The Litter Box

12:50 AM

@YvetteColomb they are really great! The dog quickly knows their boundaries and the device makes a beep noise if they are getting too close.

They don't work as good for dogs with high prey drive, like the hounds

Journeyman Geek

1:08 AM

the zappy ones? :(

@JAD ^^ perfect warning. I'm not watching but its appreciated.

Rebecca RVT

1:45 AM

@JourneymanGeek yep!

It's not a hard zap, it usually takes 2-3 attempts before the dog understands. The warning beep before the zap is a nice feature to warn the dog that he is getting close.

Journeyman Geek

2:19 AM

I'm still someone philosophically opposed to that kinda thing.

Yvette Colomb

3:02 AM

@JourneymanGeek it's preferable to being shot for being on someone elses land or hit by a car

or worse eating wild dog/fox bait

Journeyman Geek

ya, I guess

Yvette Colomb

epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/pesticides/…

Journeyman Geek

I'm not saying its evil. I personally, emotively don't like the idea of it, but eh, if its better for the dog its better for the dog.

Yanno?

Yvette Colomb

@JourneymanGeek yep - it's commonplace to use electric fencing with stock over here

@JourneymanGeek well - it can be hard to keep some breed of dogs fenced in. Dingo fencing needs to be 8 foot high, and dug into the ground. As it is, they have hunters patrolling the dingo fencing to shoot dogs that get through

Journeyman Geek

@YvetteColomb hm. I understand its necessary, and probably the best tool for the job and...

Yvette Colomb

3:05 AM

that poison 1080 is cruel, a horrible painful death for wild dogs

Journeyman Geek

Lets just say my views on the subject are coloured by my own experiences? ;p

Yvette Colomb

shooting them, with a good shot is more humane

Journeyman Geek

and I accept this is something necessary for the good of the dog?

(now if we could do the same with certain american presidents...)

Yvette Colomb

@JourneymanGeek fencing is better, but prohibitively expensive

Journeyman Geek

yup, and you're renting IIRC?

Yvette Colomb

3:07 AM

yep

I've already paid for fencing

Journeyman Geek

ya. I get the reasons.

Yvette Colomb

the other thing is people will take big dogs to use for baiting and fighting dogs.

so I can't afford him to get out.

Also there's the main road

with 100 km/h traffic

Journeyman Geek

ugh

Yvette Colomb

no one who loves animals enjoys hurting them, but sometimes cruel to be kind, a small electric shock to stop a massive painful life threatening injury

Journeyman Geek

I guess

JAD

5:12 AM

@YvetteColomb plus, when the conditioning kicks in, no actual hurting will be needed anymore

JAD

6:23 AM

@JourneymanGeek hmm yeah, I'm well aware that this is to most people the most offensive part of keeping snakes, most of their food are kept as pets themselves.

Journeyman Geek

6:42 AM

@JAD heh. I also have a soft stomach for things like that

snakes have to eat too but ;p

We once got shown a video of a rat that had been modified to disable some enzymes and end up getting monsterously deformed during a lecture.

I stepped out, and nearly threw up

JAD

hmm

what do you study?

Journeyman Geek

oh

at that time? EE.

I dropped out

JAD

back when I studied biology, at one point we have a dissection practical with a Carp. Didn't like that either, ended up almost fainting

EE?

Journeyman Geek

Electrical engineering!

JAD

ah

interesting lecture subject for that :P

Journeyman Geek

6:47 AM

oh they wanted a broad base

and school's not for me

JAD

but yeah, I feed my snakes mice and rats, which to me is on the edge of being actual pets. Either way, snakes gotta eat. Only thing I regret is when I thaw a rat and they end up not eating them. Having to throw them away sucks.

@JourneymanGeek fair enough

Journeyman Geek

It died in vain :(

JAD

yeah pretty much

Journeyman Geek

(I did eventually get a degree but... ugh)

JAD

My first one, a ball python is a really picky eater

ball pythons are notorious for that

luckily, my baby boa is starting to get big enough to eat the same food as he is, and she will not hestitate to eat. So if all goes well, I won't have to throw anything away anymore

Journeyman Geek

6:50 AM

\o/

JAD

to get an idea for her eagerness (dw, no food in the gif, just her)

ugh, well oneboxing doesn't work, but the link does

Journeyman Geek

....

