girlofprey

Thank you! I'm very confused about post at the moment too. I keep wanting to buy things just in case it's the last chance I have before the company closes down, but given what the Next workers said about their distribution centre, it's hard to know what you're asking of people, or what they're being forced into.

It's a lovely picture. I think it's actually quite touching when people send you things they love, because it's a bit like saying "I love you as much as this thing". I am aware you probably don't love me as much as the Beatles. We don't have to argue about that.

Some facts about spotted hyenas:

1. They are matriarchal, and the females are bigger and stronger than the males. You could just see this as a cheap feminist victory, 'the females are in charge', but it means that the females literally do all the hunting, all the social organising, all the leadership and all the child-rearing. There are current theories that the reason why females are bigger and stronger is directly linked to motherhood, to having to fight with each other over who got the best scraps in hard times, and so could provide more and better milk for their young. They mother their young for about two years, because it takes that long for the bone-crushing jaws to really develop, so they can survive on their own in hard times. They love their young. They are so tender and so vicious.


2. They are the most successful predator in Africa. They kill around 95% of everything they eat, I think, and scavenge the rest. Lions I think kill around 30% of everything they eat. A lion is a lot more likely to steal a hyenas kill than a hyena is to steal a lions. They are excellent scavengers, and can eat meat so rotten no other animal would touch, as well as digest bones, but they are better hunters.


3. Excess male testosterone means all female hyenas have a fake penis, that has to be consciously retracted before they can mate. A female hyena cannot be raped. What a nice way to live.


4. They live in massive social groups, some up 70 members large. There's evidence that to manage this they have an understanding of politics - it seems like a hyena will only get involved in a dispute between two others if they're both below her rank. They are so sociable.


5. Their hunting relies on group teamwork, like wolves. They are courser-style hunters than rely on stamina rather than speed, like wolves. They live in bigger packs than wolves. I still love wolves more, but hyenas literally do everything wolves do better.


6. They are neither dogs nor cats, and are most closely related to mongooses and weasels. When you really look at them I think they have the most beautiful teddybear faces.

This has been my essay on hyenas. I'm not trying to make you love them. But I really love them. THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE.