Weekly Animal & Yap Blog 1

Hello and Welcome!

To my weekly animal blog. If this is your first time here, check out my introductory post for this series if you want details on what this is and how it works. Otherwise, allow me to introduce the animal I'll be touching upon this week!

The Red Wolf

AKA the Canis Rufus, the red wolf is a smaller relative of the grey wolf that is one of the most endangered creatures on the planet, with a population of only 20 or so individuals remaining in the wild, and roughly 300 in various breeding programs and sanctuaries. They used to span the entire Southeast part of America, until locals hunted them to the brink. A rescue initiative launched in 1974 is the only reason these charming canines are still alive today. Red wolves mate for life, having pups around April (my birthday month! <3) and May, so I thought it was super fitting to have them as the star of this week's blog. We're in the middle of their pupping season right now! :D May this year's pups grow big and strong to carry the legacy of this amazing species.

How can we help?

So far, the only way to directly fund the conservation of the red wolf (that I have found) is through a company called Fahlo. They create bracelets and plushies that come with QR codes for you to get tracking data via their app on an animal that your chosen item is themed after! I don't intend this to be an ad, but Fahlo is genuinely doing a lot of good work and is a great way to support a variety of movements to help various important species around the world. I have several bracelets from them (including three red wolf ones) and I love checking up on the animals I've been given the codes for. By buying a cool trinket from them, you are directly giving money to the conservation of the animal you're choosing to get! As a side note, the red wolf tracking data you are provided with is memorial data, meaning you'll be following the journey of red wolves that have already passed in order to protect the locations of those that still remain. If that puts you off, there are plenty of other animals that Fahlo lets you track that have live data. Check them out if you have an extra penny you don't mind going towards a cool trinket and the saving of nature! Fun fact: The collared red wolf you see in the background behind this blog (sorry mobile app users </3) is a wolf you can track via Fahlo. Her name is 1743F!

In other news...

This is the part where I yap about something random. If you only came for the animal and/or the random word I'll be putting at the end, you are more than welcome to skip this section. I write this part to promote extra discussion in the comments and bc I love yapping lol.

So, something that has been on my mind lately is monsteras. I love them, they're such beautiful plants. I have three at the moment, one of which is variegated (covered in white patches, look them up they're gorgeous). People say they're easy to keep, but I don't agree with that at all. Maybe I just suck at growing plants, but I struggled to keep any monsteras I had alive for the loooongest time. But then finally, someone gave me advice that 1. I actually understood and 2. worked!!! So I'm going to share it in case anyone else out there is going through hell with these plants.

1. NO SOIL. EVER.

Use orchid bark! Idk what it is about soil, but my monsteras always started going limp and dying when they were kept in the potting mix I bought them with. With orchid bark though, my plants are happy as hell. They love the stuff.

2. See-through pots are your friend

Specifically transparent pots with holes at the bottom. The idea is, you drench the orchid bark in water and then let it completely drain. The pot being transparent allows you to see the roots and also how much moisture is in the bark. If the pot looks sweaty, leave it! If it doesn't, drench and drain. Once roots span the entire inside of the pot to the point that you're seeing more root than bark, it's time to switch to a bigger pot!

3. Sunlight is evil, but only kinda

Basically, do NOT put your monsteras in direct sunlight (a windowsill, for example), they will wilt. Something that makes a ton of sense in hindsight but I kinda just didn't process is that ANY natural light in your house is sunlight. Put your monstera in the middle of any naturally lit room, and you'll be just fine. For example my variegated monstera is on my bathroom counter and my pair of normal monsteras live on my desk. The light coming in from the windows on the other side of the room is more than enough to keep the plants happy.

So there you have it, idk what it is but with just these three things my monsteras are THRIVING! And I'm so relieved. If you're willing to go the extra mile, talking to your plants is another thing you can do to help them grow. I promise you I'm not delusional just hear me out. A few years ago, there was an experiment in which two identical plants were put up on display in public. They got the exact same amount of fertiliser, water, sunlight, same soil, everything. The only difference was the public was instructed to insult one plant and compliment the other. You know what happened? The cherished plant grew large and vibrant, and the hated one... Died. Look it up if you don't believe me. Plants are living beings, they feel just like we do. Giving your plants some love will go a very long way!.. I do feel very bad for the dead plant from that experiment though. It didn't deserve that :(

The End!

And that's it for now! Thank you for coming, regardless of how much time you spent here. I hope you learnt something you found interesting from here!

This week's word is: Ataraxia

A state of serene calmness.