The animal kingdom is fascinating, fam. Animals are capable of stuff that humans can sometimes literally not even imagine. Quick, think of a new color you've never seen before. Your mind can't do it; but lots of animals with broader visual spectrums see colors like that all the time.
Some jellyfish pull a Benjamin Button and age in reverse. Platypus are venemous. Don't even get us started on the list of animals (other than your roommate) that go out and get drunk and/or high for fun...
Reddit user IronMech233 asked:
What is an animal fact that not everyone knows but they should?
Listen, we could do this all day every day for a while and still not cover all the cool things there are to know about animals, so consider this a sort of appetizer sampler of animal awesomeness.
Hedgehog Happenings
Hedgehogs are known as "the gardener's friend."
This is because they will eat slugs, beetles, caterpillars, etc., and do no harm - only good.
When a hedgehog encounters a new smell, it will bite and lick the source of the smell to form a white foam in its mouth with the smell and then proceeds to smear it on its quills, this behavior is called self anointing. No one is really sure why they do it though, some people say that it's to make their quills more irritating to the touch and others say it's to hide their own smell.
Generational Grudges
Pigeons, crows, and ravens can recognize humans and remember faces.
They also have been observed holding a grudge against humans that were mean to them.
Crows can even tell their offspring specifically about details about ppl they have a grudge on or find dangerous. There was a huge experiment/documentation about this.
- NathCim
Fish Don't Belong In Fishbowls
Goldfish should NOT be kept in little bowls. They produce a huge amount of waste for their size and so they need a very powerful filtration system. Pet shop workers will tell you they grow to fit the size of their tank. This is not true - if the tank isn't big enough for them, they die young. With enough space and decent filtration, a goldfish can live for decades. All the rubbish you hear in some pet shops is just because they know they'll sell a lot less fish if you actually knew what it takes to look after them.
To add to this, betta fish don't belong in bowls ether! There's a horrible misconception that they get stressed out by large tanks, but they only get stress when they're super exposed. They are more than happy a large tank so long as there's plenty of hiding spaces and plants!
Also, they do not live in puddles in the wild! They are native to Vietnam, where they live in very very long, but shallow rice paddies. Speaking of their native habitat, they come from warm waters, so they need a tank that is around 80°F. Bettas need 5 gallon tanks, heated and filtered!
Koala Villain
The fingerprints of a koala are so indistinguishable from humans that they have on occasion been confused at a crime scene.
Waiting for an evil Koala as a Disney movie villain. Also, if anyone from Disney is reading this and goes ahead with this, I will take 5% of total sales as commission, thanks.
Spider Chef
The buckspoor spider in the Namib desert preys on ants by hiding in the sand and grasping one limb of a passing ant. It pins the ant to the hot desert sand until it cooks to death.
Sharks V Trees
Sharks have been around since before trees (450 million years vs 385 million years)
Addicted
The reason dogs like being scratched behind their ears is that when that area is stimulated, it releases endorphins, giving your dog a natural high. You heard it here first folks, your dog is an addict.
- orcb01g
Cousin Dimetrodon
Dimetrodon is technically more related to you than it is to dinosaurs.
So please, for the love of god, stop calling Dimetrodon a dinosaur.
- Kilogren
Giraffes
I heard once biologists believed giraffes couldn't make sound at all for a long time.
Eventually, they were found to be able to make some sounds, but their vocal cords are so weak it's just about impossible to hear it unless you get lucky.
Other giraffe facts:
- They use their tongues to scratch itches because no fingers. They can lick their own eyeball.
- They can kill lions with their kick.
- Giraffes see trouble coming before everyone else. If other animals see giraffes running, they'll run, too.
- Giraffes have the same amount of vertebrae as humans. Theirs are much, much larger.
Exchanging Crabs
Giphy
When finding a shell that is too big for their size, a hermit crab will sit and wait at that shell for up to 8 hours. If other crabs join in, they form a queue, arranging themselves from biggest to smallest. When the biggest crab is sizeable enough to fit in the new shell, the queue of crabs exchange shells--all moving up a size. It's fascinating.
Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images
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