Best products from r/Awwducational

We found 22 comments on r/Awwducational discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 55 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/Awwducational:

u/remotectrl · 5 pointsr/Awwducational

This is like a yearbook of America's Bats. You can sort by state to see which bats are local to you and learn a bit about their life history. Only about 3% of total bat species are found in the US and Canada and doesn't include some incidental sightings. If you'd like to learn more about them, or if your child has a nonfiction book report, I highly recommend America's Neighborhood Bats by Dr Merlin Tuttle.

Image comes from this post by /u/Pondskimmer who was kind enough to give these tiny patriots a bat house. If you'd like to encourage bats to live near you, preserving habitat and erecting bat houses is a great project. This vendor has a list of likely bat house occupants.

I've posted similar facts in the past, but I wanted to do something fun for election day and an excuse to post a link to this RadioLab episode about quantifying life. It's a really fantastic episode and the last section focuses on the value of ecosystem services like pest control, water filtration, and pollination. It should be noted that bats are also a tourist attraction in some areas so they are pulling double duty.

Of course, the value of these ecosystem services provided fluctuates with the market value of the crops, but how can you put a price on all the durians?

Here's a study looking at bats and cotton in Texas. This was expanded upon in another paper:

>Assuming values obtained from the cotton-dominated agroecosystem in Texas, and the number of acres of harvested cropland across the continental United States in 2007, we estimate the value of bats to the agricultural industry is roughly $22.9 billion/year. If we assume values at the extremes of the probable range, the value of bats may be as low as $3.7 billion/year and as high as $53 billion/year.

The GSP for Vermont is roughly $29 billion now, but was $24.5 billion in 2007 which would put it right in line with the bats.

My favorite part of this was when they tried to assign a wage for the bats:

>With the price of cotton in 2001 at about $.0017 per boll, this means a single Brazilian free-tailed bat provides a service of $0.02 per night in mid-June, declining to close to zero by August.

This estimate may be a little out of date as its from 2011 and we've lost more bats since then.

If you are a school teacher and would like to do a section on bats, I highly recommend you contact Bat Conservation International and see if you can reserve the bat trunk. It's full of great activities, potential lesson plans, and some presentations and videos. I can personally vouch for it's goodness. I also found this activity guide for teachers last night while gathering sources for this post.


u/Fuzzyphilosopher · 2 pointsr/Awwducational

In response to those asking why we didn't domesticate foxes and especially those wanting a pet fox:

It seems that the wolves of 15,000 yrs ago participated with humans in domesticating themselves. I suggest Dog Sense by John Bradshaw https://smile.amazon.com/Dog-Sense-Science-Behavior-Better/dp/B0064X82SY?sa-no-redirect=1 as it has a lot on the theories of dog domestication.

Wolves are more social amongst themselves than foxes and their family groups are more like ours. The real leap that made an ancient wolf into a dog was the ability to see understand, communicate and bond with another species, humans. It's quite rare and amazing when you think about it.

Those ancient wolves are not the same as the wolves today. They were probably less fearful of people and the ones least fearful evolved into dogs. In The fox experiment this trait was selected for those that would live and breed.

On the other hand over time humans became a much greater threat to the wild wolves which became selected for by their fear and avoidance of humans. The bold ones most likely to get killed and in the modern age shot from a distance. So Today's wolves are not the ancestors of dogs but their distant cousins. One reason that dog trainers who suggest we treat a dog according to their limited understanding of how modern wolves behave is bunk.

A thing about foxes is that they hunt small game individually and while they may have wanted to have a go at the scraps of human hunts they are far too small to take on ancient wolves who wanted to do so and also lack the pack fighting skills so they kept to themselves.

The dog is so commonplace that we overlook how magnificent they are. When I walk my dog off leash in the country she explores territory at an amazing rate while frequently glancing at me for signs of my interest and intentions. We communicate silently by watching for body language and the what our eyes and her nose is directed at.

In the home she can read my mood and intentions and will look at then glance at a door she wants open then back at me. Those are far more amazing things than we give them credit for being! To say nothing of reading our moods and knowing when we are sick, even being able to predict seizures and the like when trained.

People want a pet fox because it is novel and pretty but that has more to do with getting attention from other people. Owning a fox will lead to many unexpected experiences which is also either fun or infuriating.

What is the purpose of a pet?

For me it is companionship and a connection to a being who is different from me, yet the same. The commonplace boring dog is a far more fascinating animal and friend than these foxes in my opinion.

u/PixelVector · 8 pointsr/Awwducational

I've had a total of three.

