift into his large beast form with awe, being below him only intensified it all.

When his breathing evened out and his shape now was that of a beast he slowly blinked at you, showing he trusted you.

You were gorgeous beneath him. And he was beautiful above you.

Yet neither of you moved. He was letting you take him all in now that you were close and not watching from behind glass.

All that was heard in the room was Daryl's heavy breathing as he watched your hand lift up and reach out to touch the thick muscle of his arm.

You watched his head come down and gently lick your arm at the spot you touched him. And then your hand moved. To his shoulder, up to the side of his neck and his tongue followed. To your shoulder, onto your neck. His wet nose rested against your skin as he let out a noise akin to a purr. Ever so slowly you moved your hand again, resting it on his chest and giving the soft flesh a little squeeze. You couldn’t help yourself when he looked so soft and squishable.

You felt his wet tongue dart across your neck, moving down with each lap and reaching the sensitive skin of your nipple, easily engulfing the whole area in a layer of drool and making you sigh in relief.

One of your hands went to rest on the bridge of his snout and softly pushed downward. A whimper escaped your lips as Daryl complied and moved down until your pushing stopped. He had needed to back up a little and almost stepped off the bed in the process but managed to curl up with his maw right above your centre. Jaw hanging open with his tongue lolled out, sniffing and lapping at nothing as he salivated. You had spread your legs for him but still his large paws came to rest on your thighs before he nudged his snout against your lips and licked a broad strip making you moan out his name.

Just as he shoved his tongue against your clit he let out a hum, sending vibrations straight through you. Soon after you were squirming under his grasp, whining and begging for nothing in particular until he slowed his movements and moved back to hover above you, still licking his lips.

With how he was sitting over you, you realized you had a very clear look at his delicate its full glory. And it was scarily big. Everything about him was big, his tongue had reached deeper than anything else ever had, but seeing how it hung just above your stomach and reached as far up as It did, with that big, swollen knot at the base..

Now it was Daryl’s turn to let out a whine. He repositioned himself so his length rested snug between your puffy lips, moving his hips back and forth to get at least some kind of friction and panting at you, almost begging to press it past your entrance.

Reaching down you gave his cock a rub, trying to wrap your fingers around but them never meeting with how thick he was.

She used both hands to squeeze at him while he kept moving around. A particularly loud whine made you feel bad for him and finally gave into both of your wants.

When he pulled his hips back you maneuvered his tip between your folds and into you on his forward thrust, catching him off guard.

He felt his tip being enveloped in your walls and jerked his hips, pressing further than he wanted and earning a yelp from you.

"Ow." You breathed heavily but still managed to laugh, which helped ease Daryl's worry of hurting you.

He didn't move until you gave him the okay. Slow, careful thrusts were his way to go, each few thrusts adding an inch. After a good few inches, almost three quarters of his length inside of you your face scrunched in pain. "Too big.." you sighed with a flat hand on his chest. He grumbled an apology and wrapped his hand around himself, making sure he would't thrust deeper as he kept going at any pace you could handle. Slowly speeding up as no noises of protest came and he only heard soft moans and pleas. His head was right next to yours, panting softly as he rutted into you, taking in your increasingly needy sounds.

"C..close" you breathed as your hand reached to feel the bulge in your stomach his cock made. An acknowledging growl let you know he understood and not too long after when his thrusts got more sloppy he reached a paw to rub at gour clit, working to get you both off at the same time.

"Fuckk--" his rough pawpad felt so good on your most sensitive parts you came hard, your walls constricting around his length so delicious it took him two, three more thrusts before finishing with a muffled howl.

Daryl lapped at your skin in a comforting manner, from your cheek to your chest like he was telling you "you did great."

He slowly pulled out and nudged you hips, gesturing at the door. He was telling you to go clean up. You could feel him leaking out of you so squeezing as best as possible you waddled to the bathroom only to return to Daryl comfortably resting on your bed, lifting the pre-warmed blanket for you to join him.

It felt safe like this, with his strong frame curled around you it was like nothing could hurt you anymore and sleep took you in a way calmer embrace than ever before.

The next morning when you woke up you found Daryl back in his human form blinking the sleep from his eyes and grunting a good morning.

You lazily smiled at his groggy morning voice and leaned in for a quick kiss, whispering your own good morning in return.

You shared some cuddles until your stomach called out for food so loudly it had you both roll out of bed with laughter and head downstairs after getting dressed.

Neither in those moments, now or before had thought of the reason they even shared a house. Their loving housemate Carol, who, from her spot in the kitchen called out upon hearing two pairs of feet come down the stairs.

"How was it? Did you use protection or do I need to puppy-proof the house?"

A/N: y'all may thank @celtic-crossbow for that fantastic closing line.

#sometimes I write #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon smut #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon #twd #the walking dead #twd x reader #twd daryl #twd au #werewolves #werewolf #werewolf x human

[attackurheart88]

Ooo if it’s okay, can I please request a Soft Yandere Morpheus x fem!innocent!human!reader where she somehow accidentally ends up in The Dreaming and Morpheus is fully ready to let out his wrath at her intrusion, but after talking to her spending time with her, he decides he doesn’t want her to leave, ever, and intends to make her his Queen

You weren't supposed to be here.

Morpheus watched in the shadows as the woman hummed peacefully to herself weaving flowers unaware of the danger lurking behind her. As soon as Mathew alerted him to your presence, Morpheus teleported over in anger. It was only a few months since his capture and his dislike of humans had increased greatly. The dreaming was the only place where he could live peacefully without any worries or fears he would not let a human ruin it.

The birds flew away and the deer and squirrels were quick to scurry. Once Morpheus made himself known the happiness in the air dissipated. He watched as you tensed finally feeling his presence and turned.

“Who are you?” his voice wasn't raised yet it carried such force you were quick to back up. “You're not supposed to be here.” he snarled.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn't know I just sorta appeared.” Your voice was so soft and sweet. It suited you. “I didn't mean to trespass, my name is Y/n.” Morpheus stared blankly at your outstretched hand. You were being kind? Why? You were clearly afraid so why go through the trouble? Was it a trick? A way to get into his head?

A small peep drew his attention behind you. There was a bird wounded by your feet. Morpheus anger sparked up again. “You dare come into this forest and harm its inhabitants.” A sudden force flings you back into a tree.

“Ow.” you slid down painfully watching in horror as he made his way closer. “Wait, please! I didn't hurt it. It fell from a tree I was trying to rebuild its nest.” your small hands were held up as you explained. Morpheus took notice of the small scratches and cuts on your fingers.

As quickly as that anger came it lessened.

One look at your doe eyes and tender expression had Morpheus’s head running. It contained glimpses of fear but no hint of lies. You were telling the truth.

Releasing you, Morpheus took a step back and waved his hand.

The bird flew in circles now fully healed and the scars that once littered your hand vanished.

“Incredible,” you whispered. “Thank….you.” But he was gone.

Morpheus made his way back to his palace. Scouring through the books of his library for information on you. He should have banished you, threatened you, captured you. But he didn't. He couldn't. Despite the way he acted he couldn't find any fault with you. Nor did you harbor any sort of anger, hatred, or evil in you. You were too kind. The animals of Fiddler’s Green were not welcoming to strangers and would have attacked if you held bad intentions. Instead, they danced and sang to entertain you, to please you.

Why? Why were you here? Why was the dreaming so welcoming to you? Why was it he found it difficult to hurt you? Why did he feel the urge to touch you, kiss you, devour you.

Morpheus wasn’t new to the feeling of love. But the emotions inside his chest were different. They weren’t pure or sweet or gentle. They were fierce dangerous addicting. It was only a few hours since he saw you. But his mind was flooding with images of you and impure thoughts. Thought to take you to own you to take your innocence and corrupt it. Your sweet voice will be for him to hear, your soft eyes his to gaze at, and your body? His to ravage.

You were a virgin he was sure of it. He could smell it on you, innocence and purity radiating in waves just begging to be taken away.

“Lucienne.” The woman walked over. “My lord. Have you taken care of the intruder?” “Just about to.” Morpheus smiled to himself. Lucienne furrowed her brows confused.

“Prepare a room. I want it fit for a queen.”

For the next few days, Morpheus waits anxiously for your return. He's made all the proper preparations for you transitioning as his queen. A large bed, mountains of presents, and in case there are any resisting, some lovely chains to keep you still. But he's sure he won't need them for long. Soon enough you’ll learn your place and accept your new role happily. Unlike his former lovers, there will be no mistakes as you’ll never be allowed to leave his side.

Your sniffles and sobs could be heard echoing throughout the room. Morpheus is there with his arms around you. Gentle rubs on your hair as he whispers in your ear to console you.

“I-I want to go home,” you repeated for the hundredth time. Morpheus only smiled and shook his head. “This is your home, now love.” he cooed. “There is nowhere else for you to be.”

