Not to mention that just leaving tennis balls out in the wild for wildlife means all that rubber and plastic and glue and whatnot leeching into the soil and environs.
Comment on The HOA isn't going to be happy about the colour, though.
Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 3 days ago
This is green washing no matter how you slice it. While it’s an interesting idea, artificial refugia, like bat boxes or these balls, have to be very carefully designed so they don’t have one of these negative outcomes:
- Act as a trap for the targeted species with regards to predators
- Kill the target species - often through thermal extremes
- Just don’t get used by the target species
There’s some good work about this on (fuck, fine rummaging for paper) Australian quolls
I actually reached out to Cowan to asks a few questions. He was pumped that we were citing his work and using it in reclamation planning as landscape enchantments.
Anyway, artificial refugia should, at best, be viewed as a temporary fix, or a way to layer habitat on the landscape, never a full substitution.
realitista@lemmus.org 3 days ago
yakko@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Thank you, I treasure comments like this! Does he weigh in on swift bricks anywhere? I do hope he likes those, at least.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
I’m in a completely different field, but there’s nothing more awesome than seeing your work get used in real life situations that actually match up with your goals.
And people showing a genuine interest is a close second.