The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/nature)
One day this August I picked up my phone and called Jens-Roger. “You know I told you the other week that I and my family were moving out?” “Yes, I remember.” “Well, I was thinking that before we leave for good, we should bury our daughter’s placenta. And we all really enjoy your place. Could we find a spot somewhere there?”
Looking at the footage of his run, he seemed to be chasing for fun instead of hunger, trotting with his head held high instead of moving low and fast. I wondered if he had, perhaps, already eaten. I wondered if foxes sometimes hunt for play.
I know what should be blooming, singing, or visiting any time, but I revel in the surprises. Over the summer, a frog moved into the front gardens. What a sweet marker of the returning health of this tiny bit of land! I adore hearing his frog songs at night, mixed in with the sounds of the night chorus.
It’s no surprise then that the ibis has made it into our religions from the very earliest times, manifesting as Thoth in ancient Egypt with the sacred ibis, close relative of the white ibis.
Today TWH presents three science stories from around the world, including the banning of cruel animal traps in Wales, new images of Saturn from the James Webb space telescope, and new research into octopus sleep habits.