Here are a few of the strangest things that
animals actually do! 9 - Exploding Toads
Exploding toads?! Yes. We’re literally talking about toads that
explode, not some punk band from Seattle. Back in 2005, hundreds of toads were found
to have exploded in Hamburg Germany. And without Ace Ventura, pet detective to
solve the case, Hamburg natives turned to Frank Mutschmann, amphibian expert. At first, scientists were completely baffled
at how this phenomenon actually happened. But Frank was able to get to the bottom of
the case. It took him several weeks to find the answer,
but it was well worth it. The reason that toads were exploding was because
of the work of highly intelligent crows. During his investigation, he studied toad
species both alive and croaked, and found that they all had these surgical like circles
on their backs….about the size of a crow’s beak. Turns out, these clever birds figured out
how to carve out a circle on the toads backs with surgical like precision. Their goal? To eat the toad’s livers! This particular species of toad had toxic
skin. So the crow couldn’t eat the whole toad. That’s definitely to the advantage of the
toad, except, somehow, the crows figured out they could still eat toad liver and be fine. However, only once the toad’s liver is actually
gone does the toad realize that a predator has been around. It puffs itself up as a natural defense mechanism. But since the toad doesn't have a diaphragm
or ribs, without the liver, there wasn’t anything to hold the rest of its organs in. The lungs stretch out the toad’s body and
yeah…..the explosion happens. Seriously, how did the crows figure out they
can still eat the liver though?! 8 - Game of Moles
Mole rats seem harmless enough, right? Well that depends on who you ask. If you ask another mole and they can actually
talk, they’ll probably give a very interesting answer! In fact, you’ll be surprised to know that
the world of mole rat politics is actually very cutthroat! The reason why is because these rodents live
in a hierarchical society, with one dominant female reigning supreme. Only the alpha female gets to breed in these
societies while the other mole rats are tasked with taking care of the queen’s offspring
and serving the queen’s needs. One example of this social dynamic is that
lower ranked mole rats actually eat the queen’s poo! And amazingly enough, that’s because the
queen’s poo is filled with hormones and nutrients, and THAT’S actually how she communicates
with the lower ranking mole rats. There’s a lot more that goes on in the mole
rat social hierarchy, but we’re not going to get too deep into the details here. So how do female mole rats get to be the queen? Well, basically by being the biggest female
mole rat. Everyone serves her until she’s not the
most dominant mole rat anymore. The problem for the queen is that other female
mole rats will actually plan a coup for another female to become queen, when the time is right. So the queen actually never gets to rest. The way for a queen to assert her dominance
is to reproduce over and over again…...something that has to be super tiring! 7 - Stomping Grounds
When we think of elephants, we think of their trunks and their sheer size. And maybe sometimes we’ll notice how big
their ears are. However, a lot of their communication isn’t
used by those big floppy ears! A 2001 study by Stanford University revealed
a rather surprising nugget of information. Elephants can actually communicate with their
feet! Which, when you consider that elephants weigh
a solid six tons, it actually makes sense that they use all that weight to their advantage. Let’s check out an interesting elephant
scenario. A mama elephant charges at a would be predator
to protect her young.That part is normal. Lots of mama animals ferociously attack predators
to protect their offspring. But in the case of elephants, they’re also
communicating to other elephants. When they walk, they’re sending seismic
waves that other elephants can detect. Elephants apparently can detect these seismic
signals some 20 miles away, through their feet! What scientists ultimately found was that
Elephants communicate through a series of acoustic rumbles and low frequency vocalizations. So without getting knee deep into scientific
jargon, all we need to know is that Elephants can communicate and hear with their feet! 6 - Skin Shedding Gecko There’s probably a Geico insurance joke
in here somewhere, but we’ll leave it to the professionals using Geckos to help people
save a bunch of money on car insurance. But Geckos do more than just help sell insurance! Especially if they’re skin shedding fish
Geckos. This gecko species can shed its skin whenever
it needs to. This fish-scaled gecko isn’t the only lizard
species that can shed its skin as a survival tactic, a skill that’s already quite crazy. What’s fascinating about this particular
species is the size and thickness of the scales it can shed. Their transformation almost makes them seem
as if they’re an X-Men character! When a predator approaches, this fish-scaled
gecko can shed their scales down to the MUSCLE in a matter of seconds! Of course, when they shed their skin, they
go into hiding for a while to regenerate their scales. And that’s why it’s extremely rare to
see these geckos in their almost raw chicken like state. Their scales regrow within a few weeks time,
which is a small price to pay for not getting eaten. 5 - One Direction For the average person, there probably aren’t
too many interesting things about dog poo. However, there miiiight be one exception to
that rule. Did you guys know that dogs actually do number
2 in alignment with the earth’s magnetic poles?! Yes, basically, all dogs like to poo in one
direction! This is according to a 2014 study released
by the journal Frontiers in Zoology. Based on a sampling of a lot of various dog
breeds and presumably a whole lot of dog poo, the study found that dogs prefer to be aligned
