It's time for the weekly nature identification thread! Post pictures of plants, animals, rocks, or other cool stuff that you've photographed but can't identify, and I, along with anyone else who would like to help, will try and help you identify it. I'll be making some changes to it- most notably, I'll be using the SBD proceeds from this post to give out @steembasicincome memberships to people who post stuff to be identified or help me identify photos.
The northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicuada) isn't much to look at, but it's one of the most fascinating creatures in the animal kingdom. This badtempered little mammal grows to about 4-5 inches in length, is nearly blind, and has an exceptionally poor sense of smell for a rodent. Despite this, it's a voracious and highly successful hunter. While this North American rodent does eat small amounts of fungi and seeds, most of its diet is composed of insects, worms, snails, voles, mice, salamanders, and even other species of shrews. And, if that weren't impressive enough, it eats three times its own body weight every day. How does it capture its prety with such poor vision and scent? It has an incredibly fine sense of touch, and it actually echolocates! Even when it has a full stomach, it keeps hunting, using the extra to establish a hoard of food. The most interesting thing about the shrew? It's one of the only venomous mammals on the planet, with venomous saliva capable of causing intense pain to humans or killing animals more than twice its size, including snakes and birds. [Image source]
Remember: The most important information you can give along with any photo to be identified is its geographical location. This narrows down the range of possibilities more than any other info you can provide.
Plants:
Along with the photo, add where you found it, the time of year, the approximate altitude, and any interesting scents or textures not caught in the photo.
Animals:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, the time of year, the sounds it made, any interesting behaviors, and any other features not caught well in the photo.
Rocks:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, a description of the terrain it was found in, whether it was attached to a rock outcrop or found loose on the ground or buried in the soil, a description of its texture (especially its grain size), and a description of its weight and density. Fossils are included in this category. (Despite my greatest expertise lying here, rocks tend to be some of the hardest things to identify in a photo.)
Fungi:
I will not be identifying mushrooms and fungi for foraging purposes. Mushrooms should really only be identified for foraging purposes in person and by an expert. If another contributor wishes to identify them, that's their call, but I encourage them to be similarly cautious. I might also try to identify a few fungi that are clearly not being looked at for the purposes of eating, but that'll be a case by case decision.
@valth, @snowyknight, @soill, @stav-cohen, @bossel, & @motordrive all earned @steembasicincome memberships for submitting to the last nature identification thread or helping identify submissions. Congratulations!
Bibliography:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_short-tailed_shrew
- https://animalcorner.co.uk/animals/northern-short-tailed-shrew/
