All creatures quick hits: Salmon in the sky; a terrifyingly huge spider; bird songs are good for you; survive the wild

The Salmon Thirty Salmon (Simply Flying photo)

Was that a salmon in the sky? "Alaska Airlines' 'Salmon Thirty Salmon' Boeing 737 is destined to be repainted, but first, "To celebrate one of the iconic livery's last flights, the carrier deployed the aircraft on a ceremonial milk-run service from Seattle to Anchorage," reports Steven Walker for Simply Flying. Susan Orlean of The New Yorker looks deeper at the plane's design: "At a glance, the jet didn't look like a plane at all but like a huge flying fish. The surreality continued when you boarded because the overhead bins were decorated with large pictures of Alaskan seafood as if you were entering the digestive tract of the salmon."

A group of flamingos is called a "flamboyance."
(Photo by Joe Sartore, National Geographic)

National Geographic's photo ark will leave you awestruck, amazed, and amused—fur, feather, fin and much more.

Birds can be good company, but their songs can also be good for our mental health, reports Richard Sima of The Washington Post. "Birds are a way to connect with nature, which is associated with better body and brain health, research shows. . . . And even if they are hidden in trees or in the underbrush, we can still revel in their songs."

Mosquitoes are a summer menace. They are also unfair--they munch away on some people while leaving other people completely un-bitten. Why? Read here to discover why mosquitos might find you delicious, while your neighbor gets a jolly flyby.

How do you survive a rattlesnake meeting or other encounters in the wild? Read here.

The Jorō spider, Trichonephila clavata
(Photo by Tony Wu, Nature Picture Library)

"It freaks people out. . . . It's a scary-looking spider that makes giant webs on your back porch," Andy Davis, a research scientist at the University of Georgia, told Jason Bittel of National Geographic. Bittel reports, "The invasive Jorō spider has made headlines for its gigantic size; striking colors; and plentiful webs, which can stretch six feet long and are strong enough to support a bird's weight. . . . It is also incredibly shy."