You will soon love him and depend on him for everything. Morpheus would become you're only priority as you his. Anyone who gets in the way of that, friend or foe will suffer the consequences.

As his darling, be sure to be obedient and never escape or look in another person’s direction. The consequences will be severe. You could be starved for a couple of days or perhaps be delivered the bloody head of the man who dared to talk to you.

Morpheus is passionate about his love but is equally cruel. Slowly he’ll break you down with love and punishments until you're his perfect wife where he’ll be able to love you and cherish you to his heart's content.

#morpheus #morpheus x reader #my posst #yandere morpheus x reader #the sandman x reader #obsessive love #yandere x darling #dream of the endless #yandere dream of the endless #innocent reader #fem reader #dream of the endless x reader #@attackurheart

[enchantedchocolatebars]

A small snippet from Chapter 3 (Bardie Girl) of my big chapter fic "A Winsome Witch And A Happy Human" (Fic is very canon divergent).

Commission cover art here.

Cover art poll here.

Chapter titles here.

A fun piece.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Synopsis

(They'll be no more sneak peeks for the chapter after this. My next goal going forward is to get chapter 3 out! <3 Enjoy! ❤️)

Once upon a time, in a fantastical fantasy realm that was akin to a small girl's dream, there lived a princess.

One glorious afternoon, as the gentle glow of the sun shone brightly in the mesmerizing blue sky, a single cottage castle could be seen standing tall in the center of the forest.

A pair of bluebirds then fly upward into view from below, holding a white banner between their beaks that reads 'Princess Clara's Castle' for a moment before taking off, a trail of clear magic dust fluttering behind them.

The castle resembled a standard cottage home, with white and grey stones used for its exterior construction, but what differentiated it from others was its royal structure.

Inside, Princess Clara slept soundly beneath the comfort of her soft and woolly comforter, dreaming a lovely dream as a cozy smile rested upon her soft and tender face.

While the princess continues to sleep, her bedroom door creaks open as a small group of critters from the forest enter inside.

These cute critters consisted of birds, rabbits, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, and raccoons.

The fauna were her companions and inhabited the castle with her.

As the diverse group of animals crowd together closely around Princess Clara's bedside, a doe lightly nuzzles her cheek with her nose in an attempt to gently wake her.

As the princess slowly opens her eyes, she gets a glimpse of her friends surrounding her bed and lets out the gentlest of laughs.

"Good morning, everyone," she softly greets with a yawn and stretches as she turns to look at the time on her handmade wooden wall clock.

"Well, afternoon," Princess Clara corrects herself with a sheepish smile on her face, rubbing the back of her head with one hand.

Although the princess didn't mean to be such a sleepyhead, she could never resist the temptations of her warm bed.

"Who's hungry?" she asked her animal friends, putting aside her embarrassment for now.

"I'll make up for sleeping in so late with some brunch. How does that sound?"

The offer caused the eyes of the critters to light up with joy as they accepted with nods, causing Princess Clara to giggle in her hand as she sat up.

"Then it's settled," she said, stepping out of bed and dancing across her floorboards on her tippy toes toward her closet while she hummed a merry tune.

Princess Clara's feathery companions tweeted the catchy melody of the song with her, their voices harmonizing beautifully.

Two of them flew over to open her closet door for her, helping the princess slip into one of her favorite house dresses while tossing her nightgown into the hamper.

Now dressed for the day, Princess Clara dips and twirls out of her room and into the kitchen, her forest friends happily following behind her.

...

"Hmm," Princess Clara hummed to herself in thought, tapping her chin with her index finger as she stood in front of her dainty stove, a frying pan sitting on top, as fresh veggies and oil sat on her counter.

Her animal friends, also in the kitchen, were eating their feed of mixed berries that she had prepared for them and placed in pretty porcelain bowls.

"What goes good with fresh veggies?" she whispered.

Tweet, tweet!

Shifting her sights to her open window sill, Princess Clara spots the pair of bluebirds who were holding her banner in the beginning, fluttering over with eggs well wrapped in silk.

The eggs are gently placed on the counter alongside the veggies and oil as the birds took their place on her window sill.

"Oh, eggs! Of course!" Princess Clara exclaims excitedly, finding the answer to her question as she cracks a smile, just like she was planning on cracking those eggs.

"Thank you," the princess told the two birds, who both received gentle rubs to the skin behind their beaks from her as they happily chirped.

With a gentle clearing of her throat, Princess Clara gracefully twirls in place, placing a hand on her chest, and begins to sing lyrics to a theme.

While singing, the princess twirls for a second time, holding out her index finger for one of the bluebirds.

One decides to flap over and step onto it, joining Princess Clara for a lovely duet.

As the caroling continues, the two take turns.

When Princess Clara hits a high note, she allows the bluebird to do the same.

The princess keeps hitting higher and higher notes, and the bluebird struggles to keep up with her.

As the theme comes to a close, Princess Clara hits an ear-piercing high note that causes the bluebird to gradually bloat up and explode.

The princess's eyes widen in shock at this as her animal companions who had witnessed the small explosion gasp.

Horrified looks filled the room.

...

"... And there!" Princess Clara said, carefully slipping the small sweater she had knitted with the assistance of her animal friends onto the bluebird who had previously exploded and was now featherless.

The sweater fit like a glove and had a few of his feathers nicely glued on to it.

When the bluebird gazed down at his new outfit, he instantly let out a chirp in delight, hopping in place.

"Yay! He likes it!" Princess Clara cheered brightly, her animal friends joining her.

Placing her index finger under the bluebird's foot, the princess lifts gently as the bird steps onto her finger and proceeds to perch.

She starts to rub her cheek against the side of his face, causing him to chirp softly at the affection.

"I'm so sorry about that," Princess Clara whispered, soft sincerity weaving through her voice.

She believed that his feathers would eventually return over time.

#(clara being a disney princess) #(*does a perfect split*) #(SO MUCH FOOD!) #(950 WORDS) #the owl house #owl house #toh #clara clawthorne #wittewife #oc #original character #caleb wittebane #calara (caleb x clara) #witteclaw #oc x canon #canon x oc #emperor belos #belos #philip wittebane #fanfic #fanfics #fanfiction #fanfictions #writing #my writing #a winsome witch and a happy human

[megpricephotography]

A nice little walk with Flynnie, in between days of rain! We didn’t meet any people or dogs, but the songbirds were singing, a few brave bumblebees were buzzing (it’s still fairly chilly!) & we glimpsed rabbits, squirrels & a little Muntjac deer. There were lambs skipping about on the lower slopes of the field too - which is why Flynn’s got his lead on! I do love early spring, when all the animals are out & about & busy again & colour begins to creep across the landscape. It will be a while before the leaves are open on the trees, but their buds are starting to show & the woodland floor is now bright green with new shoots, as are the fields! More wildflowers are appearing by the day - tiny dog violets, yellow celandines & white wood anenomes are scattered about. 

#flynn #border collie #dog #spring #woods #fields #rural life #england

[colderdrafts]

8: A late night walk

The Great Assembly, gender neutral reader x monster (male naga). Sfw. Previous Next

You eat an early dinner (actually managing to convince Amren to COOK his food before eating it) and pull on your now only slightly damp clothes.

You grimace. Hopefully, they’ll dry a bit more as your body heat does its thing.

The sun hadn’t completely set yet when you went out, though it’s not long before you have to pull out your flashlight to know where to place your feet without slipping. The night air is cold, and you mentally berate yourself to allow Amren once again bringing you along for his wacky ideas.

It’s like with Irwin, you realize, constantly being pulled in several directions at once for the next shenanigan - the only difference this time being it's not funny at all and includes slightly more potential for bodily harm.

The sounds of the night isn’t helping your confidence, and you look up and around at every crack and noise.

“You’re like a deer in headlights,” Amren comments, slightly amused.

You glare at him. “What the hell did you expect? I can’t believe I let you drag me out here.”

“You’re walking on your own. As far as I’m concerned, you came at your own volition.”

You ignore him, and turn your light to the source of some brush rustling nearby.

Amren sighs exasperated. “It’s a deer.”

“And how would I know that?” you grunt. “I don’t have a magic detect-animals tongue to flicker around. What I have currently is a flashlight. You bet your ass I’m going to investigate every single thing out here. If it’s annoying, it’s your own fault.”

You can’t tell in the dark, but you can almost hear how he is once again irritably rolling his eyes.

“Squirrel,” he says, when something in the branches above move. “Mice in the brush in front of us. Bird on your right. The deer from earlier is running away.”

You look up at him as he’s looking around and tasting the air as he lists off anything he happens to note.

“Molerat. More birds in the shrubbery.”

“What are you doing?” you ask, even though you do have a feeling you know.

“Have a glimpse of my world,” he says. “Did you honestly think we’d be out and about right now if I wasn’t sure the boarbeast had left for good?”

You look at him for a bit. “You’re not just messing with me? You can actually tell all of those animals are around?”

“Figure it out,” he grumbles.

There’s not much to figure out. If he’s actually trying to do something sort of nice in reassuring you, you shouldn’t bark at him about it.

“Is that just a naga thing, or did you have to practice?” you ask.

“Terrible student,” he sighs. “And you still haven’t answered my question from earlier.”

“I’ll answer yours to the best of my ability if you answer this one.”

“You first.”

“No.”

He gives you a stubborn sideways glare. “Fine. It’s both. We’re just good at recognizing all sorts of scents. Though I had to train to learn to follow a specific one to a location – but it’s useful for hunting.”

“Wait, hunting? So that’s why you know these mountains?”

He nods. “Been here a lot.”

“Huh. You weren’t kidding when you said ‘carnivore’.”

He snorts. “In case it wasn’t obvious. I can eat bread and stuff. I just don’t like it.”

“You don’t like bread?” you gape, incredulous. The nerve. The actual mockery. How can someone not like bread?

“You don’t like raw meat?” he copies you.

“If I ate it I’d get. So sick.”

“And there you have it. Now. Your turn.”

He looks at you expectantly. You sigh. Explaining the whole ordeal of body issues is somewhat of a difficult topic to tackle. You try your best to cover the basis of bodily dysphoria and the many ways it can present itself.

Amren listens intently to your description, a somewhat concerned expression on his face. When you finish, he says: “That explains your modesty-thing."

"Oh, no that's different - for most of us it's like- it's rude? And uncomfortable to show yourself like that. Unless everyone who can see you, and you yourself, is okay with it."

He looks utterly baffled. "I don't understand."

"It's kinda hard to explain," you finish.

He doesn't press the issue.

“What do you hunt?” you ask after a beat, mainly to change the uncomfortable subject.

“Whatever is around,” he replies. “Though I prefer deer, they’re easier to wrangle and one alone will last me about two weeks.”

“’Wrangle’?” you inquire.

His taps the side of your foot with the tip of his tail.

Ah.

You guess it’s pretty regular in the mon world to take down something like deer with your bare whatever-nature-gave-you. A mental image of Amren crushing the life out of a defenseless deer with his tail intrudes your mind, and you quickly file it somewhere under lock and key in your short term memory. You walk through the night, your clothes thankfully dry enough now to actually help keep you warm.

The quiet walk in the night gives you space to think back on Irwin and Elise, and wonder how they’re doing with all this - and more importantly if they actually had a run-in with the northern pack of boarbeasts. You’ve only seen one, and that was more than enough.

Why on earth would you be sent out into dangerous territory on a working conference? And why send you out two-and-two? Wouldn’t groups of four or more be more beneficial, if the whole point was to create some sort of cheesy bonding experience? Clovers are rare, sure, but then choose a different price – people would probably still be happy competing for a hotel stay or something.

If you had Irwin and Elise with you here, or maybe even Mira as well, this whole trip would have been so different. You’d be four on one, and actually have gone north, and you wouldn’t be out here feeling somewhat useless, stumbling around in the dark.

On the other hand, you probably wouldn’t have gotten to know Amren at least a little bit better. He’s still a living brick wall to get through, though you sense there are cracks in the cement forming. At least very small ones, since he’s somewhat actively engaging with you now.

You glance at him and wonder what spurred you to even start the process of socializing with him. Any sane person would probably have taken his hostile behavior for what it was, and not made any effort whatsoever. He sure tried to make it very clear he wanted to be left by himself. To be honest, if Irwin hadn’t pulled Amren’s name from the hat, and you weren’t forced to be out here alone with him, you’d probably have listened to him.

But here you are, and at least he’s shown he doesn't want you dead. Progress!

“What are you thinking?” Amren suddenly asks, taking you out of your thoughts.

You frown. “I’m wondering how things would have been different if Irwin hadn’t pulled your name from the hat,” you reply. Might as well be honest. “And then I’m worried about him, Elise and Mira.”

Amren thinks for a minute, tasting the air.

“Do you wish your partner had pulled someone else?” he asks.

You grin. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, so in the start I was kinda grumpy about it. I’ve accepted my fate by now, though.”

Amren snorts, but stays silent to let you continue.

“And don’t get me wrong. You’re still a major pain in the ass. But I guess you are practical with all this survival stuff. If I’d been here with Irwin, we’d probably both be dead by now.”

“Your partner doesn’t seem like the most responsible type,” Amren agrees. “I’m still surprised you went out of your way for him like that.”

“Come on, this again? Really, you’re starting to sound like my manager. I would ask if you wish he’d pulled someone else so you could get a cohort who’s actually useful,” you say, looking at him.

He looks somewhat puzzled.

“- but since you hate everyone, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“I don’t ‘hate’ everyone, and who told you it didn’t matter?” He smirks. “If I’d gone with Elise instead of you, everything would have gone much easier.”

You scoff and lightly punch his shoulder. “Asshole.”

“Slowpoke.”

“Bastard.”

“Tiny.”

“Oversized serpent.”

He nods at you. “Correct."

“Well, if I’m so tiny, it’s a good thing Mira was around to help me up after you snapped at me when we first met.”

He ignores your attempt at guilt-tripping. “You keep mentioning ‘Mira’, but I don’t recognize her name. What department is she from?”

“Does it matter?”

“I work security. Elise and I know who’s attending the conference,” he shrugs. “It bothers me I don’t remember seeing her name on the list.”

“She’s with the cleaning staff,” you offer his memory.

Amren frowns. “Cleaning? The cleaning staff isn’t attending this conference. They get their own trip later in the year in the holiday season.”

Now it’s your turn to frown. Mira definitely said ‘cleaning staff’, didn’t she? Maybe you misunderstood? “She came here alone. Said she was the only one they could spare.”

Amren flicks his tongue. “Maybe she was on a separate list then. Odd they’d send her alone, though.”

“Or,” you offer nonchalantly, “could it be possible you forgot her name?”

He looks at you grumpily, and doesn’t reply.

You continue through the dark forest and, according to Amren, you manage to make up for some lost time. The forest has been mostly quiet, save for a few noises from the nocturnal part of the animal kingdom and the wind howling through the trees. The moon shines down between the branches, and though it’s dark, the starry night is beautiful.

You’re however exhausted and cold at this point, and you catch Amren every so often also suppressing a yawn. One time he fails, and you get a full view of his long row of small, but needle sharp, teeth.

“You don’t have fangs,” you note.

Amren stares at you puzzled, mid-yawn, as very clearly he does. “What?”

“I mean like. The two long ones in front,” you elaborate.

You can’t tell if you’ve offended him somehow from his expression, and you’re about to mumble an apology when he beats you to it.

“I don’t have venom,” he explains. “Don’t need them. You’re thinking of another type of naga. I’m a constrictor, not a viper.”

“Huh,” you say, and grin to yourself. “I’m still confused about something, though.”

“What?”

“How did you get the venomous attitude, then?”

You laugh at you own joke as Amren looks very unimpressed.

“You’re horrendous,” he exhales, rubbing his face.

“I’m tired,” you correct him. “Which is your fault.”

“Being tired is nowhere near an excuse for your behavior,” he grunts.

“Sure it is. A tired human is a messy human,” you state as-a-matter-of-factly. “But seriously, we should probably camp soon and get some sleep. It’s like 2am, and you honestly don’t look so fly either.”

You shine your light in his face for a better look, though he actually hisses at the light and covers his eyes.

“Ow, Tiny, not directly in the face!” he snarls, harshly pushing your flashlight down.

“Oh hush you big baby,” you pull the flashlight out of his hands and wave him off, but keep the light pointed to the floor.

You look around.

“There’s a clearing over there. Should we make camp?”

A little while later you’ve both set up your tents and crept in to settle for the night. Despite your eyes being so heavy, you find it difficult falling asleep. Today’s events has grown nervous strings through your core, gripping tight. The looming anxiety of you actually being in danger won’t leave your gut. You try and logic your way out of it, because nothing really happened and you are by all accounts, safe, but it doesn't seem to work.

You hear Amren moving around in his tent again, and berate yourself for the sense of security the sound gives you. It’s not that you exactly feel completely safe just because he’s in your proximity, but it somehow feels.. safer.

Though you’d never tell him that. You don't think you'd be able to reach his face in time to punch off the smug expression he would make.

The wind is howling outside your tent. You stare out in the darkness, just listening for a bit, and waiting for sleep to take you. You’re about to drift off when Amren suddenly hits against the plastic wall of his tent and it makes a sharp squealing noise, immediately startling you back to full awareness.

You groan in annoyance.

“I was this close to falling asleep,” you complain at him.

If he heard you, he ignores you.

You sigh. You momentarily wonder if there’s any connection out here. Since you're up now anyway, might as well check. You pull up your phone, turning it on, wincing as the sharp light from the screen hits your eyes as it’s booting up.

You wait for a few seconds for everything to start, and smile slightly when you spot you actually have bars in this location. Then, your phone starts chiming rapidly.

