I've seen there are some old threads here in the tavern about bugs and fishes and such. Well, why don't we start one for the animal kingdom in general, then? Here you can talk about dolphins (did you know that they kill for fun?), chimpanzees (those cute little fellas actually eat babies), platypii (they're venomous!!!) and all the other non human creatures you find interesting/cute/terrifying. So, why don't we start with an interesting little reptile that squirts blood from his eye to protect himself against predators? Yup, now that's what I call a bloody retaliation! Get it? GET IT?! But yeah, are animals weird ass sons of bitches or what?

You sound like you're trying to be this guy.

Haha! Does anyone else hear Randall saying something like "You've got an awwwwwwful case of dandruff here, honey, EWWWWWW!" when he narrates that thing? Can't help it.

OK, let's try to get some quality into this thread if you wish to discuss such an important subject. The OP is bad as hell, but there's plenty to talk about.

The Platypus rocks!!

Cute as hell and it can fucking kill you.

Now, THAT is a combo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmVlodE_dzo

this is my parakeet singing along to some Iron Maiden. She's named Siren after Bruce.

parakeets are really interesting creatures, she's a part of the family and in some ways she's more emotionally complex than a dog or a cat. There's a few more videos of her doing strange things on my account. She really enjoys exploring dark places, like the bottom of a laundry hamper and the subwoofer in the back of my speakers and a...paper towel roll...

dolphins are fascinating, I read "Man and Dolphin" by John C. Lily a few years ago.

Sharks and dogs are awesome for different reasons.

If i was super rich i'd have sharks in my swimming pool, drug lord style!

Bass. They lurk deep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrebird

that bird is so interesting can mimic so many different sounds, there are so many interesting animals out there

Believe me when I say that I don't sound like that. Nor do I want to.



Oh, c'mon Nap, I'm just trying to have a bit of fun here.....

Yeah, I've read about this guy and have seen it in a couple of documentaries. The motherfucker can mimic stuff from a chainsaw to a car's alarm, and much more. Really quirky thing. And speaking of imposters of the animal kingdom, has anyone heard of the Stonefish? This mean little bastards often get washed ashore, and even then you can't spot them because they DO look like freaking rocks. And that's awful, because if you step on them, you'll get stabbed with a bunch of spines they have in their back, injecting into your bloodstream a toxin that produces such a pain that you'll be begging for your foot to be chopped off. Charming, eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula It's a biologically immortal jellyfish.

Saw it in a Cracked article, and yeah, I was pretty impressed. It's basically a handful of goo that's also a Highlander!

Lobsters are also awesome creatures. "Recent research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age. It has been argued that lobsters may exhibit negligible senescence and some scientists have claimed that they could effectively live indefinitely, barring injury, disease, capture, etc."

It looks like there are a lot of Highlander-ish creatures in the world.

So, you're effectively saying that, besides a violent or disease-induced death, lobsters don't actually die? Couple that with the aforementioned jellyfishes, those strange giant crickets that effectively come back from the dead after freezing and the tardigrades (cute little thingies that are practically indestructible) and you got the freaking Immortals! Besides, I can't stress enough how much crows terrify me.

Well, it's just a theorie proposed by a couple of scientists. Nothing has been proven yet. There is a good amount of theoretically immortal species though. Pinus longaeva, Bacteria (in colony form), and Hydra.

Oh, alright, but still, it's a kick ass theory. And to whoever said platypii can kill you; they can't, but their sting is still stupidly painful and not something you'd like to go through if you're a sane human being.

I raise insects as a hobby. I currently have two (or three) species of grasshopper (two of them are just North and South variations of a similar species, the third is a spur-throat grasshopper), a ton of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and four praying mantises.

There was a time when I had Eastern Lubber grasshoppers and about eight or so different species of praying mantis.

One insect I'd like to get someday is the Greater Arid Land Katydid. They are gigantic katydids with spikes all over and red eyes, they are also carnivorous and they have cute little wings. http://insects.tamu.edu/salon/2011/entr ... nhart3.JPG

Goatfangs, I have a question for you; do hissing cockroaches ACTUALLY hiss? And if so, how?

Besides, about that cricket thing you posted there; it's eyes are strangely human.

