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People Are Sharing Their Favorite Animal Facts That Never Cease To Amaze Them
Interview With Expert
The natural world is full of cool and interesting details that go entirely unnoticed for the majority of the population. After all, we can’t exactly go down to the animals' neighborhood and just interview them, so it’s up to zoologists to get out there and find out what they can.
Someone asked “What are some really amazing animal facts?” and netizens shared the best ones they knew. We also got in touch with Nina Thompson, Director of Public Relations for the San Diego Humane Society to learn more. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to leave your own thoughts below.
Image credits: DynamikSan04
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow (European) is roughly 11m/s or 24 mph.
Sandy D 1 year ago
It could grip it by the husk. (I'm not suggesting coconuts migrate, though )
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Sweet Fanny Adams 1 year ago
What about the african one? Gatekeeper: "I don't know that. Arghhhh!"
RELATED:
#2
Owls bob their heads up and down to help improve their depth of perception. You can try it out yourself. Focus on an object and bob your head. It doesn't work for us, but you do look like an idiot.
Multa Nocte 1 year ago
Please tell me that I am not the only one who did this before getting to the end of the last sentence.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
I did it with my son and husband. I nearly wet myself laughing. Couldn‘t read it out loud to them.
Drinking my Covfefe 1 year ago
Came here to say that. They stole it from there.
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Susan Teter 1 year ago
Oh...your good! If I had a dollar for everyone you got-including me-I would be rich!
#3
A group if dolphins is a pod, a group of Falcons is a cast. When you watch the Miami Dolphins play the Atlanta Falcons you are watching a pod-cast on TV.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
A flock of Baltimore Ravens is called a murder; a Flock of Seagulls is called New Wave. When jokes are that bad, they inspire a new murder wave.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
And I ran, I ran so far away I just ran, I ran all night and day And I ran, I ran so far away I just ran, I couldn't get away.
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Bored Panda got in touch with Nina Thompson, Director of Public Relations for the San Diego Humane Society and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions. After all, the people who care for rescues have to know what they are doing. Firstly, we wanted to hear how they work to educate the public about animals in general.
“San Diego Humane Society educates the community about animals in so many ways. Just to mention a few: Adoptions counselors have an in-depth conversation with prospective adopters to ensure they can take care of the pet they want to adopt. The Behavior & Training team offers classes for the community and has a free helpline to call.”
#4
Gorillas, along with other primates, can learn sign language to the point where even if they do not know a specific word for a specific object they can use their previous vocabulary to describe the word accurately.
Like for example, Koko the gorilla never learned the word for "ring", so one day she pointed at a ring and signed the words; "finger-bracelet".
Jeevesssssss 1 year ago
A Polish acquaintance of mine didn't have the word for 'slug' and used 'homeless snail'. I thought that was adorable ♡
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
All apes have their own sign language, but apes who've been taught human sign language will teach it to other apes in their group.
ShaZam 1 year ago
what's really sad is when you know the word ... but forgot ... and have to use "finger bracelet" to describe the item to your family ... it's a daily game of Charades
Precious BS 1 year ago
Yes! A comb became a hair fork when I forgot the word
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Kira Okah 1 year ago
Koko isn't the best reference. So much about her abilities is hotly debated that it isn't clear as to how much of it is actually true.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Her story is heartbreaking. She was forced to live in conditions completely unsuitable for a gorilla for her whole life.
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Tracy Wallick 1 year ago
I love how people (and gorillas, apparently!) substitute for words they don't know; the creativity is hilarious and adorable.
Max Fox 1 year ago (edited)
B******t. Koko the Gorilla is a huge scam. More correctly, it's a mix of scam and self-delusion. Koko didn't do 90% of the things that the scam artist who raised her claimed that she did. It's self-delusion, heavily edited videos, and thousands and thousands of gullible people. I remember when they tried "video dating" for Koko, and the moron decided that the male that Koko made kissing motions to was the best choice. Of course, no mating happened, because miz Moron didn't know even basic Gorilla behavior. The kissing motions are a way that mother show affection to their babies. So of course, Koko treated the male as though it was a child. The woman doesn't even know Gorilla behavior 101. She was so stupid that she even showed her f**k up on TV as though it was some mystery. Fact: if gorillas could converse in sign language, they would not be waiting for Ms Moron Scam Artist to teach them sign language, they would have something similar of their own. PS. Koko's kitten? that was kitten # 11 or so. Koko dismembered the others. Gorillas are omnivore which eat smaller mammals like rats. Besides, since when do gorillas keep pets? Are there thousands of gorillas in the wild with pet squirrels and kittens? Gah, the b******t is strong here.
#5
Crows will see how you look like and how you act and tell other crows about you.
Aww but Eww 1 year ago (edited)
Crow 1: Have you seen what Vanessa is wearing again? Crow 2: unbelievable, she's so last year! (Mean blasphemous crows giggle)
Virgil Blue 1 year ago
Vanessa just got murdered for her glfashion sense.
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Deborah B 1 year ago
Researchers who study wild crow populations wear masks, because the local crows not only recognise and remember them, they teach their offspring to recognise the researchers as well. If you repeatedly harass the crows, you can become the target of crow-retailiation that lasts for generations.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
crow to other crows "theres that fat lady going pspspspsps to birds again"
unfilteredCigarette73 1 year ago
Talking $hit...those flying mobsters turned my black K-5 Blazer into a holstien cow overnight once when they were all migrating through Minneapolis, it was early November and through the deafening cacophony of caws, the leafless elm trees looked as though they had been decorated with foreboding black pineapples from Satan's tropical private island
Load More Replies... Jennifer Bruce 1 year ago
Oh wow, did you check out her crows feet? How could you miss them? She definitely needs some Botox!
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
This is true as a former client of mine learned the hard way. He was being a jerk to a crow in his yard and before the week was out, his yard was filled with very angry crows. Still brings a smile when I think about it.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
I will smile every time I remember reading this. Served him right.
