I love the animal world.
Again and again, I talk about it here. But most humans overlook how incredible these creatures are.
We should respect them, for they are our neighbors. We share our little corners of the world with them.
Kind of like the Stevens living across the street from the Kravitz’s on Bewitched.
And come to think of it, I’m a little bit like Mrs. Kravitz when it comes to the animal world. I’m always snooping around, trying to find out exactly what they are doing. Well, it happened again.
Here are some things I found out today.
• Opossums Are Not Affected By Poisonous Snake Bites
It is true. Opossums can survive attacks by poisonous snakes. If they get bit, they don’t really suffer any adverse effects. It is because of their blood. The opossum blood. Scientists found that a single peptide seems to deactivate the poison from rattlesnakes and vipers. ( An interesting sidebar: Other animals also show the same sort of immunity against these venomous bites, including honey badgers and ground squirrels. )
• Poison Dart Frogs Are Not Born Poisonous
Just like none of us are born filled with hate, poison dart frogs are not born poisonous either. First of all, these animals are small too. They are like the size of a paperclip. But they carry enough toxin to take out ten grown men. Their poison has been used to tip darts for centuries. But at birth? Nadda. In fact, when those frogs are born and bred in captivity, isolated from insects, they never develop poison. So, how do they get poisonous? The scientists don’t know for sure. They think it might be from the insects they eat while they are growing up.
• Wolves And Ravens Are Actually Friends In The Wild
This fact I love. Wolves and ravens. Pals. It seems that when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, officials observed that ravens were hanging out with those wolves. Of course, the ravens benefited from the scraps of a wolf’s kill. But it was way more than that. The wolves would listen to the calls of the ravens to find carcasses to feed on. The wolves would also follow the ravens as they flew, likely looking for more food the birds were directing them to.
But the best part is this: The ravens and wolves also played with each other. Ravens have been observed pecking at the tails of wolves to start a chase or will dive at the wolf before quickly changing directions once close.
• Elephants Are Great Swimmers And Use Their Trunks As Snorkels
Elephants are great swimmers. Despite their rather hefty size, elephants are extremely buoyant and can essentially stop swimming while in the water and still be able to stay afloat. Elephants swim with their whole body underwater except their trunk, which serves as a sort of snorkel. This breathing technique allows them to swim for hours because they don’t have to strain themselves to breathe. Much like their ability to walk long distances, elephants can swim around 30 miles in a single day. Move over Johnny Weissmuller, Mark Spitz, and Katie Ledecky.
So there it is. A little news from the Gladys Kravitz side of the street in the animal kingdom. “Did you see that, Abner?”
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“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” — Martin Buber
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“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” — James Herriot
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“A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.” — Albert Schweitzer
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The animal snoop. Here is what I found.
