Tara Chestnut, PhD
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tcastanea.bsky.social
Tara Chestnut, PhD
@tcastanea.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.3K following 670 posts
Wildlife Ecology | Natural History | Disease | Invasive Species | Contaminants | Aquatic Science | Reintroductions | Science Communication | March Mammal Madness narrator | she/her
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tcastanea.bsky.social
I cringe at the circumstances that required this sign to be posted
Close up photo of a clean toilet in a public restroom showing the back quarter of the toilet, plumbing and flushing apparatus. On the light gray wall above the toilet is a placard saying: “Non-potable water Do not drink”
November 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
tcastanea.bsky.social
Back at you! <where do I sleep?!?!>
White, gray and tan tabby cat sleeping on my bed, splayed out with belly exposed and legs in all directions taking up 10 times the space she needs in my spot in the bed at bedtime. I just want to sleep too Kittay!!
November 6, 2025 at 5:55 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
I live in Washington State and this is the message I get when I try to schedule my COVID vaccine… I don’t want to start over! I just want my shot 😭💉😷🩻⚕️
Screenshot that has a red triangle with an exclamation point inside of it with the text “Please see below for further scheduling instructions. 2025/2026 COVID Vaccine Formulation is being paused and not yet available”. Below the text is a blue box with text “Start over” inside of it.
September 7, 2025 at 7:13 PM
tcastanea.bsky.social
I came down to LA this weekend to visit fam… we saw our fav Lucha Libre & I taught my nephew (an avid angler) to can fish! Only those who get me know a 23L pressure canner is a normal carry-on The TSA machine didn’t think so 😭 It destroyed my canner & I’m now convinced octopuses screen our bags🥫🎣🇲🇽🤼‍♂️🐙
The marque of the historic Mayan Theater in Los Angeles reads: MAYAN presents Lucha Va Voom de la Liz SOLD OUT Poster for a show at the historic Mayan Theater reads: Lucha Va Voom presents the Good, the Bad and the Fabulous in the center of the poster in a western style font. The art is an illustration of old timey western town facade with two luchadores in chicken costumes riding horses on opposite sides of the words. A 23 liter pressure canner with a misshapen lid that no longer fits on the pot. The handle on the lid is missing. The damage was caused when the pot was placed in a bin and sent through the TSA screening machine at the airport. I can only assume there are octopuses inside the machines who look through our carry-ons, they were attracted by the faint residual aroma of canned tuna and decided to tear the lid off the canner making it slightly oval shaped. The lid no longer fits on the pot
August 25, 2025 at 6:54 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
Sometimes for me, seeing evidence of a fren brings me more joy than actually encountering the fren. Saw these fresh 🐻👣 today on an exploration around a local reservoir!
Fresh black bear tracks in tannish-gray colored mud at a reservoir in Washington State. There are also older animal tracks in the mud including great blue heron, goose, domestic dog and human - well presumably human unless the animals have started wearing shoes ;)
July 14, 2025 at 3:47 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
A few years ago, I had the good fortune to take Ma and Pop Chestnut to one of the largest known American Chestnut trees a few hours from where I live. Bonus, it’s at a winery! I also recently discovered specimens at a cemetery near where I live!
Selfie of a white lady with silver-brown hair (me!) wearing a light blue dress with stylized leaves on it. She has a big grin on her face and is in front of one of the largest known American Chestnut tree specimens (her surname sake) in North America and a stone monument describing the circumstances around why it was planted at this location.
July 12, 2025 at 6:33 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
I’ve never wanted to use my blocker skills so hard on an unsuspecting grown ass adult and was so grateful that an actual park ranger showed up to deal with the situation /fin
Photo of an all gender roller derby team in the middle of a jam. It’s an indistinguishable cluster of bodies, arms, legs and wheels. I am in the front of the pack wearing a silver jersey attempting to block skaters wearing black jerseys from passing me. I am very low.
July 12, 2025 at 4:25 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
Gather round for a short story folks! I’m an ecologist who works w/ wildlife & diseases. An ecologist studies the relationships between species & their environments. Until the pandemic (which crushed many leagues), I played roller derby. My derby name is Pestilence, Pest for short… 🛼🧬🧪
Photo of me, a white lady with brown hair and tattoos on her arms, waist up from the back in roller derby gear. I’m wearing a silver jersey with black lettering that has my derby name ‘Pestilence’ and number ‘240’, black and white elbow pads, and a silver ‘panty’ on my helmet with a black stripe down the middle - indicating my position as a pivot.