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#6
The nautilus has remained essentially unchanged for 400 million years. They just evolved to their current form and stayed that way. The first dinosaurs didn't even appear until 230 million years ago.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Bookworm 1 year ago (edited)
That's sort of true, but also kind of misleading. There used to be tons of species of nautiloids all over the world. There's some evidence that they crashed because of the evolution of the pinnipeds, which they weren't equipped to avoid, and the two remaining nautilus species are only still around because they live in the Indo-West Pacific, the only place with no native pinnipeds. Here's the PBS explainer: https://youtu.be/3vQ55ToQeWI?si=eF2axa1S8eGbQOIs Edit: specified ocean region
Rich Black 1 year ago
There are more worms than any other multicellular animal on the planet. They really aren't evolving rapidly either. The game is "survival of the adequate", not grow a giant brain.
k1ddkanuck 1 year ago
They also don't really swim, but rather move about using jet propulsion, which is pretty cool.
“We have our Dr. Seuss Foundation Humane Educator, whose full-time job is to inspire youth throughout San Diego to learn about our connection to animals and to better advocate for them as they develop into the leaders of tomorrow. Our Humane Law Enforcement officers are in the field seven days a week to educate pet owners about keeping their animals safe, healthy, and happy. Our Lost & Found team works to help pet owners search for their lost pets. We have Resource Center community members who can call for guidance and ask questions. We also have an incredible selection of resources on our website.”
#7
When a male octopus is ready to mate it rip's off its ding dong and throws it at the female so she can do whatever she wants with it. the reason they do this is because they're a lot smaller than the female so she'll eat the male but on the plus side the Male octopus will grow his ding dong back eventually.
Adam S 1 year ago
Just as well we don’t do that…I can imagine a pretty woman walking past a building site getting showered in d**k 😝
White Sauce Hot Sauce 1 year ago
The human male species only throws it in picture form, with minimal success.
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TheElderNom 1 year ago
So instead of a barrage of pictures we'd get actual dongs tossed at us? No thanks from me.
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Alexandra Nara 1 year ago (edited)
reading this I am suddenly glad I just get them as deletable pics..what do you do when you are not interested? bury it in hope it fertilizes the tomatoes ? regift it aunt Maria? sell it on ebay? upcycle it to bracelets?
Rick 1 year ago
Another evolutionary development than we missed out on. Being a male I have several questions. How long does it take to grow back? Is it the same size? Does the functionality change? How many times is this possible to do? Seems like a pretty big decision to make over a woman.
Orion Red 1 year ago
apparently, the species that does this just dies after.
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#8
Ravens can mimic sounds and speech like parrots can.
StPaul9 1 year ago (edited)
Crows as well: Had a right twat of a crow a number of years back who hung around the local area. He had actually learnt to swear and would peck through fly-screen doors. He was tough, but was finally caught and sent elsewhere.
Natalie H 1 year ago
YO. Upvote for the swearing, screen pecking twat crow. That’s an awesome story and a badass crow!🐦⬛😆
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Justin Tyme 1 year ago
They used to mimic sounds and speech, but then they decided to do it nevermore.
Nika the Great 1 year ago
A friend of mine went to sequoia national park and heard logging noises; like sawing, felling, distant shouts, etc. a ranger told him no logging happened here for a hundred years, and the noises he heard were likely crows mimicking sounds that happened a hundred years ago. They teach these sounds to their young over generations.
Verena 1 year ago
Blackbirds, too. A couple is nesting here since years, and daddy once learnt the sound of a car alarm. He devotely teaches all his kids ....
Robert T 1 year ago
One in my parents neighbourhood learnt the sound of a telephone. Was an absolute pain when my dad was on call! He'd be out in the garden and have to rush back in to see if it was our phone!
Load More Replies... Lunamorte Louise 1 year ago
Apparently Crows can. Several years ago crows in a tree in my yard said my name. It was cool.
Betty Vanderhooven-SchmaaSchmaa 1 year ago
A neighborhood crow has decided to tease me and my little dog by barking. The crow sounds just like my Yorkie. I love it when this crow shows up.
#9
Astronomer here! There are (probably) tardigrades on the moon.
A few years ago an Israeli satellite accidentally crashed there that had tardigrades on board that likely spilled all over.
The reason this is interesting is because these are really hearty little creatures that can survive really extreme temperatures and dehydrate into suspended animation. The company that crashed them almost definitely thinks the tardigrades are still alive. So hey, the moon probably has life on it now, and that happened while none of us were paying attention.
robecca leyden 1 year ago
Is it just me or was anyone else's first thought, 'great, now humans will probably f**k up the moon'
Daggie_style 1 year ago
Well one of the first things we left up there were literal bags of $#1t, so...
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Dragons Exist 1 year ago (edited)
Don't worry, they can't spread - "Unfortunately for the tardigrades, they can't overcome the lack of liquid water, oxygen and microalgae—they would never be able to reactivate, much less reproduce. Their colonizing the moon is thus impossible." https://astrobiology.arizona.edu/news/could-tardigrades-have-colonized-moon
Daniela Lavanza 1 year ago
Almost, in fact. The panspermia theory is about life being brought by an asteroid or something alike. It's not proven yet, but it would make finding the origin of life in the first place far harder.
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David 1 year ago
This must be when the probe Beresheet (hebrew for Gensis) crashed. It was a test idea for an affordable moon probe. Entire project, from R&D, to building it, all the equipment, rocket to launch it, etc. Only cost $100 Million, less than half the price of the next cheapest. It was to promote low cost research, and they are trying it again soon
James Pelley 1 year ago
Water Bears!! They're awesome. Family Guy S17E04 — Big Trouble in Little Quahog
Rich Black 1 year ago
How long will they be viable, unprotected against all the forms of radiation?
