Strange Biology

I’m in Colorado! Look at these elk I filmed from inside the cabin’s bedroom! The reason I’m in CO: I had to drive from KS to UT, and the most options for booking on HostShare are around the Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs area. I have 2 weeks to kill before the next thing I’m doing on my trip, which is Bryce Canyon with Wild Creative (Basically free to join ! BYO park pass, gear etc. IDK if it he…

Here’s a conversation topic I see going around the oddities communities: “ We don’t say ‘ethical’ anymore because ethics varies from person to person. Just say ‘sustainably sourced’ instead.” To me, this just trades one problem for another. Imagine if I tried to sell you a skull, and you asked if the product was ethical. Understandably, I might say “everyone’s ethics are different, so I can’t ans…

And of course someone nearby is trying and succeeding selling AI-generated tattoos. He’s not even prompting them, just grabbing them from Pinterest and refusing to look hard at them before inking them. So many letters on that compass… I just added some edits to the first image on my phone but if I was inking it on someone’s body forever, you can bet I’d actually put effort into it!

Strange Biology’s albums | Flickr I have LOTS more photos on Flickr and they’re grouped into albums. They’re free to use as art references and such with credit! If you take a look and click on some, I can see the most popular ones and use them in photo program applications. Note that there can be blood in lots of albums! Strange Biology on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138318928@N02/album…

nabsthevulture : Jacked up teeth on Wyoming X1. She’s the coyote with the huge hole in her face whom I suspect got caught up in some wiring that wore her teeth down. That had to have been a problem for a while to cause such extensive and deep damage. Looks like she was using her teeth to try to escape a snare. Thoughts?

What a great program! I feel so privileged to have been one of the Artists in Residence at Badlands National Park. I’m writing this review in case anyone else wants to know what they’re getting into. Perhaps this will be a search result. What’s the verdict? Love it! How do I apply? Here! (Put this in your calendar for when applications open.) How much does it cost? Nothing! To apply or to attend!…

Anonymous asked: your post was from 2021, but I wanted to mention, as far as why there would be dead cattle and the farmers don't deal with it. Some of those ranches are HUGE and some herds of cows are like 80+ animals. If you have acres of property and a herd of animals, you may not know exactly how many are in any given area. And if you do notice a cow isn't in the herd, you can go look for it …

Weird paleontology conundrum. Happy to hear your respectful thoughts/recommended reading/viewing. As I’m working on this project, “The Bone Hunter’s Guide and Workbook,” I’m considering adding a chapter on how to find fossils. Since I’m in fossil heaven at Badlands National Park now! And I finally know how to find fossils, at least in this context. However: I’m currently at a residency run by a p…

If any of you are in Kansas, feel free to join this event I'll be hosting during my residency at Tallgrass Prairie. This is about 1.5-2 hours from Kansas City, Wichita, Manhattan, and Topeka, and there's lots of hiking around, too. I'll also print off some copies of a rough draft of a project I'm working on, The Bone Hunter's Guide and Workbook to give out for free. Probably not many, but I'll co…

Wish that was me… Wait, it is me! Here’s a little article about bone-hunting! There are a few little mistakes here and there so if there’s a detail important to you feel free to ask, but the gist is right, and it’s cool to be featured! Wish that was me… Wait, it is me! Here’s a little article about bone-hunting! There are a few little mistakes here and there so if there’s a detail important to yo…

My neighbor and I both think we might have seen a golden coyote around here in Badlands National Park, South Dakota! (Or two? Or three? At least three instances of us suspecting we saw a gold coyote.) I finally got some pictures, and I have pretty good zoom (300mm) but these are still not the greatest photos. Coyotes can have a lot of variation, and the light and camera changes stuff… I took all …

Y'ALL! OLIGOCENE FOSSILS! Yellow and reddish are bone (permineralized, I think? But not fully replaced by stone) and the really dark brown is teeth! It was pretty funny because the paleontologist was like “meh” about these fossils and I’m like “WOAH!!” I think these are the first ancient mammal fossils I’ve found, thanks to the Badlands NP paleontologist showing us a spot, and the other artist in…

Here’s a poem I just wrote for a contest to write about Wyoming. Critique appreciated before I submit it! It’s like 90% true, and I understand real life is more complex than this, but there’s truth in the point. Left fields behind and, going in blind, I took work in New York skyscrapers, for America’s voices and editorial choices came down from the big-city papers. I wrote about hills and the new…

Bone question! Here are some domestic sheep skulls I found. Possibly Rambouillet breed. I recently saw some Bighorn sheep skulls and there was much more fusion between the bones in the skull. The nasal bones were completely fused to the maxilla, like you can see in the photo here. (I’ll get some of the ones here in Badlands NP in a day or two.) Why are they more fused in the bighorn than the dome…

Badlands bison with fabulous hairdos (Pics taken out the window of the car!) Badlands bison with fabulous hairdos (Pics taken out the window of the car!)

If any of you are in Kansas, feel free to join this event I’ll be hosting during my residency at Tallgrass Prairie. This is about 1.5-2 hours from Kansas City, Wichita, Manhattan, and Topeka, and there’s lots of hiking around, too. I’ll also print off some copies of a rough draft of a project I’m working on, The Bone Hunter’s Guide and Workbook to give out for free. Probably not many, but I’ll co…

In the park / out of the park I took both these photos from the road, zoomed in all the way! Top is a wild bison in Badlands National Park, bottom is one just outside of the park in a fenced herd. In the park / out of the park I took both these photos from the road, zoomed in all the way! Top is a wild bison in Badlands National Park, bottom is one just outside of the park in a fenced herd.

Looking back on this article, who wants to learn some behind-the-scenes journalism? I’m not sure this article is of much value to the reader since 90% of it is skepticism for the linked paper. Like “OK, it says this, and it references legitimate journal articles, but they were selected by an org with a certain animal agenda. And other experts expressed concern about publishing something with such…

My apartment in Badlands National Park! I’m here as Artist in Residence, which I recommend you apply to if you’re a serious artist/writer! As is typical with residencies, you’d want to propose something relevant to their location. (See “Interpretive Themes.”) I think they could use some paleoartists reconstructing some oreodonts! You get free housing for 4-6 weeks + $300, you just have to donate …