Humans communicate (with varying degrees of effectiveness) to connect with their fellow man and, even more fundamentally, to survive. Animals aren’t so different — they have their own ways to chit chat. However, unless you’re Dr. Dolittle, you might have a hard time breaking through the animal kingdom’s language barrier.
In fact, a lot of species’ behaviors continue to mystify researchers and scientists, despite years of study. While there’s likely a good explanation for these strange and sometimes seemingly supernatural behaviors, animals aren’t planning on sharing those any time soon — and it’s left the rest of us scratching our heads.
1. You’ve heard of fight or flight, but have you heard of fainting? Some breeds of goats are prone to passing out when they’re in distress. Their muscles freeze for a few seconds, often leaving them on their backs. It’s both sad and adorable.
2. Skunks aren’t known for their athletic prowess, but they are willing to pull out all the stops when it comes to survival. They do handstands to ward off prey! (Although, they may just be providing dinner and a show).
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Imgur
3. Cows like to stick together. If you ever see a herd of cows enjoying a meal, you’ll notice they always eat facing the same direction. Animal behaviorists do not yet have an explanation for this pattern, but it’s kind of sweet.
Farming Online / YouTube
4. Birds across the world exhibit “kamikaze” behaviors, where they dive beak first into windows and roads, killing them on impact. No one knows why, but it’s thought to be connected to reflective surfaces or light sources.
5. Vervet monkeys have been known to enjoy a drink or two. For centuries, they have been eating fermented cane sugar to get their buzz on. They have even been known to steal alcohol form tourists when given the chance!
Psychology Today
6. As horrifying as it sounds, there are plants in the wild that are carnivorous! Pitcher plants usually eat insects, but they have been known to consume rodents and small birds if given the opportunity, Little Shop of Horrors-style.
JeremiahsCPs / Creative Commons
7. Elephants are known to be gentle giants, but they can actually have a mean streak. For reasons unknown, teenage elephants have had a habit of killing rhinos. Park rangers have created a “big brother” program where they assign an older elephant to guide the crazy teens.
Jan-Niklas Wedig / Kariega
8. In a phenomena scientists can’t explain, blue whales have been lowering their voices over the last 40 or so years. Their songs keep getting deeper, and experts have offered a few theories to explain it, including global warming and noise pollution.
National Geographic / Youtube
9. Zebra finches are very harsh critics of their partners. Apparently, when male mates are considered to be “less attractive,” the females lay larger eggs than they normally would to compensate with extra nutrients in case the ugly counterpart didn’t deliver.
Chris Tzaros
10. Defense mechanisms are very common in nature, but the horned lizard has the most hardcore of all. If they feel threatened, these reptiles can squirt blood out of their eyes at will. Honestly, that’s a horrifying adaptation that would send anyone running the other way.
11. We might be further along on the evolutionary timeline than chimps, but we share some similar behaviors. Apes use human-like tactics to settle disputes, including battles that resemble war tactics and physical intimidation.
Wikimedia Commons
12. Naked mole rats are already visually vexing creatures, but they have some odd tics as well. Each has the ability to run backwards just as fast as it can run forward. Not to mention they are completely blind in the dark.
Liberty Science Center
13. Crows do not have a stellar reputation among the human community, but it turns out they don’t like us that much either. The have been known to hold grudges, remembering human faces they don’t like and acting repeatedly aggressive when they encounter them again.
14. Hippos would make horrible party guests. They have a truly gross way of showing their affection for a potential mate: they do this charming thing where they defecate and urinate at the same time. To each their own!
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Wikimedia Commons
15. Obviously the rules of the animal kingdom are very different from those in the human world. But the Histiostoma murchiei, a female mite, takes it to a new, Freudian level. They lay their eggs without fertilization of a male…and then copulate with male offspring shortly before they die.
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16. A wide variety of species, from reptiles to birds to dogs, have reportedly predicted weather events like earthquakes and hurricanes. Their sometimes-odd behavior preceding such an event proves they may be able to detect seismic movements.
17. Army ants are blind, and they rely on the smells of their fellow ants to make it back to the nest. Sometimes, when attempting to find their way home, a large group of them can get stuck in a loop and just march in circles until they die.
Amaze Labs / Youtube
18. The pistol shrimp may be small, but it can be very mighty. It has the ability to snap its claw so loudly that it generates the equivalent of a sonic boom. This temporarily stuns any prey that might go after this not-so-shrimpy shrimp.
Ozzy Delaney / Flickr
19. Much like humans trapped on a remote island, animals will eat anything to survive. Herbivores such as cow and sheep will become carnivores if need be and sometimes will even turn on their own kind.
20. Recent research has showed that parrots name their infants. Though these birds are famous for talking, parrot parents don’t dub their kids “Billy” or “Susan.” Instead, they assign a particular cry to each chick.
TJ Lin / Flickr
21. Chameleons’ tongues are extremely fast. They can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in a 100th of a second, so they only need 20 milliseconds to snatch their next meals. Their tongues can also be up to twice the length of their bodies.
Smarter Every Day / YouTube
22. The blue whale is the largest known mammal to ever exist. The largest recorded blue whale was 98.09 feet in length and weighed 173 tons. Their tongues alone are about 3 tons each, which is about twice the weight of a Toyota Camry.
23. Bats can range in weight anywhere from less than an ounce to several pounds. The bones in their legs and feet are so thin that even the smallest of bat’s legs are too weak to hold them up.
