Tag: animals

TBT^2: Tarantulas and the Hygge

The Portly Politico3 Comments

It’s the first day of autumn, which means things will be getting chilly in another month—or, given we’re in South Carolina, another two or three months. Regardless, we’ll all soon be cozying up with chili and blankets and sweaters.

Let’s hope, however, that our furry-legged arachnid friends, the burrowing tarantulas, don’t decide to cuddle up with us! Fortunately, that’s unlikely in these parts, as tarantulas are mostly kept as pet, and even that’s a pretty small niche of pet owners.

I stumbled upon today’s post back during the heat of the summer, when I was dreaming of the hygge (if not massive spiders), so I thought I’d reblog it to commemorate the start of all. It turns out that it was exactly six years ago today that I lost reblogged this piece. It seems that the “toothsome” Patricia is still making tarantula content, too; kudos to her for sticking with her niche and making something cool.

With that, here is 24 September 2020’s “TBT: Tarantulas and the Hygge“:

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Phone it in Friday CXLV: YouTube Roundup CCV: Link’s Awakening Music

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I’ve been playing through Link’s Awakening on my Zelda Game & Watch again, and recently got to the portion where Marin sings “The Ballad of the Windfish” for the residents of the Animal Village. I also finally figured out how to get this frog dude—whose sprite is directly from Super Mario Bros. 2—to sing his crazy, discordant tune. I filmed both scenes on my iPhone SE’s camera and posted them to YouTube with a little text commentary sprinkled in for good measure.

You can purchase a Zelda Game & Watch here (the following is an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through this link, at no additional cost to you): https://amzn.to/3SGkl1X

I highly recommend grabbing one; it’s amazing having Zelda games in your coat pocket!

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TBT^4: Remarkable Animals

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It’s been an animal-centric year for yours portly. Sweet Murphy crossed the rainbow bridge; Nugget is still going strong; and we’re likely adopting a puppy in a few weeks. The koi and other creatures are doing well—I even wrote an entire album about it (still 90% off with promo code koipond)—and our bird feeder continues to attract lots of birds—and lizards. I’ve seen a nasty skink slinking around, too.

That reminds me of this piece I wrote a few years ago, “Lament of the Lizardman“:

But I digress. It seemed apropos to reblog this series of posts about animals in all their glory.

With that, here is 11 September 2025’s “TBT^2: Remarkable Animals“:

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Lazy Sunday CDIII: Bird Feeder Follies

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Our bird feeder has been a source of much amusement and joy. It’s also yielded some fun YouTube content!

This Sunday, here’s a look back at some recent posts featuring our fine-feathered friends (and Nugget and a lizard):

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Phone it in Friday CXLIII: YouTube Roundup CCIII: The Lizard Who Thinks He’s a Bird

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Our little ten-dollar bird feeder has been a real blessing. We get to see all sorts of cardinals, finches, and wrens. Because our sunroom windows are tinted, we can get really close to the window to observe the birds.

What I wasn’t expecting was to find a lizard—probably an anole—hanging out in our bird feeder one day last week! And what’s remarkable is that the little guy has popped up on the feeder a few times since then.

Swoosh!

What’s it like when a lizard thinks it’s a bird? Do lizards pursue alternative lifestyles? Or is this lizard just beating the heat with some free food?

Let’s watch, shall we?

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Midweek Koi Pond Update VI: The Summer Doldrums

The Portly Politico6 Comments

It’s been awhile since I wrote an update about our koi pond; the last time was mid-May of this year, when the pond was brimming with life. Temperatures were warm enough for the koi to come up regularly for feedings, and they were hungry—I was feeding them two or three times a day. The rosy red minnows also experienced a population boom, as dozens of the little guys and girls were hatching in the pond.

Fast forward to today (Dr. Wife’s birthday, by the way!), and the pond is in a bit of a doldrums. I suspect that the heat has driven the koi to the cooler, deeper waters, but even the minnows, which often stayed near the surface, have been more muted, even at feeding time. I’ve reduced feedings to once a day, and occasionally once every other day, but still have not seen much activity.

Dr. Wife was growing concerned, especially as I didn’t feed the fish for two days before her family paid a recent visit. I was hoping they’d be hankering for some Kaytee Koi’s Choice, but no dice—other than a brief splash from Sunny, the pond was quiet (the various water bugs and dragonflies, though, were quite active, enjoying sips of pond water). I proposed donning my swimming trunks and taking a dip in the green waters so I could feel around for the fish; she wisely countered that I should probably just get the net and skim through the pond.

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white ringed flycatchers perching on a branch

Phone it in Friday CXLII: YouTube Roundup CCII: Nugget and the Birds

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Remember Gumby? He was that green, bipedal, Claymation humanoid with the orange pony, Pokey. I always liked Gumby and his amorphous, shape-shifting ways.

Apparently, our three-legged dog, Nugget, has beef with the Gumbster. She has a Gumby toy that she loves to shake around. Lately, she’s been pulling Gumby’s soft inner fluff out the poor fellow, and yours portly ends up being the one picking it up. Perhaps Nugget is trying to get me to exercise a bit more.