You swear and cover the speaker as much as you can as it blares multiple times with text messages and notification sounds.

“You were saying?” Amren hisses from his tent.

“You woke me first,” you hiss back.

Your phone finally calms down, and you dare peek at what caused the calamity.

Your stomach drops.

You have 13 unread messages and 6 missed calls.

They’re all from Irwin.

#colderwriting #monster romance #gender neutral reader #x reader #monster lover #naga #why didn't this post alongside the other one #oh well

[sunswathe]

hi hello i am not a stranger things blog BUT i've had this idea kickin' around in my nog for like. months? and today the first part just beamed itself into my brain and i spat out 1000 words for it. i know i'm not the first to write this concept, but here's my take on the "steve sees dead people" au!

i want to write more for this, but i have a terrible track record for finishing fics (i have like. 13 drafts?? for stranger things fics??) so this is tentatively part 1 of an undetermined amount. it is supposed to be steddie, eventually. if i make more, i'll post it to ao3!

anyway, enjoy! <3

------

December 1984

“What the hell are we looking for out here, exactly?”

It’s fucking cold out, and Steve’s fingers are starting to ache where they’re wrapped around the handle of his bat. 

“I don’t know any better than you do, Steve.”

Steve scowls and roughly swings at a low hanging branch. It’s thin and bare and twiggy, and it catches on the pristine nails he drove through the barrel. He uses that hold to bend the branch forward and out of his way. His bat sticks when he walks past and he growls as he yanks it free.

The winter-brittle wood snaps with a loud and distinct crack, and Steve locks up.

When nothing jumps out of the shadows at him, Steve shakes the fresh tension from his limbs and continues his trek. The thin scattering of snow that managed to blanket the dead foliage despite the tight clusters of trees isn’t offering Steve any sort of direction.

No sign of anything. Not of squirrels or deer or fucking wolves or whatever the hell else lives in the woods surrounding Hawkins. Steve doesn’t know and he doesn’t really care.

All that matters is that there’s nothing to show for the thing he’s trying to find.

“The fuck do you mean ‘don’t know any better’ than me?! You,” Steve bites out, jabbing an irritated finger at his unhelpful shadow, “are the only one who’s actually seen it!”

Barb rolls her eyes as she sidesteps Steve’s accusatory point and wanders past. Half of her body has to phase into the thick trunk of a nearby tree for her to successfully maneuver around him, and that just peeves him further.

Steve’s out here getting whipped by and stuck on branches, and she doesn’t even have to worry about the trunks.

The petty jealousy fizzles and dies just as quickly as it came, though. It’s easy for him to forget how serious death really is. How permanent it’s supposed to be, for everyone except him.

Steve sighs and tromps after her.

It’s mid-December, which means the forest is quiet. To an extremely unnerving degree. There aren’t any insects or frogs or midnight birds to fill the hush, only the clack of branches rustling in the light wind.

“You don’t even have, like,” Steve steps over a fallen tree, slick with ice, “the teeniest, tiniest idea of what the— what the thing looks like? No more details?”

Barb scoffs. It’s odd, because she doesn’t make a sound, even as Steve hears her. Her voice doesn’t penetrate the stillness of the night, but Steve knows what she says, what she sounds like, her cadence and tone clear as if spoken aloud.

He doesn’t like thinking too much about the mechanics of it all. It gives him headaches.

“Nope,” Barb snips. “I’ll make sure next time I’m ripped to shreds I get a better look at the thing doing it, yeah?”

Steve watches her from behind, and sees her form flicker. He catches glimpses of bloody, shredded clothing over deep gouges in her back. His stomach turns. He looks at the ground under her feet. There’s no shadow to be cast under the faint moonlight, and the snow is undisturbed.

“Right,” he sighs.

“Maybe I’ll stop and take some notes. I could ask it a few questions before it kills me. Whatever makes this easier for you, Steve.”

“Yeah, okay, I get it!”

What they know about the whole situation isn’t a lot. But it’s more than the police, or Barb’s parents, or anyone else on this goddamn planet.

“So are we looking for like,” Steve ponders for a moment, “a den? Or something?”

They know that Barb isn’t just missing.

“A den?” Barb drawls, brow raised.

They know that whatever took Barb was big, at least. Grey, probably, but it was dark so maybe not. Toothy, with long, claw-tipped fingers. Barb wasn’t able to get the best look at it, before she was dragged away, so most of what she’s able to describe is how the different parts of it felt tearing her open.

“Don’t— come on, cut me some slack, here! I’m not a fucking… professional hunter or whatever. I don’t know what I’m doing!”

They know that Barbara Holland is dead.

“Clearly.”

Which is arguably, the most important piece of information that Steve has.

“Do you think we’ll find like… blood? Dead things?” Steve hates to even think it, let alone say it, but he’s not known for his tact, so. “...you?”

The most important piece of information and Steve can’t even share it, not without either going to prison or a fucking psych ward, neither of which Steve is particularly keen on doing.

Barb doesn’t dignify his question with any kind of response. Not even a twitch.

Steve’s hands aren’t getting any warmer. He looks up, through the branches and to the sliver of moon visible despite the clouds. Changes tracks and barrels forward. “Do we have a plan past ‘find the thing’? Or is that as far as this whole hunt goes, right now?”

Barb stops and offers him a flat look. “We?”

Steve scans the shadows when he stops, too. “Uh, yeah,”  he says, face scrunched in his best duh expression when he finally makes eye contact with her again. “We’re trying to find the thing that killed you, so I’d say it’s a team effort, here.”

He doesn’t appreciate the deeply judgemental look she levels at him. “Steve. I’m dead.” 

Barb’s form flickers again, almost as if she’s proving her point, but Steve knows it’s involuntary. Steve cringes when he sees her battered face. One of her eyes is hidden (or missing— probably missing) in a mangled mess of dark red that Steve can’t stare at or think about for too long before feeling ill. Her jaw and throat are ringed with deep bruises and scraped raw.

She’s back to normal in an instant, looking exactly as she had a month ago. Her glasses intact, clothes and skin pristine and undamaged, not a hair out of place from where it’s pinned.

Steve clears his throat. “Yeah, and I’m an idiot.” Steve lightly swings the bat at his side. “There is not a chance I can figure anything out alone. You know that. You told me that.”

“Yeah, because it’s true.”

“So yes, ‘we.’ This has to be a team effort. You make a plan. You tell me the plan. We find the thing. I hit it with this fucking bat.” Steve swings said bat more forcefully, aiming it at Barb. It swings straight through her. She doesn’t flinch. “Boom. Handled. Done.”

Barb looks physically pained. Or like she sucked on a lemon. “I cannot believe my only hope of getting closure is Steve Harrington,” she says to herself, for what feels like the thousandth time.

Steve flexes his fingers, hoping to bring some feeling back. Tonight is obviously going to be the first of many nights he ventures into the woods behind his house, so he’ll need to pick up some gloves. The ones he has are too bulky, and make using his bat unwieldy.

But cold does the same, so he’ll need to figure something out.

Steve sighs.

“Yeah. I’m your only hope, so it’s shit if I die of hypothermia on our first search.”

Barb doesn’t fight him on it, when he turns around and follows his tracks the hour it takes back to his backyard, even though she looks agitated.

They don’t talk the rest of the night.

The image of Barb, mauled and bloody, sitting on the diving board of his empty pool with her spine hunched and head hanging, glues itself behind Steve’s eyelids.

Steve shuts the sliding glass door behind him.

I cannot believe my only hope of getting closure is Steve Harrington.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “Me either.”

-------

YEAH so it's not an exact au. like. i fucked with the timeline and it's not just canon divergent its like. a monster hunter AND no upside down au? its COMPLICATED

just important that i say that because i made it december 1984 On Purpose. it takes place steve's senior year instead of his junior year.

hope you liked it! lemme know your thoughts if you did!! <333

#not super confident in my characterization of barb OR steve but yknow how it is #also not sold on the way i ended it but its whatever. its FINE. im proud of it regardless #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #barbara holland #steve sees dead people au #i feel a little bit like a liar but uhhhhhh #steddie #steddie fic #baubles writes things #<- new tag. i have never posted my writing on tumblr #i will not be tagging people for following parts because that sounds intimidating. sorry?

[rebelbrat]

@dragonskxn​ 

Of all the places to get forcibly spat out in--

Nope! Nope nope nope! He sees the pathway leading up to the medieval-looking houses and he turns right back around to retreat to the woods. Where are they? 13th century France? It doesn’t look exactly like the French architecture of the medieval years, but he’s not taking his chances with the, ahem, provincial attitudes of people in this culture and this time period. Not his mixed species Jewish ass. Not today. Sure, he could probably take a whole medieval village by himself, but he’d much rather deal with the wildlife. Even a bear is more likely than a bigot to run away rather than seek conflict.

