Reddit user FunChemical3182 asked:
"What is the weirdest animal fact you know?"
Like Perry
"Platypus glow blueish green under ultraviolet light."
"They also don’t have nipples, they just exude milk from glands under the skin and the baby’s lap it up."
~ WakingOwl1
"They have electrolocation in their bills that lets them detect their food under water."
~ DrPlatypus1
"And they lay eggs."
"The more I find out about them the more I understand why people first thought they were fake."
~ Reidroshdy
"After seeing all these platypus facts I am convinced these things are aliens that have been abandoned on Earth."
~ SeattleOne206
Kapow!
"Mantis Shrimp have 16 different sets of cones. Rods and cones are in your eyes. Cones see color, rods see light and motion."
"Dogs have 2 sets of cones—green and blue. Humans have 3 sets of cones—green, blue and red."
"Mantis Shrimp are seeing colors we can't comprehend and explains why they're very colorful."
"That’s not even the strangest thing about them."
"They can also punch as fast as a .22 bullet which cause a cavitation bubble which boils the water around them at temperatures of several thousand Kelvins."
~ RigzDigz
GiphyTerrible Twos
"Cats have the mental capacity of a 2-year-old which makes a lot of sense."
~ Alive_Ad823
Cats Dragging GIFGiphyLike Tinder
"When a female sloth wants a mate she'll hang onto a tree branch and just scream."
~ Remarkable_Sink2542
GiphyGood Thing They're So Small
"Dragonflies are the most successful predators on Earth."
"When lions choose prey they have like a 10% chance of catching it."
"African painted dogs—who hunt in packs—have the highest kill rate of any mammal, successfully catching 51% of their prey."
"When a dragonfly locks onto a target, it has a 99.9% success rate!"
~ PurpleInevitable2103
GiphyOn A Swivel
"Owls have really long necks, but it's hard to notice that because their feathers are so fluffy."
~ ergonaut
GiphyWhat About Cousin It?
"Sea otters are the most densely furred animal with 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch."
"Dogs have about 15,000 per square inch, humans on average are between 800 to 1,290 hairs per square inch."
~ atom1129
Giphy
Sucker Punchers
"Octopus punch other fish for no reason—so, for fun."
~ Samanthalynn8915
"There's a direct correlation between species' intelligence and dickish behavior."
~ TheDesktopNinja
Looks Are Deceiving
"Polar bear fur isn't white—it's translucent (for most frequencies of light). And they have black skin underneath."
"So polar bear fur lets all the light through to their black skin to warm them—except for a few visible frequencies to keep them camouflaged as white."
~ seedanrun
GiphyWho's Going To Attack One‽‽
"Honey badgers can turn their a**holes inside out and use the smell to deter attackers."
"Not sure what exactly has the guts to attack a honey badger, but if they have the courage to do so, the badger sure as hell isn’t gonna make it easy."
~ nonexistantauthor
GiphyBig Momma
"The Blanket Octopus exhibits the highest degree of sexual dimorphism known."
"Females: About 6 feet across."
"Males: About one inch."
~ Fabulous-Pause4154
High Times
"Dolphins will intentionally use puffer fish to get high."
~ altkaldra
"They upset blowfish so they inflate, and therefore emit poison. It gets the dolphins high. Then they pass it around, literally."
~ smack4u
"Not just the dolphins. I recently saw a video about 10 animals that like to get high. Very interesting."
~ s137leo__
"Lemurs do that with giant centipedes/millipedes too."
~ chubbyknuckles420
Fabrizio Frigeni on Unsplash
Better Than Bike Helmets
"Woodpeckers' tongues wrap around their brains to cushion them from the vibrations of slamming their face into trees all day."
~ we_made_yewww
"Their tongues also have barbs to grab bugs out of the holes."
"Their brains have additional cushioning because, you know, they spend their days smashing their face as hard as possible into trees."
~ RhynoD
Detachable Organs
"Argonauts [paper nautili] are small octopuses that are too lazy to have intercourse."
"They detach their penises and toss them into the open sea to mate with female argonauts."
"The detachable 'd*ck' is a tiny tentacle, complete with suckers and sperm, that develops in a cavity under the eye of a male argonaut [paper nautilus]."
"When it's time to mate, the tentacle explodes out of the cavity, instantly killing the male argonaut. The tentacle then swims towards a female argonaut to insert itself."
"Sexy, huh?"
~ Schwarzes__Loch
What's your favorite weird animal fact?
"The Ants go rolling in a ball, hurrah, hurrah..."
"Army Ants will create 'balls' during high water floods."
