TulsaPets Magazine November 2023

November / December 2023 • TulsaPets 33 Male platypuses have venomous claws on their back feet. The venom is being studied as a treatment for diabetes because its hormone triggers insulin production. Once mating is successful and puggles are hatched, their mother’s milk has potent antibiotics (also being studied for human benefit) that babies lap as it oozes from milk ducts found in Mom’s skin folds. Babies are born with teeth that are replaced by grinding plates in adulthood. Their bills have electromagnetic sensors to help find shellfish buried in the mud, which are sucked up like a vacuum cleaner. A digestive gland produces fluid as those grinding plates smush food, which is a good thing because … (here comes the freakiest part)…. Platypuses don’t have stomachs. Who Else Nose about This? A PACK OF DOGS. Dogs prefer their right nostrils. Canines use their nostrils independently when processing scents. The right nostril is the first one employed, and if the smell is nonthreatening (or prom- ising), the dog shifts to the left nostril to continue interpretation. However, if the smell is not so great, it triggers adrenaline surges, and the dog continues to use the right nostril. Dogs can catch colds similar to humans, only it’s usually a much more serious prob- lem — so if Fido has the sniffles, he needs his vet! A HERD OF ELEPHANTS is common, but a memory of elephants is also acceptable.... There are plenty of massive animals out there, but none of them owns a trunk. Although we puny humans can claim only 900 muscles in our bodies, an elephant’s trunk alone boasts about 150,000. An ele- phant’s sense of smell is better than that of a bomb-sniffing dog, the bellow — blow- ing air through the trunk — can be heard for several miles, and the coordination with the tip of the trunks is such that the elephant can pick up a Dorito — and eat it — without breaking it. I have trunk envy now. Elephants can store nearly six quarts of water for travel across dry terrain. They suck it up 30 times as fast as we sneeze. They would not be cheap dates if they liked beer, would they? Incoming! A TROOP OF GORILLAS. It isn’t kidding to say we share 90 percent of our DNA with other primates, notably gorillas and chimps. Gorillas hum when they’re eating something tasty. I’m not joking — there’s even a recording you can listen to on the New Scientist website for free. Primatol- ogist Eva Luef has identified two kinds of tones that she believes are gorillas’ own “little food songs.” (I think my dad was a gorilla.) Although these guys can be enormous — a silverback can weigh in at 450 pounds — they are gentle giants, love their babies to pieces, and are vegetarians. But if you trek through any African countries to see gorillas, be sure to never, ever look them