Not like he’s in any mood to fight, anyway. It’s that time of the year again, the time where he starts gaining weight as many members of the Galra species are accustomed to--a time when all he wants to do is drown in a puddle of angst about how hideous and deformed he thinks he is. Oh, he knows it should be the least of his worries right now, given that he and his friends, you know, just took the Castle of Lions for a joyride, got spat out into an entirely different universe, and watched the portal they accidentally dove through CLOSE ON THEM as soon as they landed here. But the only thing he can think of right now as he goes back to the castle is how his armor had to adjust to accommodate his belly and how his face looks so fat and undignified, especially with that ridiculous huge nose in the middle of it…

He gathers his cloak even more tightly around him and pulls the hood over his head for good measure.

He knows he should be scouting the forest. He should be looking around for herbs and berries, sniffing the air for game and a source of water. But he can do none of these things, trapped deeply in the shame that binds him as tight as he holds his cloak closed so that no one can see his body. He hasn’t even begun to entertain the truth that there’s nothing wrong with his appearance--he’s quite drool-worthy in fact, with his body still strong and sturdy and muscular and his facial features still well-proportioned and well-shaped. The most he has in his moments of peace is a calm rather than a panicked acknowledgement of the “fact” that he’s disgusting--and this isn’t even a moment of peace, it’s a moment of torment…

He grits his teeth as he retraces his steps through the woods through scent alone. He’s staying a good distance away from the well-worn path he found through it now; if even one superstitious nutjob takes his presence the wrong way, it could bring the entire mob to the castle sitting in the middle of the woods that’s obviously not from around here. Besides, it’s not like he wants anyone to to catch a glimpse of his shameful visage; if they saw a creature as horrible as he, he thinks, they would be ten times as likely to raise the alarm.

Stop thinking those thoughts, he tries to tell himself. Focus. You need to survive. Indeed, if there was anything that made him beautiful, it was his desire to help his friends, the lengths he would go to help and protect them. And here, going to such lengths meant the simple act of lowering his hood so that he can truly take stock of his surroundings. He’s nearing the castle, but he can still pick up plenty of useful information: as he travels the forest he opens his mouth to taste the air and smells three different kinds of deer, a kind of sheep, wild boar…Damn, they really are in some version of France, aren’t they? He leans a bit closer to the ground; he picks up the scent of squirrels scuttling around in the underbrush, as well as a fox that was hunting them.  Around him, he notes the species of the trees and the plants--all species he recognizes from Earth, all found in France--apple, cherry, oak, and maple. Yep. Definitely France. 

There’s one scent he doesn’t recognize as he sees the castle come into view, one that he follows even more intently than the others. It’s the scent of…a girl? A girl with blue hair? But there’s something different about this girl, who judging by her hair color is apparently from some anime version of France. He feels the same sort of dissonance when he smells Pidge’s scent, or the scent of his generals, or the scent of any other hybrid--they seem like they’re one thing, but they’re actually another. This girl seems like she’s human, but there’s an unmistakable “dragon” vibe to her smell--that, of course, a cat-dragon like him would recognize…

She turns around. The two of them lock eyes. Only a few seconds later does he realize she’s seen him with his hood off. He gasps and yanks the hood back over his face, the shame rushing back to him, pulling it so tight around his head that only the point of his nose is visible.

Did she see his face…?

#dragonskxn #thread 01. || dragonskxn #virtue's little bad boy. || IC

[dknuth]

A light walk near Kaysersberg

Today was a loop walk from Kaysersberg up into the hills and back.

These are nice because you can adjust the walk if you want to. I headed out. The first couple of miles were on lightly used roads and then unpaved forest tracks. Those are great for me, not too steep and not too rocky.

My hotel is just outside the town gate and below the ruins of the old castle.

As you can see, it was very cloudy with rain forecast for the afternoon.

The road went out through the suburban residential areas. They are very nice, with lots of flowers and trees.

Then it went up into the woods. Lots of tall trees on the hillsides through here.

While I have walked a lot in the woods, I haven't seen much wildlife. There may have been a deer yesterday, going up a hill very fast through the woods, but I just got a glimpse. There are supposed to be squirrels but I haven't seen any of them. (How can there be so many oak trees and no squirrels? It was the same last fall. The ground was covered with acorns and not a squirrel in sight.)

So here is my big wildlife sighting.

There was a caution sign for batraciens. I doubt they are big enough to do much damage if you hit one though. I despite the image on the sign I had to look up batraciens. It translates to Batracians. So I had to look that up. It's amphibians, of a certain class. The frog class I'm guessing. But a frog is a grenouille, so I really don't know. I also didn't see any.

When the trail turned to "steep and rocky" I headed back to town.

In town, the flowers are blooming.

I got back to town in time to have some lunch and get back to the hotel before the thunderstorm!

So a pleasant, easy day; only about 5 miles and 800 feet.

Tomorrow it's on to Bergheim, with my hotel at the end of the hike, so no slouching tomorrow.

#kaysersberg #Alsace #France #batraciens

[dansnaturepictures]

19th November 2022: Denny Wood, New Forest

I had a great time here this afternoon, a day with a more typical temperature for the time of year again where steamy breath was visible. I was delighted to see some eyelash fungi on the bare wood of a fallen tree that my Mum had seen here in the week. It was waxy, precious and delicate, distinctive, well coloured in red and black and a charming sight. I’ve seen them three years running here now which is great and it always amazes me how small they are. I took the third picture in this photoset of them. Another gem in my best ever autumn and year of observing fungi which I am really enjoying. This log was brimming with interesting things, bits of moss and some other fungi including some candlesnuff fungi as shown in the fourth picture in this photoset another mysterious little one which was new to me today and was memorable to see. I also saw turkey tail and some other great little and large mushrooms on the walk this afternoon. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of some big bits of white shelf fungi clinging to a log which stood out today and was nice to see. Lichen, thistle leaves and others and hardy daisies were lovely to see this afternoon too. Pine cones, sticks and fallen leaves scattered across the grass concentrated in one area was a nice autumnal image which I took a photo of and tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight. 

It was brilliant to observe and feed the woodland birds at the car park gathering here as they do through the winter, allowing for such intimate views. Busy Blue Tits, gorgeous Great Tits and marvellous Marsh Tits which I got especially strong intimate moments with today all came down to feed, with another exciting glimpse of a Nuthatch here lately I photographed that and am enjoying a good run of seeing them in the autumn with sightings at Blashford Lakes and Lakeside too getting photos on all but the Lakeside one, Dunnock one I’ve had a good week for seeing one in the garden on Thursday too, Coal Tit and Robin coming down too, with Chaffinch enjoyed nearby. It was really good to connect with the Marsh Tits especially but all of the birds, hearing the flickering beat of their wings and that being a dominant sound and pure main focus for those few minutes was mindful. I took the eighth and ninth pictures in this photoset of Marsh Tits. Elsewhere on the walk we got a smashing view of an eye catching Redwing.

Roe Deer was nice to see too as well as Grey Squirrel heard and seen whilst out here today. I took the fifth picture in this photoset of our dog Missy on the walk, two days before her fourteenth birthday. 

There were some beautiful views of the rich woods gripped by autumnal colour, soft sun illuminating the woods I saw a lot of sun through tree scenes today and pretty sky scenes. I took the first, second and sixth looking over the heath pictures in this photoset of views here today. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: One of my favourite mammals the Roe Deer, Redwing, Robin, Dunnock, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Starlings seen nicely on a bare tree, possibly one of my favourite birds the Jay seen quickly flying through trees and Grey Squirrel.

Seeing garden birds House Sparrow, Blue Tit again, Goldfinch and Starling really well feeding on the balcony and beautiful autumnal colour in the beautiful sun as I was unusually downstairs in the morning/early afternoon as my Uncle visited today were highlights at home today. I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset of a view out the back with the golden birches behind the buildings looking nice again. We’ve certainly been thrust into a time where bare branches are starting to dominate with some striking red bare branches I enjoyed today and it’s amazing how quickly some trees have become quite bare. I also enjoyed a quick moving spider in and out of a crack in the hallway tonight. I really liked seeing a large Grey Heron flying as we passed the lovely Lower Test on the way home tonight it’s always enjoyable seeing things going past here.

#candlesnuff fungi #candlesnuff fungus #photography #nature #england #uk #world #happy #marsh tit #coal tit #blue tit #great tit #sunny #denny wood #new forest #hampshire #intimate #eyelash fungus #eyelash fungi #turkey tail #turkey tail fungi #autumn #november #2022 #walk #walking #colourful #europe #woods #heath

[thedigirealm]

Unveiling Kashmir’s Wildlife Marvels: 10 Sanctuaries for Nature Enthusiasts

Nestled amidst the majestic Himalayas, Kashmir stands as a sanctuary not only for its cultural richness but also for its diverse wildlife. From rare species of flora and fauna to breathtaking landscapes, the region’s wildlife sanctuaries in Kashmir offer a unique glimpse into the natural treasures of this enchanting land. As you traverse through the verdant valleys and rugged terrains, prepare to be captivated by the ethereal beauty and abundant biodiversity that thrive within these protected havens. But before delving into the wilderness, begin your journey with a serene ride along the iconic Dal Lake boat houses adorn the shimmering waters, echoing the timeless charm of Kashmir’s aquatic heritage.