They're cord chewers. Best advice I could give there is just to keep the cords out of the way or run them through plastic flexible tubing. http://www.cableorganizer.com/wire-loom-tubing/

You don't have to have them out of their cage too much if your cage is big enough. You can just play with them on a couch or bed every day. You can let them free roam around but yeah you'd have to 'rat proof' things you don't want chewed.

My recommended cage is the CritterNation. Lots of room for a pair of rats and a really high quality cage. On that note you'd want to have at least two because they can get lonely by themselves. It's easier adopting two brothers or sisters who are already bonded otherwise you'll have to very slowly introduce them to prevent fighting.

They will sometimes leave trails of urine when about. It's very small dribbles though usually, like a few drops. I think it may be possible to train them not to but I didn't put much effort there since it occurred pretty rarely for me. For the most part they self-litter-trained for me and when they actually went it was in a particular part of their cage.

For tricks I had one who was an awesome shoulder percher. You could just sit your hand down and tap and he'd come running up your arm and shoulder and just sit there. When perched he'd usually just kind of sit there and balance, maybe play with hair. I could drive with him perched and he'd get excited when going near a car.

He'd also stand up on command.

u/Alantha · 27 pointsr/Awwducational

[Alex]( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot) was truly an incredible bird. There was a NOVA special a few years ago on him as well as lots of great stuff in the Wiki article. Seeing intelligence in other animals like this is humbling.

Some highlights of Alex's abilities:

  • Understanding the concept of zero (we share this with Alex, dolphins, chimps and bonobos.)
  • Distinguishing between material types (he would touch something with his mouth then identify it; wool, paper, etc.)
  • Counting, quantities up to six
  • Self awareness (that is nearly as huge as understanding zero, only 10 animals have self awareness including humans)
  • 100 word vocabulary and an ability to understand what he is talking about
  • Distinguishing between different colors
  • Distinguishing between different shapes

    Here is a 12 minute video from the NOVA special and how his death affected people (introduced by Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson). It must have been devastating for Dr. Pepperberg. As scientists we are not supposed to remain a little detached from our test animals, but an animal like Alex is something truly special. I am sure when that bond was broken it was very difficult for Dr. Pepperberg. Even all these years later, my heart goes out to her.

    A short video highlighting some of Alex's understanding.

    Here is a link to Dr. Pepperberg's website: The Alex Foundation. It is currently being updated, but I included it incase you want to bookmark it for later.

    Alex & Me, Dr. Pepperberg's book on their work together.

    Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird, a children's book about Alex.

    National Geographic article on Animal Minds.

    Edit - There's been some discussion on parrot ownership in here and I wanted to share PBS's "Parrot Confidential" (full episode). Many parrots are purchased then given up when the owners realize how much dedication, time, and patience it takes to keep one (let alone some parrots have a lifespan of 70+ years). This documentary is about parrot rescues and the current situation of the parrot trade. Once you get home (unless you can watch tv at work without anyone caring), I suggest checking it out. It's incredibly informative.
u/aco620 · 1 pointr/Awwducational

If you've never taken care of reptiles before, one thing to keep in mind is that there is no definitive way to get it right, and what one person tells you is the way to go, another person will tell you you're an idiot that's doing it all wrong and torturing your pet. We don't have them down to a science like we do cats and dogs. BUT, with enough help you can make an educated guess on the best way to care for them.

The main thing is get a decent size tank, sand substrate, and a proper heat lamp. You can buy a timer for cheap that will turn the lamp on and off for you at the appropriate times too. They like vegetables, crickets, and meal worms. CrThey're desert animals, so their heat lamp is gonna be a hot one, and they stay small for years before they start getting iguana sized, so they're fine with smaller amounts of food.

This is all off the top of my head from when I owned 2 years ago though, so don't take it as definitive.

I bought this book back in the day to help me out

And as with everything on reddit, there's a subreddit for it

https://www.reddit.com/r/Uromastyx/

They've got care sheets in their sidebar, and while the sub isn't the most active, I would assume all of the moderators own uros and could answer any questions you have if you message them.


u/gildedbat · 2 pointsr/Awwducational

I ADORE pygmy goats! Lucky you! What sort of degree/program are you looking at for grad school?

Also, congrats on the pending nuptials! I got married 3 years ago and miss the wedding planning. It was so much fun! I highly recommend Miss Manners' Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified Wedding. It will help you keep things in perspective and keep you from being distracted by all the wedding-related BS that is so prevalent today.

u/DIYKnowNothing · 183 pointsr/Awwducational

They were actually bred to be tame so that they could harvest their pelts. Previously, the foxes were extremely difficult to raise in captivity and so a scientist began selectively breeding the foxes that didn’t bite him when he stuck his hand in the cage. Eventually, they became more tame and easier to raise for their pelts, and it additionally changed their appearance. It’s actually a fascinating study in evolution and genetics.

