Mid-week Blursday gotcha stuck in a cycle of boredom? Here's some irresistibly cute animal facts to clear up the blah!
1. Goats Have Accents
A study was done showing that goats voices change, depending on their company and surroundings. Like a Texan moving to Australia, goats "speak" with accents that take on different characteristics with time and locale.
2. Lemurs Got Rhythm
The indris, a rare and endangered type of Lemur living in the rainforests of Madagascar, has been shown to be able to sing in rhythmic patterns previously only observed in humans and birds. According to National Geographic, these singing lemurs can jam away in "short-short-long" patterns (think "We Will Rock You"), which no other mammal besides humans can do.
3. Smooching Prairie Dogs
Apparently prairie dogs kiss each other in much the same way that humans do! They kiss on the mouth to greet each other, sometimes even touching tongues. This is often accompanied by other affectionate behavior, like snuggling and grooming each other. Cuteness overload!
4. Pigeon Math
This journal from Science magazine tells us of a study showing that pigeons can count just as well as monkeys! When shown a series of images each containing a different number of objects, the pigeons were able to rank them correctly. No bird brains here.
5. Mommy Squirrels
Red squirrels are highly territorial and live in isolation. It's surprising, then, that squirrels are willing to adopt orphaned babies. There is a caveat, however: the orphans must be closely related to the adoptive mother.
6. Farm Animal Slumber
Cows and horses can sleep both standing up and lying down. But they cannot enter into REM sleep unless they lie down. Since REM sleep is required for dreams, our hoofed friends can only dream lying down.
7. Selfless Parrots
African grey parrots will help each other out, no strings attached, even if they aren't friends. That's kinder than some humans I know! According to researcher August von Bayern, "Remarkably, African grey parrots were intrinsically motivated to help others, even if the other individual was not their friend, so they behaved very 'pro-socially.'" The parrots would give without expecting anything in return, and would seem to know when their help was needed. The world could learn a thing or two from these birds.
8. Giggling Rats
Rats can laugh! Well, not over a funny joke or your lack of style, but they will make a little chirping sound when you tickle them. They will even seek out the same hands that tickled them and caused them to laugh. I simply cannot stand how adorable that is.
9. How Baby Elephants Self-Soothe
We've all seen human babies and young children suck their thumbs, and you probably did it when you were little, too. This behavior soothes us when we are small because it imitates nursing. Well, baby elephants suck their trunks for the exact same reason that humans suck their thumbs. It comforts them because it's like suckling from mom. So precious!
10. Mayor Stubbs the Cat
Did you know that a cat was the mayor of a small town in Alaska for 20 years? His name was Stubbs, named for his missing tail. In 1997, the town of Talkeetna, Alaska, with less than 900 people, wasn't interested in any of their candidates, so they wrote in Stubbs. He served as the town mayor until his death in 2016. Stubbs' brother, Denali, was his successor.
11. Russian Subway Dogs
Stray dogs in Moscow, Russia have learned to master the complicated subway system. They know how to board and de-board, and use their riding time to have a safe place to rest. The Moscow dogs can also obey traffic lights! They have truly adapted to their environment.
12. Otter Be Hand-Holdin'
Sea otters hold each other's hands while sleeping to keep each other from drifting off. If that doesn't melt your heart and break through the monotony of the week, do you even have a heart?
Hopefully these sweet animal facts have brightened your mood and broken the mold of monotony!
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