We also wanted to hear what common misconceptions she and others at the San Diego Human society have encountered. “One that comes to mind is that people may think a senior pet (7 years and older) may have a harder time adjusting to a new home. We think the opposite. Adopting a senior pet is oftentimes easier! You can teach an old dog new tricks: Some senior pets are already trained and, even if they’re not — they tend to catch on faster and have an easier time focusing.”
“They adapt faster: Mature animals are likely to settle into a home more easily and quickly than younger pets, often due to past experiences living in houses among people or other pets."
"What you see is what you get: Unlike adopting a puppy or kitten, you already know what a senior animal’s full size, personality and required care will likely be. This makes it easier to pick an animal who is the right fit for you,” she shared with Bored Panda.
#10
Bald eagles don't sound like they do on TV. They dub over the call of a redtail hawk. Actual bald eagle calls sound more like a seagull.
Similarly, lion roars on tv are usually dubbed over with tiger roars, because an actual lion roar is usually too deep to record well so it sounds weak, but apparently is terrifying IRL.
Black Cat 1 year ago
When I was a kid there was a male lion that would roar at Auckland zoo. You could hear him all over the zoo and even out in the car park.
Lin Andrews 1 year ago
We lived on Sackville Street, Richmond Rd end which is quite some distance from the Auckland zoo and you could hear that lion roaring in the evening!
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Stephanie Did It 1 year ago (edited)
Lions roar towards the ground, for a couple of interesting reasons: it amplifies and dissipates the sound so it is very hard for enemies to determine the roarer's location, in effect "surrounding' them with the sound. This also confuses prey so they may in fact run straight toward the lion instead of away.
BoredPossum 1 year ago
Yep, met lions in South Africa. Their sounds are very deep. I'm lucky I was inside the car and they were not.
Cora Han 1 year ago
The Philadelphia Zoo has something called "Zoo 360" where there are caged trails above and all over the park. Once, I was standing under the trail for a the lions (so about 5 feet away) and the lion let out a roar. Instantly, my reptile brain was panicking, but thankfully my higher order realized that I was perfectly safe, if shaken a bit.
Pyla 1 year ago
Not like gulls, but more reedy, so not sexy like the Redtail, which any Bored Panda reader knows is what is used in film and tv.
Tabitha 1 year ago
Bald eagle chicks are incredibly loud, and apparently eternally hungry. We have a pair who have a huge aerie in the woods behind our house. We can always tell when their chicks have hatched because the babies start complaining very VERY loudly that there isn’t any food being puked down into their mouths right this very second!
Becky Scherer 1 year ago
Once got to witness the male and female lions roaring back and forth at the Milwaukee Zoo a couple years ago. Was the coolest thing ever!!
#11
If you placed an adult blue whale length-wise on a basketball court, the game would be cancelled.
#12
Unlike humans, dolphins must actively decide when to breathe. Captive dolphins have been known to hold their breath until they die of suffocation, which some have suggested amounts to dolphin self-harm.
SaneMinotaur 1 year ago
It's definitely an interesting way of saying 'dolphins have been known to commit suicide in captivity', for sure.
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Dark Pigeon 1 year ago
They dont hold their breath. They just decide not to breath again. The dolphin that playes flipper in the old tv series, died this way in the arms of his trainer. Whom, after having to see his friend die this way, became one of the frontman to fight against the capticity, capturing, and training of marine life
Pyla 1 year ago
Ric O’Barry. Now he is an anti cetacean captivity activist and runs The Dolphin Project. They monitor Taiji, among other things.
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The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Unlike most humans. Central apnea (as opposed to obstructive apnea) is a condition (I have it) where you just forget to breathe. It's sometimes called "Central SLEEP apnea," but I can definitely catch myself forgetting to breathe when awake, too; it's just less of a problem then. (And yes, wearing a mask made it much, much, MUCH worse.)
Laughing Orc 1 year ago
"some have suggested". This implies some people *don't* believe it's intentional suicide??
Kate 1 year ago
It could amount to a kind of psychotic episode, in a sense. Maybe they're not rational. They're intelligent enough that we should probably consider them as capable of psychiatrist problems as humans, at least.
Load More Replies... Nimitz 1 year ago
I mean, like most humans, I'm also owned (sorry, a member of a capitalist society) and it makes me want to hold my breath till I'm dead. Unless anyone else wants to engage in a 2nd global French Revolution? We could behead Musk, Bezos, Trump, and Putin and then have a picnic with good bread, wine, and cheese. Doesn't that sound fun?
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
I would like to remove those Bozos too from the positions they hold, but beheading is something I am adverse to.
Load More Replies...She also gave some pointers on what to consider with an older animal. “A little R&R: These sweet seniors usually have less energy, which makes them great additions to mellow, relaxed households looking for a cozy companion. Unconditional gratitude: A senior pet will bring maturity and wisdom into your home. If you give a senior a chance, they will thank you for the rest of their life!”
#13
A bat's immune system is so strong it could withstand viruses that could be highly damaging to other species.
Bookworm 1 year ago
This is really interesting, and unsurprisingly, a hot research topic right now. The latest ideas can pretty much be summed up as 'flight requires high metabolism, high metabolism = more DNA damaging free radicals = immune system that's better at handling free radicals, side effect of immune changes is better virus suppression.'
Kate 1 year ago
And that's what makes them such effective hosts for so many viruses.
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Becky Samuel 1 year ago
The branch of the bat family known as the fruit bats or 'flying foxes' do not use echolocation, so tend to have prettier faces and small ears.
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Brian Droste 1 year ago
That is why they can have the covid 19 virus running throughout their bodies and not get sick.
#14
Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale's *tongue*.
Teutonic Disaster 1 year ago
Americans really will measure with everything but the metric system, huh?
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
Every time I read something about blue whales, I think of Alan Davies, a regular on the BBC show QI.
Danish Susanne 1 year ago (edited)
I often downvote them because they mostly doesn't make sense, so that evens it.
