Animals are Magical

[Harmony]

The continuation of the great escape from part 1 in the above post



part 2

part 3

part 4

final escape

[norman]

One very amazing dog.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GhSG5ztxd8M

Edit to add:

turns out the only amazing thing about this is how convincing A.I. video creation can be.

I fell for it.

[Vicus]

[Bill Ryan]

Wolves Seen Using Tools to Get Fish

• https://explorersweb.com/wolves-use-tools-to-get-fish

European Green Crabs have inundated part of the coast of British Columbia. To combat this invasive species, the Haíɫzaqv Nation, which manages the land, set up crab traps along all the beaches, baited with fish. In the last few years, though, the traps in the Bella Bella area have turned up with significant damage. So they set up cameras to catch the perpetrators.

Almost immediately, the cameras caught remarkable footage of wild wolves feeding from the traps. A lone female wolf waded out at high tide and emerged carrying the trap’s buoy in her jaws. Then she pulled on the line to reel in the crab trap. Once the trap was on the beach, she tore open the netting and removed the bait cup, eating the tasty bait inside.

A new study explores the meaning of this behavior. Does this count as wolves using tools? How did they figure this out, the study asks, and just how much more common is tool use than we previously believed?


A wolf confidently trots toward a crab trap, which it knows holds food.

How did they learn this?

This is impressive behavior. It requires the wolf to connect and understand the relationship between a yummy fish treat, a rope, a buoy, and a (completely submerged) trap.

It was an efficient process, too. The whole affair took just three minutes. The wolf moved with purpose, clearly understanding the sequence in which she had to perform certain actions.

Researchers who studied the clips are still wondering how well the wolves really understand the mechanics involved in their trick. It’s possible, the paper suggests, that wolves learned to retrieve and open the traps through trial and error, then memorized the steps without fully understanding them.

It’s also possible they learned from watching people. When resource management officials stopped to check the traps and switch out bait, they could have inadvertently shown observing wolves how to retrieve traps. But officials raise the traps from a boat; they don’t drag them to shore.

We also don’t know how widespread this behavior is. Cameras did catch another individual retrieving a partially submerged trap, but so far, only the first female wolf has shown the ability to reel in a trap that’s completely hidden underwater.


Bait theft is a complex, multi-step process. This female wolf worked hard for that fish and I believe she deserved it more than the crabs.

The ‘tool use’ debate

Only rarely do researchers get a chance to observe wolf behavior in the wild. Is this level of sophistication common across wolves, and is this just the first time we’ve seen it? Thanks partially to the work of the Haíɫzaqv Wolf and Biodiversity Project, wolves in this area have minimal conflict with humans. Has their comparatively comfortable situation made them more confident and curious than other wolf populations?

The biggest question is more one of definitions, though. Namely: Does this count as tool use? Since tool use is considered a key marker of intelligence, categorizing wolves as a tool-using species would be significant.

The study cites “using an external object to achieve a specific goal with intent” as the common understanding. By this metric, the clip is definitely evidence of wolves using tools. But the most current comprehensive work on animal tool behavior (titled, creatively, Animal Tool Behavior) sets a higher standard.

“The animal must produce, not simply recognize,” this definition runs, “[the relationship] between the tool and the incentive.” So, if the wolves were tying ropes to the cages themselves, then it’d be tool use. Just using an existing rope doesn’t count.

Is it still tool use when animals appropriate human tools, rather than creating their own? The paper answers with an interesting analogy: The authors are writing their paper on a computer, “whose inner workings [they] do not fully understand.” Nevertheless, their use of this tool is certainly evidence of higher thinking.

[rgray222]

The Velvet Worm or (Onychophora) has super powers.

[mountain_jim]

https://x.com/drawandstrike/status/1...960722800?s=20

Snoring problem solved.

Update: Darn, AI got me.

[Johnnycomelately]

Slug can live entirely on sunlight.

Also can regenerate its entire body from the neck down.

If that ain’t magic, we’re gonna need a new word.

L=16:24.

This Slug Should Be Impossible

Real Science

2.03M subscribers

Nov 22, 2025

REFERENCES:
[1] Kawaguti S Yamasu T . 1965. Electron microscopy on the symbiosis between and elysioid gastropod and chloroplasts of a green alga. Biological Journal of Okayama University11, 57–65.
[2] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
[3] https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
[4] https://academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...
[5] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
[6]]https://link.springer.com/article/10....
[7] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology...
[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
[9] https://www.cell.com/current-biology/...

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IH_uv4h2xYM

[Bill Ryan]

I hope this is visible!

