Nothing to see here. Just a pine cone.
from ekZepp@lemmy.world to science_memes@mander.xyz on 19 Sep 15:56
https://lemmy.world/post/36157707

#science_memes

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Kolanaki@pawb.social on 19 Sep 15:59 next collapse

“Hey guys, check out what happens when you toss a pinecone in the fire!”

chucks bird; bird screams; tries to fly off; sets woods on fire

“Huh… Usually they just kinda pop…”

ekZepp@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 16:03 next collapse

😱

oxideseven@lemmy.ca on 19 Sep 18:03 collapse

Biologist here,
that pinecone pop is always fun, cus it’s like unintentional biology lesson time when people do it.

It’s by “design” (evolution) that they do that. So that the specific species can spread.

It’s why fires are important for forests. Just you know not like 90 trillion fires in 1 summer…

West_of_West@piefed.social on 19 Sep 16:18 next collapse

The squirrels in my area like to eat pine cones…

Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone on 19 Sep 16:44 next collapse

They probably like to eat baby birds, too. They’re a lot more vicious than people give them credit for.

prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 17:01 next collapse

Don’t fool yourselves, a squirrel would murder you and everyone you loved given the chance

DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 17:23 next collapse

They just know it isnt worth the fight… yet

Bo7a@lemmy.ca on 19 Sep 17:38 collapse

Furlow the squirrel-o is offended by your unfounded accusations. <img alt="" src="https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/3c6f530b-0a31-4c37-8b02-cab5ca4f17fe.png">

More seriously though. Given abundance of food basically everything we ‘know’ about animal species interaction gets thrown out the window.

At any moment outside my window you find a dozen species eating side by side every single day that we were told would ‘for sure kill each other before sharing a food source’.

What that says about scarcity in relation to humanity I’ll leave to someone else…

shalafi@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 19:27 collapse

The animals in my yard behave very differently than the animals a couple of hundred yards away in the woods.

zout@fedia.io on 19 Sep 17:10 collapse

Guess what a cuckoo chick does to the other birds in the nest.

Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone on 19 Sep 17:45 next collapse

Not eat them! 😜

ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 21:33 collapse

No, they let them fall to their doom.

Tollana1234567@lemmy.today on 20 Sep 09:24 collapse

Guess what the mother cuckoo does when it finds out the parasitized bird mom eject the cuckoo egg.

Acinonyx@lemmy.sdf.org on 19 Sep 18:07 next collapse

I eat pine cones…

deadkuntgud@sh.itjust.works on 09 Oct 12:38 collapse

You also eat crayons isnt it

Piece of shit

Acinonyx@lemmy.sdf.org on 09 Oct 12:45 collapse

*don’t you

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 18:33 collapse

Yeah but if they try you can just peck at his eyes until he stops. Give hem the old HEY SHITASS D’YA MIND?

[deleted] on 19 Sep 16:49 next collapse

.

Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip on 19 Sep 16:52 next collapse

Well, great! Now you told them! Poor guy is going to need a new hiding place now

quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Sep 16:54 next collapse

So that’s why I’ve never seen one!

someguy3@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 17:01 next collapse

Thought this was two pine cones until I read the description.

[deleted] on 19 Sep 18:54 next collapse

.

Psythik@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 18:56 next collapse

Man fuck cuckoos. Raise your own children, you little fucking parasites.

I mean they literally lay their eggs in another bird’s nest, and then the chick kicks out the other eggs when it hatches, so that another bird mom will think it’s their own and mistakenly raise it, while screwing over the other chicks before they even have a chance to be born.

I wish these fuckers would go extinct.

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca on 19 Sep 19:33 next collapse

Yeah but then what would the Swiss use for clocks? Seagulls?

DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 20:18 collapse

I mean it sure would sound hilarious.

"Tik tok tik tok tik tok kchchch AAAAAAAHH!!!”

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca on 19 Sep 22:38 collapse

I find seagulls hilarious with that whole head tilted all the way back laughing like a dry hinge.

DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 04:57 collapse

So do I! I sometimes ask them: “What are you laughing at?!”

CidVicious@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 19:36 next collapse

Nest parasitism is not unique to cuckoos and you can’t really put a value judgement on evolution. Brown-headed cowbirds are the most common nest parasites in North America. There’s lots of species where the parents kill their own children if they either think they aren’t strong enough to survive or if the food supply is too insecure to care for them. It’s just nature.

DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 20:19 next collapse

you can’t really put a value judgement on evolution

I can and I will and you can’t stop me!

(/s for safety)

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 04:11 collapse
Psythik@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 20:53 collapse

I can and I will. No /s. I’m 100% serious.

Its pure evil and proof there is no god. I wish all parasitic creatures would fuck off and die. The world is fucked up enough as-is.

tetris11@feddit.uk on 19 Sep 20:59 next collapse

*Me, walking past a Storks nest and ignoring the fallen chick that is dead since days*

“so majestic”

Fuck_u_spez_@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 21:02 next collapse

Now tell us what you really think.

Psythik@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 21:05 collapse

Fuck fascists, fuck tankies, fuck Charlie Kirk, and Motherfuck Donald Fucking Trump.

Happy now?

Fuck_u_spez_@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 21:18 collapse

No, but that’s not your fault.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 04:13 collapse

have you tried poutine? that makes me happy.

ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 21:31 next collapse

How is parasitism any worse than straight up eating something else? Also, house cats kill for fun. Should they go extinct?

chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 19 Sep 23:35 collapse

I think there might be some anthropomorphism affecting the opinion, and I know a lot of people dislike "raising someone else’s children ", especially unknowingly.

In humans, this mostly happens to men just due to biology, but I’m sure some women have experienced swapped kids.

It’s not like those animals are betraying defined social constructs while knowing better, so i agree with you more on this, but that would be my best guess for someone reacting so emotionally to it.

(Also there’s far worse things to use for the “no god” argument, like cancer and numerous other vicious diseases or syndromes)

alt_xa_23@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 04:44 collapse

Parasitic creatures play an important role in regulating the environment.

A species with no checks will spread out of control, causing serious ecological damage. (I.e. Emerald ash borer, kudzu, tree of heaven)

It may be gruesome from our perspective, but it’s just part of how nature regulates itself.

webp@mander.xyz on 19 Sep 19:45 collapse

Fair, but let’s not extinct another species because of how we feel about its adaptations.

blubfisch@discuss.tchncs.de on 20 Sep 07:20 collapse

Does anyone have a source for this besides memes? I did not find anything 😢