10 Fun Facts about Animals to Make You Smile

Our animal kingdom brings millions of majestic, mysterious, and magnificent species that are a lot more intelligent than you think. These wonderful creatures that live on our land, beneath the dark blue oceans, and beyond will surely make you smile when you discover fascinating facts about them. Let’s admit it, if you’re ever feeling down you can always count on our furry friends to brighten up your day with their cuteness.

Squirrels are responsible for planting thousands of trees worldwide

They may be small, but they play a key role in our environment in ways you wouldn’t imagine. These little furry friends plant thousands of trees every year, worldwide, due to simply forgetting where they buried their acorns. How cute!

Dragonflies create a heart with their tails while mating

Dragonflies, symbolize change, transformation, adaptability, mark a sign of spiritual growth, and emotional maturity so seeing one of these flutterings around has a special meaning. Not only that, but they embody love in many ways. They even create a combined heart-shaped with their tails when mating. Now that’s true love.

Rats laugh when tickled

A study was conducted at the University of Berlin to explore what happens in the human brain when we are tickled. National Geographic wrote that the testing on rats showed that they, in fact, love to be tickled, especially on their backs. When tickled, rats let out an extremely high-pitched sound, associated with laughing. They even search for the experimenter’s hand when they stop and ask for more! 

Ducks love to surf

Ducks love to go catch a wave or two in our deep-blue sea. They have been observed riding the waves of the ocean to shore and swimming back out again to do it all over. Could this be their favorite hobby?

Wild chimpanzees enjoy getting tipsy

Just like humans, chimpanzees like to get tipsy from alcohol. Over the years, researchers have discovered an evolutionary connection between humans consuming alcohol, and chimps searching for naturally fermented alcohol. It’s called the ‘Drunken Monkey Hypothesis’. In the Guinea jungle, these intelligent wild chimps have been climbing the raffia palm trees to steal the alcoholic sap that humans have been collected in containers. The total alcohol amount in this fermented palm sap averages at 3 percent, equivalent to a small beer! 

A cat’s meow is a form of communication with humans only, not other cats

Cats, our furry friends who love to spend their time lounging beside us… or on top of us, but have you noticed that they always meow around us? Well, this is a form of communication, but only between cats and humans. You won’t see our feline friends using the same form of contact with another cat, apart from kittens to their mothers. Cats also connect their heads with humans to let them know they feel safe. How special of these little sweethearts!

Baby elephants self-soothe by sucking their trunk

Just like human babies, young elephants also self-soothe. Babies use the form of thumb-sucking or a pacifier whereas infant elephants suck their own trunks for comfort. If you ever have a chance to witness it you will agree it is the sweetest sight!

An octopus has three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood

Our dark oceans are home to millions of known and mysterious specifies, the many wonders of underwater sea-creatures. However, the giant Pacific octopus is truly something magnificent. With three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood these eight-armed creatures are nothing short of extraordinary. One main brain controls their nervous system with eight smaller brains controlling each of their eight arms. Two hearts pump blood to their gills with one larger heart circulating blood to the rest of the body. They can also camouflage for protection when hunting for food and release a toxic ink when alarmed. Fascinating, right?

Male seahorses give birth to their young

Unlike every other living creature on our planet, seahorses are the only species where the male experiences pregnancy and gives birth to their young. Male seahorses have pouches on their stomachs which carries up to 2,000 babies at a time.

Penguins propose to each other with pebbles

If you have seen David Attenborough famous ‘Our Planet’ you will know that when penguins choose a mate they stay together for a lifetime. Just as humans propose to one another by exchanging a ring, penguins use the same method but with a pebble. When they see another penguin that they like, they bring a small stone over to them to represent their lifelong commitment to each other. This one really pulls on your heart strings!