with the north-south axis when they’re doing their business. So at this point, the fairly obvious question
is…..why do they do this? Well, even the experts aren’t sure. It’s essentially still a mystery to scientists
why dogs align at all and whether they do it consciously or subconsciously. We don’t know whether dogs are like “Dude,
I’m not going here unless I’m aligned north-south bruh!” Or if it’s a behavior that just happens
to feel good for a dog. We’re just wondering how many dog walking
sessions did it take for a scientist to start noticing his dog always went in the same direction? 4 - Sensing Danger At this point we’ve established that crows
are pretty clever creatures. However, that’s not the ONLY trick they
have up their sleeves! Writing for National Geographic, Liz Langley
outlined how crows actually hold funerals for their homies. That in and of itself is pretty mind blowing. The reasons why, Langley explains….are actually
much more interesting! Crows aren’t the only birds that actually
pour one out for their homies. Jays and ravens have all been observed partaking
in this ritual. Just a while back we talked about how crows
surgically remove the liver of a toad for a snack. The toads then explode. So crows don’t seem to be all up in their
feelings, and surprise surprise, they’re not! According to the journal Animal Behavior,
crows hold these gatherings not to mourn the passing of their fellow bird, but rather to
assess the area for potential danger. Apparently, crows will remember where a bird
passed, and then approach that area with caution from then on. In fact, they took the study in a strange
direction to test out the crows memories. It basically involved people in masks and
a group of very suspicious crows. In a nutshell, the people in the masks represented
danger, as they were holding passed away crows, and the living crows responded by sounding
the alarm to their fellow birds. Weeks later, the people in the masks, who
look a lot like characters from a typical horror film, went back to the location, this
time empty handed. The crows still remembered them and still
sounded the alarm warning other crows to be careful. And now we know that crows have really good
memories. They may not be all that sentimental, but
at least they’re looking out for each other! 3 - Not a Snake For many humans and animals alike, snakes
are scary and dangerous. And lethal. And this amazingly, isn’t lost on some clever
caterpillars who somehow have figured out a way to disguise themselves as snakes! The Hawk Moth Caterpillar is harmless. No venom, no poison. But they LOOK really dangerous. Well, okay. They can look really dangerous when they need
to. When they’re startled, the Hawk Moth Caterpillar
can morph into what appears to be a venomous snake! They’ll even do jab at the air, threatening
to do a fake bite if a predator gets too close! As far as disguises go, looking like a snake
when you already have the body for it is probably the best way to go. These caterpillars often fool birds that want
to eat them for breakfast. Filipe DeAndre, a filmmaker for National Geographic,
was absolutely amazed the first time he saw one in real life. He watched one of these caterpillars transform
into a fake snake right in front of him. They typically live anywhere from 10 to 30
days, so seeing one in real life is a rare sighting. During that time, a small portion of it is
spent molting, which is when they can morph into a snake look-a-like at will. 2 - Rat King Have you guys ever heard of a rat king? And nope, it’s not a hip hop group from
New York City! A rat King is a collection of rats whose tails
have become intertwined and bound together. Pretty much like how we stuff phone cords
in our bag, and they become tangled from whatever sort of magic that happens. But why does this happen to rats?! This animal anomaly is pretty rare, yet somewhat
well documented. The first recorded instance was way back in
1564 in Germany. The term “Rat King” or “Rattenkönig”
as the Germans would have said, was derived from the vernacular back in those days. Back then, someone who lived off of other
people apparently was called a rat king. Anyway, rats have been found intertwined together
at the tail throughout history, and the reasons for this are as inconclusive as they are weird. An article from Atlas Obscura has a theory
that baby rats may have bound themselves together in an effort to keep warm, and got stuck that
way, all to their demise. In some cases, the number of rats intertwined
can get upwards of more than 30! Today rat king remains can be found in museums,
such as the Otago Museum in New Zealand. And the reason they end up in museums is because
it’s a really rare occurrence. Rat kings are also present throughout human
folklore….usually as a bad omen. Who knows, maybe rat kings are actually all
over the place in New York City….or Paris! 1 - 279 Pieces
Have you guys ever heard of the Planarian Flatworm? This worm can do something that we humans
can only dream about. Essentially, this worm can regenerate itself
over and over again! If you were to cut a Planarian down the middle,
you’d end up with two planarian worms. That’s already pretty cool; each cut body
section can essentially become a clone. However, there’s more. Their ability is possible thanks to stem cells
known as neoblasts. These worms can regenerate both its head and
brain, and somewhat miraculously, the memories stored inside its brain as well! This seems to suggest that there’s cellular
memory, the theory that data can be somehow stored by cells that are outside of the brain. Although that’s something scientists are
still trying to figure out. However, that’s not all. It turns out, almost ANY small piece of the
worm can regenerate back into a full worm, brains and all! Scientists have managed to regenerate 279
worms by separating one worm into 279 pieces! If that’s not actual magic, then it’s
mighty close! Here’s what’s next!
