Shark Week used to be the highlight of my summer back when Discovery Channel was about education and science. Shows like "Crocodile Hunter" and "The Most Extreme" taught me to look more closely at animals that scared me, rather than just seeking to get rid of them.
This kind of education helped me and many others to stop thinking of ourselves as separate and superior to the rest of the animal kingdom, and it's clear Shark Week helped undo the damage done by movies like "Jaws." There are many other animals that deserve this kind of exposure.
If we learn more about animals and how they think, we can avoid an unfortunate encounter with them and learn how to coexist peacefully with many species, even those that look scary at first glance.
1.Hyenas
Spotted, brown, or striped, hyenas are the strange scavengers of the savannah with faces only a mother could love. Their hunched, sloping posture is reminiscent of a cryptid, and their aggressive laughing can send chills down anyone's spine.
However, they are not the maniacal idiots that are portrayed in media such as "The Lion King." They are highly social and while they may have strange physiology and behaviors, they are important to the health of the ecosystem, the same as any animal.
Their social structure hasn't been studied much but what we do know of it is fascinating. Hyenas are matriarchal; females have more testosterone than males (and some serious Big Dick Energy). Like Spartans, their society is based on who is the strongest fighter.
I would be very interested to see what discoveries we could find out about hyenas in the future.
2. Pit Bulls
- They had a very bad rap in recent years, even being banned from some cities and states. They are discriminated against in housing contracts and in shelters. This is a damn shame because in the past, they have been described as "nanny dogs" and were trusted to protect and watch over children. To this day they still make great service and emotional support animals.
The thing about their jaws "locking" is incorrect. No dog's jaw can lock. They have a powerful bite, but so do many other dog breeds that aren't labeled as "dangerous." Golden Retrievers actually bite more people than pit bulls.
Also, barring uncommon mental illnesses and actual abuse, dogs will not "snap" and "be overcome by their instincts." Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, pit bulls included. Their instinct is to please humans, not to harm them.
These and many other misconceptions have caused people to mistreat and overlook many amazing dogs and resulted in thousands of deaths by euthanasia. It's deprived people of their beloved family pets due to breed specific legislation.
Something needs to be done to educate the public about what pit bulls really are.
3. Bats
- A common Halloween staple, bats are often seen as terrors of the night, and not just to the criminals of Gotham. However, this reputation is unearned. If you see bats in the daylight, they turn out to be flying puppies.
Some of them have strange-looking faces, but we think English Bulldogs are adorable and they're genetic abominations. What's so scary about a bat?
Maybe it's their nocturnal nature (they eat mosquitos and other pests), their fleshy wings (they fly with jazz hands) or their penchant for sucking blood (only a few species do and they prefer livestock).
Bats are in danger due to diseases like White Nose Syndrome and habitat destruction by people who want to get rid of what they perceive as scary animals. If more people knew what these animals were all about, they wouldn't be so quick to kill the next one that gets stuck in their house.
4. Rats
- Bats are often called "rats with wings" and I couldn't agree more with that metaphor: both are adorable, misunderstood, and important animals. While wild rats have made themselves too much at home in our cities, they are not as malicious as their fictional portrayals suggest.
I have had pet rats, a fact which disturbs many, but my rats were as loyal as dogs and intelligent as cats. They groom a lot and eat daintily. They prefer fresh fruits to rotten meat (not that I've ever tried to give them rotten meat, though they liked chicken).
Rats are highly social and are often more altruistic than humans. When given the choice between freeing a fellow rat in an uncomfortable cage, and eating chocolate, they chose to free their fellow rat first and then share the chocolate.
It's also been shown that when rats don't have other rats to hang out with, they turn to drugs to cope. This discovery has translated to humans and revolutionized how we care for drug addicts.
Rats are more like us than we think, and they deserve to be treated with as much respect as any more "acceptable" animal.
5. Snakes
- Snakes are another animal that we instinctively kill on sight, sometimes in huge festivals such as the "rattlesnake roundups" in the Southwest. And many snakes really are dangerous to humans. Sometimes it's necessary to kill in self-defense or eradicate an infestation.
However, there is no need to be pointlessly inhumane to any animal, snakes included. Many who have pet snakes describe their distinctive personalities and their penchant for mischief. They also keep rodent and other small animal populations under control.
Not every snake is venomous, and most would prefer to scare away a potential threat rather than waste venom or put themselves in harm's way with a strike. There are really cool snakes out there, such as the giant anaconda, the cobra, and even the flying snake that lives in many rainforests. A week dedicated to snakes would be very fun indeed!
6. Spiders
- Spiders are one of the most common phobia animals and for good reason. Many of them do have venom that can cause serious injury or even death. But they live among us whether we like it or not, and it's time we learned how to live with them.
Many spiders help humans by catching pest animals in their webs. It's their way of paying rent. Their silk is also one of the strongest materials known to man and is leading to many fascinating engineering discoveries.
Much of what we fear is the unknown. I think if we know more about spiders, we won't feel as powerless when we see one on the wall.
7. Bugs
- Spiders are arachnids. What I want to focus on in this section is insects. This is one of my personal phobias, but I'm working to overcome it. While insects are a very broad kingdom that encompasses everything from little blue butterflies to snake-sized centipedes (eek!), most of them have very important roles to play in their ecosystems.
These tiny little creatures are integral to the health of any habitat. Their presence in streams determines the health of a stream.
And the presence of invasive species such as the gypsy moth or emerald ash borer in Pennsylvania can defoliate entire forests, leading to environmental devastation. They have a huge impact on their environments, and they are worth learning about, not just being dismissed as "creepy crawlies."