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Son of Philosoraptor 1 year ago
I saw a Blue Whale in the wild... I thought it was two whales at first! Twice as long as a Grey, twice a long as the boat! Two story whale watching boat. Insanely big.
#15
One of my favorites is about cats! Did you know that they have UV vision? That means that when cats play with random paper balls, bags, spots on the wall, or the box their toy came in, they're actually playing with the ingredients that are UV reactant (like glues and stuff)
P.S. Zebras' stripes are as unique as finger prints, and they can tell each other apart.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
They can also see human stripes, and don't know that we don't know we're stripy.
Rayne OfSalt 1 year ago
This is.. inaccurate. Yes, they can *see* uv reactants. But aside from random spots on the wall, that's not what they're playing with. And those spots on the wall? Cats give them a slap because they think it might be prey.
Manana Man 1 year ago
Yeah, I had to check this one out. A cat's vision is believed to be similar to a dogs, which is like a human with red-green color blindness.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 1 year ago
Ever notice how cats can't see something right in front of their nose? Their long range vision is remarkable, but they're nearsighted and can't focus on objects within a foot distance.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
zebras are unique. sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibNSYnjhCnM
Lastly, we wanted to know what she would suggest to people who wanted to help. “The San Diego Humane Society, and shelters across the country, are overcapacity and have been for more than a year — almost two at this point. This is unprecedented. Here are just a few ways the public can help:
Adopt: If you’re thinking about adding a pet to your family, San Diego Humane Society urges you to consider adoption first. By opening your home to a shelter pet, you give a deserving animal a second chance while creating critically needed space for other pets in need. Right now shelters and rescues have more puppies in their care than ever before too, so even if you want a puppy, please choose adoption first.”
#16
There is only two mammals left that lay eggs, and they are both from Australia.
Certainly not Dan 1 year ago
Thank you Anne. Reading that sentence was like stubbing a toe
Load More Replies... Passerby 1 year ago
And I am not surprised. If you were to claim that there are poison-breathing rabbits in Australia, I would believe it. Australia seems to be made from different stuffs.
Maartje 1 year ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Angry_Rabbit
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Julie S 1 year ago
How did Australia get all the weird/ deadly animals did they win a competition or something?
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
something like this stuff all evolved first then australia broke off from pangea and that isolated all the weirdos who stopped evolving kinda but the rest of the planet continued kinda with a bit of an exception for sloths in south america...
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#17
Wombats have cubic poops. They literally s**t bricks!
Bored something 1 year ago
They also have a plate of bone in their butt that they use as a shield. When they are threatened they go in their burrow and use their butt to block the burrow. There is some question about if I does really happen but they definitly have the ability to crush a predators head against the roof of the burrow. There have been skeletal remains found outside burrows with crushed skulls but there is doubt about how and when it happened.
Little Wonder 1 year ago
It's believed to help with territory marking, as round poop rolls away.
Load More Replies... #18
A horses teeth takes up more space in their skull than their brain.
Javelina Poppers 1 year ago
You'll know that to be a true fact if you've ever been bitten by a horse.
Persephone 1 year ago
I think this is the same for any herbivore with teeth that never stop growing. This doesn't equate to a lack of intelligence.
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
And yet, those small brains give the horse an impressive amount of intelligence. Maybe their brains are more wrinkled in that compact space.
Jeevesssssss 1 year ago
Yet bigger horses are positively dim compared to the little ponies. The smartest pony I've ever met is this 12.2hh Welsh Mountain horror I look after and ride who uses her brain for evil (I adore her lol)...
Load More Replies... Judes 1 year ago
Many years ago I read that horses' brains are mostly dedicated to coordinating their legs. No idea if this is true, but it's funny, so worth repeating.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Most animals dedicate the majority of their brains to movement. Thinking is very much an optional add-on.
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#19
In a fox couple, if the vixen dies, the male fox will become single for the rest of his life. Now if the male fox dies, the vixen goes off to find another partner.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago (edited)
Makes sense, vixens are only fertile for 3 days per year so having another partner after the first one dies is benefitial in terms of reproduction
Space Invader 1 year ago
That would actually be true even if they were fertile the whole year through.
Load More Replies... BoredPossum 1 year ago
Females invest more in pregnancies, so they are the rate limiting step in reproduction. A population grows faster if there are more Females than males, as compared to the other way around. Thus, Females are more important for survival of a pack or a group. True in many species.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Up-to-date tracking studies show that this is untrue. For more information see here: https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/red-fox-breeding-mating-monogamy#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20male%20is%20monogamous%20and,unknown%20in%20other%20wild%20animals.%E2%80%9D
Robert Millar 1 year ago
The male fox is the dog fox. When I was young people called the foxcubs kittens because their eyes look (a bit) like cats eyes.
#20
An octopus can fit through any opening large enough for its beak to pass through.
Also, octopuses have beaks.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Cats, rabbits, and countless other animals can fit through any opening large enough for their heads to fit through, which renders a 3-inch mesh fence surprisingly porous.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
A mouse can fit through a hole the size of a pencil.
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#21
There is a species of Zombie Worm called the Bone-Eating Snot Flower.
Yes, zombie worms and bone-eating snot flowers are real animals.
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
That's been a game I've played with myself for a while now. Invent an extremely odd name, like e.g. "Whispering peony" and then google it. Just did: There is a plant by that name, and a cosmetic: Whispering Peony. $12.20. Color: Whispering Peony. Finish: Creme. Product ID : PHEN-118.
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J C 1 year ago
There is absolutely nothing boring about Science or about History for that matter! Some teachers just present it in a boring way. Great teachers get people excited about these subjects. Just look up Quantum Physics and literally follow the wormhole.
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Halle Frank 1 year ago
They eat whale bones, the ones you see large and attached directly to bone are females, the males are released and if they bump into a female they stick to her. She collects them to have reproductive variety. They are a type of siboglinid polychaete :) I just took a test on them last week
ShadySlytherin 1 year ago
Bone-eating Snot Flowers were in a really good episode of Bones. With a really disgusting demonstration of how they attach to bone
#22
Foxes use the earth's magnetic fields.
