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The One True Kat

@theonetruekat.bsky.social

1.7K followers 540 following 2.4K posts

Biologist. Californian. Madly in love with nature. Always outside. Garden nerd. Cyclist. Big fan of informed democracy. Sheltering and supporting as many people as possible. She/her All photos mine unless credited.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · Mar 21

Since I have to reintroduce myself after the move:

I’m Kat. California biologist, currently in Davis. Herpetologist. 15 years in private consulting (utility and infrastructure), mostly as a field nerd, doing surveys for local flora/fauna and passing on whatever niche wisdom I can.

🦎🐸🐟🐻🦉🐝🐍🐢🌿

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Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 13h

This is a bop
Know your rights.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 20m

Being alive at this point in time is harmful to my health.

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 22m

Surround yourself with people who give you hope. Also, be nice to migrating tarantulas.

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 23m

Nothing like thinking you’re stealthy and then getting this face from your target. Cooper’s Hawk. 🪶 #BirdoftheDay

A small hawk with orange and white breast feathers and a dark grey cap stares at the photographer from a large oak tree.

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 13h

YAAAAAAAAS!

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 15h

Come get your mans, he’s out prowling the streets. #inverts

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 1d

Lewis’s Woodpecker! (Melanerpes lewis)! These christmas-looking nerds are migrating south along the Sierra right now.

A handsome adult Lewis’s woodpecker with pinkish-red undercarriage and glossy dark green back and head.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 1d

Look at this baby fuzz. Doing a first migration. I love these goofs. Do you know who this is? Answer is in comments! 🪶

A slightly gawky-looking woodpecker youngster sits high in an oak tree.

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NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 1d

doomscroll break

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Robby Deans @hydaticus.bsky.social · 1d

Baird's Ratsnake (Pantherophis bairdi) eating a bat! Val Verde County, Texas.

#herps #predation #snakes

A gray snake with longitudinal dark lines down its back and orange skin between the scales is coiled around a bat. The scene is inside a dark, rocky cave.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1d

Early voting is underway for Prop 50 in California.

I urge anyone in the state to vote yes.

This isn’t a race to the bottom. It’s a means of avoiding the bottom. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-blue-states-should-do-when-red

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 1d

Hello, loves. Welcome back. San Luis NWR. 🪶

A trio of Sandhill cranes rests in a wetland.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 1d

Out here at San Luis NWR, currently coot central.

A large, flooded wetland with many many American coots.

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Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · 1d

One of the major benefits to adapting a class to include your own research? It sure makes the lab portion more fun!! I’m happy to bring #DevBio, evo devo, and comparative anatomy to our pre-vet and pre-med undergrads @ucdavis.bsky.social!

A woman giving thumbs up in front of a lab classroom

A woman standing over an axolotl staging chart

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

Congrats!🎉

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

My dude. The mental image this just gave me. 😱

The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

And once again, for those who have never seen it, this is how a spadefoot toad uses its “spades” to dig backward and bury itself. (Yes, it’s sped up). This was a wild toad in a cow footprint, slowly working its way downward. #toadallytuesday #herps

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

Invasive species management FTW.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

Chonky baby spadefoot toads being rescued from a road puddle this summer. Chonkity chunk chonk. #toadallytuesday #herps

An abundance of large spadefoot toadpoles, at various developmental stages, in a clear container for transport.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

The ducks are too.

A mallard stands on top of a western pond turtle.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

It’s #ToadallyTuesday and you should post toads and toad-related content. #herps

A 4-panel comic with tips about identifying spadefoot toads vs western toads. Spadefoot have vertical pupils, true toads have horizontal pupils.

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Jerry Coyne @evolutionistrue.bsky.social · 2d

Fred Ramsdell, who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine yesterday for work on immunology, hasn't been informed of his win as he's "off the grid" hiking, and can't be contacted.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 2d

"The single most important behaviour, design or regulation for creating streets conducive to walking and cycling, was physical separation between the modes"

We've got a new study out, learning from a broad mixture of street users, planners and designers

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Highlights
For marginalised street users mode separation is the key to human-scale movement.
Streets conducive to walking and cycling have functional, safe and accessible design.
Professionals must approach street design, regulation and user behaviour holistically.
Combinations of influencing factors persuade people to either use or avoid a street.
There are no easy fixes to the public realm that will work for all non-drivers.

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The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 2d

OC warbler, lurking today. 🪶

A dull yellowish gray bird with a pointed grey bill and broken white eyeing.

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Colton the fish squeezer🐟🪴📚🏕️🐝 @fishsqueezer.bsky.social · 2d

I say this every year during bull trout spawning season, but please don't build rock dams across streams with migratory fish (especially during a record drought). 🐟🧪

Somehow the world must figure out how to survive the loss of your artistry when you die, so you mind as well help us by stopping now.

A boulder and cobble dam built across a stream at low water, blocking the surface flow of the water.

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