Dachigam National Park: Tucked away in the lap of the Zabarwan Range, Dachigam National Park stands as a bastion for the endangered Hangul deer, also known as the Kashmir stag. Spread across steep slopes and dense forests, this sanctuary offers a sanctuary for various species of wildlife, including leopards, musk deer, and Himalayan black bear.

2. Hemis National Park: Encompassing the eastern reaches of Ladakh, Hemis National Park is a haven for wildlife enthusiasts and adventurers alike. Renowned for its thriving population of elusive snow leopards, the park also hosts diverse fauna such as Tibetan wolves, blue sheep, and golden eagles amidst its rugged terrain and stark landscapes.

4. Hokarsar Wetland Reserve: Situated on the outskirts of Srinagar, the Hokarsar Wetland Reserve is a haven for migratory birds, providing crucial habitat for species like the common teal, gadwall, and northern pintail. Explore the serene marshlands and tranquil waters, where the symphony of bird calls fills the air during the winter months.

5. Gulmarg Biosphere Reserve: Nestled amidst the pristine landscapes of Gulmarg, this biosphere reserve is renowned for its rich biodiversity and stunning vistas. Trek through dense coniferous forests and alpine meadows, where you may encounter Himalayan brown bear, red fox, and various species of migratory birds.

6. Tral Wildlife Sanctuary: Hidden away in the scenic valleys of South Kashmir, the Tral Wildlife Sanctuary is a sanctuary for native wildlife such as the Kashmir musk deer, markhor, and Himalayan serow. Traverse through dense forests and rugged terrain, immersing yourself in the untouched beauty of this sanctuary.

7. Ramnagar Wildlife Sanctuary: Located in the picturesque district of Kupwara, the Ramnagar Wildlife Sanctuary is characterized by its diverse ecosystems, ranging from lush forests to alpine meadows. Spot native species like the Himalayan monal, koklass pheasant, and Kashmir flying squirrel amidst the tranquil surroundings of this sanctuary.

In conclusion, Kashmir’s wildlife sanctuaries stand as testament to the region’s rich biodiversity and natural heritage. From the majestic slopes of Dachigam to the serene marshlands of Hokarsar, each sanctuary offers a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in the pristine beauty and abundant wildlife that thrive within Kashmir’s protected havens. So, pack your bags and embark on an unforgettable journey through the wilderness, where every moment is a testament to the timeless allure of Kashmir’s untamed landscapes.

[casspurrjoybell-25]

The Healer of Shakkara - Book One

*Warning Adult Content*

Chapter 17 - The Pinedark Forest - Part 1

Galen felt at home in the forests around Dern.

The woods were his sanctuary and he had seldom come upon a strange or unknown creature there.

The Wild Green Forest was different.

For the first few days, the trees and plants, birds, insects and fungi were familiar and the travelers had a pleasant time, walking well-worn paths beneath stately trees.

There were many little streams, with water clear and sweet... wild onion, watercress, raspberry and crab-apple clustered the banks and made fine additions to their fare.

They slept soundly on carpets of soft, sweet-scented moss or in open meadows beneath bright stars, where the grass was long and dry.

Animals were abundant, too.

Galen glimpsed many fowls, squirrels and rabbits, deer with little fawns and once... a magnificent stag with a many-branching crown.

Then, gradually, the forest grew wilder and more strange.

The trees became larger and older, their trunks clothed in emerald mosses and beards of lichen hanging from their boughs.

Ferns carpeted the ground and a rich, loamy scent rose from the ground underfoot.

In places, the trees were spaced far apart, like the pillars of a great hall... in others, their tangled limbs formed a barricade that made travel slow and difficult.

Sevhalim explained that not every region of the Wild Green was the same.

Some were relatively tame... others were impenetrable wilderness.

Likewise, some were safe and others rife with peril.

The path he had chosen for them crossed... by necessity... through a variety of each.

As they walked, the party exchanged tales.

With hunters and boars left far behind, the weather fair and their surroundings scenic, spirits lifted and tentative friendships formed.

Triss and Rea took archery practice together every morning, challenging one another to smaller and more distant targets, while Iksthanis showed Behn how to find wild herbs and how to identify which mushrooms were safe to eat.

Meanwhile, Sevhalim and Zenír taught Galen how to meditate.

"Mental focus is the foundation of magic," Zenír said.

"It is the bedrock on which all greater work is built," his voice was soft and soothing and Galen found him easy to listen to.

For the first few days, the instruction was simple... focus on something and stay focused.

Zenír focused on a sound... a single tone he hummed beneath his breath... while Galen followed Sev's lead and chose a mental image.

He envisioned a little star of light, which increased and decreased in brightness with his breath.

It was enjoyable, once he found his center and exhilarating once he felt the result... the more he practiced... the more he sensed the power lying dormant and untapped within his core.

He sensed the ambient energies surrounding him too... the vast, ancient power, quiet and deep... a complex web of life.

Opening himself to it, he called forth his own magic just a little and released it like an offering to the great trees.

It escaped him like tiny effervescent bubbles, rising from his heart and floating free from his uplifted palms.

A soft gasp broke his concentration and he opened his eyes to find Zenír staring... which was odd, as the man was blind.

"I can see it," Zenír breathed, eyes wide as he reached towards Galen.

"The magic."

Galen realized he could see it, too.

All about him, tiny dots of emerald light, like dust in a sunbeam, sparkled in the air.

He brushed his hand through them but with his concentration broken, they vanished like embers on a breeze.

"Jewel of Sakkara," Sev murmured and... to Galen's slight discomfort... pressed his hands together and bowed his head.

"I don't know what that is," Galen said, grimacing.

"But... I'm not it."

Sev held his gaze, his princely features set with strange sincerity.

"You are in my eyes, P'Yrha," he murmured.

Unaccountably, Galen flushed.

Hoping to brush off the awkwardness, he rose.

"I think I'll see if Obi needs help with the firewood," he said.

As he walked away, Zenír spoke in a soft tone.

"Be careful, Sev. Best not to get attached."

It was clear he meant not to be overheard and Galen wondered if perhaps the prolonged sessions of focus had sharpened his hearing a little.

"Don't worry, Zen," Sev answered in an equally low voice.

"I know my duty well enough. You need not remind me of it."

"It is for you I worry, Sev," Zenír answered.

"Your duty will mind itself... I imagine."

Sev sighed.

"That is what I fear."

They said no more but Galen pondered what he'd heard.

Perhaps when the opportunity arose, he would ask Sev exactly what his duty entailed.

********

On the sixth day, the forest changed once more and became less pleasant.

Little by little, there were fewer oak and alder, poplar and fir and more of a certain, densely growing pine.

The trunks had rough, grey bark and the needle-like leaves were short, sharp and bristly.

In places, the trees grew so close together it was difficult to find a way through and they had no choice but to travel some distance in search of a clear path.

Finally, on the opposite side of a small clearing, they came upon a wall of such pines, beyond which no other species grew.

"What unpleasant trees," Behn remarked grumpily, eyeing the barrier with distaste.

"Indeed," Sev agreed, gesturing at the wall of narrow trunks.

"This is the edge of the Pinedark, as the region is called. The young trees choke out their competition. Gradually, the weaker ones die off, so the older the forest, the more spread out they'll be but only of one kind and still close enough to make a perpetual twilight beneath their boughs. I'm afraid this is the end of our pleasant woodland wanderings, for now."

Unhappily, the group bade farewell to the sunlit meadow and followed Sev into the gloom beneath the pines.

Soon, the branches overhead grew so thickly the travelers caught only occasional glimpses of the sky and then even those disappeared.

With no way to judge the time of day, only a gradual darkening told them night would soon descend.

They camped in a level place but no one slept well.

The thick layers of pine-needles carpeting the ground might have made good bedding, if they were not sharp enough to stab through cloth.

After a prickly night, they rose and broke camp and carried on.

The deeper they went into the pines, the less Galen liked the place.

Little grew there apart from the trees and the sparse bracken beneath.

Everything was grey or brown and eerily still.

The few birds they heard had strange, forlorn calls and the beasts they glimpsed were oddly dark and blended with the gloom.

Once, Galen spotted a deer with a sable coat and even the squirrels were grey or black.

For a while, they did their best to keep the oppressive quiet at bay with laughter and song and with tales of past adventures but soon, even the most talkative of them fell silent.

By the third day, they were all on edge and spoke in whispers and jumped at the snap of twigs underfoot.

It didn't help that the trees seemed almost to have a language of their own and chattered among themselves in creaky voices, rubbing their branches together in strange conspiracy.

"It's just the wind," Sev assured them when a particularly loud outburst of creaking swept overhead, as if the trees were passing a secret along.

