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.
You're welcome.
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.
In fact, some mistakes are so astronomical that they're remembered for decades afterwards, leaving the one who made the mistake a legacy of being a dumba**. Here are a few of them!!!
U/ronjans24 asked: What was the biggest mistake in human history?
Some may argue that the existence of the Universe was a mistake. I disagree. It was clearly Zayn leaving One Direction. But these next few were pretty bad too.
If you do the math, this is also the reason why Hentai exists.
I'll say the wrong turn Franz Ferdinand's driver made that went right in front of Gavrilo Princip.
EDIT: yes I'm aware war may still have broken out even if Franz Ferdinand wasn't assassinated
Imagine you're Gavrilo Princip. The assassination plot you and your friends had been cooking up for about the last year or so has been a complete and total disaster, just a monumental f*ck-up of the highest degree. You're staked out at this deli thinking maybe, just maybe the car will pass by, and by some stroke of sheer luck, it does.
If you're Princip, this is nothing short of serendipity.
Petition to return to the ocean.
Ocean Surf GIFGiphy"Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans."
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams
This was, in fact, a monumental mistake.
Sears not beating Amazon to the punch.
Blockbuster not buying Netflix.
You thought THOSE were bad? Well gear up for their next few, because they are 100% accurate. Except the one about Cats, that movie slaps.
I don’t know sports, but sure.
Seahawks not running it.
I used to wear a Seahawks jersey whenever I took a test because I knew I would pass when I shouldn't.
CATS is great, y'all are just boring.
GiphyThe Emoji Movie.
That live action movie about Cats is also up there.
Very fair point.
Social Media.
Humans are not wired to have that many social interactions and maintain that many relationships. Plus the echochambers it allows people to create for themselves, no matter how conspiratorial or vile their beliefs, means that stupid/evil people are no longer shunned into changing their mind.
Not sure it was worth being able to see what a celebrity had for lunch or what new "dance" your younger cousin and her tween friends are doing.
But in all seriousness, some horrible things may now have happened if the right thing was halted at the right time.
Washington called it.
George Washington Disney GIF by Hamilton: An American MusicalGiphyVoting for people based on what side of the political spectrum they're on. George Washington himself advised against political parties because he thought they would cause too much division in this country. Unfortunately for everyone, he was right.
Big oops on that one.
Barack Obama mocking Donald Trump at the Correspondents Dinner might have led directly to his 2016 run....
"Now, I know that he's taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald," Obama said. "And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"
Then he turned serious: "But all kidding aside, obviously, we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example — no, seriously, just recently, in an episode of 'Celebrity Apprentice' — at the steakhouse, the men's cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didn't blame Lil Jon or Meatloaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir. Well handled."
This is the best Star Wars and no one can change my mind.
I'll take 'Star Wars Christmas Special' for $100.
That atrocious pile of manure gave us Boba Fett, so without the Christmas Special there won't be The Mandalorian.
Wow, in this article, I openly admitted my love for Cats AND The Star Wars Holiday Special. So maybe my existence was the biggest mistake of all.
ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you all feel a little bit better about yourself. Because when push comes to shove, at least you didn't accidentally start World War I