What Nugget has not been mauling—thankfully—are the birds that come to our bird feeder. I bought a ten-dollar bird feeder at Lowe’s and hung it with a nail outside of our sunroom. Dr. Wife loves the birds, especially Peepers (a female cardinal) and her “boyfriend,” Big Red (a male cardinal).

What’s cool is that the birds are so enamored with their treats, they’ll let me walk right up to the window and look at them. I can get some pictures of them, although they tend to come out a little dark thanks to the UV coating we have over the windows. One day I’ll do a post of nothing but bird pictures (and my self-indulgent commentary).

Today is not that day. Instead, I’ll be sharing a video of a cute bird eating—and of Nugget locked in battle with her Claymation foe:

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zaira

Pit Bulls and Genetics

The Portly Politico2 Comments

There’s been a lot of debate around pit bulls for years, and the sides are pretty predictable: some people argue they are only violent because of bad upbringing and abuse; others argue that the breed is genetically predisposed to aggressive and unpredictable behavior. I fall firmly in the latter camp.

Are there are exceptions to the “killer pit bull” stereotype? Sure. Nugget, who is truly the meekest, sweetest dog to ever live, is apparently 75% pit bull genetically; the only indication is her blocky head. Whatever pit is in her is completely subsumed under the other 25% of her genetic heritage (we highly suspect she has some rat terrier and/or Australian Cattle Dog in her). But no one would look at Nugget and say, “that’s a pit bull.”

We all know what a pit bull is, even if their advocates will try to argue that it’s “not really a breed” (funny how they’ll argue the breed isn’t inherently violent, then in the next breath argue the breed doesn’t exist; you can see why this dog is a favorite of single white liberal ladies in their thirties). It reminds me of that Supreme Court justice who, when asked to define pornography, said (to paraphrase), “I know it when I see it.”

Here is a pit bull. It’s a beautiful dog, don’t get me wrong. I also wouldn’t let it anywhere near my hypothetical children.

“Portly, didn’t you have a bull terrier?” Yes, and that’s a challenging and neurotic breed. I loved Murphy, but she wasn’t a saint; she infamously scratched one of my nephews one horrible Christmas (she was super stressed out, but it was still totally unacceptable; my nephew was fine, but understandably shaken up). I did a lot of work with her to test her boundaries and to ensure she wouldn’t go too far or get too rough. Additionally, the bull terrier, while sharing some common stock with the American pit bull, was bred to be super friendly towards humans. Other than that one unfortunate incident, Murphy loved people.

I still would never let her around a two-year old.

I’ve long suspected that a lot of the rhetoric around pit bulls isn’t really about dogs—it’s about race. I don’t believe that one’s race automatically defines a person, but there are clear differences between human races other than skin tone. For example, some Asians are lactose intolerant, while most Europeans aren’t; people of African descent are more likely to suffer from sickle cell anemia. These things don’t mean one group of people is inherently better or worse than another (“all hail the dairy drinkers!”), just that genetics are real and play some role in who we are.

Anyone who has ever had children, or witnessed young children develop, knows this intuitively, even if they’d never say it out loud. My niece is my mother; the older of my two nephews is my father. It’s absolutely wild how they’ve inherited personalities and traits and talents across generations. Obviously, my niece and nephews are their own people, with their own unique quirks and abilities, but it’s striking how much they have ingrained behaviors and mannerisms, not just from their parents, but from their grandparents. The dynamic between my niece and the older nephew is like watching my parents interact.

Again, let me stress what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that biology is 100% destiny. But I’m also rejecting the “blank slate”—we have all sorts of things imprinted upon us genetically from the moment of conception. That’s a really beautiful thing.

Similarly, dogs are influenced by their genetics. This shouldn’t be controversial—we literally breed dogs into breeds. What makes a breed a “breed” are the distinct characteristics between them. Some dogs are bred for companionship; some for hunting; some for receiving; some for pointing.

Some are bred as brutal killing machines. And we’re kidding ourselves if think we are safe just because we’re nice to the brutal killing machine.

But, again, for a certain segment of the population, I suspect their fear is that if we draw that conclusion about dogs, we might draw that conclusion about humans. Never mind that humans are ensouled; that we’re made in the Image of God; that God Gave us intelligence and self-control. Sure, some people might have more or less intelligence or restraint than others, but they can make a conscious effort to overcome or mitigate at least some of their biology.

What prompted this lengthy reflection was this post from Substack author Georgi Boorman. I can’t say I disagree with her overall thesis.

Here is my response:

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Lazy Sunday CCCXCVIII: Cruise Stuff

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It’s been nice being back home (even though it was a sad start to last week), but I did enjoy our cruise. I’ve finally lost my “sea legs,” but I’m looking forward to another in the future, although I imagine it’ll be a bit before out next one. That said, I thought I’d share some recent cruise posts:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP