Travis McEnery
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travismcenery.bsky.social
Travis McEnery
@travismcenery.bsky.social
1.2K followers 160 following 250 posts
Making less wronger spider science productions on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/@travismcenery2919
Posts Replies Media Videos
travismcenery.bsky.social
I truly enjoyed the collaborative nature of making this video, and you might enjoy that mine is not the only face in it.

This topic is amazing.

youtu.be/_QF6kaOAuYg?...
Spider Cognition: How Tiny Brains Do Mighty Things
YouTube video by Travis McEnery
youtu.be
November 15, 2025 at 3:37 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Well this was neat.

World's biggest spiderweb discovered inside 'Sulfur Cave' with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black | Live Science share.google/IcsbD2Lb3zhT...
World's biggest spiderweb discovered inside 'Sulfur Cave' with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black
A giant colonial spiderweb in a sulfuric cave on the border between Greece and Albania may be the largest ever found — and it was built by spiders we didn't know liked the company of others.
share.google
November 5, 2025 at 11:51 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
What, are Australian families a different size than average Canadian ones? Does it take more, or less, beef to feed an Australian family?
A price label on a package of meat at a grocery store, with the product description written as "BEEF AUSTRALIAN FAMILY SIZE TOP SIRLOIN STEAK"
October 31, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Travis McEnery
mrshifty.bsky.social
I saw this article and immediately thought of @travismcenery.bsky.social

www.iflscience.com/what-are-tho...
Ever Seen Zigzags In A Spider’s Web? A New Study May Have Just Figured Out What They’re For
Never miss a meal, you say? Color me intrigued.
www.iflscience.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Travis McEnery
britishspiders.bsky.social
A good news spider story from the BBC today

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Lost' spider species rediscovered on Isle of Wight
Aulonia albimana was found at the National Trust's Newtown National Nature Reserve.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:17 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Somebody please tell me I am not the only nerd to ever bring hot sauce to work in a specimen vial.
A burrito sits on a table next to a glass vial full of Frank's hot sauce.
October 29, 2025 at 1:04 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Here's where I found myself this morning. On spider-related business. Obviously.

If you're a spider nerd, you've probably seen the shorts about this. Turns out they're not WRONG, really, but they could be a bit... less wronger.

Work is in progress.
October 22, 2025 at 10:01 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! Hope you enjoy your turkey with cranberries the way this wolfie is enjoying her... wolfie, apparently, ON a cranberry, while skimming the surface of a cranberry bog.
A wolf spider (pardosa, probably?) sits atop a cranberry which is floating on the surface of a cranberry bog, while eating what appears to be another wolf spider.
October 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Hustled to get this one finished before other responsibilities called. Let me know what you think (and please share!)

youtu.be/Zb31XOuU-FM
The Tan Jumping Spider - The Spiders in Your House
YouTube video by Travis McEnery
youtu.be
October 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Trying to draw a diagram of a salticid retina for a video and accidentally drew a speedo.
A computer screen showing a GIMP window with a drawing of a shape that looks like a bright red speedo.
October 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Working on a video and came across this photo of this very thoughtful-looking Western Lynx spider and thought it was adorable. So I thought I'd share.

#Pentax K-5ii
A Western Lynx spider, Oxyopes scalaris, sucks on his toe thoughtfully on a white background.
October 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Travis McEnery
sciencevs.bsky.social
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
October 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
So, this is wild. I don't know a lot about ants but this seems like a pretty major discovery.

youtu.be/Z-O4_AwWpfI?...
The Ants That Broke Biology
YouTube video by 7 Days of Science
youtu.be
September 30, 2025 at 2:29 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Tried to film Dana grabbing her dinner tonight and vastly underestimated the distance and speed at which she can sense - and strike - prey. This genus of spiders absolutely astounds me.
September 23, 2025 at 1:07 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
A species I don't often get to see, I came across this lovely little Dolomedes triton yesterday, the Six-spotted fishing spider. I didn't realize how comfortable they are when fully submerged, with a layer of air sticking to them. And they're instantly dry when they resurface. Love these spoods.
A six-spotted fishing spider, Dolomedes triton, on the surface of the water near a rock.
September 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Today was a bit rough but this lovely picture of my little Larinioides made it a bit brighter.
A juvenile Larinioides sclopetarius at the hub of her (?) web.
September 16, 2025 at 1:52 AM
travismcenery.bsky.social
This is definitely the coolest pitfall traps I've ever seen.

@cataranea.bsky.social , @ibycter.bsky.social
evrclover.bsky.social ev 💫🍭 (>w< > @evrclover.bsky.social · Sep 7
i was inspired by @travismcenery.bsky.social to start my own insect pitfall trap :3 im going to leave it at one of my fave parks (with permission) and check back on it in a week or two. i’m very excited
bottom of pitfall trap reads: please only observe… do *not* disturb. thank you! this is an insect pitfall for personal ID and study. my pitfall trap with a clear cup underneath (to be filled with alchohol solution). it replicates some kind of intricate architectural building with many pillars at the base. this is too ward out anything big, like rodents. the roof protects it from rain. 3d print model here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/architecture/insect-pitfall-trap
September 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Trying to photograph a spider:

ME: You'll hate the plastic tub, here's a nice rock to sit on like where you came from

SPIDER: No I don't think I will

ME: Please just get on the rock for a nice picture

SPIDER: No we hates it

ME: Could you just

SPIDER: We hates you too
A spider in a Rubbermaid dish pan stubbornly refuses to stay on a perfectly good rock, despite clearly detesting the feeling of the plastic
September 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Okay, this is kinda wild. @xcspence.bsky.social , you might love this.
August 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
This one is a little different, but if you want to see how some spider science gets done (and how you can do it, too), you can see what I learned from @cataranea.bsky.social and @ibycter.bsky.social when they put me up for three days in St. John's!

youtu.be/6c2XqAsHnuo
I Spent 3 Days with Spider Scientists - Here's What I Learned
YouTube video by Travis McEnery
youtu.be
August 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Any of my Bluesky people out there have experience identifying Ctenids? Bonus points if you're in Arizona. Asking for a friend.
August 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Some of Temu's AI-generated product images are something else. I just... don't know what to say about this one.
An AI generated image of what looks like a bathroom, with a coiled-up drain cleaning cable the size of a Volkswagen hanging on the wall, which is apparently also a portal to another bathroom with a weirdly duplicated bathtub, atop which a woman in her underwear with long hair but apparently no head stands on one of her two-and-a-half legs and reaches for something on the ceiling. Also there's a stack of towelgloves in the corner of the first bathroom with a somewhat normal-looking woman standing and looking into a mirror. It's wild.
August 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
Trying to record music in my office and a major challenge is moving instruments around without putting them right through the webs of my orb weavers.
A bass guitar in the foreground, with two frames behind it each containing an orb-weaving spider, and two more guitars hanging on the wall in the background.
August 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
travismcenery.bsky.social
So with the size of the wildfires here in Nova Scotia being expressed in hectares, helpful people put this graphic on the internet and the math is right but WHY ARE THEY NOT SQUARES???
August 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Travis McEnery
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social
May I offer you the tiniest baby Ogre in these trying times 🤎
#EmotionalSupportSpood
Tiniest little slender brown spider with the trademark big black ogre-face spider eyes peering shyly straight ahead, legs stretched straight ahead and behind The tiny creature next to the tip of my thumb, barely as long as my thumb is wide
August 15, 2025 at 2:49 AM