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“It’s Just As Horrific As It Sounds”: 50 Disturbing Truths About Animals You Might Wish You Didn’t Know
There are over two million animal species that scientists have identified and described, with many more still undiscovered. A lot of them are the kind we instantly find adorable—fluffy, cuddly, and sweet. But with such an enormous variety, there are also those that can be unsettling or behave in ways that seem downright bizarre.
That’s exactly what Ryan Michaels tapped into when he asked people on Instagram to share a scary science fact about animals or bust a myth about them we grew up believing. What he got back were responses that were as fascinating as they were unnerving. Scroll down to see some of the best ones.
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#1
Ravens work with wolves. They find prey and lead wolves to it. while wolves hunt, ravens wait with the wolf pups. After the hunt, they share the food.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 2 months ago
Wolves could do that too. If they wanted to. >_>
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Janissary35680 2 months ago
I suppose it's scary if you're something that wolves and ravens would eat. (Which doesn't exclude much, actually.)
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Kira Okah 2 months ago
If we're all posting this one yet again, get it right, this is just as poorly described as last time. The raven finds a carcass, but ravens do not have the ability to open the carcass. Raven signals to in the area wolf that there is a carcass nearby and to please make a door in it in exchange for some of the meat. Wolf makes door and chows down, raven pops into newly made door and also chows down.
Lil be lil 2 months ago (edited)
Open the door! I like your description.Wolf makes door and chows down.😂😂😂
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SkippityBoppityBoo 2 months ago
Not entirely true. It's the dead animal that they find. Birds such as Ravens are scavengers. The other animals follow them to the carcass. How do I know? Growing up in the far north of Canada.
Tommy DePaul 1 month ago
Well we feed dogs and cats and they provide us with affection.
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Hobby Hopper 1 month ago
Many corvids, including Ravens, can mimic human voices. What if the legend of the Wendigo is just ravens luring people to predators?
RELATED:
#2
Jumping spiders remember faces. And can become friends if you’re nice.
ninjaTrashPandaBoom 2 months ago
I save them from indoors and rehome them to my garden whenever I get the chance
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Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
We have lots of these little arachnids around home, everyone has a name: Spider Dave. All of them are called Dave.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 2 months ago
OMG, I do the same thing, but all of mine are named Larry! I wonder if Spider Larry(s) and Spider Dave(s) are cousins XD
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TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
They have advanced cognitive abilities! Problem solving, learning from experience, long term planning, maybe even dreaming. Pretty cool considering their brain is so small. The way they run around and actually look up at your face is so fascinating.
Apachebathmat 2 months ago
One in my garden jumps onto the outdoor table every morning when I drinking coffee, cute as anything
Stardrop 2 months ago
but look at that faceeeee! he's just a little guy 🥺
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m0@nlight 2 months ago
Love spiders.......learned from David Attenborough that when spiders are flying around on a string of web that they are actually directing their flight by the electricity in the air working with the hairs on their legs actually directing their flight!!! Nature is Awesome. 😁
#3
Some animals, such as tigers, can produce infrasound, sound so low you feel it. It can cause “zaps” of pain, headaches, an impending sense of doom, extreme fear and more side effects
Bob Bob 2 months ago
Additional side effects may include nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, diarrhea, fatigue, and being eaten by a f*****g tiger
Lily bloom 2 months ago
But I'd be super close to said tiger for a time before being eaten? Sign me up
Load More Replies... Teutonic Disaster 2 months ago (edited)
"more side effects" being what, a massive case of code brown?! Kitty cat wouldn't have to make a noise to achieve that if there's no thick iron bars or massive slap of bulletproof glass between me and it. That sense of doom & extreme fear would also manifest quite easily.
TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
Oh good. The size, power, acceleration, sharp everything wasn't enough I'm guessing.
My O My 2 months ago
So I don't have migraines after all but a tiger growling in the neighbourhood?
Black Cat 2 months ago
Exactly, locate the tiger, befriend him and you'll be fine.
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 2 months ago
You know, I'm pretty sure the impending sense of doom and extreme fear are a very logical reaction to the infrasound from a tiger.
#4
Crows and Corvids in general can remember human faces and have the emotional intelligence to hold grudges.
Stardrop 2 months ago
you can actually befriend crows! sometimes if you feed them enough, they'll bring you little shiny things.
DaisyGirl 2 months ago
I saved a young crow/raven in Kyiv from being attacked by adult crows/ravens. A month later when no longer a fledgling it returned to my terrace and would follow me to the park (a very short walk) every morning
manon M 1 month ago
C'est tellement chouette, j'aimerais vraiment avoir cette chance. D'autant qu'ils vivent de longues années, si tout se passe bien, tu pourrais le côtoyer longtemps 🐦⬛🍃
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Rali Meyer 2 months ago
we hold grudges against the corvids s******g on our terrace. Tit for tat?
Robin Roper 1 month ago
There was a funny study conducted on this with students wearing Nixon masks. Nixon was the "mean" subject and the crows hated anyone wearing the Nixon masks.
Laura Osborne 1 month ago
I used to feed the birds at work, never had bird p*o on the car... Got made to stop because of rats, now have a car with many p**p marks
#5
4 words: Crocodiles. Can. Climb. Trees.
Stardrop 2 months ago
saltwater crocs are also one of the few species that will hunt humans if they develop a taste for them.
Jan Olsen 2 months ago
Any sufficently large predator will hunt humans if the opportunity arises. We are just prey - there is nothing special about us.
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Multa Nocte 2 months ago
"Crocodiles are capable of climbing trees, particularly for thermoregulation, with African Slendies observed climbing slanted trees above water, and they can balance their heavy bodies on thick branches."
Michael Largey 2 months ago (edited)
If a croc is climbing a tree, who's going to go over and tell it to stop?
David Morgan 2 months ago
Not for very long, but then again, 35mph covers a lot of ground in a short time. Even Usain Bolt could only run at about 22-25mph at maximum, for about ten seconds. He'd be just as dead as the rest of us.
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mayonnaise bean 2 months ago
Oh d**n.. I'm cooked. Note to self: don't live in a treehouse in the amazons
Gracie Mae 1 month ago (edited)
alligators climb (chain link) fences--if you've ever been to Florida for any length of time (especially in hot weather), you learn this quickly
#6
A specific type of jellyfish called the Turritopsis Dohrnii, can reprogramme the identity of its own cells - returning to an earlier stage of its life. Meaning they are biologically immortal.
Agfox 2 months ago
Does it make them forget all the stupid things they've done up until then? Asking for a friend
TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
If not, that would be horrible. "I remember this time in life 6, or maybe it was life 13...Anyways, I told this joke to..."
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#7
A polar bear can smell prey over a distance of 25 km.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
They can smell YOU from even further, get some deodorant and change your socks at least!
Sarah 2 months ago
Every flocking Christmas they do this . And they get away with it. They’re laughing in our faces
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 2 months ago
Polar bears are considered to be the only predator on earth that considers humans to be food. Others may take humans if they are desperate or make a mistake, but as a whole do not hunt us (we wiped out anything that would do that long ago, polar bears survived by living in areas very inhospitable to humans).
TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
If it's brown, lie down. If it's black, fight back. If it's white, say goodnight!
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 2 months ago
If a polar bear is in range of me, it won't be my socks that need changing.
SkippityBoppityBoo 2 months ago
As with bears? Stay still and get your gun ready... Not to shoot them. Aim it in the air, one gunshot is incredibly loud in the far north. It usually deters them. But if you run? All FlappyDappyityDooDah? Yeah.... You're gonna be their next meal.
Geobugi🇰🇷🇰🇭 2 months ago
Ah, i will take care that i visit this region with very smelly people. Maybe wrap them in bacon if they annoy me to much
#8
An octopus can fit through anything as long as its larger than its mouth (which is a beak btw)
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
They are super intelligent too, unfortunately they only live around two years or so, who knows how much their brain could develop if they had a longer lifespan.
UKDeek 2 months ago
We would probably be doomed as a species if octopuses lived any longer. It might not happen overnight, but it would happen eventually (good plot for a film there as well - The Rise of the Octopuses)
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Tobias Reaper 1 month ago
also sometimes they will randomly punch fish for no reason other than spite
Brian Droste 2 months ago
They can camouflage themselves very quickly. They will also find objects to hide in.
#9
Sharks' and dolphins' reputations need to be switched.
April Morris 2 months ago
Dolphins have been recorded torturing their own young to the point their victims organs were FRACTURED. It was witnessed around the world.
TCW Sam Vimes 2 months ago
Dolphins are intelligent enough to be a-holes, sharks are the coolest
Mike Barrette 2 months ago
Except for great whites, most sharks are not particularly aggressive towards humans. Meanwhile, dolphins are just a**holes.
#10
T rexs had soft padding on their feet. So unlike the movies where they're shown stomping around and causing the water in the glass to vibrate, their footsteps could almost never be felt. They also did not have loud roars but rather a much lower roar that could only be felt. So yeah imagine THAT stalking you millions of years ago after sundown.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
They also had some form of feathers covering parts of their bodies.
BrunoVI 2 months ago (edited)
So here's the thing: Spine-like quills may be ancestral to all dinosaurs. In Coelurosaurs, they've become complex enough you could call them feathers. Coelurosaurs include T-Rexes and birds. But their primary purpose in most dinosaurs was probably for holding in warmth, which is a need for smaller animals. (Hence, huge mammals like elephants, walruses, whales, rhinos, hippos, etc., typically don't have much hair.) And no t-rex has ever been found with even a single feather. So it's possible that giant coelurosaurs lost their feathers... and given that we have skin of T-rexes so well preserved we can even tell what color they were (red, white and black!), we know that adult T-rexes weren't covered in feathers. But it's possible they had a few, or that younger, smaller T-rexes may have kept them until they grew larger.
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Becky Samuel 2 months ago
The same thing happens with elephants. A herd of elephants can walk right past you and you'll never know it if they don't want to be heard.
dan gerene 2 months ago
They were quiet because they stomped on cavemen and used them for sneakers.
Lil be lil 2 months ago
😂😂😂 they had the original 'memory' foam slippers!
Load More Replies... TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
They also had excellent vision! So you would not just "freeze" and be fine. Just run like hell instead :).
Katie White 1 month ago
Not gonna lie, I read that as “Texans” and had to re-read halfway through.
Doofnuts 2 months ago
And they had these great big heads and little tiny arms, so you could hide in a corner to escape them. (Disney movie).
Lil be lil 2 months ago
I know someone with a big head and tiny hands. This is not a Disney movie, I want to escape.
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#11
There’s a parasite that crawls into a fish’s mouth, eats its tongue, then becomes the new tongue, the fish lives using the parasite to eat.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Imagine a parasite that does the same, but to your manhood.
Agfox 2 months ago (edited)
"New cure found for erectile dysfunction but doubts remain about the treatment procedure. More after the break"
#12
Not a scary science fact but a cool one- sharks are older than trees, grass and the North Star.
TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago (edited)
They also evolutionary appeared roughly at the same time as the rings of Saturn were formed
Tobias Reaper 1 month ago
life in west Virginia is also older than the trees younger than the mountains
Brain-In-A-Vat 2 months ago
Yeah Nah, Polaris is believed to be two billion years old, but merged with another star fifty million years ago, which made it appear younger than it's true age.
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#13
Hairy frogs, or wolverine frogs, are incredibly aggressive and will attack small birds and even humans. They do this by breaking their own bones and pushing it through the skin to use as claws! (Wolverine frog 🔥)
PenguinEmp 2 months ago
Team it up with that jellyfish and you basically have deadpool and wolverine
chunky hoey 1 month ago
That's ffing creepy by pushing their bones through their body! That means pierce through thd skin!! ALIENS!!
#14
The fur of a platypus glows under black light, and their bills can detect electric signals from prey.
Stardrop 2 months ago
platypuses (playtipi?) are one of the few mammals that lay eggs. males have a venomous stinger in their hind legs.
highwaycrossingfrog 2 months ago
Platypus is of Greek origin, so platypi would be a false Latinisation. The plural of platypus is platypuses (or if you really want to dig down into the Greek version, platypodes).
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Bananaramamama 2 months ago
In the 1700s a European explorer encountered one and sent a sketch and pelt back home along with a description....the folks back home thought it was a hoax.
azubi 2 months ago (edited)
The fun fact I like most about the platypus is that after naming them it was discovered that the name was already given to some humble beetle. Because of this, you can't write it's name with a capital letter, to avoid confusion. I reckon that platypuses/ platypi? / platipodes? / platypús? are there to remind us that nothing is ever really certain.
KDS 2 months ago (edited)
I think the reason the platypus is so weird is because Mother Nature had spare parts left over and made them to confuse people.🤪
Livingwithcfs 2 months ago
Doesn't that explain most of the creatures in Australia?
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#15
There used to 9 or more species of humans 300,000 years ago.
There is only 1 now.
This is also likely where the uncanny valley phenomenon comes from, we had to fear something that looks human but wasn’t “us”
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
I get the uncanny valley feeling whenever I have to talk to the IT department at work.
🇺🇦 🇵🇸 TribbleThinking 2 months ago
*IT nerd sidles over and in a creepy voice...* "Hello"
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BrunoVI 2 months ago
The problem with this theory is that the "9 or more species" of humans interbred... a lot. And so weren't really separate species. Hence, Neanderthals were Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, not Homo neanderthalensis.
🇺🇦 🇵🇸 TribbleThinking 2 months ago
Yes, many of us have about 2% neanderthal genes, and one estimate is that put together from around the world, up to 40% of the neanderthal genome still exists.
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Paul C. 2 months ago
It's pretty sad that the dregs of humanity that now exist survived the other eight species. Surely one of them would have done a better job?
MGM 2 months ago
Cue Twilight Zone theme: guy with time machine learns that we were the wisest, most generous, and most merciful of them all!
