Balloon Animals

Submitted by: Nick




This one's pretty obvious no?

Goliath Birdeater

Let's get the obvious out of the way first...it's a huge spider that eats birds. A member of the tarantula family, the birdeater can have a leg span of up to 12 inches. Ironically, birdeaters rarely eat birds, and prefer mice.

Before you get nightmares about giant spiders eating you, I should point out that this particular species rarely attack unless disturbed, so you don't have to worry so much about Resident Evil style showdowns in your hallways:




In all honesty, shouldn't you avoid messing with giant spiders as a rule? Unless you have a shotgun that is (all of my giant spider knowledge comes from videogames).

Cats

Submitted by: Kirsten S, and her adorable kitties



I think this is pretty common knowledge, but cats are weird. They are simultaneously low maintenance and total divas. Kittens adore you, cats tend to be apathetic. Also, ask the person next to you if they are allergic to any animals. If the answer is yes, chances are they're allergic to cats.

You know something? I don't even know where to go with this post. I like cats and all, but they're just plain weird. I also believe this is something we can all accept, and won't be producing any facts to back up this statement. Cheers!

UPDATE: icanhascheezburger has lots of photographic evidence of cat weirdness.

Manatee

Submitted by: Erika S. after spotting some spattered paint that she said was a manatee with a unicorn horn



Manatees, aka the sea cow, have been recently described to me as the "happiest sea animal". I think dolphins and seals would dispute that non-fact, but I digress. Manatees are apparently evolved from four legged land animals about 60 million (give or take), and their closest living relatives are elephants (WHAT?) and hyraxes (WHO? WHAT????). They are also quite gigantic, weighing upwards of 900 lbs and being 9 - 10 feet long. Manatees prefer warm water, and their bodies can't handle cold water. Oddly, they like to hang out around power plants (which warm the water) unlike every other animal (I'm just guessing...I don't swim near power plants to avoid weird mutations so I don't know what kinds of animals live near them).

I think this is pretty well known, but manatees are believed to be the reason mermaid legends exist. If you look at the above picture, you can see why manatees are easily confused for hot half scaly fish ladies. Although, many months at sea probably warps the mind a bit anyway (this is EXACTLY why I am not a pirate).

They do look like they're smiling though, don't they?

Strange Fact #1

I found out tonight that seagulls die when they eat Rolaids, which was confirmed by someone who actually tried it. So please folks, if a seagull complains about indigestion, DO NOT GIVE THEM ROLAIDS. Not sure about Tums though, but I would suggest not trying to find out.

(also, I need to do a better job on the picture...yikes!)

Spoonbill

Submitted by: James V



James actually submitted spoonbill crane, but it looks like they are two separate animals, and went with spoonbill. Obviously, their most striking feature is their bills, which they use to snatch up any aquatic creature that wanders into their bills while they're wading in water. Also, while preferring fresh water, spoonbills can be found in salt water as well. So...they really don't care where they eat, or what they eat. They are picky about who they mate with, and stay monogamous throughout the mating season.

There are six species of spoonbill. There is the Common Spoonbill (found in Africa, Europe, and Asia), the Black Faced Spoonbill (also Asian), African Spoonbill (duh), Royal Spoonbill (mostly Australia, and is probably secretly deadly), Yellos Billed Spoonbill (also Australia, and also probably secretly deadly), and finally the Roseate Spoonbill (which is pink, and found in South America, Texas, and Florida).