Who claims it?
I think that no scientist is able to prove such thing unless he can read their mind.

lol i actually just heard of the stonefish yesterday(love cracked) i live in australia so we have some of the most interesting and scary animals and insects around

for me the Octopus is very interesting, very smart animal i remember seeing something on them and they put an Octopus in a "secure" enclosure at an aquarium and it escaped, walked to another enclosure and ate the fish in there then walked back to its original enclosure without anyone noticing.....ninja Octopus

Yes, they hiss when agitated by forcing air through their spiracles, which are tiny holes on the sides of their abdomen that is used for breathing.

A hole in the side of their abdomen? I think stink bugs have a similar structure where they spray gas when they feel threatened (kind of like their way of farting).

All insects breathe through some sort of holes somewhere, usually on their sides, I believe. That combined with the oxygen content of the atmosphere is the main feature limiting their size.

I have a pair of Siberian Huskys named Willy and Layla, a female Chocolate Lab named Lucy, a tiger striped Pit Bull named Rocky. I'm also babysitting my mom's female Chihuahua named Baby and her black and grey Australian Shephard named Donas. I love them all but feeding them is quite a workout.

I love birds of prey especially the Harpy Eagle which survives on sloths and monkeys throughout Central and South America. If you've never seen a harpy eagle snatch a sloth from a tree it's quite the feat.

I love sloths. They sit around smoking dope all day with not a care in the world, that is, until the haters arrive and kill their high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ij4644 ... r%2Bmonkey

Dolphins have a remarkable sense of empathy and have been known to self-sacrifice. I've also heard rumors about killing for fun and committing rape, so, I guess they're human-like in ways?

Dolphins are claimed to also have homosexual relationships. I've heard this from my art teacher, as well as some classmates. Can anyone prove this?

Psh, dolphins are dicks.

I'm a pretty big fan of honeybees, I keep bees in my spare time and the entire colony structure is fascinating and undeniably intricate. Essentially,you can also teach bees to never harm certain folks just by being around them. There's a loyalty there that's pretty neat.

Also, bumblebees are cute.

For anyone interested here is a clip of it mimicking some sounds. Absolutely amazing.

With all the talk of dolphins, I'm surprised this hasn't come up- some scientists are suggesting that cetaceans should have the equivalent of human rights.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17116882

thanks for the video

the Koala remind me of the sloth as in it sleeps for 18 hours a day, you wonder how a species that sleeps so often could actually survive

Crows are the most badass species to... you know fly around the earth.
http://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6- ... think.html

Homosexuality is not unheard of in animals, and dolphins can commit rape alright, among other things, oh yeah. Dolphins can toss your salad and fuck you.

At least until insects evolve more advanced techniques of air-breathing. The largest terrestrial arthropod is the Coconut Crab, which breathes through a special type of lungs that are sort of a mid-point between lungs and gills, it requires moisture to function, but a Coconut Crab can drown if submerged in water.

Though I graduated from college in Computer Science, a future career in entomology or biology is not off the table if I decide I need a switch.

I clicked this thinking it was the Anime thread and i'm like, "Why the fuck is everyone talking about animals?" D'oh!

Anyway, i think wolves are pretty awesome. Always thought it would be rad to have a wolf as a pet. Scare the shit outta people.

Octopuses are pretty cool:

http://youtu.be/x5DyBkYKqnM

And a really interesting, albeit long, article on their intelligence:

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/ ... icle/6474/

Wolf Hybrids are totally badass, one lives in my woods.

Yes, dolphins are dicks. I use to go deep sea fishing a bunch and every time I'd catch something a goddamn dolphin would come by and fight me for it. So not only did i have to reel in some huge fish which was fighting for its life, I also had a dolphin fucking with it the whole time.

And if you dig bees, here is a sweet video of some hornets attacking a bee hive. Quite exciting actually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L54exo8JTUs

Here is a video of my cat sitting upright on his butt like he thinks he's people. It's a weird trait that his breed (Scottish Folds) are known to do. He sits like this all the time, or will sit with his back against a wall or a corner, and I've never seen another cat behave like this. Weirdo.

Hahaha, nice one. One of my cats always comes off as a monkey when he's washing himself while his sitting on his ass. Gotta love cats.

As one of the people who reads Crappy Diem on a relatively regular basis, I heartily salute you.