A mama dog was determined to save her puppies after a house had collapsed in India back in 2019.

https://x.com/i/status/1171845863850856449

[onawah]

I've been using Krazy Glue in my craft projects lately and it's been making me ill because the fumes are so toxic.
This seemed like a good opportunity to suggest they might be able to find a safer formula by synthesizing the worm slime into a new kind of Krazy Glue.
If a worm can do it...

Posted by rgray222 (here)
The Velvet Worm or (Onychophora) has super powers.

[rgray222]

Well, someone's got to figure it out.

[rgray222]

A big step in the right direction.

Doctors Group Applauds CDC’s Decision to End Monkey Experiments (End of 2025)


Photo: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is applauding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to phase out all research on monkeys. The medical ethics group is now urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to follow the CDC’s lead and end experiments on monkeys.

“Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to phase out all of their monkey research,” according to an article published in the journal Science on Nov. 21, 2025.

“This move is historic. For the first time, a U.S. agency is choosing modern, human-relevant science over a failed system of monkey experiments,” says Janine McCarthy, MPH, acting director of research policy for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Now, the CDC should use that funding to transition to human-relevant research and to ensure that these monkeys are sent to sanctuaries for the remainder of their lives.”

McCarthy added, “The CDC just sent a message to the entire biomedical establishment: The era of monkey experimentation is over.”

The CDC’s decision comes as the public health risks of monkey experimentation have become impossible to ignore. Over the past two decades, at least 15 monkey escapes from U.S. research facilities or transport have been publicly reported, each posing potential zoonotic disease risks to laboratory workers, first responders, transport personnel, and surrounding communities.

Beyond the safety risks, the scientific limitations of monkey research have been well documented. Nearly 92% of drugs that show promise in animal testing—often involving primates—fail when they enter human trials because they don’t translate to human safety or efficacy.

While both the NIH and the FDA have announced commitments to reducing their reliance on animal research, each continues to conduct experiments on monkeys. The Physicians Committee is calling on both agencies to accelerate the transition to modern, human-based methods such as organoids, organ chips, and other advanced technologies that better model human biology and disease.

The Physicians Committee also emphasized the need for dedicated federal funding to ensure the safe and humane placement of the approximately 200 macaques currently housed in CDC facilities into accredited sanctuaries. Sanctuary placement will be essential to completing the transition away from primate research responsibly and transparently.

A Physicians Committee/Morning Consult survey found that the vast majority favoring phasing out animal experiments in favor or other human-relevant research methods.

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-relea...ey-experiments

[Johnnycomelately]

Ze Frank used to be a comedy channel based on critters. Low brow humour, usually hilarious. Recently, I see them joking less and providing more interesting info, backed up with graphics and vid.

This one is about how some small critters, and some flowers, have been found to use natural electric fields. Fascinating mechanisms of transport by nematodes and some small spiders, and how bees and other pollinators collect pollen and even sense whether a flower has bin visited/sucked-dry by some other little critter doing God’s work recently.

True Facts: Electric Nematodes and Flying Spiders

Ze Frank

4.25M subscribers

Nov 29, 2025

Credits:
Dr. Victor Ortega-Jimenez, UC Berkeley
Dr. Sam England, Museum für Naturkunde
Dr. Daniel Robert, University of Bristol
Dr. David Hu, Georgia Tech
Dr. Avery Russell, Missouri State University
Dr. Moonsung Cho, Technische Universitat Berlin
Dr. James Lightfoot, Max Planck Institute

Citations:

Amador GJ et al. Honey bee hairs and pollenkitt are essential for pollen capture and removal. Bioinspir Biomim. 2017 Mar 23;12(2):026015. doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/aa5c6e.

Chiba T et al. Caenorhabditis elegans transfers across a gap under an electric field as dispersal behavior. Curr Biol. 2023 Jul 10;33(13):2668-2677.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.042.

Cho M. Aerodynamics and the role of the earth's electric field in the spiders' ballooning flight. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2021 Mar;207(2):219-236. doi: 10.1007/s00359-021-01474-6.

Cho M, et al. An observational study of ballooning in large spiders: Nanoscale multifibers enable large spiders' soaring flight. PLoS Biol. 2018 Jun 14;16(6):e2004405. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004405.

Clarke D et al. The bee, the flower, and the electric field: electric ecology and aerial electroreception. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2017 Sep;203(9):737-748. doi: 10.1007/s00359-017-1176-6.

England, SJ & D. Robert, Prey can detect predators via electroreception in air, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (23) e2322674121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322674121 (2024).

England SJ et al. Static electricity passively attracts ticks onto hosts. Curr Biol. 2023 Jul 24;33(14):3041-3047.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.021.

Garcia-Robledo, C et al. (2025). Electric transportation and electroreception in hummingbird flower mites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122. e2419214122. 10.1073/pnas.2419214122.