JAD

hmm?

Journeyman Geek

She's adorable.

like. I don't like snakes and I'm going awwww.

brain's slightly broken ;p

JAD

:P

Journeyman Geek

6:55 AM

(that said, I saw the same about cats...)

especially when the seemingly stop and go "hmm, what should I do?" then start moving

JAD

she's very calm normally, but has one heck of a feeding response

@JourneymanGeek oh yeah, if you don't move the food, she'll just wait for it to come to her

Journeyman Geek

lol

Well its more that she looks 'smart'

Some animals look dumb. Some... look smart. Some look like they'd pick your pocket when you arn't looking.

JAD

heh, they can be pretty big idiots

my BP likes to climb in the lightbulbs

(those are hot)

Journeyman Geek

hah

there's different sorts of smarts ;p

JAD

Also, previous feeding time, she didn't anchor with her tail, so when she struck the food, she ended up flailing. There's a lot of momentum going on there

Journeyman Geek

6:59 AM

lol

JAD

a big part is knocking the pray senseless with their initial strike. She'll be around 600g now, imagine that hurling towards a 100g rat

it also scales pretty well to the bigger animals

btw, I like talking about snakes, but if it's too much, just say so :P

Journeyman Geek

lol

tis fine, I tell people the same thing about dogs ;p

JAD

:P

Yvette Colomb

8:04 AM

@JAD that's what I'm hoping. I haven't used anything yet. Currently he is under constant supervision - which is not so easy

@JAD oh I can see her clearly in the one box - nice. Tell me what are you using to create your gifs for the site?

Daily snake 2018-04-26

@JourneymanGeek if it's any consolation - I am too, which makes it difficult. And for the record I haven't used one - yet.. not sure if I will either

Henders

@JAD Wow, nice gif :O That's some really great footage!

JAD

@YvetteColomb Hmm, I recorded it on my phone, converted the mp4 to a gif using cloudconvert, then uploaded it on imgur

Henders

@JAD It's never too much in the Litter box :P

Journeyman Geek

@YvetteColomb the funny thing is I'd swear you can train a dog not to go to some places - ash won't go into kitchens ever but we never quite worked out how he learnt.

JAD

that's one thing if it's a place you can easily control, like in house. But if you have a really big backyard, that's a lot harder

Journeyman Geek

8:15 AM

@JAD ... we also accidentally off leash trained him...

Ash is the worst example of how to train a dog since the 'techniques' or lack thereof kinda worked in a unique set of circumstances ;p

JAD

hmm, I'm fairly sure my mom had to resort to electrical collars at one point because the dogs wouldn't listen and chase cattle

She'd whistle, and if they didn't listen they'd get a shock. They learnt pretty quickly

it's not ideal, but the big one has pulled my mom off her feet at least once

Yvette Colomb

@JourneymanGeek hmmm different breeds and we're talking about land and acres

Journeyman Geek

yup. So anything I say is mostly useless ;p

Yvette Colomb

@JAD I know - and working dogs are different again

@JourneymanGeek oh I understand what you're saying - it's just a totally different concept

Henders

@JourneymanGeek Ash is just like a human in dog form though. He seems to understand the unwritten rules :P

Journeyman Geek

8:20 AM

quite!

@Henders Yup

Yvette Colomb

Anatolian Shepherd

The Anatolian Shepherd Dog (Turkish: Anadolu çoban köpeği) is a breed of dog which originated in the Anatolia region of central Turkey. It is rugged, large and very strong, with good sight and hearing that allow it to protect livestock. With its high speed and agility it is able to run down a predator with great efficiency. The Kennel Club of the United Kingdom classifies it as a shepherd dog and Fédération Cynologique Internationale classifies it as molossus/mountain dog #331 (group 2 part 2.2) == History == The Karabaş (Blackhead) is descended from ancient livestock guardian dog types t...

Journeyman Geek

Quite literally I just talk to him and try not to let him take advantage too often

Yvette Colomb

@JourneymanGeek my greyhound is similar -we talk

> These dogs like to roam, as they were bred to travel with their herd and to leave the herd to go hunt for predators before the predators could attack the flock. Therefore, it is recommended to microchip and tag pets.