Load More Replies... TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
What a world we would have if some of them lived on. Would it be worse? Better? Something else to think about when I wake up randomly at 3am...
Binny Tutera 2 months ago
Think of how divided we are now, with only one species. We divide ourselves up by color, birthright, economic status, even gender, as if we aren't all in this together and more alike than different. Add another species, and that makes things even worse.
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Ace 2 months ago
There had been even more hominid (human-like, not really human as we'd think of it) over the previous couple of million years, as various evolutionary branches diverged away from the other great apes. The date quoted here is about the time that homo sapiens first appears in the fossil record. Eventually they (we) replaced all the others, although at least one co-existed (and occasionally interbred) with us for another 250000 years.
ohjojo (you/your's) 2 months ago
begs to ask the question, which one they should have stayed on and not evolved forward that might not have destroyed the planet?
azubi 2 months ago
Recent research shows that the immune system is being activated with an 'uncanny valley '-feeling, so it's existence is more likely up to it's effect on epidemic prevention.
Loki 1 month ago
It also makes more sense that way when combined with things like rabies. What looks like a human but doesn't act like one? A rabid human.
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Helen Rohrlach 1 month ago
I wonder if one of those species used to hunt and eat us. That would definitely explain the uncanny valley.
Joy 1 month ago
The first recognisably human was made by creatures who weren't. This might explain why even today there are people who look like birds, fish or canines. Genes don't die out, they morph and mutate. If we were to trace our ancestry right back to the lifeforms that birthed us our species, we might wish we'd never done so.
#16
Humans have caused 881 confirmed extinctions and 2372 possible extinctions AND 10,031 critically endangered species.
BrunoVI 2 months ago
Humans likely caused the extinction of the whopping majority of all mega-fauna outside of Africa. The irony is that the more technologically advanced we became, the fewer species we wiped out. For instance, we no longer rely on burning to clear land to make it safe and suitable for farming. The most recently extincted species (2016) was a mouse which lived on one specific island that was only five acres: the Bramble Cay melomys, one of over a thousand species of mouse, and indiscernable from several other species. The Christmas Island pipistrelle (2009) also lived on one island and was indiscernable from many other pipistrelle bats. The Japanese River Otter (1980s) was never identified as a separate species until after its extinction. Likewise, the Japanese Sea Lion (1970s) was considered a California Sea Lion until 30 years after its extinction. The Lord Howe Long-Eared Bat (1972) was only ever known by a single specimen.
BrunoVI 2 months ago
Activists claimed each of the Galapagos Islands' giant turtles were separate species to make a cause celebre out of Lonesome George, but the turtles interbred regularly. The actual last mammal species to go exitinct was the Lesser bilby, which went extinct in Australia in the 1960s. The last mammal in the US to go extinct was the sea mink (1894); The ivory-billed woodpecker has been thought to be extinct since the 1950s, but recent sightings (2023) seem to suggest it still persists.
Load More Replies... Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
Yet many humans believe cats are the worst creatures on the planet.
Charlie the Cat 2 months ago
Many humans believe cats are the best creatures on the planet 🐈⬛
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Katie White 1 month ago
Does this include extinction and death due to our spreading of cats to every continent except Antarctica? Or is that a separate country?
#17
The Cordyceps fungus that infects insects & makes them move around is actually attacking everything but the brain. Meaning they are fully aware of what’s happening but can’t do anything about it. Like they’ve lost control of the ride & are puppets in their own bodies. The creepiest thing is they only attack bugs & things of the same size & smaller because they have an abundance.. the only thing separating us from this fungus is 10 degrees.. but some say that with the rising temperatures of our planet, if they decide to adapt to a higher a temp, they can easily effect us in the future ☠️
Gabriel Camomescro 2 months ago
Any time there is more than one option and one is selected without it being pure chance, a decision was made. Brains are simply complex organs utilising chemical and electrical signals. You can argue your point as much as you like, but basic logic says you are not correct.
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Agfox 2 months ago
Pity about the size thing because there's a White House joke in there somewhere
dan gerene 2 months ago
Like the fungal infection currently in the White House?
Load More Replies... Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
The cordyceps mushroom is edible and can help you with your stamina.
Luke Branwen 2 months ago
True, but as a TLoU fan, I'd rather not risk becoming the Patient Zero 😆
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Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
I doubt any of the infected insects have anything like self-awareness as we understand it.
#18
The lyrebird's cry sounds like a baby crying probably causing some myths or mysteries within forests.
PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago
I was soo lucky and saw my first one in over 20yrs coming home, it was extra special cos as a kid in the rainforest you normally see the boys easily, I finally saw a nesting mother ❤️ magic. As a kid you’d hear them everywhere on the Gold Coast, then they disappeared from housing etc. but there’s pockets that have made come backs recently. The saddest sound i remember as a kid was them doing “conversations” between work men demolishing the rainforest and the chainsaw sounds, then the birds disappeared etc. but other area have them now.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 2 months ago (edited)
Lyrebirds are excellent mimics. They can mimic almost any other bird, as well as sounds like phones ringing, screaming cro.tch droppings, traffic ''walk'' signals, music, chainsaws etc etc.
Paula Smith 2 months ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=lyre+bird+sounds+like+baby+crying&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9474b55e,vid:_c6aoKmiWao,st:0
#19
We simply do not know where Whale Sharks go to birth their young. In addition to how little we know about their mating rituals as there are very few recorded cases of it being caught in the wild, tagged Whale Sharks are found migrating somewhere off of the coast of the Galápagos Islands, dive upwards of 300+ feet to where we lose track of them and they simply vanish. We are still actively searching for the nursery in which Whale Sharks have their young.
Krd 2 months ago (edited)
Not exactly. We can't protect the area if we don't know where it is. Especially with a lot corporations pushing for deep sea mining in all sorts of places in the ocean,information like this is crucial.
Load More Replies... TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
Well you wouldn't want some strange creatures recording you giving birth!
#20
Hyenas are extremely intelligent, spotted hyenas regularly outperform chimpanzees on tests of cooperative problem solving.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 months ago (edited)
Hyenas are also bigger than you'd think. They often look dog-sized (German shepherd size) in pictures but they're about 30% bigger.
chunky hoey 1 month ago
Isn't it hyena female have p***s like v****a....that give them the equal power in control.
#21
So sloths can technically stretch out their limbs. Head included. To about an extra 3 feet.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
They are attracted to human p*o and will get into the outdoor toilets of camps.
Stardrop 2 months ago
ewwww... probably not the best time to mention that they are good swimmers
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William Walker (Will) 1 month ago (edited)
I would imagine most men wish they had this ability
#22
Turtles are depicted as being able to pop out of their shells in cartoons. Their ribs and vertebrae are actually fused to the shell so they can’t get out of their shell. They breathe by organ shifting, which is exactly what it sounds like: their organs move back and forth allowing their lungs to expand and contract. If you get close to a turtle and it hides in its shell, you often hear a hiss. The turtle isn’t trying to intimidate you—air is being squeezed out of its lungs when it pulls its head and paws in.