"Like a guided missile, the fox harnesses the earth's magnetic field to hunt. Other animals, like birds, sharks, and turtles, have this "magnetic sense," but the fox is the first one we've discovered that uses it to catch prey.
According to *New Scientist*, the fox can see the earth's magnetic field as a "ring of shadow" on its eyes that darkens as it heads towards magnetic north. When the shadow and the sound the prey is making line up, it's time to pounce.
ƒιѕн 1 year ago
Yes but there's alot more to it than that. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/foxes-use-the-earths-magnetic-field-as-a-targeting-system
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago
Interesting fact: We also have traces of magnetite in our body, the most dense amount in our skullcap. Given how that allows animals to sense the magnetic field it's theorised that our ancestors way down the line could have used it as well for orientation purposes
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago
Well there is a reason why it's called Fox-1, 2 or 3 in the air force regarding the guided missile that gets fired. (Not really)
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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
It's time to pounce! *pounces Bouche's tail* She can't even be mad, because the soft can-opener said it's time to pounce! *pounces everybody's tail*
#23
Giraffes chew on bones to give them extra calcium.
Leopard pee smells like buttered popcorn.
A group of zebras are called a dazzle.
A cat slowly blinking at you means they’re relaxed and comfortable in you company.
Sharks have electric sensors in their noses that help them locate prey. If you ever feel you’re about to be attacked, rub their noses. This sends them into a natural high where they float around like a dead fish.
Shark attacks are incredibly rare. They aren’t vicious animals at all. They’re actually very shy and curious by nature.
Guinea pigs can die from loneliness.
A goldfish’s natural lifespan is around 30 years. Common causes for early death are stress and inadequate housing such as a dirty filter or an unbalanced acid and bacteria ratio in the water.
A pig’s body structure is uncannily similar to a humans. Scientists study pig corpses to give a strong educated guess as to our decomposing would work. It’s also apparent that human meat would taste very much like pork.
A chinchilla’s hair a so fine, you would need 5 hairs to match the thickness of a human hair.
The mantis shrimp, while also having the ability to see 16 primary colours, it has a punch so hard string that it creates a vacuum inside the water between its leg and the prey as well as boiling the surrounding water.
Dogs can see farts.
The difference between a turtle, tortoise and terrapin is in the legs and their environment. A turtle is large, has 4 flat flippers and lives in salt water. A tortoise is land dwelling and has 4 stubbly legs. A terrapin is about the size of a tortoise, has 4 legs with webbed feet and lives in fresh water.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
Did you know that humans ability to smell damp earth after rain - petrichor - is greater than a shark’s ability to smell blood in water?
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Jeremy James 1 year ago
I have used the slow blink when trying to gain the trust of stray cats. It helps.
Edward Finger Hands 1 year ago
Dogs can’t see farts. That was a viral post from a joke news site.
PattyK 1 year ago
Please clean up the paragraph about the mantis shrimp so it makes sense. Thanks.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Mantis shrimp have 16 different color detecting pigments in their eyes. Humans have three, although some women have four. However, it is not as simple as saying that mantis shrimp see more colors. The brain of the mantis shrimp has recently been examined more closely, and it does not seem to have the ability to process all of these colors in its brain. We have no way of knowing why this is so.
Load More Replies... Javelina Poppers 1 year ago
If the manager of your local theater owns a pet leopard...........take your business elsewhere.
Kate 1 year ago
Scientists don't need to study decomposing pigs; there are several places in the US, known as body farms, where they study decomposing human cadavers.
Neffla 1 year ago
True, but according to NIH pigs are still used: "We conclude that experiments using human cadaver analogues (i.e. pig carcasses) are easier to replicate and more practical for controlling confounding factors than studies based solely on humans and, therefore, are likely to remain our primary epistemic source of forensic knowledge for the immediate future."
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PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago
A friend of my grandmas from the papua area said it taste like the juiciest piglet meat, and my cannibalism anthropology books have account of it being called ‘long pig’ in Papuan rituals and you had to take q equal amounts of pork on your plate as well as ‘long pig’ as it was so good it had to be regulated at dinner parties, I use dinner parties lightly and slightly comedic here.
Kristie French 1 year ago
Dog cannot see farts. It is completely false. It’s from a fake science site called Iflscience.org (as opposed to the real science site Iflscience.com). Snopes and other legitimate science/ educational sites have completely debunked this “fact”.
#24
A hummingbird weighs less than a penny and is the only bird who can fly backwards. And is always two hours away from starvation.
PattyK 1 year ago
… two hours away from starvation — except at night when its metabolism slows wa-a-ay down and its body temperature drops.
Catherine Burgin 1 year ago
And apparently can snore to. According to that one nature documentary. Just search snoring hummingbird on YouTube. Just about the cutest thing ever.
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PattyK 1 year ago
The smallest ones weigh about a penny; the larger ones in South America are about the size of an American robin and weigh proportionately more.
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Max Fox 1 year ago (edited)
Depends which hummingbird, since there are a number of species. However, they can indeed all fly backwards. They come in a variety of sizes, with the smallest, the bee hummingbird, weighing only 0.07 oz, which is indeed, less than a penny (0.09 oz, while the older copper ones were even heavier). However, there are larger species, the largest being the Giant hummingbird, which weighs 0.63–0.85 oz, or almost ten pennies. The larger it is, the less frequently it needs to eat, so time until starvation varies. Also, they can let their body temperatures drop, which also results in a drop in their caloric requirements.
Knitting Panda 1 year ago
I caught a hummingbird in my hands when I was six. We were both horrified.
#26
Humans over long distances can outrun all other land animals.
Paul C. 1 year ago
Not sure the Cheetah is just gonna stand around while the human goes plodding off. "Don't worry I can outrun him over a long distance......if he releases my thigh from his jaw!"
