Animals
Exploring "Why" questions about Animals
295 articles
Why other mammals go crazy when they get rabies and humans just die.
Actually, humans go crazy with rabies too. Symptoms include disorientation, frustration, paranoia, and violent outbursts. Fantastic story recently aired on Radio Lab on NPR regarding first known woman
Why are there no freshwater sharks?
Their called River Sharks and they exist. _URL_1_ But basically the problem is that it is difficult for a species to live in both freshwater and salt water it requires really specific adaptation. This
Why is heterochromia so seemingly common in Huskies unlike all other dog breeds?
Huskies, like lots of dog breeds, are pretty inbreed. Inbreeding has a tendency to proliferate recessive genes, or at least give the opportunity more often for an individual to have both copies. In hu
Why is there such a significant home advantage in sport?
It's like shitting at home in your bathroom. You know where the handle is, you know where the extra TP is, you know where the plunger is in case shit gets hairy. That's called home field advantage bec
Why cant we just stop media outlets from covering terrorism? Wouldn’t that effectively make it pointless?
Freedom of the press. If you prevent the media from reporting something, that opens room for abuse. Police beating that man to death?
Why wouldnt this work?A common joke in my country is about a man who wants to get a chicken which lays eggs so he can get more and more chickens and open a poultry farm
Well, you need two chickens if you want fertilized eggs. What is the joke? From this description, I'd say perhaps the joke is that the man does not realize that there is more to running a poultry farm
Why do dogs/other animals instinctively know how to swim but humans have to be taught how to not drown?
Humans seem to have lost this reflex / instinct, babies actually have a diving (hold their breath under water) and swimming motion like reflex (not true swimming) until about 6 moths. _URL_0_ Haven't
Why and how birds fly in an organized formation
For energy conservation. The birds in the rear get a certain amount of lift from the ones in front. They will change positions periodically.
why do cowboys say “yeehaa”?
It's really kind of a mistake that we think that. People driving horses would say "gee" and "haw"; the same way people on boats use port and starboard instead of left and right. _URL_0_
Why are so many baby animals “fuzzy”? Babies of mammalian species (I’m thinking ducks, bears, kittens, etc) are all fuzzier when they’re young. Anyone know why?
As a trained biologist, I feel the need to point out that the mammalian genus of ducks is nearly 30% fuzzier at birth than non-mammalian duck species. The OP is now vindicated. Also - insulation is th