Handoo ZA et al. Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Pratylenchus dakotaensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Pratylenchidae), a New Root-Lesion Nematode Species on Soybean in North Dakota, USA. Plants (Basel). 2021 Jan 17;10(1):168. doi: 10.3390/plants10010168.

Kumar S et al. Reversible kink instability drives ultrafast jumping in nematodes and soft robots. Sci Robot. 2025 Apr 23;10(101):eadq3121. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.adq3121.

Lightfoot JW et al. Assaying Predatory Feeding Behaviors in Pristionchus and Other Nematodes. J Vis Exp. 2016 Sep 4;(115):54404. doi: 10.3791/54404.

Matherne, M et al. (2021). Biomechanics of pollen pellet removal by the honey bee. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 18. 20210549. 10.1098/rsif.2021.0549.

Morley EL, Robert D. Electric Fields Elicit Ballooning in Spiders. Curr Biol. 2018 Jul 23;28(14):2324-2330.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.057.

Mowery, M et al. (2022). Invasive brown widow spiders disperse aerially under a broad range of environmental conditions. Ethology. 128. 10.1111/eth.13314.

Ortega-Jimenez VM, Dudley R. Spiderweb deformation induced by electrostatically charged insects. Sci Rep. 2013;3:2108. doi: 10.1038/srep02108.

Piacentini, L et al. Massive spider web aggregations in South American grasslands after flooding. Ecological Entomology,VL - 46, https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13080

Prosi, R et al. (2016). Distribution, biology and habitat of the rare European osmiine bee species Osmia (Melanosmia) pilicornis. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 52. 1-36. 10.3897/jhr.52.10441.

Ran R et al. Electrostatics facilitate midair host attachment in parasitic jumping nematodes. 21;122(42):e2503555122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2503555122.

Russell, A et al. (2017). How a generalist bee achieves high efficiency of pollen collection on diverse floral resources. 10.1093/beheco/arx058.

Russell, A et al. (2016). Concealed floral rewards and the role of experience in floral sonication by bees. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.024.

Sahni, V.et al. Changes in the Adhesive Properties of Spider Aggregate Glue During the Evolution of Cobwebs. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00041

Ta-oun, P & Toyoshi Yoshiga, Host-associated cues and their effects on the jumping behavior of Steinernema siamkayai, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.....

Woodrow, C et al. (2024). Buzz-pollinating bees deliver thoracic vibrations to flowers through periodic biting. 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.044.

Vollrath F, Edmonds D. Consequences of electrical conductivity in an orb spider's capture web. doi: 10.1007/s00114-013-1120-8.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DxSrU-rqs7A

[mountain_jim]

not so magical

https://x.com/BeeAwake1/status/1994909249315512454?s=20

[onawah]

Cute kid, but it's hard to picture multiple cats on leashes going for a coordinated walk.
Even harder to imagine them all rushing into a body of water!
Dogs yes, cats no. I think that video has been altered.

Posted by mountain_jim (here)
not so magical

https://x.com/BeeAwake1/status/1994909249315512454?s=20

[Johnnycomelately]

Even More Cute Little Deep-sea Critters! - there, fixed the title.

Happy 24th birthday, Henry!

@leoornstein3963
18 hours ago
Bro's voice get deeper and deeper over the year

@Henry the PaleoGuy
18 hours ago

Well, I was 16 when I started, and I turned 24 just over 2 weeks ago, so lots of shifts going on there!

I did some extra editing in my video settings too, so I'm hoping a lot of the microphone peaking and sharp s' is left to the channels history now.

L = 30:27.


Even More Terrifying Deep-Sea Animals

Henry the PaleoGuy

97.2K subscribers

Nov 30, 2025

The abyssal zones of the earth's oceans are a mysterious and not well understood place. Being pitch black and with extraordinary water pressure due its immense depth, it is hard to imagine that anything could survive in this alien environment.

But as you’ll come to know, equally alien animals do in fact manage to survive in this inhospitable environment, and due to their extreme habitat, these organisms have evolved to look and behave in ways unlike anything familiar to us on land. This is part three in this series, and if you want to see what else is down in these depths, you can watch the first two in this playlist which I’ve also linked in the top right if you want to learn more about these mysterious animals. So continuing on, here are some even more terrifying abyss dwelling animals!

I hope you enjoy!

Background music:
Embrace - Sappheiros
Rev 2 - TodayRain
Eden - Onycs
Arpeggisynth - Geographer
Antechamber - Kevin MacLeod
The Pit - Kevin MacLeod
Machine - Kevin MacLeod
Bridge - Kevin MacLeod
Nebula - The Grey Room
In the Morning - The Grey Room

Make sure to like and subscribe to learn more about our wonderful world!