KimB 1 year ago
Here I thought was our intelligence and ability to implement tools
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Tabitha 1 year ago (edited)
In a car, maybe. I am not a fast runner, though the incentive to not become predator poop would make me run the fastest I have ever run. But, since cheetahs can run 60 mph, and bears can run almost 30 mph, I still really don’t think my fastest running would ever be fast enough, no matter how motivated I am. My best bet would be to just run faster than someone even slower than me. Sorry but, you know.
eykntspel 1 year ago
We can "outrun" all other land animals in the sense that if we were the ones chasing them we could keep chasing them until they eventually are too tired to continue and we could catch them. Many land animals can outrun humans in terms of speed in short bursts, but they use so much energy to do those bursts of speed that they can't keep that speed for very long and would eventually become too tired to keep running.
Load More Replies... #27
Owls can sit crossed legged, the big cat with the strongest bite force(PSI) is the jaguar(1700 PSI), male anglerfish are much smaller than the females and when the female is ready to mate she excretes a pheremone which makes the male hungry. He will then try to eat her, but he then gets stuck to her, dissolves until the only thing that remains are his testicles.
Teutonic Disaster 1 year ago
There's worse problems to have than a partner who's always down to eat you out... 😏
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Dan Flo 1 year ago
As a male, Im so glad humans evolved in the primate family and not in the anglerfish family. In the show Resident Alien, when Harry tells about his family - it is so funny, but it also makes you think how incredible different alien sentient life can actually be compared to us.
Ashley Conover 1 year ago
Finally someone who knows and mentions correct Anglerfish information!! It's my favorite fish. I have an Anglerfish lamp, a plushie and shirt.
#28
An immortal species of jellyfish! They can revert back to a sexually immature polyp to start its life over once it becomes old or sick.
Papa 1 year ago
Only if I could know what I know now (I made a lot of stupid mistakes).
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cerinamroth 1 year ago
One of our favourite episodes of The Octonauts is The Immortal Jellyfish!
#29
Axolotl facts:
1. The "ferns" on an Axolotl's head are actually its gills!
2. Axolotl is a Mexican word that translates to "Water dog"
3. Xolotl was a dog-headed "god" from Aztec mythology. Xoltol would lead the souls of the dead to the underworld. Some believe that Xolotl was scared of being killed by an angry king and transformed into an axolotl to hide. The salamander is trapped in the water of Xochimilco, unable to transform and walk on land due to forgetting how to transform back into the "god" it once was.
4. They can regenerate parts of their body! If they lose a limb it will grow back.
5. Axolotls are resistant to cancer, over 600% more than us humans.
6. They have no eyelids and prefer it where it's dark
7. They also have no teeth! But they have ridges similar to velcro to grip their food and vacuum it down to their stomachs
8. They have a characteristic called Neoteny, meaning that they keep their juvenile traits even if they're full grown.
9. They have a chance of evolving into a tiger salamander but this is a rare occurrence that only happens if the axolotl's parents have the gene in them. (Usually due to crossbreeding)
10. They're critically endangered in the wild, with only a couple of their habitat lakes existing.
Papa 1 year ago
Opinions differ. I have ten tanks with fish, snails, and shrimp, but not one of those. I don't want anything in a fish tank that looks like it has hands.
Load More Replies... TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago (edited)
I have a genuine question: Why are so many things related to death and afterlife associated with canines all over the globe? Like Anubis, Xolotl, Garm, Cerberus, etc.
Hippopotamuses 1 year ago
I suspect that it's to do with scavenging, but that's really just a guess.
Load More Replies... Kira Okah 1 year ago (edited)
Metamorphosing. Not into a tiger salamander, those are a separate but related species. Any axolotl can metamorphose if they are exposed to the hormone that activates it.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Iodine. A few drops of iodine in their water will do it.
Load More Replies... The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)
"Neotony" basically means that the Axolotl looks like it's stuck halfway between tadpole stage and adult stage. Dogs are neotonous because they've found it evolutionarily advantageous to be "cute." So have women. (Settle down, caveman... you're not rescuing anyone from saber-toothed tigers anymore... or even Huns. We're only noting interesting facts, not justifying outdated behavior.)
Upsetipasketi 1 year ago
Axolotls should not be confused with the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamander
#30
Only female mosquitoes bite humans for blood. Males drink nectar like butterflies.
Nathaniel (He/Him) Cis Het. 1 year ago
I am waiting for the vampire movie where the vampire turns into a mosquito.
Philly Bob Squires 1 year ago
I sprayed a mosquito with mosquito repellent. Now she'll never have any friends!
Donald Crocker, Jr. 1 year ago
Remember this when Gates talks about using mosquitoes to vaccinate people vs. how his PR people and paid shills try to do damage control claiming only male mosquitoes are being used. https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grant/production-transgenic-mosquito-flying-syringe-deliver-protective-vaccine-saliva https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-bill-gates-oxitec-mosquitoes-malaria-cases-106569617546
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
you can tell the difference quite easily. Males have curly back legs and are greenish from the plant sap.
#31
If frogs vomit, they vomit out their stomach, scraping out their contents, then swallowing it up again without dying.
this is probably more disgusting than amazing
but
oh well.
Multa Nocte 1 year ago
After a particularly bad night out with a bottle of tequila, I seem to remember doing this exact same thing.
Jeevesssssss 1 year ago
I thought I did that once, then I remembered the can of cherry pie filling I'd eaten
#32
In clownfish, each 'school'( tribe whatever) has one female, and a head male and the others ( all males) , if the female dies, the head male turns into a female.. And the next in line to the ( leadership throne?) would be the male leader and bang the former male leader.
Yeah clownfish are Wacky.
Tayler 1 year ago
Clownfish don't "bang" or copulate. The female lays eggs, then the male fertilizes them.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago (edited)
And "she" didn't want to find him out of parental love...
