Seven Strange Animal Behaviors

The Bowerbird - Interior Decorator at Heart
For all those anal-retentive interior designers the Bowerbird enjoys decorating too. Not only does the Bowerbird make great efforts to adorn his nest, he even goes so far as to destroy the nests of his neighbors. In an effort to attract a mate, the male Bowerbird builds what are termed, "bowers." The Bowerbird is a meticulous decorator and will use flowers, feathers, stones, and bits of discarded plastic and glass to decorate his bachelor pad in the hopes of impressing a female. The Bowerbird will even decorate using one particular color. He will focus on decorating for hours and only break his concentration when he goes to another bird's home to steal or vandalize.

Cuckoo Birds - Shirking Parental Duties
Another strange bird behavior is that of the Cuckoo bird. Cuckoo birds have a rather interesting approach to parenting in that they do not build a nest for themselves buy lay their eggs in other bird's nests for them to look after their young. The Cuckoo bird is solitary and will lay or drop its eggs into the nest of another bird once she's observed that the other birds have gone out. She will then quickly lay her eggs or transfers them to the foster nest. Each breeding season she will find new places to deposit her eggs and once her baby bird (or babies) hatch, she will attempt to drop the other bird's eggs out of the nest when the foster parents are out in order to secure her own babies' survival.

Adelie Penguins - A Rock and Roll Romance
The Adelie Penguin's mating ritual is strange but endearing. When choosing a mate the male penguin rolls a stone to the feet of the female to make it clear that the engagement has been offered. The match only melds once the female has given her approval and responds with a belly-to-belly mating song. They even go a long way from the pack to mate in private making them a strange romantic breed.

Horned Lizards - Giving a Whole New Meaning to the Word "Bloodshot"
Horned Lizards have a rather strange and intimidating defensive reaction against their enemies. They shot an aimed stream of blood from their eyes by voluntarily increasing the blood pressure in their sinuses until they explode. This stream of blood can reach distances of up to 5 feet. The blood has no poison, it merely creates chaos and confusion to the attacker. The blood does taste could foul to canine and feline predators but it has no effect on bird predators.

Elephants - Elephants Grieve and Bury their Dead
The strangest emotionally driven animal behavior is exhibited by elephants. Elephants have a few rituals in regards to death and dying. When they come across elephant bones, for example, they seem to be able to identify that the bones are of other elephants. They will spend a great deal of time investigating the bones in a very subdued and quiet manner. Often elephants will visit elephant grave sites regularly. They will stay close beside a deceased elephant from their herd for some time, withstanding hunger and thirst before leaving for food or water. Elephants will take leaves, dirt, and branches and cover other elephants after they die. It has been observed that elephants will do the same for humans and other empathetic animals like dogs.

Dung Beetles - Dung Beetles Love their Dung in More Ways than One
They don't call it a Dung Beetle for nothing. Dung Beetles are part of the Scarab family: they live, eat, and breed in dung. Dung, in case the term escapes you, is excrement (which is fancy for poop). The Dung Beetle lives in dung, eats dung, lays its eggs in dung, hatches its offspring in dung, and then finally feeds dung to its young. To top it all off the greatest of all dung deeds, the Dung Beetle rolls balls of dung long distances while standing on its head and moving backward using its hind legs to push it around. Of all Egyptian symbols, the Scarab beetle was the most important religious symbol. The myth of the Egyptians was that Khepera, the scarab god of the sun, rolled the sun across the heavens and buried it in the evening much like the famed and appropriately termed Dung Beetle does with his little ball of dung!

Flatworms - Love and War...and Penis Fencing
Absolutely by far the strangest and most outrageous of animal behaviors is exhibited by Flatworms. Flatworms actually engage in what can only be called "penis fencing," an act of battle meant to secure a mate. Flatworms are hermaphrodites, which means that they can inseminate and be inseminated. Some species have two penises and one or more genital pores for the process of reproduction. Flatworms meet and penis fence in order to determine who will be the female and who will be the male. Both worms want to be male because the female role is much more difficult. It take mores energy and sacrifice to develop eggs and raise young. Even worms know this! Okay, not really, but nature knows it and Flatworms fight it out to the finish with the one that pierces the skin of the other winning out the hideous affair.