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 [Deer Glands] Tarsal Gland – on the inner surface of hind leg (see picture). This is a patch of extra-bristly hairs, each growing out of its own fat pad based below the skin. The fat pads secrete an oily substance that coats the hairs. Tarsal gland hair is stained noticeably darker than the rest of the inner leg – very prominent on Key Deer. A whitetail’s tarsal gland can be considered its resumé or bio. The scent indicates a deer’s sex, age, health and dominance status within the herd. Bucks are famous for urinating over their tarsals and rubbing them together during the rut as an advertisement of their dominance to other bucks and virility to local does.
Metatarsal Gland: The metatarsal gland is located on the outside of a Key deer’s back leg, four to five inches above the deer’s rear hooves (see picture). Little is known about this gland’s purpose. Some biologists claim it serves little, if any use these days, while others believe that it acts as a temperature gauge to regulate the deer’s body temperature and conserve energy. Because of the way it looks (see photo), I have been contacted numerous times by concerned residents who thought it was an injury or even a bullet hole…but it’s just a gland. www.saveourkeydeer.org |
| [Press Secretary’s Newest Record] After only 14 minutes on the job, Trump fires his latest press secretary setting a new record. |
 [Dead Dogs In Movies] These days – thanks to either political correctness gone mad or basic human decency or whatever – dogs are much less likely to be murdered in films. A study by (of course) pet insurance firm Lassie has discovered that the number of dogs that die in movies dropped by a whopping 80% between 2020 and 2025. It reports that six years ago, 10 of the 100 highest-grossing films featured a dog dying either on or off screen. But by 2025, this number fell to just two. |
| [Encephalopathy] Encephalopathy is a change in how your brain functions. You may feel confused, agitated or not like yourself. It can be a temporary disturbance or it could permanently damage your brain. There are many possible causes of encephalopathy, like an infection or an underlying condition. Treatment depends on the cause. Can’t hurt to get yourself checked out! Link |
 [Movies] Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ is a commercial flop – but also the perfect climate film for our time. The movie follows Digger Rockwell, whose drilling triggers a vast iceberg that’s five times the size of Washington DC. The Texas oilman blase about the environmental ruin of his drilling, even as it triggers a disastrous splitting of the Arctic ice sheet.Facing a predicted $245m loss – the lavishly made film took $8m in its first weekend in the US before dropping 60% for its second – Digger was yanked from more than 2,500 theatres across the US ahead of its third week. Digger, the new Alejandro González Iñárritu film, is bombastic, misanthropic and an epic, critically savaged flop. It is also the near-perfect climate change film for our era. Link |
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| [Pessisim] At its core, a relationship boils down to just 2 people asking each other what they want to eat until one of them dies. |
 [Full Moon Kayak Excursion] Time to begin the new season of Full Moon Kayak Excursions! Our first trip this year is Saturday Oct. 24. We depart from the Old Wooden Bridge Marina (1791 Bogie Dr.) at 5:45 so please arrive at 5:15 in order to get your life jacket, kayak, paddles, etc. This is a fundraiser for the Florida Keys Wildlife Society, sponsored by Big Pine Kayak Adventures to benefit the refuges of the Florida Keys. Cost is $30 per person and maybe paid online at floridakeyswildlifesociety.org. Please contact Bill for more information 305-872-7474 |
| [Living Close to Neighbors] Woman moving into first house approached by old neighbor with ultimatum. Link |
 This snake cartwheels to escape danger. Watch a dwarf reed snake make its dizzying getaway in slow-motion. Video |
| [Saudi Arabia] ‘Davos in the Desert’ will have to wait. Organizers today postponed the 10th annual conference, officially known as the Future Investment Initiative, which was set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 26–29. The kingdom has been besieged by attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants in recent weeks, including a deadly attack on the airport in Riyadh |
Blue Crab from our very own sea floor. Yum! |
| I’ll never forget what’s-her-name! |
 US Homeland Security Department is ordering the removal of DeepSeek products and third-party services using the Chinese AI model from US civilian agency IT systems, according to a notice published Monday.The department is also banning acquisition of DeepSeek products and third-party services developed using DeepSeek by US civilian government agencies. DHS said DeepSeek models pose “multiple threat vectors” and raised concerns that use of the product “may result in the transfer of sensitive data to the PRC if used by US government employees or vendors.” |
| [TV ADS] I like Android TV. It runs every app I care about, it’s cheap on a Chromecast, and it’s built into plenty of TVs. What I don’t like is ads. Google TV, the default interface on most Android TV devices, puts a large banner at the top of the home screen promoting whatever Google wants you to watch next. Apps only mode is supposed to strip the home screen down to your apps, but the banner stays. There’s no setting to change the launcher, and YouTube adds its own ads on top.