Jennifer Gray 2 months ago
That's a fair question. Have an upvote to fix it.
Load More Replies... G A 2 months ago
Which is why you never drill a hole in the shell to tether them in the garden, to stop them roaming, as used to be done.
Pandemonium 2 months ago
At some point in the evolutionary journey they managed to get their shoulder blades inside their rib cages before their ribs fused into a shell. Good planning on their part
#23
Centipedes have cat personalities. You can talk to them and pet them, we could cuddle them if they werent so tiny. And they clean themselves by licking.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
Absolute búllhooey. House centipedes as pictured above are harmless fellas who keep your cellar clear of infesting bugs. They are, however, fast as lightning and not the nicest looking of creatures. Scolopendra (flat centipedes) are venemous, lightning-fast, and notoriously aggressive. Even people with extensive collections of invertebrates think the centipede keepers are nuts.
Marie 2 months ago
I know they're useful, and I'm very tolerant of bugs in general... but those have way too many legs.
Load More Replies... PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
This whole paragraph is off it’s head to an Australian 😂 yeah let’s just go bush and hug a “tiny” centipede 😂
Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
We've got some pretty chonky ones in NZ too, including one that's venomous.
Load More Replies... glowworm2 2 months ago
Me too! Sadly, my boyfriend is understandabley creeped out by them.
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#24
Axolotls can grow parts of their brain back and can also become fully terrestrial under extreme circumstances. Also seahorses doesn't have a stomach.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago (edited)
I wanted one as a pet but the dealer did axolotl money for them.
Multa Nocte 2 months ago
Even my husband coughed at this one, Nathan dear.
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Jan Willem ten Dam 2 months ago
A seahorse has a very simple digestive system. Food passes from its short intestine directly into the gut. Since they don’t have stomachs which store and slowly break down food, they have to eat almost constantly to survive.
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UKGrandad 2 months ago
They're not larval Tiger salamanders. They look similar but are a different species. It's not that they *can* stay larval, the axolotl is unique in that it is a paedomorphic salamander which retains its juvenile form throughout its life, remaining fully aquatic where all other salamander species become amphibious in adulthood. The OP is also wrong about them being able to become fully terrestrial.
Load More Replies... #25
When you are somewhere that crocodiles live and you have to go to the waters edge (camping etc.) never go to the same spot twice. Crocs are extremely intelligent and will pick up on your routine quick. They will lay and wait for you. They can hold their breath for several hours too.
TCW Sam Vimes 2 months ago
True. Just saw a long documentary about salties and other crocs, they're much more intelligent than ppl give them credit for. Clever and patient hunters with great senses, and since they eat pretty much everything, we're on the menu for sure
Jack Lowry 1 month ago
Boy we need some English Majors to proof read all of these. Probably AI generated.
Rali Meyer 2 months ago
so you have to validate that your camp site has never been used before. Else you could be mistaken by the croc for the former occupant? Especially if you eat the same beans?
PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
I’m felt like walking live bait and a cast member of Jurassic park walking through the Kakadu rivers and forest area for fishing - kales /hales crossing or something? It’s a scary spot, there’s nothing you can do if one comes at you realistically speaking.
Alan Jay Weiner 2 months ago
(Alan makes a note to watch Crocodile Dundee again for survival tips)
Load More Replies... #26
The wasps inject their venom into the ladybugs and use it as a babysitter. The ladybugs becomes like zombie and guard for the wasps egg until it hatches When the baby wasp hatches, it uses the still-alive ladybug as a bodyguard and slowly strats eating it from the inside.
Stardrop 2 months ago (edited)
something similar happens with tarantulas and tarantula hawks (kind of wasp)! The female wasp stings and paralyzes the living tarantula, then drags it back to her burrow (tarantula hawks get big, like around 11 centimeters). She then lays an egg in the still living tarantula's abdomen. When the egg hatches, the larva eats the tarantula from the inside out.
Colleen Glim 2 months ago
I’m trying to get my head around the idea of an 11 cm wasp. My hair is trying to stand on end and I have a lot of hair so this is no small feat. I’m not sleeping tonight. Thanks
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Shelli Aderman 2 months ago
I will never understand the purpose of wasps on this planet. EVERYTHING I read about them is straight up horror show, and NOTHING redeemable towards the planet!
Paulina 2 months ago (edited)
Then you need to read more and from different sources. Wasps are important pollinators and are also responsible for controlling the population of other pesky bugs, like mosquitoes and flies. You would hate the fly infested summers without them. While adult wasps prefer to feed on sweet treats, like fruits and nectar (hence pollination), they actively hunt "meaty" flies etc., mince them inside themselves and use to feed the larvae. And they're non-agressive, despite the popular opinion. They couldn't care less about humans and other big animals. If they sting you, it's because they felt threatened - you tried to swat them, poke their nest or they got tangled into your clothes and got scared. If you live near a wasp nest, they will gradually learn your smell, as well as your habits and the way you move, and will simply get used to you. Unless, ofc, you threaten the nest. They move closer to human habitats mainly because we destroy their natural areas with food, replacing them with concrete - roads, buildings etc. At the same time, we provide ample food in our trash, so it becomes kind of calculated risk for them: to move closer to dangerous humans, but be able to save the larvae from starvation.
Load More Replies... #27
A woodpeckers tongue is so long that is wraps behind its brain to protect it from the impact of pecking wood.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
Another one that's been debunked. Whilst the tongue does wrap around behind the brain, this has no effect on cushioning.
Joshua David 2 months ago
A woodpecker flew right into my sliding glass bedroom doors and i could tell it hit hard. I walked over to them and rught beyond the glass i see a beautifil woodpecker with its LOOOONG TONGUE sticking out. I felt so bad about it so I wrapped him up and buried it.
Madison Taylor 1 month ago
Hummingbirds' tongues wrap around their brain. But, the only reason is so it can still retract the tongue, otherwise it would just stick out with nowhere to go.
#28
Cats are responsible for 33 endangered species.
Stardrop 2 months ago
keep your kitties inside people! it's safer for both the cats and the wildlife.
Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
Feral and free roaming domestic cats can, and do, endanger native species across the globe, I'm not disputing that at all. BUT humans are the reason cats do the damage that they do. Humans need to take responsibility for the damage they allow their cats to do. Allowing cats to breed constantly from 4 months of age, dumping unwanted cats and kittens in the back of beyond is cruel and completely unnecessary in this day and age.
WindySwede 2 months ago
also with skyscrapers, even if different question, but still kills lots of birds. "As many as 1 billion birds in the US die in building collisions each year. " - The Guardian.
Load More Replies... Smeghead Tribble Down Under 2 months ago
And stray and feral dogs do not harm whatsoever /s. If people fkn got their cats desexed/didn't dump them, this wouldn't happen. Cats have to eat, believe it or not.