"The ball will roll allowing every ant to get a breath."- H010CR0N
Be weary of fake bananas.
"The chemical compound which is used to make fake banana flavor is the same compound honey bees use as an alarm pheromone."
"So never eat banana sweets near a beehive, and if you suddenly smell banana near a beehive, run!"- generic-volume
Unconventional nursing.
"The duck billed platypus has no nipples to feed their offspring."
"Instead, milk oozes from the skin."- ChimpyChompies
platypus GIFGiphyEvery inch is soft and cuddly.
"Rabbits don't have pads on their paws."
"Only fur."
"So if you see a cartoon rabbit with pads on it's paw, completely wrong."- FOTBWN
Providing all kinds of relief.
"Vultures urinate on their legs and feet to cool off on hot days, a process called urohydrosis."
"Their urine also helps kill any bacteria or parasites they’ve picked up from walking through carcasses or perching on dead animals."- Iron_Chic
Small but mighty.
"There is a genus of frog called 'Mini'."
"There are only three frogs in the genus, and their scientific names are all puns: Mini mum, Mini ature and Mini scule."- SwimmingOnMars
Pbs Nature Frog GIF by Nature on PBSGiphyA built in Brita!
"Penguins have a gland above their eye that converts saltwater into freshwater."- Yeeteth_thy_baby
Blind but terrifying
"The vast majority of Greenland sharks are blind thanks to a special parasite that eats their eyes and replaces them."
"It is thought that this might actually be helpful because their eyesight was sh*t anyway, the parasites wave like lures and may have an anglerfish-like effect, and the sharks are super slow so that might be one of the few ways for them to catch live prey."
"Imagine something eating your eyeballs and it being an upgrade."- Fabled_Webs
Don't be fooled by their Beauty
"Butterflies will drink blood given the option."- Semicolon7645
A jumping baby factory.
"A kangaroo will mate again one to three days after giving birth."
"The newborn will latch onto a teat in the pouch and as long as it thrives, the kangaroo can put its newly fertilized embryo in a state of dormancy and have a back up baby ready to go."
"If the newborn grows out of the pouch or dies, the kangaroos hormones will send signals to start the development of the egg."
"So they can have an adolescent Joey, a nursing one, and one in stasis all at the same time."
Yo Mama Australia GIF by Nat Geo WildGiphySo many animals on this planet.
So much to learn every day.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
A seagull came through their doors on July 1st, sporting a bright orange hue.
The hospital had never seen a bird like this before, and were very surprised by his coloring.
The bird was rescued off the highway and was brought to the UK wildlife home, known as Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital. The hospital, recognized as "the first and world's busiest wildlife teaching hospital" according to their Facebook page, sees over 10,000 British wildlife casualties every year.
However, they had never seen a case like this.
Turns out, the seagull's color wasn't a result of strange genetics at all. Their Facebook post, which has received almost 700 shares, recounts the discovery they made as they were bathing the bird.
"He had somehow gotten himself covered in curry or turmeric! It was all over his feathers, preventing him from flying properly. We have no idea how he got into this predicament but thankfully, apart from the vibrant colour and pungent smell, he was healthy."
The bird did let them wash the curry off, but not without covering the team in curry water.
Here's the hospital's original post.
"As we say, we never know what will come through our doors next!"
@ladbible Why are all these birds addicted to orange tanning?😂— 🐝🌵Marcie!🐞🌵 (@🐝🌵Marcie!🐞🌵) 1562581235.0
@ladbible Poor seagulls dreams now up in flames 🔥😂 https://t.co/gITYhlsbai— Danielle Campbell (@Danielle Campbell) 1562577282.0
@ladbible Most English Headline Ever— Jonathan Raimondi (@Jonathan Raimondi) 1562576322.0
@ladbible That’s evolution right there— 💎 ᔕEᗩᑎOᔕᗩYᔕ 💎 (@💎 ᔕEᗩᑎOᔕᗩYᔕ 💎) 1562605512.0
Vinny is doing much better, and is due to be released in the coming days.
Let's hope he doesn't find himself back in the hospital covered in any sort of food again.
If you're a fan of curries, the book Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible: India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Africa, Kenya, Great Britain, Trinidad, Guyana, Japan, USA is available here.
"This is the most comprehensive book ever published on curries, written by Madhur Jaffrey, the world's bestselling Indian cookery author. The influence of the Indian curry has been far-reaching: Indian immigrants and traders influenced the cooking of many other great cuisines of the world, including those of Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and China."
"History blends with recipes in this meticulously researched book, which will prove fascinating reading for food lovers everywhere. With over 150 mouthwatering recipes."