After setting up a few devices around the house, I landed on a setup with no ads at all, and a nicer interface to go with it. |
 [American Girls] Photographer Spends Six Years Capturing 400 American Girls and Their Most Meaningful Objects. Link |
| [Drone Evacuation] Ukraine claims world’s first drone evacuation of wounded soldier. Due to intense enemy drone activity and the presence of landmines, evacuation using conventional unmanned ground vehicles was impossible,” the brigade that carried out the operation said. Link |
 The meat cannon that launched 20,000 hot dogs. The Memorial Stadium fixture can fire a 2.67-ounce Fairbury Tomboy at 90 mph from Tom Osborne Field over the 165-foot-high skyboxes. But most land in the stands. Link |
| [Google Cloud Failure] If you happen to be in Europe and are experiencing issues carrying out banking operations, you are not alone, as various infrastructures from companies like HSBC, Revolut, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Royal Mail, Geopost’s DPD, among others are affected. The problem is likely related to Google Cloud’s outage which in turn is affecting all these services too. Google has confirmed that multiple services are hit by this outage. Link |
 Brainiac builds a drone with only 1 motor. Some people are so smart… Video |
| [Warm Frig] On the night of October 11 to 12, 2026, fridges and freezers in hundreds of French supermarkets started to warm up. Cyber attackers had pushed the refrigeration systems into defrost mode, which heats the cooling parts to melt ice. Some units reached 50°C (122°F), some equipment started to catch fire, according to the Paris prosecutor, and stores threw away their fresh and frozen food. The reports pointed to one maker of refrigeration controllers, Danfoss (a Danish industrial company). France had more exposed fridge dashboards than the rest of the world combined. 85% ran software with known security flaws. Link |
 [How Do Fungi Keep The Planet Healthy] Evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers explains how fungal networks in soil trade nutrients with plants, help keep carbon underground, and strike bargains without having a brain. Link |
| [Fire Retardant in the Seafood Chain] A chemical additive helped stop fishmeal from catching fire on ships, but it carried a downstream carcinogenic risk to modern food systems. Tied to at least 90 ship and plant fires from the 1950s through the 1970s, fishmeal’s combustibility was a serious worry for seafarers, insurers and dock workers. Link |
 Rabbits were a medieval royal luxury in England—until the Black Death made them commonplace. The European rabbit is a common sight in the British countryside today. Yet it was not always so. They are not native to the British Isles and are one of the most devastating invasive species. Link |
| [Silly People] Chicago O’Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield. Now they want to name it. Link |
| The current Coconut Telegraph was published on 10/20/26 at 11:04 am. |
 [For Rent] Two Bedroom Duplex on Canal. Big Pine Key. 2 bedrooms. One bath. Unfurnished ½ Duplex on clean boating canal w/seawall going to Pine Channel and the coral reef. Port Pine Heights sub-division. Beautiful, vaulted ceilings. Tiled floors throughout. Laundry room. Very clean. Central A/C. Ground level. Quiet neighborhood. No smokers or dogs. $2000 a month. First, last and $1000 security ($5000 total to move in) Landlord pays for trash pickup, tenant pays all other utilities and services. Available now.–Text only—305-942-4323 More Pictures Here |
 [REDUCED] Pellet Gun Gamo Swarm Maxxim 10X GEN 2 Multi-Shot Air Rifle. Two 10-round .177 clips. 3 x 9 variable scope. Box of pellets. $200 new. Now $75. b33043@outlook.com Video |
 [For Sale] Folding scaffold 30L x 12w x 20h. 4 scaffolds (not sold separately) New $200, Big Pine Key pick-up half-price: $100. Excellent condition.b33043@outlook.com Link |
 [For Sale] Crossman P1377 American Classic Variable-Pump .177-Caliber Pellet Air Pistol. New $70. For Sale $25. 800 feet per second. Pick up on Big Pine Key. b33043@outlook.com Video |
| Snapshots taken from Big Pine Key looking North between Annette Key and Mayo Key every Friday evening since 2023. You may hover to view a photo, see the date of the photo, or use the left or right arrows on the images. |
