this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2024
773 points (99.1% liked)

Science Memes

10207 readers
4084 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 41 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 72 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'll never forgive my great-great-great-grandfather for getting my great-great-grandfather that greenland shark

[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Back in the middle of the 90ies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a big thing and my mother thought it would be a good idea to gift my sister and I, a pair of red-eared sliders. I kept mine for years and eventually my sister gave hers to me. So I kept two turtles for decades. I have been known as "the guy with turtles" since I'm a teenager now.

One of them just passed away this spring, after more than 27 years, and she was not that old for her species, in captivity. The other one is still alive behind me, basking under the UV light, and it could be alive for another decade. And I like Mittens (his name) but he's taking a lot of space in my apartment. It's obvious both of them would have had a better life outside, in nature, rather than in my sometimes depressive care.

Don't gift animals.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

I agree with not gifting animals, but it sounds like your turtles had a good life. 27 years is a long time and way longer than the life expectancy of a wild one

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

How would their lives be better in nature, exactly? Most animals live longer in captivity, and if they were capable of answering questions, I bet they'd pick having a human butler waiting on them all the time instead of running from alligators and munching on rotten algae.

Sure, nature would be better for it, but not the animal.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

You're right that their lives may not have been that bad compared to being in nature, but in the end, they probably should not have existed in the first place. They were not meant to be in nature from the start. They were meant as temporary living toys, for profit. At least they were not stuck in a key chain or something like that.

Seeing how one would probably not have survived in nature, it's probably best he ended up with me. But the one that died this spring was fierce, energetic and inquisitive. Frankly, she was a jerk and I could picture her being "happier" chasing fish in a lake rather than pellets in a small tank.

Maybe it's a very human and pretentious judgment to make for them, but I can't help but try to put myself in the place of another living thing. You can live safely in a small container with unlimited protein cakes but nothing else to do for all of your life, or you can go explore the world to your own risk and excitement. I know what I'd choose, for my physical and mental health. And I know some animals can get bored and depressed, but I'm not a turtle.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

The problem with buying pets on a whim is twofold.

  1. The animal gets abandoned. They never pick up the necessary skills to survive on their own in the wild, they die miserably by starvation or exposure.
  2. The breeders see the high demand (especially after something like ninja turtles or finding nemo) and breed animals excessively, when demand dies off thousands of excess pets that no longer sell are abandoned or euthanized.
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Idk man idk. Would you rather be coddled to or be allowed to live your own life, downfalls included.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

The rise in young adults living with their parents rather than struggle against an increasingly harsher environment is a pretty good hint

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Also lobsters. Lobsters can live for 100 years, but way less if gifted at Christmas.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh man. That's great! I love the pace of these videos.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Same here, thanks @cosmic.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I haven't watched that guy for a good while but he sure has given Leon a better life than a dinner plate.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 month ago (1 children)

...slowly puts greenland shark back on the shelf

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

replaces immortal jellyfish

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Never in my six decades on this earth, as an Australian, have I ever heard of a lung fish Christmas gift. It is about as likely as giving someone a giraffe.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Ah, I'm an idiot!

Never been caught so far, but with internet trends nowadays, you never can tell.

Well played...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Can you regift a giraffe?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Same goes for a Greenland shark. We're talking about multi family generational commitment. You don't know if your grandkids, grandkids can handle that kinda responsibility

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Especially.

Worst time of year for dog shelters. COVID puppies was such a bad time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The amount of people that have to walk on the street to go around me and my dog is absurd. Nobody was thinking when they got COVID dogs, then sheltered away from all other humans and their dogs.

It's an entire generation of antisocial dogs with high anxiety and seperation issues. Fucked up .

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Coincides with the dashund trend true.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Sooo many antisocial Weiner dogs.

My big mix breed is a gentle giant who loves little dogs the most. I always have to let him down when he gets excited seeing one of these coming 'no buddy, they bite'.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

We got our doggo about a month before Covid as a tiny puppy. She's a sweetheart but she is codependent as hell with my wife and she doesn't really like other animals except our two cats. I'd feel so much worse if we had gotten her after already starting quarantine.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

One of my favourite tragicomical video game achievements was in Firewatch:

Adopted a turtle as a pet. The average lifespan of a box turtle is fifty years. It will outlive you.

And this is why I will not get a pet. I'm by definition incapable of taking care of them because they might outlive me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Unless you're Keith Richards, I don't advise this as a pet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

christmas, just 152 days away

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

id take it if the animal was meant for consumption and not as a pet

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I mean you can always make bbq

That’s the beauty of fish as pets, not only they are fun but also very nutritious

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, cats and dogs are quite nutritious too, I suppose, so this realy goes for most pets.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Yes but they have hairs everywhere do you have any idea how hard it is to get rid of the fur?? You haven’t thought of the fur you bitch

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Or you can just skin mammals and birds like a normal person

It’s not hard. If it’s larger than a grouse it’s pretty messy, though.

And I wouldn’t want to do that to a family pet. They’re family.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I will remember it if my pet pisses me enough to turn it into a pie. I always joke that this day will come

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe for my cats lmao. I'd be lucky to get 100 calories outta my tank

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

I have a pond where the bigger ones swim I don’t even know their species but they look tasty