Animal Facts that are surprising/amazing/weird

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You can hypnotise chooks by making them go cross eyed, yes, I've done this.

It takes two people. One holds the chook down on the concrete, one hand in the middle of it's back, the other hand holding the head so that it's neck and beak are flat out on the concrete.

The second person puts a piece of charcoal or brightly coloured chalk on the concrete at the tip of the bird's beak, they draw a straight line away from the bird's beak at the same time as the first person let's go.

The bird will go cross eyed and just stay there, exactly how you left it. Completely mesmerised.

To wake it up again all you have to do is touch it, a gentle poke in the wing is enough.

 

[Shevek]

Yeah there are bears in the forest here where I live and I stay far away from them. They're usually not a problem, they just do whatever bears do and usually they stay away from people. But they are so strong it freaks me out a little. Freakishly strong. I'm not taking any risks when it comes to bears. I prefer to have at least a few miles between me and all bears.

Maybe you only think you stay far away from them. I know some guys who won't get out of their trucks to pick berries without a high powered rifle, and other guys who are comfy picking a hundred yards from a bear eating berries. They understand, and are busy.
The only unprovoked black bear attack I've heard of was on a guy who was timber cruising - the harbinger of all the trees being taken away, which had probably displaced the bear once before. It was not successful, but it was a near thing.

 

[Forest Cat]

Maybe you only think you stay far away from them. I know some guys who won't get out of their trucks to pick berries without a high powered rifle, and other guys who are comfy picking a hundred yards from a bear eating berries. They understand, and are busy.
The only unprovoked black bear attack I've heard of was on a guy who was timber cruising - the harbinger of all the trees being taken away, which had probably displaced the bear once before. It was not successful, but it was a near thing.

I'm just not taking any chances. Even bears can have bad days. Or they can be injured or sick and behave irrationally or do things they normally wouldn't do. Or it could be a bear that just happens to hate people for some reason. No bears for me, too strong. It's the raw bear strength that worries me.

 

[Georgia Galaxy]

Spending a lot of time studying this one particular dog breed. mainly because my cousin recently acquired a Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog). A lot to understand about this breed. Just hope my cousin can handle her on a level that meets her expectations. Seems like a great dog who loves people, though I've never seen a dog with this level of energy. An understatement to say, "She's a handful!"

Blue Heelers seem very adorable, although I haven't met very many. As an Aussie I can confirm this <3

 

[Georgia Galaxy]

Clownfish are protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, which means that all clownfish develop into males first and the largest and most dominant member in a group develops into a female.

If the female clownfish is removed from the group, then one of the largest and dominant males will become the new female and all the other males will move up a rank in the hierarchy, so to speak.

Damn that's cool

 

[Georgia Galaxy]

The sea otter use rocks to crack open mollusks and clams they gather for food. So they use tools. And otters have favorite rocks, the otter will have a favorite rock it picked out and carry it around in a pouch in its fur, usually under their left arm. So they carry a tool around with them in a pouch. That's pretty advanced. They also juggle rocks but no one knows for sure exactly why they do that.

Woah!! So impressive

 

[Rodafina]

Maybe you only think you stay far away from them. I know some guys who won't get out of their trucks to pick berries without a high powered rifle, and other guys who are comfy picking a hundred yards from a bear eating berries. They understand, and are busy.
The only unprovoked black bear attack I've heard of was on a guy who was timber cruising - the harbinger of all the trees being taken away, which had probably displaced the bear once before. It was not successful, but it was a near thing.

Are you focusing on black bears? I’ve heard that brown bears (grizzly) are much more likely to attack for simply being in their territory.

Black bears however, you can essentially hike alongside them as long as they don’t have their babies about.

Polar bears, too, I think are not to be trusted to share space with a human.

 

[Princess Viola]

Are you focusing on black bears? I’ve heard that brown bears (grizzly) are much more likely to attack for simply being in their territory.

Black bears however, you can essentially hike alongside them as long as they don’t have their babies about.

Polar bears, too, I think are not to be trusted to share space with a human.

There's a reason the polar bear part of the famous rhyme is 'if it's white, say goodnight' because while polar bear attacks are rare, they are almost always fatal and predatory in nature.

 

[DaisyRose]

I like to talk about how smart Orcas are. It’s scary how emotional they are and how they react to being put in captivity. Since they are actually dolphins, they have one of the largest brains seen in sea mammals. They react very aggressively towards trainers and experience post traumatic stress syndrome from captivity.

Many Orcas that are at SeaWorld react in such a way that it’s not accidental. They are very self aware of what they are doing and can work together to create havoc. During performances they can sometimes intentionally ruin the show by messing up their stunts and movements. They even lash out and attack their trainers during the shows as well. They can even sometimes end up killing them in the process.

It’s terrible how Orcas are treated and how captivity can cause them to become emotionally damaged. Orcas are very sociable creatures and taking that away from them can destroy them in the process. Not to mention the amount of abuse they endure as well. This can cause resentment, which can cause them to act out in such a way. I always like to talk about this because I find it interesting and important to learn.

 

[Georgia Galaxy]

I like to talk about how smart Orcas are. It’s scary how emotional they are and how they react to being put in captivity. Since they are actually dolphins, they have one of the largest brains seen in sea mammals. They react very aggressively towards trainers and experience post traumatic stress syndrome from captivity.

