Category: Exceptional People & Animals

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What happens when this squirrel leaps from a 21-story building? (video)

A squirrel managed to climb its way to the top of an apartment building but then found no place to go. Onlookers were surprised to find the little creature so they couldn’t help but record it. Then this happened.

Assuming this was a typical building, that was a leap of about 210 feet! As you saw, the little guy seemed to be unharmed. How is this possible?

They answer is wonderful! According to this article, squirrels  seem particularly suited to falling. They are small, light, fluffy and tend to spread themselves out when they fall. All of this creates a tremendous amount of air drag on the plummeting squirrel. This opposing force usually counteracts the pull of gravity enough to let them survive. We certainly can’t argue with the video evidence.

Is it time for a squirrel-based superhero?

Saul Ravencraft's signature

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Unusual safety animals in Cambodia

We’ve all seen stories of animals that have been trained to help humans. We’ve heard of carrier pigeons, rescue dogs, and medical service animals. Now, meet the bomb-sniffing rat.

Pouch rats in Cambodia are replacing dogs used to sniff out explosives.

Their small size and agility, combined with their extraordinary sense of smell, makes these pouch rats an ideal, if unexpected, service animal. Of course, these aren’t the only service rats. As seen in this article, rats are being used in ways that were normally reserved for more conventional pets.

Not everyone is OK with some of these unconventional service animals. Daniel Green has a seizure-sensing red-tailed boa constrictor named Redrock and is dealing with legal challenges because it is not considered an approved service animal.

We hope that Cambodia’s heroic rats will help people to appreciate that any creature can connect with humans, even if it seems a little weird.

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Does anyone still think animals are dumb?

Photo of Alvin the bearded dragon
Alvin, a bearded dragon, is our official lucky lizard, live and on display
torgo
The late, great Torgo titled “Random lizard at Museum of the Weird” by Mike M (Oct 2012)

At the Museum of the Weird we have Alvin, our official lucky lizard. He’s been with us for about seven years or so. We’ve had a number of other live animals around, including our beloved Torgo, a Nile Monitor who was with us for many years before finally succumbing to old age. Anyone who has spent time with animals knows that they are capable of connection. I know someone who is very fond of birds and experiences affection from them. We certainly feel it with our lizards.

Of course, there are still those who don’t get that. Perhaps some of the continued explorations of science will cause people to rethink their ideas about lesser animals.

In these fascinating videos from the University of Lincoln we see examples of animals that you would not normally think of as smart demonstrating their ability to learn some extraordinary things. This first video shows a bearded dragon, like Alvin, who has learned by watching how to open the door to his cage. Previously, this sort of imitation was thought to only occur in higher level creatures.

Next we see a tortoise who has learned how to use a touch screen.

Surely anyone who spends enough time around animals discovers that they have their own kinds of complex interactions with the world. As we connect with them, rather than simply trying to control them or observe them, we find that there is surprising overlap. Is that honestly so weird?

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Gator:1, Pickup: 0

A man is driving his truck through some high grass and comes across an alligator. Of course, you’re going to take out your phone and film this. Then you might play a little chicken with the gator, trying to get him to move along. Then…

 

Wow! I guess they don’t make them like they used to! The steel bumper on my Grandaddy’s old Chevy pickup would have been more of a match for this thing. I wonder if having video of you taunting an alligator into going Godzilla on you affects the insurance claim.

If you have video of a strange animal encounter, send it to us!

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Boy genius

11-year-old Tanishq Abraham showed himself to be a very special young man. While many his age are tweeting about their favorite music, movies and video games, he writes:

As seen in this USA Today report, Tanishq is the youngest person to ever graduate from California’s American River College.

What makes Tanishq so smart? Is he unique or his he an example of the future of the human race? Here he is on Conan, sharing some of his favorite science jokes.

His goal is to earn a Nobel prize and we certainly hopes he succeeds and doesn’t end up in an icy, Arctic lair with space lasers pointed at all the world leaders. On the other hand, that could be kind of cool too!

What would you do with all that brain power?