One of mine would have a field day with that tree. He’d probably go right up some of the branches.

Good luck!

My recommendation is to cover the top of the trap with an old towel or blanket and leave it open (at both ends) with the bait food in it for a few days so Bread gets used to going into it for the food. Then close the trigger end and move the food towards the trigger. Once he’s comfortable going right into the trap for the food, you can arm it.

Keep in mind that you probably only get one shot at this - if he gets out of the trap, he’s probably never going to go near one again. I lost a couple of strays that way before I realise that the trap I was using had a hidden flaw (a strong male cat could push against the spring-loaded end enough to bow the bottom of it and squeeze out). I’ve since reinforced it to prevent that issue.

That’s really neat. If it’s your work, how long did it take you to draw?

Sigh. Misleading headline - the suspected radiotrophic ability seems to already exist in the species (which was identified in the late 19th Century; it’s not new, despite the article claiming it’s a “strange black fungus”) and several others, based on research with non-Chernobyl collections:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1866175/

Wow, 16! That’s an amazing effort and it’s great to hear that they all get along. 👍️

We only kept two of the eight that we rescued (I live in the suburbs of an Australian city where there is a low level of stray cats) but there have been two that I wish I’d been able to catch.

Thank you for putting in all the effort to save these kittens. It’s heartbreaking to think somebody dumped them in a garbage bag like that.

Are you planning to keep them all or will they be rehomed now that they’re older and healthy?

I’m sure these idiots have no concept of the future. They want to burn everyone out in months to years for the sake of boosting their profits in the here and now. Doesn’t matter that if you treat your workers well (and pay them well) you often get greater productivity over a longer period.

Agreed!

I suggest you tell them the truth and be prepared to find somewhere else to live. Whilst you were not directly involved in sexually harassing K, you let it happen and her parents (let alone K) will likely not trust you again for a long time. K will need counselling as she has been seriously traumatised - she’s been sexually harassed in her own home by friends of someone she trusted whilst that person did nothing to stop them. A key place and person she thought were safe have been shown not to be. That’s not going to heal quickly, nor without help.

If you want to try to rebuild the relationship in any way, you’re going to need to do a lot of work and it’s going to take a lot of time. An apology - to her and her parents - is just the first step. You’re also going to need to show that you are not the same as your schoolmates who sexually harassed her. If I were K’s parents, I’d expect you to report those schoolmates to the police and cut ties with them at minimum.

I think you’re right. It will be those with financial resources that can enter the profession, which basically means that there will be even fewer nurses and the cost of healthcare will increase even further. It will be only available to the 1%.

Not remotely surprised that this is the case, but am not holding my breath that it will make MAGA followers any more likely to reassess their worldview.

Yes, the author is stupid to be advocating for chicken pox.

Even setting aside the discomfort of chicken pox, catching chicken pox (particularly as a young child) increases the risk of shingles. Nobody in their right mind wants shingles.

I hear you! Getting the balance right is very challenging. One of my approaches has been to try to set up systems to make day-to-day stuff easier to do, which means I have more bandwidth for work and hobbies. But that in itself can be a real challenge, as those sort of systemic “upgrades” are often big tasks that take a lot of time and energy to implement.

About the only time I’ve been told I’m unpleasant to be around is if I’m having a meltdown or highly agitated (so near a meltdown).

The average person whom I mask around never sees an issue.

Fair enough, and I’d agree that the sense of “zoning out” is more prevalent in the ND community.

I guess my main reluctance here is that whilst the effects may feel the same for some people, I’m skeptical that the underlying mechanism is (beyond the aforementioned increased risk of sleep issues), and wanted to ensure that headline-only readers didn’t think this article was necessarily representative of autism.

Thanks, I appreciate the different perspective. As some who has experienced autistic burnout and also has sleep challenges, my personal experience is that the impacts are different, but that’s just me.

Interesting but I don’t think it’s necessarily related to neurodiversity. The article is talking about severe sleep deprivation; it suggests that the brain is attempting to conduct activities usually reserved for sleep (e.g. clearing out waste materials via cerebrospinal fluid) whilst you’re awake, resulting in those loss of concentration moments.

Now, sleep is more often troublesome for neurodivergent individuals (particularly autistics), so some degree of this effect is potentially seen with greater frequency in autistics, but I would be hesitant to point to this as the main driver of attention-related difficulties without further data (especially when we know that there are other factors that influence attention regulation in neurodivergent individuals).

Sigh. I’m clearly too jaded for this kind of insanity to surprise me any more.

If only it were so easy…

This needs to be on a t-shirt.