Do We Forget We're Animals Too?

A study done by Texas Christian University found that lizards and other cold blooded animals sun to keep themselves warm and to get vitamin D. Chameleons – like humans – get vitamin D two ways – from food or from producing it in their skin with UV radiation. One group of chameleons was fed crickets dusted with vitamin D. The other group was fed regular crickets. The two groups were then put in enclosures offering sun and shade. The chameleons fed the regular crickets compensated by increasing their UV exposure with mathematical accuracy – while humans get burned by UV math.  

A survey published in “Applied Animal Behavior Science” found that virtually all animals with conscious awareness – which eliminates such animals as jellyfish and sponges – are pleasure seekers when it comes to play, food, touch and sex. For example, herring gulls play drop-catch tossing clams and other small, heavy objects to each other. Green iguanas will look for fresh, leafy lettuce when more nutritious reptile food has been provided. When wallowing hippopotamuses relax in watering holes, they’ll occasionally fall asleep. Electric fish seem to enjoy giving each other stimulating charges. Sometimes we forget the “i” in animal.

A study done by Swiss researchers gave six related species – red pandas, ferrets, genets, meerkats, mongooses and lions – water and solutions sweetened with natural or artificial sugars. If the animal drank more of the sweetened solutions in 24 hours, it was determined to be the animal’s preference. The lion drank only water, other species drank some of the naturally sweetened solutions, but the red pandas drank large amounts of the artificially sweetened solutions. Before this study only primates were known to have a taste for artificial sugars. Now when sugar substitutes are being tested, red pandas are likely to become guinea pigs.

A report done by the National Pest Management Association found that bedbugs have increased 71% in 5 years. They move in on suitcases or on used furniture. Although bedbugs can’t fly and emerge only at night, they can hide anywhere. Unfortunately, females produce about 500 offspring; and all bedbugs can live a year without feeding on the blood of warm bodies. Thankfully, they don’t transmit disease; but they are an allergy-causing problem. If you see clusters of tiny black fecal dots or one-quarter inch reddish brown discs of shed skin on a bed, it is time to hire licensed pest control. You have been bugged.