BBC Article: Soviet scientist created the only tame foxes in the world

They touch on the experiment in this documentary as well How Dogs Became Man's Best Friend: Genetics & Domestication

u/WalkInLove · 56 pointsr/Awwducational

Yup! While there's a lot of pushback from the scientific community about ascribing emotional states to animals, the evidence is pretty overwhelming that non-human animals have affective states. Dr. Panksepp has done a lot of work on brain regions and pathways which control emotions. He's recently published a new book, about all of his work from the past few decades. Laughter has been found in a number of species, here's a paper about it:
Laughter in different contexts. And, bonus, here's a later paper from Panksepp with newer data on rat laughter.

u/IchTanze · 6 pointsr/Awwducational

The modern Chihuahua is named after the region in Northern Mexico, back in the day, it probably came in a hairless and "powderpuff" form. The hairless ones were companions and used as healers. The hairy ones were eaten, sometimes lead on long leashes, one by one, and taken on long journeys to be slowly eaten when food was needed. Dogs were the domesticated animal of choice for the indigenous people of the Americas. Bigger dogs were used to pull snow sleds and land sleds, help plow fields, bring down big game, and protect families. Little dogs were companions, and used at special festivals and during times of famine.


http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1807-59322010001000022&script=sci_arttext&tlng=es%20latin%20americans

https://www.amazon.com/Early-Mesoamerican-Village-UPDATED/dp/1598744690/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1434831256&sr=8-1&keywords=flannery%2C+kent+v.+early+mesoamerican

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/chihuahua/detail/#2

u/DangerToDangers · 7 pointsr/Awwducational

I first heard from it from Last Chance to See, which is the least popular book Douglas Adams has written but the one he's the most proud of. So if anyone likes Douglas Adams, I think they owe it to themselves to read that book.

It also features the guy being shagged by the kakapo.

u/JoeBourgeois · 1 pointr/Awwducational

Check out this book if interested in more about this.

From the Publisher's Weekly review: "Prior to this book by Syracuse, N.Y., zookeeper Gucwa and Syracuse Post-Standard science editor Ehmann, no one had brought to the public's attention that elephants like to draw, and will, without training or reward, doodle spontaneously on the ground with a pebble or stick. In the case of Siri, a 13-year-old Asian elephant, her efforts were noted by Gucwa, her caretaker, who provided drawing materials and collected the results of her endeavors. Her drawings (50 of them are reproduced here) have been admired by artists such as Willem de Kooning and their significance discussed by evolutionists and cognitive researchers, some of whom affirm artistic intent of the drawings, while others attribute this activity to the animal's boredom. Interspersed with lore that demonstrates elephantine intelligence are relevant literary quotations. As de Kooning observes, "That's a damned talented elephant."

u/pm_ur_wifes_nudes · 6 pointsr/Awwducational

Perfect timing! I just got my dad this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FLTO5Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1458826986&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=bat+box&dpPl=1&dpID=51L9R3wh6nL&ref=plSrch

Bathouse for his birthday. He's got a house and some property in Northern Michigan to install it at. Now I know to tell him not to install it on the giant maple in the yard. Any fun facts on bats in the northwest lower peninsula?

u/sjm88 · 51 pointsr/Awwducational

Hi all. Local here.



Quokkas live here:

http://www.experienceperth.com/destinations/rottnest-island



Come visit. It's awesome. Don't come in February - it's fucking hot. Don't come now, it's pissing down.



Also, if you want to read some great short stories from Perth, have a go of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Shark-Net-Memories-Murder/dp/0141001968/ref=tmm_pap_title_0



There is one in there which is all about Rottnest. You can read it on the plane. Don't worry, we don't get that many serial killers. We're still making TV shows about the one from the 50s :)

u/ErrantWhimsy · 7 pointsr/Awwducational

Sneezing is a dog behavior that I believe is in the same family as a calming signal. There are tons of them, including yawning, lip licking, and slow blinking.

Basically, they convey "Hey, things are all good here, we're just playing, no need to get aggressive." It can be when a dog is nervous, or just overly excited and playful.

If you want to learn more, check out On Talking Terms with Dogs.

u/gabeyld · 4 pointsr/Awwducational

I read this book a little while ago and was pretty surprised by it. You might find it worth considering.