July 12, 2025 at 3:50 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
My most pedantic science geek post ever! 🧬🧪 I feel like this label means something different to me & the people who made this packaging… To me, PCR means polymerase chain reaction, THE THING that made molecular analysis a thing. Why is a grocery store recycling PCR products & for what purpose?! 🤓🧐😂
Package of amazingly delicious sheep feta cheese in brine. The hard plastic packaging is stamped with the words “100% PCR, recycle at New Seasons Market”.
July 4, 2025 at 4:35 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
It is not lost on me that foxes are often called tricksters throughout their range. I humbly celebrate the fox and her lessons every day
Front view color photo of a Cascade red fox in the snow. She is staring intently at the camera. Her coloration is called “cross”, where she is a stunning combination of black, gray and blonde. The white tipped tail is the key field mark for red foxes throughout their range regardless of their coloring, which can vary from black to gray to red to blonde or cross.
July 3, 2025 at 1:36 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
This is what my guts look like now… 🧪🪶🦊🦇🐸🐍⚕️
Side view X-ray of my guts from my neck to my upper legs showing a T6-10 spinal fusion and pelvis with 13 screws and a plate
July 2, 2025 at 3:49 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
Some of you know (from the other place) that 4 years ago, I almost died at work while searching for endangered Cascade red foxes. Since year 2, I return to the boulder to celebrate my life-iversary. I took some measurements and based on the mass of andesite (2.11 – 2.36 g / cm3), it’s 7-8,000 pounds
A panoramic photo in the subalpine parklands of Mount Rainier National Park, about a half mile downhill from Paradise, the most visited place in the park. The hillside is covered in lush green vegetation, peppered with andesite boulders that are mostly light gray in color. In the center of the photo, a middle-aged white lady sits smiling next to a pinkish andesite boulder. The Paradise Road is difficult to see but it’s about 20 feet above her. On June 23, 2021, the lady was crushed by that boulder.
July 2, 2025 at 2:42 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
All I see here is a pattern associated with age when the frontal lobe fuses
Bar graph showing two groups, based on age, of males (dark blue) and females (light blue) in early and mid adulthood who experience snake bites in Australia. In the 18-24 group, males are nearly twice as likely as females to be bitten by a snake. In the 25-44 group, the number of males is closer, but still larger, than the number female. In both age groups, females have a similar number of snake bites. *error bars are not reported
June 26, 2025 at 7:53 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
I love Antechinus so much!! I about died when I saw one irl on a recent trip to Tassie and was delighted to get this action shot!
A very blurry pic of a dark rectangular blob that the poster says is a small mammal running across a dirt road littered with dry tan colored eucalyptus leaves.
June 23, 2025 at 5:11 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
@heardislandgov.bsky.social Sen. Squelch can go eat 💩 animalia.bio/black-faced-...
Diet and Nutrition Sheathbills are opportunistic omnivores, predators and scavengers, feeding on strandline debris, algae and other vegetation, as well as on invertebrates, fish, seabird eggs and chicks, seal milk, blood, placentas, carrion, faeces, rodents and human refuse. https://animalia.bio/black-faced-sheathbill
April 5, 2025 at 6:58 PM
tcastanea.bsky.social
We call that ‘flavored water’!
Photo of a black and tan kelpie mix standing in a patch of tall bright green grass with a beautiful forest in the background. She is wearing a pink and green collar and a blue leash. She is selectively eating blades of grass.
March 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM
tcastanea.bsky.social
Well-adapted to living in mountainous habitats, Pumas manage a careful balancing act of speed, distance, and energy use to climb steep hills. To accomplish this, Pumas slow down and climb slopes at an angle so that they minimize steepness, similar to our roads! (Dunford et al. 2020) #2025MMM
An illustrated figure from Dunford et al. (2020) showing the proposed movement patterns of pumas on inclines. One puma silhouette is shown on light green level ground, taking a direct path towards a hill, while a second puma silhouette is shown with a path up the darker green hill. The path ascends the hill diagonally, zig-zagging back and forth up the incline.
