Random Thursday

Diving back into Weird by True by Leslie Gilbert Elman, let's see what nonsense about animals we can learn today to impress our friends and family!

(image borrowed from Sci-News)

In the 1980s, a wild dolphin was trapped in a marina lock and was taken to a sanctuary in Adelaide, Australia to heal. It's likely that she picked up a few tricks from the other dolphins. Twenty years later, the marine biologists near Adelaide noticed that the wild dolphins were tail walking (as you can see in the above picture, which has no relation to this fact other than the action). It's believed that the rescue dolphin learned this while she was healing and taught it to her pod-mates once released.

That's pretty cool to know! Dolphins are rather intelligent!

(image borrowed from Fine Art America)

Dolphins are "conscious breathers" meaning that they have to be awake or "semi-awake" to be able to breathe. They will never fully sleep or else they'd stop breathing and drown. Dolphins will rest in short bursts throughout the day, sometimes shutting one eye and rest half of their brain while the other half stays awake and alert.

I remembered reading this about sharks as a kid, seems logical that it would apply to dolphins and other fish too.

(image borrowed from Koala Info)

Koalas sleep as much as twenty-two hours a day!

FUN FACT: Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves which provides very little energy, hence the reason why they sleep so much. The plant is also highly toxic to almost all other animals.

I knew they slept a lot, but not that much! And I didn't know that about eucalyptus leaves either!

(image borrowed from Wag!)

Peach pits, apricot pits, and apple sees contain cyanide. So don't eat them!

I can honestly say I did not know that! I just thought you didn't eat it because they tasted bad! Lol.

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

In the 14th century, ancient Hittites used diseased animals as weapons against the Arzawans during the Anatolian War. The animals used the most were rabbits, sheep, and donkeys that had the bacteria Francisella tularensis. This bacteria caused the infectious disease called tularemia or "rabbit fever." 

Harsh! Who would suspect this adorable little bunny of nefarious deeds?