JAD

@Henders did you see the youtube video yet? :P

Yvette Colomb

> The Anatolian Shepherd dog was developed to be independent and forceful, responsible for guarding its master's flocks without human assistance or direction. These traits make it challenging as a pet; owners of dogs of this breed must socialize the dogs to turn them into appropriate companions. They are intelligent and can learn quickly but might choose not to obey.

Henders

8:22 AM

@JAD No, I didn't see a link :O

I saw the cutest Cockapoo a few days ago...

JAD

12 hours ago, by JAD

So as some are interested in watching a snake eat, here is a video of Snor eating a rat. Be advised, if you don't want to see a fluffy animal being eaten by a not so fluffy animal, this is not for you. Also, it does contain some blood. Link

Henders

Ah okay, thanks :P I'll watch it at lunch time :P

Yvette Colomb

8:35 AM

cockatoo

similar names, I'm sure they're entirely different

Henders

8:47 AM

LOOOK AT ITTTTTT :P

SO CUTE

JAD

9:09 AM

btw, I added the food response gif to this answer, I hope the difference in body language between that one and the earlier one is clear enough :P

Journeyman Geek

9:52 AM

@Henders oh those tend to be adorable

@YvetteColomb though personally, I have an extreme soft spot for bigger dogs

I mean cockatoos are waaay too small, sound funny, have this odd gait...

Cockatoo Parrot barks like a dog

►

Its not even leashed.

Yvette Colomb

@JourneymanGeek me too :) they remind me of horses lolol

Journeyman Geek

oh, medium sized ones?

The GSDs in india are sweet, but my kinda dream dog, little scamp sleeping on my foot excepted would be something like a collie

and heh

My parents have a friend with one of these petpaw.com.au/breeds/combai I hope to get to meet him. (The dog, not the friend) :p

Henders

10:16 AM

Oh, they look scary...

Henders

11:25 AM

@JourneymanGeek on a completely off-topic note, do you know of a program which might do apache log monitoring well? I wanted to send notifications based on events but honestly, i'm starting to think I should just write a little python script to do it.

Journeyman Geek

Errrr no

Could maybe use something like sense?

Sensu

Henders

Seems like an opportunity to write more python, then :P

Good job reviewing, everyone! We're keeping the queues nicely empty! :D

Journeyman Geek

1:17 PM

@Henders

Henders

Dawwww

So cute :P

JAD

3:48 PM

@Henders and? did you watch yet? :P

Henders

@JAD Nope, sorry. I've had a bit of a mad day. I'll watch it this evening, promise!! :P

JAD

no problemo :P

saw this photo on facebook just now

facebook.com/TheReptileReport/photos/…

meh, fb pictures and oneboxing doesn't seem to be a thing

JAD

4:20 PM

camels running are the craziest thing ever: reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/8eszxp/a_camel_goes_for_a_run/…

Henders

4:41 PM

@JAD Oh my goodness :O That strike was insane! I got a fright just sat at my desk!! hahaha!

Wow, it's amazing how much they can fit in their mouth. I was sat thinking 'No way, it's too big' but the whole thing slowly and surely goes down.

That strike though... Wow there must be some serious force there.

JAD

5:10 PM

@Henders oh definitely, and this one is only a year old

they only get heavier, and with that only get more muscle

also, don't expect to be able to get your hands out of the way if they fancy it :P

@Henders also, you can kinda see how the shoulders and hips are relatively hard to get past. A similar thing is the case with man-eating snakes. While killing a human is relatively trivial (a handful of species are capable of that), being able to swallow an adult is almost impossible because the shoulders.

JAD

5:31 PM

Also goes to show the importance of being able to read body language

user15026

@JAD Huh, that's fascinating, like I kept expecting it to just fall on its face

Henders

@JAD No kidding. It takes a bit of encouragement but then it comes over quite quickly and absolutely smashes it. Then I assume it sat constricting for a while which is why the video cut?

JAD

@Henders not that long. I think less than a minute

It's already dead after all

They react on whether the prey is still struggling

Any movement? More squeeze...

JAD

8:25 PM

hmm, so I'm messing a bit in the cupboard underneath Snor's tank. She thinks it's food and is already looking ready for more

Henders

9:01 PM

@JAD But she ate yesterday...?!

JAD

@Henders yeah, she's a glutton

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