Anthony Elmore 2 months ago (edited)
Yeah, no one has ever been mauled by a dog before. No harm whatsoever. Keep your f*****g mutts on a leash, too. (I should clarify, this would be in agreement with Tribble, not against. Also not against dogs. I do love the local stray dogs, but it's a seriously s****y move to abandon your dog and let it become a potential threat)
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Colleen Glim 2 months ago
My cats are exclusively indoor cats. For all that my tabby would wish otherwise. And they’re all fixed and vaccinated. Be a responsible owner or don’t have pets. It’s not that difficult to understand
Anyone-for-tea? 1 month ago
It’s not responsible to deprive your cat of outdoor sensory enrichment. If you think it’s okay, spend the rest of your life in one house, or spending limited time outdoors, ie only to transit to different places and see how you like it.
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PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
Some guys tracked a few ferals in the outback - they k**l on average 45-70 animal per night per cat. The camera footage was sad. Especially seeing dunnarts and the very helpless macropods being killed and not eaten
Krd 2 months ago
Hasn't that number been thoroughly debunked? Didn't they find out that the math used to estimate wild cat kills was extremely flawed, and vastly overestimated the number of deaths?
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#29
In some deer duels the horns can get stuck and both deers struggle usually resulting in either of them perishing and their heads remaining on the other's horns.
Yrral Spavit 2 months ago
Imagine dragging around the rotting corpse of your opponent until you eventually die.
Dan 2 months ago (edited)
Saw a pic once of a stag strutting around with an antlered skull attached.
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Upstaged75 2 months ago (edited)
I've seen where rangers have had to use a saw to cut them apart and free them.
Scott Rackley 2 months ago
There's a video of a Warden using a gun to do the same thing. Hell of a shot too.
Load More Replies... Marlowe Fitzpatrik 2 months ago
They're not horns but antlers. Horns are permanently stuck on the head of the animal (like goats and bovines). Antlers are bones and the deer shed it once a year and grow a new one (at first still inside the skin, like a good little bone should be)
#30
Burrowing spiders keep little frogs in their burrow to protect their young from small insects that they can’t stop.
Kira Okah 2 months ago
Mutualist symbiosis, the spider protects the frog from predators in return.
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Verena Fiori-Jambor 2 months ago
Doesn’t spidey mommy’s little ones eat the frog, when they are big enough?
#31
Dolphins don’t have fins. Their fins have bones that resemble a hand with fingers, like humans do. Thats also because they’re mammals. If you search Dolphins fin bones images you will see that they used to have hands before it evolved into fins.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Whales and dolphins have leg bones still, within their bodies.
Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
They're one of 7 species known to have evolved from terrestrial ancestors into aquatic mammals.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 2 months ago
Beluga whales have knees! (There's a famous pic floating around of one where you can clearly see what in a human would be knees.)
Charlotte A. 2 months ago
They did... Land animals evolved from bony fish whose fins turned into legs. The front legs turned into hands (via paws). Flippers evolved from paws.
Load More Replies... Hobby Hopper 1 month ago
No, that's a misunderstanding of how evolution works. There is no inherently more or less advanced, simply adaptations that allow species an advantage in a given environment.
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Apatheist Account2 2 months ago
That's just a covering for the bones, unlike a shark's fin.
Load More Replies... #32
Hyenas are closer to cats than dogs.
z8vgjv598k 1 month ago
IIRC, Hyenas are their own genus. They might be closer to cats than dogs genetically, but they are actually not either.
#33
The starfish can evert its stomach to digest prey outside its body.
When a starfish eats something like a mussel or clam, it pries the shell open just slightly, then it vomits its own stomach out of its mouth, inserts it into the shell, and digests the prey alive from the inside. Once it's done slurping up the liquefied insides, it pulls its stomach back in like nothing happened.
Imagine being eaten from the inside while still trapped in your own home.
Lotekguy 2 months ago
And that's why you never see starfish eating at fine restaurants. Such table manners would not be permitted.
Victor Botha 2 months ago
Different to actually vomiting out you entire stomach
Load More Replies... #34
Botflies Can Live Inside Your Skin — and You Might Not Know
Botflies lay eggs on human skin (often using mosquitoes as delivery). The larvae burrow into your flesh and grow inside you, feeding on your tissue.
TheGoodBoi 2 months ago
Yo mosquito. While you're at it, you mind dropping my kid off too? "I got you fam."
Mel in Georgia 2 months ago
Ugh, when I worked for a vet, someone brought in a kitten with a big bump on its neck. The vet probed it with a forceps and pulled out a live, inch-long botfly larva. It was disgusting!
Rebelliousslug 2 months ago
You can watch videos of them being removed from the feet of Africans. Truly disturbing.
chunky hoey 1 month ago
That's where Lyme disease and Morgellon happens!!! These nasty dirty little evils!!!
Lily Seven 1 month ago
Oh you will know all right! Our dog had a bot fly larvae on his neck and kept scratching an opening that would not heal. One day while cleaning the area, we saw something moving in the hole. Apparently, the larvae needs to come up for air. The vet removed it and it healed up just fine.
#35
Saltwater crocodiles, as well as other crocs and gators, are the closest things we have to dinosaurs, since they have gone millions of years with little evolutionary changes, meaning that their biology and physiology is so optimally suited for their survival, nature saw no need to change them. Saltwater crocodiles also possess the strongest bite force on the globe(~2500 psi), able to crush skulls and bite through bone.
TCW Sam Vimes 2 months ago
They are distantly related to dinosaurs, but they split a long time ago. They are perfect predators though, with fascinating social behavior and communication
Paulina 2 months ago (edited)
I don't think it's correct 🤔 Yes, they haven't changed much throughout the millennia, but it doesn't make them "closest things we have to dinosaurs". The actual closest relatives of dinosaurs, that still live right now, are birds. Crocodiles are much more distant relatives to dinosaurs, and they come from a shared ancestor. Meaning, at one point an evolution of a certain creature split into two - one side kept evolving until it became dinosaurs, the other until it became crocs.
Russell Bowman 2 months ago
I thought the NZ "Lizard" - Tuatara - was the oldest example of a dinosaur
#36
WE HAVE IVF THANKS TO SEA URCHINS!!!!
Cheesepony 2 months ago
Yes, sea urchins have proved amazing for molecular redevelopment and reproduction - check it out there's tons of stuff on youtube and similar
#37
Elephants have pads under their feet, so if one walks behind you, you'll think it's just a human behind you.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
How many elephants can you fit into a mini? Four. Two in the front seats and two in the back.
Ace 2 months ago
How many giraffes can you fit into a Mini? None. It's full of elephants.
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Stardrop 2 months ago
elephants are also one of the few land animals that can't jump! plus they're super smart and form tight pack bonds.
Lady Eowyn 2 months ago
They also can't run. They can, however, walk very, very fast.
Load More Replies... z8vgjv598k 1 month ago
I've never had an elephant walk behind me before. One thing I'm 100% certain of though is that I would not mistake an elephant walking behind me over a human. If nothing else, people screaming at me 'There's an elephant behind you!' might give me a clue.
#38
Before the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, insects would grow to the size of dogs. Just imagine the sound of their wings, terrifying.
Stardrop 2 months ago
imagine having like a giant puppy sized centipede! it was mentioned that they act like cats earlier...