Many Orcas that are at SeaWorld react in such a way that it’s not accidental. They are very self aware of what they are doing and can work together to create havoc. During performances they can sometimes intentionally ruin the show by messing up their stunts and movements. They even lash out and attack their trainers during the shows as well. They can even sometimes end up killing them in the process.

It’s terrible how Orcas are treated and how captivity can cause them to become emotionally damaged. Orcas are very sociable creatures and taking that away from them can destroy them in the process. Not to mention the amount of abuse they endure as well. This can cause resentment, which can cause them to act out in such a way. I always like to talk about this because I find it interesting and important to learn.

Woah that is interesting! The poor sweeties <333

 

[Judge]

A lot of people overlook the importance of socialising these dogs, getting them used to other people and dogs all the time, otherwise as they get older they become a one person dog and can be aggressive with visitors.

That's our greatest concern about the dog my cousin recently acquired. Not so much in terms of humans, but canine socialization seems a must at this point. Clearly something lacking in this dog, which my cousin thinks is around four years old.

 

[Forest Cat]

Are you focusing on black bears? I’ve heard that brown bears (grizzly) are much more likely to attack for simply being in their territory.

Black bears however, you can essentially hike alongside them as long as they don’t have their babies about.

Polar bears, too, I think are not to be trusted to share space with a human.

I have been close to polar bears, in a place called Svalbard. There's a town there called Longyearbyen (Long year town), it's actually illegal to not carry a weapon when you leave the town. Because of the bears, you shouldn't shoot them but just give them a warning, they usually run away when they hear a gunshot. They are known to break into cabins, attack tents and sometimes attack people. They are curious and always looking for food.

Fun fact about polar bears, they have black skin. If you shave a polar bear, you get a black bear.

Sometimes they use snowmobiles. Joyriding. Very advanced bears.

And sometimes they use boats. For fishing.

Sometimes they try to steal a car, but their butts are too big to get into the seats.

 

[Shevek]

I would ordinarily be very wary of brown or white bears, but they migrate through Churchill, Manitoba, where my bath water goes, and have to wait around for a month for the ice to firm up. They are living on fat the whole time, but seem quite content to wait. People just avoid them, and everyone leaves their cars and trucks unlocked in case someone needs a bear shelter in a hurry.

 

[Rodafina]

 

[Rodafina]

Do all houseflies hum in key?​

by Larra Morris

A cloud of houseflies swarming through your home may not sound like music to your ears, but listen closer. The airborne pests are actually giving you an a capella show—always in the key of F.
Because they lack vocal cords, insects generally make sounds by rubbing their legs together (e.g. crickets), using a vibrating membrane (e.g. cicadas), or moving their wings. The common housefly flaps its wings about 190 times per second, and the human ear interprets that frequency as a pitch along the F major scale (which includes pitches F, G, A, B?, C, D, and E). While not every housefly is the same size and flaps at the same speed, the measurements are always proportional, insuring the creatures consistently hit the same notes.

 

[tree]

"Like us, dogs can identify sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Unlike us, they also have special taste buds aimed at tasting only water. So for dogs, water is probably not “tasteless,” as we usually describe it. These water receptors are located at the tip of the tongue—the part the dog dips in the water and curls under when drinking.

In people, the tip of the tongue is most sensitive to sweet tastes, which is why you like to roll candy around your tongue’s tip. In dogs, the rear of the tongue is most sensitive to sweets. That may be why they seem to gulp them down.

Dogs also have taste buds in the back of their throat, so they can actually taste that food they seem to inhale without chewing!"
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/accounting-taste-probing-mysteries-dogs-find-delicious/

https://www.dogspot.in/dog-blog/dog-senses-iv-tongue-an-account-into-dogs-taste-buds/

 

[Outdated]

Dogs also have taste buds in the back of their throat, so they can actually taste that food they seem to inhale without chewing!

That was something that always amazed me about my dog, sometimes it appeared that she just inhaled a whole bowl full of food, yet she always managed to leave peas and corn behind.

 

[Rodafina]

Dogs also have taste buds in the back of their throat, so they can actually taste that food they seem to inhale without chewing!"

I’m just happy to hear that I’m not wasting all those tasty treats on Rocky and that he may actually enjoy them after all.

 

[Judge]

That was something that always amazed me about my dog, sometimes it appeared that she just inhaled a whole bowl full of food, yet she always managed to leave peas and corn behind.

Happy birthday!

 

[Princess Viola]

Gynandromorphs are organisms with both male and female characteristics and is most commonly seen in insects, crustaceans, and birds, although it has also been observed in lizards, snakes, and rodents.

Gynandromorphism is most commonly recognized in species with strong sexual dimorphism, such as many species of butterfly, spider, and bird.

Gynandromorphs can fall into one of two categories: bilateral gynandromorphs and mosaic gynandromorphs. In bilateral gynandromorphs, the animal is quite literally split down the middle with one half being male and the other half being female. In mosaic gynandromorphs, it's much more patchwork, with patches characteristic with one sex appearing in a body part characteristic of the other sex.

An example of an animal with bilateral gynandromorphism is this northern cardinal that was photographed in Pennsylvania back in 2021:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...d-photographed-erie-warren-county/4554937001/
The left half of this cardinal is female and the right half is male.