Load More Replies... censorshipsucks 1 year ago
*republican sees this post* *froths at mouth* *you can't change gender!!!* *froth froth* /s
#33
The closest living relatives to the Tyrannosaurus Rex are chickens.
BoredPossum 1 year ago
Well, birds are dinosaurs, but why would the chicken and the t-rex be that closely related?
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
NOT exactly true. Chickens are more primitive than most birds, but ostriches are more primitive. And of course, some biologists would insist that all birds are equally closely related, but I'll dissent and insist that evolution rates vary, and that there is a indeed such a thing as one lineage being more "primitive" than another. Although in this case, putting ostriches or chickens as being more "primitive" still relies on simply not having evolved a single feature. Apart from birds, the closest relatives to dinosaurs are crocodiles.
Jon Lee 1 year ago
I would have thought that the hoatzin would be more primitive than a chicken.
Load More Replies... #34
Turtles can breath through their butts. And Owls keep little snakes as pets.
PFD 1 year ago
Given the source of intestinal gasses, it's not you doing that.
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BoredPossum 1 year ago
Snakes as pets? I can't imagine them being very comfy on an owl nest high above ground.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
A lot of snakes are very good climbers. The UK grass snake spends nearly 50% of it's time off the ground. I don't think snakes really care about comfort so long as their temperature is correct and they have adequate food.
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#35
Wasps pollinate figs and may be trapped inside while doing so. That means fig Newtons are not technically vegan.
Adrian 1 year ago
I had a friend who worked at Sunsweet. There's a regulated amount of insect parts in dried fruit and it's not zero.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Of course it isn't. It always amazes me when people are amazed that regulations allow for a non-zero amount of something. You want them to shut a factory down because an inspector found an ant leg? That'd be stupid. No, they shut them down when there are enough insect parts to determine that there's an insect problem and not just a stray bug.
Load More Replies... cerinamroth 1 year ago
I have looked this up before in my kosher-related research. Apparently wild figs are indeed pollinated like this but since most figs we eat (certainly cheapy ones used by a biscuit factory) are commercially produced, they are not pollinated in this way. So no wasps inside and should be kosher and vegan!
Adrian 1 year ago
Sorry to disappoint but all dried fruit contains some insect parts, even if in very low quantities.
Load More Replies... Kira Okah 1 year ago
There is debate, but figs are generally considered to be vegan, and most vegan groups consider them so.
Marie Clear 1 year ago
It's cultural norms that make things like ant parts icky. Plenty of places where you can have your ants served up as an appetiser course.
Laura Williams 1 year ago
Yes if you eat figs you are getting extra protein. They still taste good though.
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
FALSE! The part about fig newtons not being technically vegan. Fig wasps are not used in commercial fig growing. But yeah, back old times, you PROBABLY got a wasp with your fig.
#36
Sperm whales in the carribean have an accent.
Nathaniel (He/Him) Cis Het. 1 year ago
According to the sperm whales in the Caribbean they do NOT have an accent. It is all those other sperm whales that have an accent.
#37
When a specific species of carpenter ant (Colobopsis saundersi) realizes it's going to lose the fight it's having with another insect, it latches onto them and then *blows itself up.* Membranes along the ant's body can be activated that'll lead to combustion. Special enlarged glands in its head mean the explosion sends a glue-like substance shooting out that will very likely entrap the previously presumptive brawl victor.
axle f 1 year ago
...never get into a bar brawl with a carpenter ant & his gang?
Load More Replies... Adrian 1 year ago
Yes but it's all about the survival of the community. Humans could learn a thing or two from ants.
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#38
Polar bears fur is actually clear.
Nathaniel (He/Him) Cis Het. 1 year ago
The habitats of polar bears and grizzly bears are overlapping, they sometimes meet. And mate. The offspring are known as pizzly bears.
Edward Finger Hands 1 year ago
And there’s also the Grolar Bear which is a male grizzly + a female polar. (Pizzly is the opposite)
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Mónica Elisabeth Sacco 1 year ago
Polar bears evolved from grizzly bears. That's why they still can mate.
#39
There is an extinct species of bee that we only know exists because there is an orchid whose naughty parts mimic the bee in order to trick them into pollinating it!
Kylie 1 year ago
So if the bee needed to pollinate this orchid is extinct how have the orchids survived?
Certainly not Dan 1 year ago
I never knew this about bee orchids! Lots of them to be found in the right places where I live (midlands UK) The flowers look as though they don’t belong in the UK, too exotic!
Laura Williams 1 year ago
I am unaware of bees and flowers having similar ways of achieving a new generation of either flowers or bees. Insects usually lay eggs and flowers get pollinated.
#40
Wolfs only have one mate for their entire lives.
Data1001 1 year ago
"Wolfs" is used exclusively when referring to more than one Wolf Blitzer.
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Mónica Elisabeth Sacco 1 year ago
Black wolves are the offspring of a wolf+a black dog. Pure breed wolves are grey or white.
Agent Smith 1 year ago
Such beautiful creatures that should be valued for the important apex predators nature needs.
#41
The blobfish looks like a normal fish underwater, but since orda a deep sea fish, the depressurisation make it look like what we see in pictures.
#42
There's an intelligent species of jumping spider called as the "Portia Spider". These little munchkins are specialized spider hunters, with different tactics for a particular problem. Their favorite food is the common weaving spiders. Their tactics ranges from imitating a fallen debris on the prey's web to directly attacking the prey. Their venoms are potent against spiders as it will only take seconds to paralyze the prey.
#43
Caterpillars have over 200 muscles in just their head.
#44
Gladiator spiders have the largest eyes of all other spider species. This is kinda disadvantageous though because they go blind everyday due to not being able to close them. However they regenerate their eyes every evening/night so they can survive. Also "New World" Tarantulas has a defence mechanism where they use their back legs to rub off and kick hairs from their andomen at their attackers. They are super itchy and a pain in the a**e to get rid off.