"What wind?" Behn asked, swishing his hand through the stagnant air, wide-eyed and spooked.

"There's plenty of wind above the trees," Sev said.

"They're quite tall. We can't feel it down here, so it seems as if they're moving on their own."

Reassured by this explanation, they paid less heed to the creaking. The howling and the eyes were another matter.

That night, Galen woke from an uneasy sleep.

All was still beneath the trees and pitch-black beyond the ring of firelight, as usual.

Behn snored softly on his left and Triss lay curled on her side to his right.

Sev sat nearby, his back resting against the trunk of a tree, with his eyes shut.

Galen couldn't tell if he was awake or not.

A few paces away, at the edge of the light, Iksthanis stood on watch, his broad-shouldered shape blending with the gloom.

Galen shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position and willed himself back to sleep.

The one good thing about the Pinedark, so far, was that the ground was relatively flat.

That was changing and the coming day promised to be a hard one, filled with grueling climbs and steep descents.

[lacenvs3000w24]

signs in nature🌲🐾

Welcome to this week’s post! For the “free spot” theme of this week, I thought I’d talk a bit about some of the subtle aspects of nature - the hints and clues she gives us about her story as a whole, all while maintaining her exciting traits of mystery and wonder.

I was prompted to choose this topic because of some of the things we’ve been talking about in ZOO 4950 (Lab Studies in Mammalogy). Last week, we bundled up and went out into the Arboretum to talk about tracking. We spotted lots of squirrel tracks, as well as those of a cottontail, a deer, an opossum, and potentially those of a coyote.

left - deer tracks, and a human 👍 ; right - whose little hand do you think this is???

As a little bonus, just to really top it off, we paid a friendly surprise visit to a tree-dwelling porcupine.

photo I took of our porcupine friend in the Arboretum in Guelph

This sparked another sign-oriented conversation, though. We were told about how a porcupine dwelling is simple to spot, essentially because of how nasty these lumbering critters are. Basically, they don’t have a knack for tidying up - they decide on their homestead, which they stay at until it is so overrun with scat that they are forced to relocate. Gross, but also kinda charming, no?

Later in the week, during a little decompressing nature walk by speed river, after a second glance at a tree trunk, I realized I was in beaver territory. there were probably about 3 trees in a 5m radius marked with the teeth etchings of nature’s carpenter.

image sourced from: https://nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com/tag/beaver-damage/

(↑↑↑ real photo credit should go to the artist...a beaver made that!)

These signs may seem like nothing special to someone just passing by. I think it’s fair to say that most people would find it a more special occasion to actually spot one of these critters at work, these these marks and signs. I don’t think I have to do much to convince you all, though, that with a little bit of background information, there’s an entire story to be unraveled.

It can be hard to feel connected to nature in our semi-urban lives, where it seems that most of the things around us - buildings, streets, or (Mother Nature forbid) litter - are exclusively signs of human life.

One tangential point here that I think is really interesting is that nature’s signs are how human beings (and arguably, life across the board) were able to survive in more “rugged” (aka, natural) territories for so long. One of my latest Netflix fixations was a show called Alone, where contestants compete for a cash prize by trying to last the longest alone, in the wild, with only a handful of starting materials. The season I watched took place near Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The contestants used tracks, scat, even hours of sunlight, to help them find their next meal.

So, if the elusiveness of the animals is getting you down - during your own travels or during a guided walk, for example - you might not actually have to look much further to extract an engaging narrative from your surroundings, or to catch a glimpse into the unravelling nature tale around you.

Thanks for checking in!! 💚💛

[perfectsolutionsgarage2]

Madera Park Oasis: Embracing Nature's Refuge in Citrus Heights, CA

Nestled amid the suburban scenery of Citrus Heights, California, Madera Park stands as a natural haven, a living canvas painted with diverse flora and fauna. This lush oasis invites individuals to explore and appreciate the wonders of nature within an urban landscape.

From the peaceful walking trails weaving through mature oak groves to the calm pond that hosts a variety of waterfowl, the park creates an environment that both fascinates and captivates its visitors.

As we uncover the mysteries of Madera Park, there's an undeniable sense of anticipation for the tranquility and discovery that lies ahead.

Revealing Madera Park's Natural Charms

Madera Park, an oasis of greenery in Citrus Heights, California, is teeming with a plethora of natural attractions, providing visitors with a vibrant tapestry of flora and fauna to explore and delight in.

The towering trees offer a refreshing shade from the California sun, while the lively wildflowers paint the landscape in vibrant hues—a visual treat for all who visit.

The park's ponds serve as a sanctuary for waterfowl, and the expansive grasslands are a habitat for a diverse range of bird species.

Interwoven walking trails guide visitors through the park, creating a journey of exploration and revelation.

Every season unfolds a distinct facet of the park's beauty, ensuring that each visit is a unique and enriching experience.

Madera Park truly stands as a sanctuary for nature enthusiasts, extending an invitation for all to discover their place within its borders.

Immersing in Wildlife at Citrus Heights Oasis

Stepping into the heart of Citrus Heights Oasis, visitors encounter an abundant display of wildlife, a testament to the thriving ecosystem within the park.

From the fluttering butterflies adorning the blooming flora to the industrious squirrels darting across the verdant landscape, this oasis offers an intimate connection with nature.

Observers might catch a glimpse of deer peacefully grazing at dawn or dusk, while bird enthusiasts will be enthralled by the diverse avian population, including majestic hawks soaring overhead.

The serene ponds within the park are home to various fish species, and fortunate visitors may even spot the elusive river otter.

Here, you're not merely a spectator but an integral part of this vibrant ecosystem, fostering a profound sense of belonging and connection with the natural world.

#california #Citrus Heights

[sofia-the-traveller]

Embracing the Winter Wonderland: A Nature Lover’s Guide to Matheran’s Flora and Fauna

Introduction:

Nestled in the serene Sahyadri range of Maharashtra, Matheran emerges as a pristine paradise for nature enthusiasts throughout the year. However, it is during the winter months that this quaint hill station truly comes alive with a unique charm, showcasing a diverse array of flora and fauna. In this blog, we will embark on a journey to explore Matheran’s winter wonderland, discovering the enchanting beauty that graces this natural haven.

Flora in Winter Bloom:

Matheran, renowned for its eco-sensitive approach, boasts a rich variety of indigenous plant species that thrive in the cool winter climate. As the temperatures drop, the landscape undergoes a magical transformation, with vibrant blooms and evergreen foliage dominating the scenery. One of the highlights of Matheran’s winter flora is the Karvy plant, which blankets the hillsides in a sea of purple blossoms, creating a breathtaking spectacle.

The winter season also sees the emergence of several rare orchid species, adding a touch of elegance to the landscape. The air is filled with the sweet fragrance of blooming flowers, creating a sensory experience that leaves an indelible mark on every visitor. Exploring Matheran’s walking trails during this season provides an opportunity to witness the beauty of nature at its most resplendent.

Avian Delights:

For bird enthusiasts, Matheran’s winter is a symphony of avian activity. As migratory birds make their way to this hill station, the skies become a canvas painted with the vibrant colours of various winged creatures. The lush greenery and abundance of water sources attract a plethora of species, turning Matheran into a birdwatcher’s paradise.

From the melodious calls of the Malabar Whistling Thrush to the acrobatic displays of the Verditer Flycatcher, Matheran’s winter skies are alive with the sights and sounds of feathered wonders. The diverse topography, ranging from dense forests to open meadows, provides an ideal habitat for a wide array of bird species, making every trek an opportunity to spot something new.

Mammals in Hibernation:

While winter in Matheran is not as harsh as in some northern regions, the local wildlife does exhibit fascinating behaviours during the cooler months. Many mammals, such as the Indian giant squirrel and various species of monkeys, become more active in search of food. The lower temperatures encourage them to venture out, offering wildlife enthusiasts the chance to observe their natural behaviours in a more comfortable setting.

Additionally, Matheran is home to the elusive barking deer, which can sometimes be spotted in the early morning or late evening hours. Patient observers may also catch a glimpse of the Indian civet or the Indian hare, adding an element of surprise to the winter wildlife encounters.

Conclusion:

Matheran’s winter season transforms this idyllic hill station into a haven for nature lovers, with its vibrant flora, diverse birdlife, and the subtle activity of its mammalian residents. Whether you’re an avid trekker, birdwatcher, or simply seeking a peaceful retreat surrounded by nature, Matheran’s winter offers a perfect escape. As you traverse its winding trails and breathe in the crisp winter air, you’ll find yourself immersed in a world where the beauty of the natural environment takes center stage, leaving you with memories to cherish for a lifetime. Enhancing this unforgettable experience is the option to stay at Adamo the Resort, hailed as the best hotel in Matheran. As a luxurious resort in Matheran, Adamo offers an unparalleled blend of comfort and nature, making it the ideal choice for those seeking a truly indulgent stay. With its impeccable service and breathtaking views, Adamo the Resort ensures that your Matheran getaway is not only filled with natural wonders but also marked by the epitome of hospitality. Luxuriex Hotel in Matheran, Adamo the Resort invites you to elevate your winter retreat, promising a stay that complements the beauty of Matheran’s winter landscape.

#Matheran #Blog #hotel #luxurious #Adamo the Resort #vacation #Hill Station #Flora Funa #Nature Lover #Nature Beauty #Stay At Adamo the Resort

[bluestarwaterr]

Exploring Nature's Beauty: Longridge Park Trailhead in Sherman Oaks, CA

Nestled in the heart of Sherman Oaks, California, the Longridge Park Trailhead beckons nature enthusiasts and hikers alike to embark on a journey of exploration and tranquility. This hidden gem offers a scenic escape from the urban hustle, providing a lush oasis where locals can reconnect with nature and indulge in outdoor activities. Let's delve into the beauty and allure of the Longridge Park Trailhead.

A Natural Haven

Longridge Park Trailhead serves as the gateway to a pristine natural environment within Sherman Oaks. As you step onto the trail, you are enveloped by the soothing sounds of rustling leaves, the fragrance of native flora, and the gentle chirping of birds. The park's lush greenery and well-maintained trails offer a serene backdrop for outdoor enthusiasts seeking respite from the demands of daily life.

Hiking Trails for All Levels

The trail system at Longridge Park accommodates hikers of all levels, from beginners to seasoned outdoor adventurers. Well-marked paths wind through the park, guiding visitors through diverse landscapes, including shaded woodlands, sunlit meadows, and panoramic overlooks. Whether you're looking for a leisurely stroll or a more challenging hike, Longridge Park Trailhead provides an array of options to suit your preferences.

Breathtaking Views

One of the highlights of Longridge Park Trailhead is the breathtaking views it offers of the surrounding landscape. As hikers ascend the trails, they are rewarded with panoramic vistas of Sherman Oaks and the San Fernando Valley. Sunset hikes are particularly magical, as the fading sun casts warm hues over the city below, creating a picturesque backdrop for those who reach the trail's peak.

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Wildlife Encounters

Longridge Park is not just a haven for plant life; it's also a sanctuary for local wildlife. Birdwatchers can delight in the diverse avian population that inhabits the park, while observant hikers may catch glimpses of native fauna such as rabbits, squirrels, and even the occasional deer. The park's commitment to preserving its natural ecosystem enhances the overall experience, making it a destination for nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts alike.

Community Gathering Spot

Beyond its natural splendor, Longridge Park Trailhead serves as a community gathering spot. Families, friends, and solo adventurers alike come together to share the trails, fostering a sense of camaraderie among local residents. Group hikes, outdoor yoga sessions, and community events organized within the park contribute to a vibrant and active community spirit.

Preservation and Conservation Efforts

Longridge Park Trailhead is not just a place to enjoy nature; it's a testament to the community's commitment to preservation and conservation. Local organizations and volunteers actively contribute to maintaining the trails, protecting the flora and fauna, and ensuring that future generations can continue to experience the beauty of this natural sanctuary.

[rahullyt]

Wild Animals of Kerala: A Marvelous Journey into Nature's Bounty

Kerala, the southwestern state of India, often referred to as "God's Own Country," is not only famous for its backwaters, palm-fringed beaches, and lush landscapes but also for its rich and diverse wildlife. The state's unique geographical features, including dense forests, pristine rivers, and a coastline stretching over 550 kilometres, provide a perfect habitat for a wide array of wildlife species. As a nature enthusiast or a wildlife lover, exploring the Wild Animals Of Kerala is an experience that promises to leave you spellbound.

List Of Amazing Wildlife Sanctuaries In Kerala

1. Periyar Tiger Reserve: The Royal Stripes of the South

Nestled in the Western Ghats, the Periyar Tiger Reserve stands as a proud testament to Kerala's commitment to wildlife conservation. Spread over an impressive 925 square kilometres, this reserve is a sanctuary for numerous species, including the majestic Bengal tiger. Embark on a jungle safari, and if luck is on your side, you might catch a glimpse of these elusive big cats roaming freely in their natural habitat. This is one of the best places to see Wild Animals Of Kerala. Apart from tigers, the reserve is also home to elephants, leopards, wild boars, and various species of deer.

2. Silent Valley National Park: Where Wilderness Whispers

Step into the Silent Valley National Park, and you'll understand why it got its name. This untouched wilderness, tucked away in the Nilgiri Hills, is a haven for rare and endangered species. The lion-tailed macaque, one of India's most endangered primates, finds refuge here. The park's dense vegetation and pristine beauty make it a paradise for birdwatchers as well, with endemic species like the Nilgiri laughing thrush and Wayanad laughing thrush making appearances.

3. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary: A Biodiversity Hotspot

Located in the picturesque district of Wayanad, this sanctuary is a melting pot of diverse flora and fauna. From the playful Indian giant squirrel to the elusive Indian pangolin, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary offers a chance to encounter an impressive array of animals. The sanctuary's landscape is a mix of deciduous forests, lush grasslands, and freshwater lakes, providing an ideal environment for species like elephants, leopards, and gaur to thrive.

4. Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary: Where Wilderness Meets Charm

Tucked away in the eastern part of Kerala, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary entices visitors with its rugged beauty and unique biodiversity. The sanctuary's arid landscape is quite distinct from the rest of Kerala, making it a habitat for several endemic and endangered species. Keep your eyes peeled for the grizzled giant squirrel and the star tortoise, which are some of the sanctuary's most prized residents. Chinnar is also known for its efforts in conserving the vulnerable mugger crocodile.

5. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary: Harmony in the Western Ghats

As part of the Western Ghats World Heritage Site, the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is a treasure trove of nature's wonders. Sharing its borders with Tamil Nadu, this sanctuary boasts of significant ecological importance. Take a boat safari on the tranquil Parambikulam Reservoir, and you may spot herds of elephants enjoying a bath on the shores. Other prominent inhabitants include the elusive sloth bear, the agile Nilgiri langur, and the majestic Indian bison.

6. Thattekad Bird Sanctuary: Haven for Avian Admirers

For bird enthusiasts, the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary is nothing short of paradise. Revered as one of the richest bird habitats on the Indian subcontinent, this sanctuary attracts a myriad of migratory birds as well as endemic species. With over 300 bird species recorded here, including the Malabar grey hornbill and the Sri Lankan frogmouth, it's a birdwatcher's delight.

7. Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary: A Green Oasis in the City

Amidst the bustling city of Kochi lies a green jewel known as the Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary. This small yet significant sanctuary provides a sanctuary for migratory birds that flock to its wetlands during the winter months. Spot the elegant purple heron or the striking white-throated kingfisher as you stroll along the sanctuary's well-maintained paths. If you are a bird lover then you will see these beautiful birds and Wild Animals Of Kerala.

8. Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary: Where Nature Embraces Serenity

Located near Kerala's capital, Thiruvananthapuram, the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary is a retreat for those seeking solace in the lap of nature. Home to the rare and endangered Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat species, the sanctuary also hosts diverse flora, including medicinal plants. The serene Neyyar Dam and the crocodile breeding centre add to the sanctuary's allure.

9. Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary: A Tapestry of Nature's Colors

Spread across the Western Ghats, the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary offers an enchanting experience for wildlife enthusiasts. With its hilly terrains, moist deciduous forests, and glistening streams, this sanctuary beckons adventurers and nature lovers alike. Catch a glimpse of the sambar deer or the slender loris as you traverse through its verdant landscapes.

10. Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary: Unveiling Nature's Treasures

In the northernmost part of Kerala lies the lesser-known Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary. Though relatively small, it packs a punch when it comes to biodiversity. The sanctuary is home to the endangered Indian sloth bear, as well as elephants, gaur, and various species of primates. Trek through its forests, and you'll be rewarded with the sights and sounds of a thriving ecosystem.

Preserving Nature's Gifts

As we revel in the beauty of Kerala's wild animals, it's essential to recognize the significance of wildlife conservation. Kerala has been proactive in its efforts to protect these valuable ecosystems through various initiatives and strict anti-poaching measures. Sustainable tourism practices, like responsible wildlife safaris and eco-friendly accommodations, ensure that visitors can experience the wonders of nature without leaving a negative impact on the environment.

In conclusion, Kerala's wild animals offer a mesmerizing glimpse into the state's thriving biodiversity. From the regal tigers of Periyar to the exotic birdlife of Thattekad, each sanctuary unfolds a unique chapter in the story of Kerala's wildlife. As we venture into these natural habitats, let's embrace the responsibility of preserving these treasures for generations to come. So, if you yearn for an extraordinary rendezvous with nature's finest, pack your bags and embark on a marvellous journey to explore the Wild Animals Of Kerala – where every step brings you closer to the heart of the wild.

#wild animals