Animals With Unusual Eating Habits
In this article you will meet animals that feed themselves in an unusual way!
It's about table manners in the animal kingdom: animals that feast like kings, stuff their faces or make their own medicines! When something tastes good, our eyes light up, we eat every last bit and even ask for seconds. But we can also be pretty fussy. Especially if we’re not particularly hungry, there are a thousand reasons why something isn’t nice to eat. “These fries aren’t crispy”, “this coke’s flat”, “this ice cream tastes too fake”.
Animals aren’t much different. Some eat anything they come across - no matter how it tastes! Other animals are even fussier than we are.
Koalas Are Gourmets
Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves. They munch many pounds each day. But eucalyptus isn’t always the same. The Koala will accept around 12 of 300 types of eucalyptus. Like a connoisseur of fine wines, it will turn its nose up at low-quality leaves. Whether leaves meet a koala’s quality standards depends on the time of year, region and “mood” of the tree! Eucalyptus trees produce a horrible substance to prevent animals from eating its leaves.
Chimpanzees Eat Themselves Healthy
When we’re ill, we might have a mustard or onion poultice, chicken soup and lots of hot honey and lemon. Chimpanzees also know what to do when they get ill. They take a leaf from this tree and a leaf from that tree ... and the annoying parasite will disappear from their bellies.
Civet Cats Get Tipsy
The Asian civet cat love to eat small rodents, birds, snails and scorpions. From time to time, they get the chance to enjoy their favorite drink: palm juice. And usually only when it’s started to ferment and has developed an alcohol content. If the civet cats drink a little too much palm juice, they get drunk - and fall out of their trees!
Egg-Eating Snakes Don’t Choke
“You’ve got eyes bigger than your belly” is something you might hear if you fill up your plate but can’t manage to finish it all. African egg-eating snakes definitely fit this saying. They swallow eggs that are many times larger than their heads. They simply unhinge their jaw and swallow the whole thing. The egg is cracked later on, and the shell is spat out.
- Table of Contents:
- 1. Koala, Chimpanzee, Civet Cat, Egg-Eating Snake
- 2. Starfish, African Penguin, Hyena
