30 Really Weird and Disgusting Animal Facts!
Can you read all of these weird and disgusting animal facts without going ‘ew’? There’s only one way to find out!
If you’ve come to read about cute animal facts about fluffy kittens and adorably daft puppies, you have visited the wrong page. This page is absolutely disgusting and is full of totally weird facts about some of the more grim aspects of the animal world!
1. A lobster’s bladder is in its head!
A lobster’s bladder is in its head! When males fight, they squirt each other in the face with their pee. Urgh!
2. A Sheephead fish has a foul way of protecting itself at night!
The Californian Sheephead Fish cocoons itself in a layer of mucus at night so predators can’t sense them!
3. The sea is full of wee – and that’s a good thing!
Whale and fish pee helps keep the ocean’s ecosystem healthy as it’s full of nitrogen and phosphorus. You could say it’s a tinkle-down effect!
4. Giraffes pick their noses!
Giraffes use their giant tongues to go rummaging for bogies!
5. There’s a reason why this chipmunk smells like a toilet!
Siberian chipmunks scare away predators by covering themselves in snake urine.
6. The marine iguana clears its nose with a blast of snot!
Marine iguanas have special glands in their noses that remove salt so they can sneeze it out in their snot!
7. Don’t touch the Antarctic’s ice without washing your gloves afterwards!
Around 3% of the ice on the Antarctic glaciers is penguin pee!
8. Here’s the reason why parrotfish burp at bedtime!
Parrotfish burp out a mucus blanket at night to sleep on! No waterproof duvet for this one!
9. Cheetahs protect their homes using a natural method!
Cheetahs wee around their home to warn off invaders.
10. Bonobo parents go above and beyond when keeping their babies clean!
Bonobo monkeys clean out their babies’ nostrils by sucking out the boogers!
11. Never accept a snack from a rat!
Rats can’t vomit so it’s dangerous for them to eat anything poisonous. When they find something safe, they pee on it to let other rats know it’s okay to eat.
12. Seals and sea lions don’t pick their noses, but are equally disgusting!
Seals and sea lions don’t pick their noses, they hock up their phlegm and spit it out! Ew!
13. This degu doesn’t use lightbulbs at home – it uses wee!
The South American degu’s urine reflects ultraviolet light which it can see. It uses it to mark the passageways of its burrow.
14. Snail mucus is really slippery!
Snails ooze mucus so they can move around by sliding on it! Did you know, snails have four noses? No wonder they’re so slimy!
15. Sambar stags mark their territory with their own wee!
Sambar stags soak their antlers in urine then rub them against tree trunks to mark their territory.
16. Violet sea snails get around using mucus!
The violet sea snail gets around by making a bubble raft out of its own mucus!
17. Bush babies wee on their paws so they don’t get lost…
To help them get more traction on branches and to mark their route home, bush babies wee on their hands.
18. The upside-down jellyfish is called The Booger of the Sea!
The upside-down jellyfish attacks by blasting out snot packed with venom-filled bombs that contain a nasty sting! No wonder jellyfish are nicknamed The Boogers of the Sea!
19. Capuchin monkeys pick their nose with a stick!
Gorillas and chimpanzees are always picking their noses! Capuchin monkeys use sticks to pick green gold out of theirs! Maybe that’s more hygenic, actually.
20. Snails move along using a big sticky foot!
The whole underside of a snail is basically like a foot and helps it get around very slowly. No, snails can’t wear trainers.
21. Vultures deliberately poo on themselves!
Vultures are not only disgusting because they eat the rotting bodies of slain animals and have weird wrinkly heads and cold, dead eyes. Did you know that when a vulture is hot, they cool off by pooing down their own legs. The poo actually lowers the vultures body temperature by protecting its scaled legs from the desert sun. Lovely! Next time your grown-up is asking you to put suncream on, don’t complain.
22. Flies poo and vomit on food
Flies have some disgusting habits. They eat poo, for a start. When a fly lands on your food, it vomits a lovely mix of saliva and enzymes to break it down into mush. Then they lap up the grossness with their tongue. There’s a reason flies aren’t invited around for dinner.
23. Owls don’t have eyeballs!
Don’t worry – they do have eyes, but they’re shaped more like cylinders and held in their skull by things called sclerotic rings!
24. A wombat does cube-shaped poo!
As it takes so long for a wombat to poo, they have to hold loads of waste in their guts. The cubed shape helps them store waste, because the cubes fit together nice and neatly.
25. The word shrimp comes from a German word
The word ‘shrimp’ comes from a 14th century Middle Low German word schrempen, which means ‘to wrinkle’.
26. Some frogs live in elephant poo
Scientists have discovered that some frogs in Sri Lanka use Asian elephant poop as their home. Their research discovered that it makes for a good shelter because of how dry the dung can be. We’d much prefer to live in a building, but that’s our personal preference.
27. Leeches have 32 brains!
This annelid’s body has 32 parts and there’s a brain in each segment. While it has 32 brains, we’ve never seen a leech win a game show on TV.
28. Rabbits eat their own poo!
While this sounds absolutely disgusting, this is a natural way of rabbits making the most out of the nutrients it gets from its food. The type of poo it eats is called caecotrophs and is packed with vitamins. It’s perfectly normal!
29. Platypus feed their young by ‘sweating’ out milk
A duck-billed platypus has a tail like a beaver, a face like a duck, fur like an otter and webbed feet. They’re one of the few animals that produces both eggs and milk, and could theoretically make their own custard. This animal does not have nipples, but milk glands in their skin and sort of sweats it out.
30. Kangaroos have a strange way of keeping cool!
To lower their body temperature, kangaroos will lick their arms. As the saliva dries, it takes the heat out of their blood vessels and cools them down. It could always use a fan, but they’re probably quite difficult to hold while they’re bouncing around.
