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Defector

Animals

Creaturefector

Science


<p>Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


Diana Moskovitz

A photo of Lilly the cat. She's smokey with black and white coloring, a little white bib, and green eyes. She's sitting atop a blanket atop our couch looking quite regal.

For Lilly, Always There

Albert Burneko

Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) collects pollen from a flowering goldenrod plant in Markham, Ontario, Canada, on September 03, 2023.

Damn Us Both To Hell, The Carpenter Bees Are Back


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

A saltwater fish called a cero looking concerned

This Parasite Has Become A Full-Time Booger

Two adult male humpback whales. one whale has its penis inserted into the genital opening of the whale below it An injury is visible on the mandible of the whale underneath.

Fleeting Joy, Unexpected Despair, And Eventual Peace; Or, The Time I Learned About Two Gay Humpback Whales

Barry Petchesky

Flaco Never Escaped

Kelsey McKinney

Flaco, a brown and black Eurasian eagle owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo, roosts in a tree in New York's Central Park with a squirrel nearby.

Flaco Gave Us A Willingness To See The World

A round stingray (Urolophus halleri) I photographed in shallow water at Bolsa Chica wetlands (Southern California). The clouds of sand around the eyes and and body were formed as the stingray flapped and positioned deeper in the sand, expelling water. You can see the spiracles behind the eyes.

Charlotte The Ray Did NOT Have Sex With A Shark, So Stop Asking!

opossum, Red-Tailed Hawk, Raccoon (Photo by Dick Loek/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

This Is So Stupid

Critter Or Varmint?

a stuffed specimen of a swamp antechinus, which is a small brown marsupial, against a green background

The Sex Fest Keeps Getting Worse and Worse

A female Tasmanian Devil yawns in an enclosure at the Night Safari Singapore nocturnal zoo in Singapore o

What If You Kept Your Baby Teeth Your Entire Life?

A mudskipper jumping to impress another mudskipper

Sports Highlight Of The Day

The Sports Highlight Of The Day Is A Horny Fish Jumping Competition

Collared Peccary or Javelina is widespread through the Southwestern United States and Central and South America. It is not a member of the pig family, despite its looks.

I Ate All Your Precious Golf Worms And I’d Do It Again

Brandi Brown

A child and llama competing in the Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest at the Minnesota State Fair.

Life's Rich Pageant

What I Saw At The Minnesota State Fair’s Llama-Alpaca Experience


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

Devin the Dugong superimposed over the SMU mascot laying in a pool of confetti

Devin The Defector Dugong Is A Roaring Success In Earned Media

<div dir="auto">
<div dir="ltr">Brigid Christison is the founder of <a href="http://palaeopoems.com">PalaeoPoems.com</a>, a free digital anthology of palaeontology-themed poetry.</div>
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<div dir="ltr">My twitter/bluesky is @Brigidomorpha.</div>
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Brigid Christison

The Dead And The Beautiful

Tom Ley

A super cute dog from the pet sematary:bloodlines trailer

Apologies To The Makers Of The ‘Pet Sematary’ Prequel, But I Would Call This Dog “My Little Sweetie Baby” And Rub Its Belly

A drawn still from Diana's Piano. It looks hand drawn, maybe even even pencil marks. A red-headed girl with a white cat next to her plays a grand piano in a pink-ish void.

“Diana’s Piano” And All The Cats I’ve Loved And Lost

Samer Kalaf

A t-shirt with a three-by-three grid. Each box has two cows standing in front of the state of New Hampshire. The bottom of the shirt says "... enough said!"

What Does This Cow Shirt Mean?

Dominant male orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with large cheek flaps pointing his finger at his face, Borneo, Indonesia.

These Orangutans May Not Be Beatboxing But They’re Definitely Doing Something

<p>A. Frog is a freelance writer living in Japan.</p>


A. Frog

I Messed Up Again

Yankee fans react SHOCKED to a squirrel on the outfield wall. Four guys, three really shocked the other kind of just looking at his phone.

Squirrel Terrifies Yankees Fans

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

My Dog Has Messy Dingleberries. Is Wokeism To Blame?

Patrick Redford

Laura Wagner

SIENA, ITALY - MARCH 04: Demi Vollering of The Netherlands and Team SD Worx attacks while a horse gallops beside her during the Eroica - 9th Strade Bianche 2023, Women's a 136km one day race from Siena to Siena 318m / #StradeBianche / on March 04, 2023 in Siena, Italy. (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)

Cycling

Wannabe Cyclist Horse Steals The Show At A Spicy Strade Bianche

Pretty Neat. Defector Outlines Hiring Process That Landed Devin The Dugong

Ray Ratto

BOTSWANA - 2014/06/12: Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in river near Chitabe in the Okavango Delta in northern part of Botswana. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)