Sources:
Vampire Squid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azoic_h...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdivi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire...
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/a...
https://www.mbari.org/animal/vampire-...
https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/inver...
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mar...
/ heres_some_cool_facts_about_vampire_squids
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/v...
https://www.mbari.org/news/vampire-sq...
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-anc...
https://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vsf...

0:00 - Intro
0:41 - Tube eyes
3:14 - Sea pigs
7:44 - Wolftrap/Trapjaw anglerfish
18:32 - Vampire squid
29:25 - Conclusion

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Lfeh8IVhos

[Bluegreen]

Rare Footage of New Bird of Paradise Courtship Dance | Nat Geo Wild

Its amazing the lengths some fellas will go to just to attract the gal of their dreams.

(2:05)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nPhVOZiPokA

13 Wildly Entertaining Animal Mating Rituals | Smithsonian Channel

NSFW?

(33:24)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mo85rzihDrI

0:00 - Intro
0:23 - Male Peacocks Head Off to Love Arena to Attract a Mate
3:05 - Mesmerizing Footage of Monarch Butterflies Mating
6:58 - These Baboon Couples Are Affectionate All Year Round
12:13 - Darwin Stag Beetles Fight for the Right to Mate
15:24 - This Male Mantis Shrimp Dances to Attract a Mate
16:54 - Watch 2 King Cobras Romances Each Other
19:04 - How Transparent Glass Frogs Mate
20:42 - Male Orchid Bees Mix Their Own Cologne Carefully
24:43 - Scorpions Choose Their Mates by Dancing w/ Them
26:49 - The Most Toxic Frog Has a Beautiful Singing Voice
29:31 - These Dancing Flamingos Know How to Draw Attention
30:40 - Female Mantises Eat & Mate w/ Their Suitors at Once

[Tintin]

I may try this

In old Slavic and Celtic countryside tales, it was said:

"Feed a crow, and it remembers.
Feed it thrice, and you are kin."

To honor this, crumble a bit of bread at the edge of a path or windowsill.

Speak aloud: "For the black-feathered witness. For the sky's dever tongue."

If the crow comes, you are watched with favor.
If it does not, you are still heard.

Do this on a Wednesday before noon, or a Friday after rain, if you want the charm to stick.

Some say those who feed the same crow three times will receive a small treasure before the year ends—a button, a coin, or a dream that answers a question you forgot you asked.

[onawah]

Cats are learning how to speak human languages. Seriously!
Incredible Cat
3.4K subscribers
Nov 25, 2025

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I_8p1OLsFFo

[Ewan]

Javan Green Magpie

....the fact that forests across Indonesia are falling silent because of the trend for keeping songbirds as pets in cages, a hobby that has escalated to new heights with bird singing competitions that take place all across the country. In central Java this trade means that many songbirds are now threatened with extinction, taken from their forest homes to be sold as part of the illegal wildlife trade.

<snip>

....As we entered Mr Neo’s property none of us knew what to expect, but his house was full of award-winning songbirds of many colours, shapes and sizes. Crammed into every room were cages, even the kitchen and bathroom contained popular species of prized birds from floor to ceiling. But to our utter astonishment, at the back of the property there was a small cage containing a Javan green magpie.

...we weren’t sure quite how the owner would react as Panji told him of the rarity of this particular bird.

We exchanged nervous glances with Panji, and with lumps in our throats just kept filming as Panji chatted with Mr Neo about all the birds. With eye contact alone we signalled to each other and kept rolling as Panji eventually gently asked about the Javan green magpie, and queried how the bird had ended up there. We were quite apprehensive; we weren’t sure quite how the owner would react as Panji told him of the rarity of this particular bird. It’s thought there could be as few as fifty left in the wild.

Neither I nor my Director of Photography, Andrew Thompson, spoke a word of Bahasa, but we instinctively knew what was being captured on camera. It’s a remarkable moment when Mr Neo realises that he has such a critically endangered bird in his custody.

<snip>


....At Jatimulyo village, ex-poachers have become nest protectors, and tourists and photographers flock from across Asia for the opportunity to capture photographs of wild birds. Tourism financially supports the whole village, and its residents take pride in the fact they live alongside rare birds, and see the value of keeping songbirds firmly in the wild. We put Mr Neo alongside a group of top bird photographers, and a little bit of magic happened.

We were able to film the sheer joy and delight in Mr Neo’s face as for the first time he saw the birds in their natural environment. And he realised that there are alternative ways of making a living from birds, still loving them of course, but just appreciating them in a different way.

I watched this particular episode last night and it was so encouraging. With just a little education things can change.

Final episode of ASIA, a BBC series.





There is a film clip of this bird at Clips ~but you'll need to be in the UK or set your VPN there.

[Ewan]

The world's largest breed of goats.

The Markhor - geographical region Pakistan and Kurdistan.