Mooshie's ReThredz

07/15/2026

They didn't wait for the ribbon cutting. 🦌 Three mule deer became the first animals to fully cross California's new wildlife overpass on Highway 97 in Siskiyou County — while construction crews were still working on site. The $20 million bridge isn't even finished, but cameras caught the deer crossing just 15 hours after workers left for the day, according to Caltrans and the UC Davis Road Ecology Center.

The stakes are real — this stretch of highway recorded over 50 deer and 16 elk killed by vehicles between 2015 and 2020. 📸 Nearly 100 cameras now track wildlife using the crossing daily, and a bobcat has been spotted nearby too. It's a small, quiet moment — but for these animals, it could mean survival. What happens when we finally build infrastructure for wildlife, not just cars? 🌲

📌 Sources: Caltrans District 2, UC Davis Road Ecology Center, AccuWeather, Smithsonian Magazine

07/15/2026

Just a reminder 🥹🤍🐾

07/15/2026

07/15/2026

10 old-fashioned plant signs that are surprisingly accurate.

Passed Down Through Generations — Still Holds Up Today

1. Dandelions Closing Their Heads
→ Rain Coming
Dandelion flower heads close in response to rising humidity and falling barometric pressure. A field of closed dandelions is one of the most reliable short-range rain indicators in folk botany.

2. Clover Folding Its Leaves
→ Storm Approaching
Clover folds its trifoliate leaves inward before rain to protect the pollen from moisture damage. The folding response begins hours before rain arrives — visible to anyone walking a field or lawn.

3. Pine Cones Opening Wide
→ Dry Weather Ahead
Pine cones open their scales in low humidity to release seeds for wind dispersal. Fully open pine cones indicate stable dry air — the same mechanism that makes them close before rain works in reverse.

4. Marigolds Closing Early
→ Rain Before Nightfall
Marigolds close their blooms each evening but close earlier than usual when rain is approaching. A marigold that closes at midday is responding to humidity and pressure shifts hours ahead of the front.

5. Morning Glory Opening Late
→ Overcast Day Ahead
Morning glories open with sunlight and stay closed on cloudy mornings. A morning glory still closed well past dawn is reading the same atmospheric signals as a barometer.

6. Scarlet Pimpernel Closing
→ Rain Within Hours
Called the "poor man's weather glass" for centuries. Scarlet pimpernel petals close rapidly in response to rising humidity — reliably preceding rain by two to four hours. Documented in European herbals since the 1500s.

7. Moss Feeling Soft and Damp
→ Rain Coming
Mosses absorb atmospheric moisture directly through their surfaces. Moss that feels unusually soft and swollen underfoot or to the touch indicates elevated humidity — a consistent precursor to precipitation.

8. Sunflowers Tracking Inconsistently
→ Cloudy Weather Building
Young sunflowers track the sun east to west each day. When cloud cover disrupts their solar tracking — stems pointing irregularly rather than following the light — overcast or rain is building overhead.

9. Oak Trees Leafing Before Ash
→ Dry Summer Ahead
"Oak before ash, in for a splash. Ash before oak, in for a soak." A centuries-old British and American farming proverb. Oak leafing first correlates historically with drier summers — ash first with wetter ones.

10. Onion Skins Growing Thick
→ Hard Winter Coming
Onions grown in the ground develop thicker outer skins in response to cooling temperatures and dropping humidity in autumn. Thick-skinned onions at harvest have long been read as a sign of a severe winter ahead.

Wisdom passed down through generations —
built from centuries of careful observation.

Ten signs — centuries of observation — still accurate today. 🌿🌦️

07/15/2026