I have exciting information for you! Bird bones are not entirely hollow, rather they are filled with large air pockets. I find the result both delightful and terrifically unsettling!
Look closely - a typically-sized Midwestern turtle sits next to its foot.
It must be close to its size-limit, with a possible 30-inch diameter shell and weighing well in excess of 100 pounds. It’s possible that this beast is 40+ years old.
Anyone who works with wildlife will tell you it’s a good thing for wild patients to show hostility towards humans even after a long stay in the hospital, and honestly I think snapping turtles might be the best at this. We surgically repaired this little dude’s broken mandible and provided care in hospital for a few months but bless his heart he never stopped hating my fucking guts. Even with a broken jaw he’d snap at me so viciously whenever I had to give him meds and I love him like a son
This feisty creature’s implant was removed once he’d healed and he was successfully released back into the wild near where he was found. Good luck out there bud, I sincerely hope every wildlife patient I ever see going forward has your disdain for humans!
(These photos were taken while the patient’s enclosure was being cleaned, and he was never handled without medical or husbandry cause)
i like to imagine that he almost never cries and i just wanna know what finally makes him break down and ugly cry
OH MAN, I 100 percent agree with this, he strikes me as the kind of person to bottle up everything and try to push all his emotions down, but those emotions end up manifesting in negative/self-destructive ways until the weight of everything finally causes him to break down
There's a fic I love that does this really well, please read Shedding Skin by Plaguedboar, I binged all thirteen chapters in two days and was ugly crying by the end of it
Daniil and Artemy come to a slow harrowing realization about their feelings towards each other, but they both recognize how dangerous and destructive acting on those feelings might be. After Daniil takes a bullet for Artemy, it drives a wedge between them, Daniil pushing Artemy further and further away, as Artemy increasingly believes that Daniil sees him as something dangerous - something with the capacity to destroy him. That if Artemy allowed himself to love him and keep him in the town, Daniil will die
❗ SPOILERS ❗
The reason why Daniil ends up taking the bullet is because he realizes that he's also in love with Artemy, but truly believes that he's not worthy of being loved and that he'll ruin Artemy just like how he's ruined everything else he's touched. So, by dying by saving Artemy's life, it would have have been the best thing he could do for the both of them. However, because Artemy ends up saving him, Daniil becomes devastated and does everything in his power to make Artemy hate him and leave him, if he knows what's good for him. In turn, it causes Artemy to question if he's even capable of loving anyone. Thus, begins a cycle of Daniil being as cold and hateful as possible, throwing insults and being self-destructive, while Artemy keeps trying to save him, which only pushes Daniil to be more hateful and self-destructive....
❗ END SPOILERS ❗
There's a beautiful moment at the end where it culminates in Daniil walking out into the steppe to die, and against all odds, Artemy finds him there. After all this time, after all the insults, the coldness, the violence, Artemy decides to love Daniil despite it all and follows him into the wide expanse. Even then, the Capital Snake is still trying to spit venom - doing everything in his power to get Artemy to leave and let him die, but it doesn't work because Artemy finally sees through the facade. He reaches past the Bachelor's many roles and holds on to the Daniil that's terrified of loving and being loved in return, and that's when Daniil finally breaks and allows his vulnerability to bleed through
PLEASE READ THIS!! The angst and catharsis of it all is immense, and I can't recommend it enough!!