Katey Doll 1 year ago
The gladiator/ ogre spider uses its hearing to hunt rather than rely on its eyes.
#45
Sheep don't like to walk in water or move through narrow openings. They prefer to move *into the wind and uphill* rather than down-wind and downhill.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Growing up my brothers sheep kept getting out through narrow openings in fences. Doe this mean between more solid objects like between gaps in-between rocks?
LuciBelle 1 year ago
They only go through narrow openings you don’t want them to go through.
Load More Replies... #46
Fun fact: the octopus has 3 hearts.
Ansi 1 year ago
Does octopuses have stupid clothes though? (Observe it's not me calling them stupid, it was River)
Load More Replies... #47
Male seahorses have pouches in which their children grow up.
Ace 1 year ago
No, that's not the case. The eggs hatch inside the pouch which forms a placenta-like structure to nourish the young until they're ready to be released as perfect miniature seahorses.
Load More Replies... #48
You can buy helmets for chickens on Wish.
Laughing Orc 1 year ago
You can buy anything for anything on wish. But you probably shouldn't.
Persephone 1 year ago
I would prefer to buy hulk arms or velociraptor arms for my chickens to walk around in.. if I had chickens.
#49
In eleven million years time the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur will have been extinct for 77 million years. This is way less time than the time the Stegosaurus had been extinct when the T Rex was alive 66 million years ago.
#50
Sloths sometimes grab their own arms, thinking they're branches, and thus fall to their death.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
Lol. This is a myth, it doesn't happen. They certainly check the branches they grab first to see if it's strong enough, and they would notice if they grabbed their arm. They aren't stupid.
Ansi 1 year ago
You spoilsport. I was just relating to the sloths until you said that. 🦥 😄😉
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Jill Rhodry 1 year ago
Nah, this was 'Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" - next they'll be saying that if you put a babel fish in your ear it'll translate languages, oh...hang on....
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Robert Trebor 1 year ago
We all make mistakes. I just spent 20 minutes looking for my big thermos bottle. It's on the counter in my kitchen. I was standing right in front of it looking up at the shelf. If it'd been a snake...
LuciBelle 1 year ago
I was just looking for my phone while I was talking on it. Couldn’t find it the other day, kept pinging it with my watch, it always sounded like it was behind me. It was…in my back pocket. I think I need a keeper.
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What do you think ?
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
Contrary to popular belief, bears do not hibernate. They use a less-extreme state of inactivity called “torpor”.
Nathaniel (He/Him) Cis Het. 1 year ago
Amazing animal fact. The camel spider is technically not a spider. So it's really a very weird looking camel?
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
It's a solifugid. They're freaky looking and can give a pinchy ole' bite, but they aren't venemous.
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Meredith Gossland 1 year ago
I want to see an animation movie with all these animals doing all these things. Especially the octopus. Dong! Got her! Lol
AspieGirl88 1 year ago (edited)
One “animal fact” that I can personally share: Rabbits aren’t supposed to fart, because of the way their little GI (gastro-intestinal) system works. If they have gas trapped in their bowels, they can suffer a condition known as “GI Stasis”, which has a high fatality rate. I sadly lost my baby rabbit (“Tardis”) to this illness when he was just 10 months & 24 days old, 3 days after Christmas 2018. He refused to eat, drink or go to the toilet at all & he was nipping fingers due to abdominal pain. I’d sat up all night trying to get him to eat the stuff the vet gave me, but he refused. Losing him tore my whole world apart. I also learned later on that rabbits do these little clumped poops called “cecotropes”, which we’re supposed to let the rabbits eat, as it’s meant to keep their gut healthy (my mum didn’t know this & would clean it up before it had a chance to be eaten). Goes to show, the more you know… 🥺💖🐇
We Were On A Break! 1 year ago
Well, it was interesting to read but every time I see these kind of posts I take it with a grain of salt. I can't be sure it's actually true or maybe it is but is inaccurate. Does anyone verify these facts?
Flora Porter 1 year ago
So boring that every post about females with dominant characteristics prompts some guy to do a 'my wife' comment.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
The common denominator being that *they* chose the wife!
Load More Replies... Justin Tyme 1 year ago
Contrary to popular belief, bears do not hibernate. They use a less-extreme state of inactivity called “torpor”.
Nathaniel (He/Him) Cis Het. 1 year ago
Amazing animal fact. The camel spider is technically not a spider. So it's really a very weird looking camel?
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
It's a solifugid. They're freaky looking and can give a pinchy ole' bite, but they aren't venemous.
Load More Replies... Meredith Gossland 1 year ago
I want to see an animation movie with all these animals doing all these things. Especially the octopus. Dong! Got her! Lol
AspieGirl88 1 year ago (edited)
One “animal fact” that I can personally share: Rabbits aren’t supposed to fart, because of the way their little GI (gastro-intestinal) system works. If they have gas trapped in their bowels, they can suffer a condition known as “GI Stasis”, which has a high fatality rate. I sadly lost my baby rabbit (“Tardis”) to this illness when he was just 10 months & 24 days old, 3 days after Christmas 2018. He refused to eat, drink or go to the toilet at all & he was nipping fingers due to abdominal pain. I’d sat up all night trying to get him to eat the stuff the vet gave me, but he refused. Losing him tore my whole world apart. I also learned later on that rabbits do these little clumped poops called “cecotropes”, which we’re supposed to let the rabbits eat, as it’s meant to keep their gut healthy (my mum didn’t know this & would clean it up before it had a chance to be eaten). Goes to show, the more you know… 🥺💖🐇
We Were On A Break! 1 year ago
Well, it was interesting to read but every time I see these kind of posts I take it with a grain of salt. I can't be sure it's actually true or maybe it is but is inaccurate. Does anyone verify these facts?
Flora Porter 1 year ago
So boring that every post about females with dominant characteristics prompts some guy to do a 'my wife' comment.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
The common denominator being that *they* chose the wife!
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