March 28, 2025 at 12:29 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
NEXT UP: #1-seed ADDAX (Addax nasomaculatus) vs. #2-seed PUMA (Puma concolor) #2025MMM
Photo of a light tan mountain lion walking across a grassy meadow with low growing shrubs. There is part of a carcass in the background on the right that is a little blurry. (c) pfaucher – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Photo of an addax walking in a dry wash in the Saharan desert. The background soil is a gorgeous orange-red with no vegetation. The addax is light tan with white legs and white across it's face. It's long triple curled horns are dark brown. (c) Josh More – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND) accessed on iNaturalist
March 28, 2025 at 12:26 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
NEXT UP: #1-seed ADDAX (Addax nasomaculatus) VS. #4-seed CHACOAN PECCARY (Parachoerus [Catagonus] wagneri) #2025MMM
Photo of a Chacoan Peccary laying down having a nap in a scrape of light brown soil. It's head is HUGE, about 1/4 the size of it's body. It has uniform brown/gray coarse hair on it's body. (c) Travis – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Photo of an addax laying down on red soil with sparse green vegetation. The pelage is light tan and white with a white patch across it's face. Long spiraling horns are black from iNaturalist (c) cjmatheson – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
March 27, 2025 at 12:14 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
LAST UP: #5-seed MANED WOLF (Chrysocyon brachyurus) VS. #4-seed CHACOAN PECCARY (Parachoerus [Catagonus] wagneri) #2025MMM
Photo of a Chacoan Peccary in it's native habitat of grass and thorn scrub. It is standing on a dirt road, facing sideways with one leg raise d. It is in an alert posture with stiff hairs standing erect with the sun shining through them, it's skin appearing like a white line down it's back. It is a grizzled gray brown color with reddish highlights. Photo of an exceptionally derpy-looking maned wolf sitting on it's bottom scratching it's shoulder with a very gangly back leg. It is red in color with black hind legs and muzzle. The fur on the inside of it's ears and under it's chin is white. Smithsonian National Zoo
March 21, 2025 at 1:45 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
NEXT UP: #2 ALLIGATOR GAR (Atractosteus spatula) vs. #10 seed ATLANTIC HORSESHOE CRAB (Limulus polyphemus) #2025MMM
A large female horseshoe crab on a tan sandy beach surrounded on all sides by 5 smaller male horseshoe crabs trying to climb on top of her. They are olive green with light orange highlights. Photo by PBS Close up of an Alligator gar that could be it's senior portrait. It is silvery olive green in color with a silvery white underside. It has a long toothy snout that almost appears to be smiling. The background water is hued a pale green with fist-sized cobbles on the river bottom Image © Susan Middleton, California Academy of Sciences
March 21, 2025 at 1:13 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
LAST UP: #7 Seed GREAT WHITE PELICAN (Pelecanus onocrotalus) vs. #10 seed ATLANTIC HORSESHOE CRAB (Limulus polyphemus) #2025MMM
Crisp photo with saturated colors of a Great White Pelican flying over clear blue water with soft ripples. It's body and head feathers are bright white that fades into a pale yellow on it's chest. The flight feathers (primaries) are black with a white rachis, and it's pink feet are trailing slightly behind a very stubby tail. It's eyes pink with a black iris. The gular pouch is a glorious bright yellow. The long upper mandible has a red line along the length of the beak and the lower mandible has a dark line along it's length, giving it a lovely contrast. Photo from Nature Photo Library Photo of an Atlantic Horseshoe Crab in a bed of thin, brown sea grass. It is a flat medium brown with orange highlights. The anterior part of the carapace is wide and round and the posterior part tapers into a flat edge connected to the abdomen with a hinge. The abdomen has spikey bits along the edge that are yellow-orange and a long tail-like spike called a telson. It's lateral compound eyes are visible on the outer edge of the carapace, highlighted in orange. Hat tip to the Hakai publishing team who are now at: https://www.biographic.com/
March 14, 2025 at 1:49 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
CYANOBACTERIA is afloat in the Pacific Gyre when a large shipping container passes, creating a mist that sends Cyanobacteria airborne. #2025MMM
Overhead photo of the "Great Garbage Patch" aka the Pacific Gyre in the Pacific Ocean
March 14, 2025 at 12:22 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
NEXT UP: #2 ALLIGATOR GAR (Atractosteus spatula) vs. CYANOBACTERIA (Prochlorococcus spp.) #2025MMM
High resolution photo of a Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria. They are in small clusters with clear bodies with round green blobs in the middle. Photo of a USFWS employee in a pool holding an alligator gar that is ~7ft long. There are three other employees standing around him outside of the pool. The gar is silvery on top with large scales and pinkish on the belly
March 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
tcastanea.bsky.social
MOUNTAIN BEAVER pauses for a big scratch... of the world's largest flea, Hystrichopsylla schefferi! While scratching #MMMagic translocates Mountain Beaver into a roadside puddle PECCARY is bathing in! (Carraway & Verts 1993, Hubbard, 1947) #2025MMM #CollectionsAreEssential @burkemuseum.bsky.social
Close up photo that I took of mountain beaver fleas at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle Photo I took at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle of a taxidermied mountain beaver along side it's massive fleas that are mounted in a petri plate
March 13, 2025 at 1:39 AM