UKGrandad 2 months ago
Meet Arthropleura, a prehistoric millipede that grew to between 6 - 8 ft / 2 - 2.5m in length. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropleura
Load More Replies... TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago (edited)
The oxygen percentage in the atmosphere was about 35% back then, providing more energy for larger animals. Nowadays it's 21% and such big insects wouldn't be energy efficient enough to survive
Jan Willem ten Dam 2 months ago
I didn’t know. But if there was more oxygen, which is heavier than nitrogen, the denser would also provide more lift, which (in addition to more energy) als could facilitate larger animals to fly I assume.
Load More Replies... Hugo 2 months ago
Insects breathe through the spiracles in their skin. I always understood that's what limits their size, as the oxygen can't penetrate very far. Are we talking about chihuahuas? A creature larger than that would have great difficulty flying.
B Jones 1 month ago
We'll just say if they hit your windshield it would be quite the mess.
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Max Fox 2 months ago
Not really true. Insects grew to large sizes during the Carboniferous, when there were few or no vertebrate predators, and oxygen levels were far higher than they are today, or during the time of the dinosaurs. The giant arthropods had been extinct for more than 50 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic.
Börje Strömming 2 months ago
”Before the mass extinction of the dinosaurs” is pretty misleading. They disappeared more then 50 million years before the first dinosaur showed up, and non avian dinosaurs were around for 175 million years before they got extinct. So the title is off by 225 million years.
#39
snakes do not "size up" with their prey to see if they can eat them. theyre opportunistic hunters, if it smells like food and looks like food they go for it in less than a second. they literally do not have the brain power to scheme or plot to eat something 💀 its called opportunistic hunting.
G A 2 months ago
Well, duh. That's why snakes can die when trying to swallow oversize prey, or deer with antlers, or dogs on chains for example.
Fu No 2 months ago
If lucky the snake will vomit food that could weigh it down or choke it. Florida pythons choking on gators? Gators also choke on pythons.... Squirrels use their tails to heat up and look bigger. Rats can't do that
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Celtic Pirate Queen 2 months ago
Actually, I read somewhere about this woman who had a pet snake that she let sleep in her bed (Ewww). The snake would stretch out alongside her. She mentioned it to her vet and the vet said it WAS sizing her up to eat her.
Kira Okah 2 months ago
Most vets are going to be medium mammal (cat and dog) vets and so know jack sㅤhit about herps like snakes. This is 100% bs, snakes literally can't do this, the snake was probably cold if this bollox even happened.
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#40
The assassin bug can stab its prey with a needle-like mouthpart, injecting saliva that liquefies their insides — then it drinks them like a smoothie.
Stephanie Did It 2 months ago
One landed on my bed. I flicked it away with a sweep of my hand. I don't know how, but that little @%$# stabbed me anyway, and the pain was excruciating! Took two months to heal, and itched for weeks afterward.
#41
Gelatin comes from pig hooves. Next time you open a piece of candy, some of that came from a pig foot.
Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
Not just pigs and not just hooves. "Gelatin is a collection of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#Properties
Roxy222uk 2 months ago
People have been regularly sharing this fact for decades now thinking it will disgust us. But gelatine has been valued for centuries for its properties, including its soothing effect on the lining of the gut. When I was growing up I would read a lot, including books written from before I was born, and invalids were forever being given calf’s foot jelly. So nobody at that time would have been the slightest bit surprised, just thought the OP was a bit slow. Setting things in aspic was a Victorian treat and nowadays a proper pork pie will have jelly between the pastry and the meat that comes out of bones and hooves. Some people just have very little connection with where food comes from.
PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
I love halal snacks and food but I’m a huge gummy candy fan and I can’t stand halal gummy candy, it really needs the pig hooves for that real satisfying gummy lolly experience. haribo and Trolli are good examples
SkyBlueandBlack 2 months ago
Yeah, I had a classmate in middle school who couldn't have gummies or starburst. Not kosher. Learned a lot from him.
Load More Replies... Joshua David 2 months ago
I go to hollywood feed and buy my dog trachea from i think cows. It was hard to get because it felt wrong but my baby LOVES them so much. NO OLD ROY FOR MY DOG !
Jan Rosier 1 month ago
local bio petfood shop sells all kinds of this... cut up dried bovine hearts as treats, trachea, dried pigsears, camelpen1ses...
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chunky hoey 1 month ago
Just like marshmallow make from pig's fat. Gelatin also from tree too.
#42
Bats are not blind.
Michael Largey 2 months ago
They just look the other way when the neighbor's out of town but his wife is entertaining guests.
John Mosley 2 months ago
Upvoted just so the ability to reply to you became available. Don't be such a t**t. That is all, downvote restored.
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#43
Tyrannosaurus Rex are speculated to have roars so low that if they weren't extinct we'd feel them before we heard them.
EoRaptor013 2 months ago
Sound speed varies by the density of the medium. So, you'd feel them through the soles of your feet before you heard them.
BrunoVI 2 months ago
The point is that at that low frequency, you'd feel the vibration of the "roar" before you could hear him sneak up on you.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 2 months ago
So key and prominently placed that comment on it is really unnecessary.
Load More Replies... #44
Vampire bats kiss to share blood by digesting it into each other's mouths.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
I believe the correct word is 'degusting' rather than 'digesting'.
Load More Replies... TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago (edited)
They also die of thirst if they don't get blood within 3 days as that is their only source of hydration and nutrition
dan gerene 2 months ago
If they don't die first by being caught out in the sunshine.
Load More Replies... #45
Suriname Toads give birth to their babies out of their back. It’s just as horrific as it sounds.
G A 2 months ago
They dont give birth as such. Their eggs are stored once fertilised in little trapdoors on their back and pop out when ready.
BewilderedBanana 1 month ago
so kind of like a toaster... a toadster, if you will :D shall i see myself out?
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Shelli Aderman 2 months ago
If you have that hole-fear thing, do NOT google it. If you don’t, it’s pretty cool!
#46
Octopuses have three hearts. Two pump blood through the gills, and one circulates blood to the rest of the body.
Stardrop 2 months ago
octopuses (octopi? grammar is not my strong suit) also have 9 brains. one central one in their body, and a miniature one for each tentacle.
TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago (edited)
Technically octopuses is correct since it's a greek word and not latin, octopodes and octopi are considered grammatically correct as well though (I guess because people got tired arguing and the meaning is clear in every case)
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#47
Since we too are animals somehow... Humans produce bioluminescence. We can not see it without using special equipment and it has no use (evolutionarily speaking) but I think it's pretty nice. Is it scary? No... But it'd be one of very few things that just happened without being somehow important.
Plentyofoomph 1 month ago
I think it was meant to say, "since we too are animals, somehow humans produce bioluminescence"
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GenericElder 2 months ago
With tongue firmly in cheek, perhaps it WAS important to our survival at some point? Might've been useful during an ice age when we were cavemen?
TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago
We also have magnetite in our bones, especially in our skulls. It's the same stuff birds have in their beaks to use the Earth's magnetfield for navigation. Wonder why we needed that back then
Krd 2 months ago
I wonder if that has something to do with people who have "good sense of direction". I personally have a pretty good sense of direction, and swear I get a tingling sensation in my head/skull when I try to purposefully find north.
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Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 2 months ago
I live near Sedona Arizona. In Sedona that human bioluminescence is called an "aura" and it can be read for a price
#48
Some parasitic wasps species have incorporated viruses into there genome and can create swarms of virions just like an actual virus. They’re called viriforms and attack the immune system of caterpillars.
Kira Okah 2 months ago
They are genetically independent and in a mutualist symbotic relationship. The wasp is a host for the viriforms, and they are injected into the wasp's host along with the egg. The viriforms suppress the insect's immune system to prevent the egg being attacked and attack this insect's systems to make it an ideal meal for the larva.
#49
There’s a leech that can grow 18 inches long.
Stardrop 2 months ago
if he had a brain eating amoeba, the poor thing would starve to death...
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#50
Tigers can jump up to 6 meters without running, just using the strength of their legs.
Booker 2 months ago (edited)
My Egyptian Mau is 5 lbs of fluff that can jump 4 ft from the table to the top of the refrigerator and land as soft as a feather. When she jumps back down, she sounds like a 5 lb bag of flour smacking the table.
CatD 2 months ago
That's a small Egyptian Mau. Ours weighed 13 pounds and loved to take baths.
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Trish Sullivan 1 month ago
I have a dog that can actually do that. She is 80 pounds soaking wet.
#51
Ik y'all prolly know this one but mama bunnies will eat their babies when stressed out oh and the reason why pork needs to be cooked all the way through is cause it could contain parasites 😃
Stardrop 2 months ago
the bunny thing actually happens in many rodents. on a more gruesome note, tasmanian devils give birth to approximately 25 babies a litter. they only have four teats, so many babies die after birth due to starvation.
Panda Cat 1 month ago
Rabbits are NOT rodents! They’re lagomorphs, as are pika.
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Science Nerd 2 months ago
Trichinosis Is rarely seen in the US now. Most of the pork-related cases are from wild boar and the large majority of trichinosis cases do not involve pork.
G A 2 months ago
Many animals do. Not unique to rabbits. Someine's pet obviously traumatised them! The pork thing is well out of date, only really applies to countries where they are fed fecal matter and such. Plus all meat needs cooking properly.
CatD 2 months ago
But you need to thoroughly cook deer because they can have trichinosis too.
Load More Replies... Sarah Matsoukis 2 months ago
Rabbits are about as gruesome as watership down described them, they fight like pitbulls
Panda Cat 1 month ago
They can reabsorb them or just reabsorb some of the litter and put the rest on hold.
Load More Replies... Spencers slave no more 2 months ago
As do cats if threatened or newborn kittens are sick, underdeveloped.
chunky hoey 1 month ago
That's horrific to learned!! As if these bunnies....possibly wild hares. Who were never have anything to eat!
#52
There’s a species of armadillo that can grow up to 5ft in length and can weigh up to 150lbs. In other words it’s technically a big desert puppy.
#53
Spiders can't see well, and that's why they sometimes run towards us. They're not chasing you, they just don't know you're there
Sue 1 month ago (edited)
And if you shoot one leg with an airsoft gun, they can't run. I only k**l giant ones that are in my house. After seeing a woods spider throw his web & climb my broom I was trying to smush him with, I grabbed my grandson's plastic airsoft gun & managed to shoot one leg, which seemed to paralyze him. I felt bad finishing him off, but he was bigger than my hand & in my house.
pddhr6f25y 2 months ago
Actually not true. There are spiders that will run towards u, they will attack. And yes I live in australia
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 2 months ago
Good to know they never see the sole of my shoe descend on them then.
#54
When catching smaller prey, dolphins generally gulp them up, but the larger the prey, the more dolphins like to "play" with their food. They have been spotted tossing seals, octopi, and other animals anywhere from twenty to eighty feet in the air before consuming them.
highwaycrossingfrog 2 months ago
Octopi is not a word. Octopus is Greek, not Latin, in etymology. The correct plural is octopuses (or octopodes if you want to be truly pedantic).
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 months ago
This is English we're talking about. We'll pluralize words however we like and nobody can stop us!!!
Load More Replies... chunky hoey 1 month ago
When overgrown kids still play with their food is the most embarrassing thing ever!
Stardrop 2 months ago
dolphins can be pretty malicious. they also like getting high off of pufferfish by scaring them into inflating, then batting the fish around making it release its toxins, helping the dolphins get high.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
That's very probably not true. The behaviour has only been observed once, and was described as such by a BBC documentary without any scientific backup.
Load More Replies... #55
Cicadas are mostly hollow and that hollow chamber has a set of many ribs. Instead of rubbing their limbs together to make sound they quickly “clack” their ribs together and the hollow cavity resonates the sound. :))))
Stardrop 2 months ago
cicadas are adorable little things and i love hearing them sing in the summer
Savannah greenleaf 1 month ago
I love to listen to them while falling asleep. Never would have guessed how much I would miss that when I moved away for several years.
Load More Replies... #56
Polar bears have black skin.
TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago
Their heat isolation is also so effective that they can die of heat strokes if they run for too long
#57
Bears don’t sleep all winter they actually wake up often and get food during the winter.
Ace 2 months ago
They don't "sleep" through winter at all. Hibernation is something quite different. Some animals actually have to occasionally come out of hibernation to get some much-needed sleep.
Sue 1 month ago
Do bears in Florida hibernate? There wouldn't seem to be a need.
Load More Replies... Kira Okah 2 months ago
Compared to the hibernation of small mammals, bear torpor is nowhere near as deep, and they are very much able to get up and defend themselves in a crisis as well as get some food if they know of a nearby source. In fact, with access to known alternative feeding sources, a bear might not even enter a torpor at all.
#58
Kiwi birds have to re-arrange their organs and skeleton when laying an egg because it is so big.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
They also taste nice once peeled and are good in a fruit salad.
Stardrop 2 months ago
snort! idk why you got downvoted...some shmuck with no sense of humor :/ fixed it tho!
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#59
Hedgehogs give birth to their young when they already have spines.
#60
Some bird species that live on high cliffs make their youngling jump in order to learn how to fly.
#61
If you’re close enough to a whale underwater without ear protection, you can go deaf by the sound of their voice.
TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago
Makes sense, water is 833 times denser than air and more elastic as medium so soundwaves barely lose energy in close proximity
My O My 2 months ago
If you're close enough to go deaf you are also close enough to get swallowed
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 months ago
Nope, a whale's throat isn't big enough for a human to pass through.
Load More Replies... #62
Cockroaches can actually bite.
PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
They hurt, they leave marks and sometimes they are itchy - I grew up in a very poor and gross household as a kid. I still can’t stand any kind of house roach because of the types that crawled on me in bed as a kid. I do like rainforest roaches though 😝 leaf eaters are ok
Panda Cat 1 month ago
I’m sorry for your sad childhood. I’m glad you got out of it since I know how difficult it can be to shed all the bits.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 2 months ago
There are hundreds of species of cockroach, of which only about 5 or 6 have been known to infest houses. They are a fascinatingly diverse group. Some of them are beetle or ladybug mimics. Some dig burrows. Many live high up in the trees and their lifecycles are basically unknown. Some show maternal care, and the Australian burrowing cockroach even lives as a family unit with their young for up to a year.
chunky hoey 1 month ago (edited)
I never got bitten by cockroaches as I never knew they do bite! The ones in Hong Kong they're ffing massive ones!! What do I do if I see one fly across my face?! I quickly take one of my flip-flop and slapped them hard on the hard surface!!!!!
chunky hoey 1 month ago (edited)
I never been bitten by cockriaches as I never knew they bite....The ones in Hong Kong are massive ones and uglier obviously. I tend to squashed them with my flip-flops those ugly m***********s!!
#63
Dog toys squeak to mimic prey screams.
Stardrop 2 months ago
that's why dogs will essentially maul their toys. it mimics hunting in the wild.
Gingersnap In Iowa 2 months ago
Melvin doesn't like squeaky toys. I usually de-squeak his toys and he ends up carrying them around. Certain toys he will shred.
#64
Lizards just don't appear out of the blue, if you have lizards in your room it likely means there are cockroaches, flies, bugs around.
#65
Hippos will sometimes hunt zebras.
Norm Gilmore 2 months ago
This pops up quite often, and the correct answer is mostly.. From the Wiki page-On occasion, hippos have been filmed eating carrion, usually near the water. There are other reports of meat-eating and even cannibalism and predation.[77] Hippos' stomach anatomy lacks adaptions to carnivory and meat-eating is likely caused by lack of nutrients or just an abnormal behaviour.[7]: 82–84 The first known observations of carnivory by hippos were recorded in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe in 1995. Three additional observations of carnivory by hippos have subsequently been reported from East Africa. Hippos, heretofore generally regarded as obligate herbivores and short-grass grazing specialists, may possess a much broader feeding niche than has been previously recognized. This new evidence demonstrates a serious shortfall in our current understanding of the foraging ecology of hippos.(from Reports of carnivory by the common hippo Hippopotamus Amphibius, Joseph P. Dudley)
Load More Replies... #66
A tiger stirps are on their skin not just their fur. If they were to shaved they would keep their stips.
Norm Gilmore 2 months ago
I have a beard because I'm worried about losing my stips.. :-)
Load More Replies... #67
Probably that ducks will become cannibals out of sheer boredom.
PeepPeep the duck 2 months ago (edited)
It would have to be - stuck in a small cage/coop and over numbered for that to happen. They do however enjoy ganging up and trying to k**l ducklings, bored or not, this is why they are so full on (parent ducks) with anything coming near them. Had so many close calls when drakes try to sneak into my nursery area. It’s mainly the boys but the girls will do it too. Poultry politics is ballistic
#68
Kimodo Dragons are not only the biggest lizard on the planet (coming in at 365 kg and being over 10ft) eating their prey is a 2-3 week game starting off my biring said animal and infecting it with poison that STOPS BLOOD CLOTS from forming (cant remember the actual name of the poison) but the Kimodo js lets it go and then stalks it and watches it for about a week while its continuously bleeding out, after about a week that wound gets infected, why? Becuase mixed with the eternally open wound to the elements Kimodo Dragons have extreme amounts of Bacteria and ROTTING FLESH in their mouth, after about another week this animal has lost a lot of blood, cant see straight, and the infected body party has starting spreading making it essentially a walk corpse, so the Kimodo finally waltzes over to the slowly dying but still alive animal and begins eating it alive. Sorry this was super long this was one of my favorite animals in 1st grade and still kinda is so enjoy!
turk 2 months ago
This one needs to be updated. Many of these long held beliefs about the Komodo Dragon have been debunked.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 2 months ago
Kimodo? I think they mean Komodo. I would love to see Komodo dragons in the wild.
highwaycrossingfrog 2 months ago
I think by my biring they mean by biting? The writing here is even more horrifying than the alleged facts about Komodos
z8vgjv598k 1 month ago
Why does BP censor the word p*o, but allows 'ROTTING FLESH'. Don't get me wrong, there's not many words that trigger me, but p*o is more tame than rotting flesh for sure.
#69
Not really a super scary fact but a big part of why the Pink River Dolphins in the Amazon are the color pink is because they get into aggressive disputes with each other often that leaves lots of scarring which ends up healing in the color pink. So a big part of the pink coloration is actually giant scars.
Stardrop 2 months ago
this, and the fact that their diet contains a lot of carotenoids, which are what give these dolphins and flamingoes their pink tint.
KOURDUKOFF Isabelle 1 month ago
I was told that the Amazon dolphins are white, but the brownish color of the water gives them a "pink" reflection.
Load More Replies... #70
There a type of fig wasp that lays its eggs in a fig and the male larva hatch first then they go to their unborn sister larva and mate with them.
Hugo 2 months ago (edited)
Why is there only one larva of each gender? Oh, I get it: the singular must be larvum.
BrunoVI 2 months ago
No, "larva" is singular; "larvae" is plural, like "algae," "antennae," "formulae," "novae," and "vertebrae."
Load More Replies... Ace 2 months ago
Did you know that every time you eat a fig you're also eating the remains of the wasp larva that fertilised it and allowed the fruit to develop?
Anke Dieken 2 months ago
There are species of figs where this is not the case. Anyway, even if it is one of those where an insect dies inside it is absorbed into fruit so not as icky as it soounds
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TotallyNOTAFox 2 months ago (edited)
Funny enough a lot of animals don't really suffer from that, we humans do because we have a relatively low amount of chromosomes in comparison. If something goes wrong within us it will show, if it does inside of dogs, rats or whatever it can be compensated by the sheer amount of fallbacks they have
Load More Replies... #71
Snakes can't hear because they have no external ears. So our mothers lied to to us when they said not to whistle at night🙌
#72
I heard SNAKES are incapable of feeling love so if you have a pet snake just know it doesn’t bite cause it doesn’t see you as a threat it just TOLERATES you.
Kira Okah 2 months ago
This is a misconception based around the hormone in reptiles being a different one to that in mammals. So while the hormonal expression is not the same as in a cat or dog, they do have the reptile hormonal reaction when scenting their owners. They will also move toward them and express "I feel safe" expressions, this expression just looks different, a snake is not a dog so it won't express like one.
chunky hoey 1 month ago
Snakes shouldn't be a pet at all !! They are predators they don't give a s**t about you but to eat you!!
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Becky Samuel 2 months ago
A little fact-checking would be nice. So many of these are outdated or just plain wrong.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
The title was pretty clear about what you could expect. Nature's not pretty.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 2 months ago
A little fact-checking would be nice. So many of these are outdated or just plain wrong.
Becky Samuel 2 months ago
The title was pretty clear about what you could expect. Nature's not pretty.
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