Weird Animal Report

If it's your job to care for beings in any capacity, you need to make sure those beings don't get sick or harmed to the best of your ability. In the midst of a pandemic, that needs to include not spreading an illness. And the beings who are protected need to include non-human ones as well.

A zookeeper who did their due diligence did just that but unfortunately caught Covid anyway with a breakthrough case and spread it to 13 gorillas. Now animal advocates are calling for animals who have contact with humans at places like zoos to be given the vaccine as well. They are in captivity because of us, not by choice. Therefore it's our responsibility to protect them. If you agree, you can click to ask the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to do so.

What other animal protections have you read about or shared this week? Tell us about them in the chat. Don't forget your links!

If there's a honey badger of the ocean, it's the cookie-cutter shark. Why is it a cookie-cutter? Because it bites cookie-sized chunks out of larger animals and it doesn't even care. On top of that, the sharks look like aliens, with green eyes and long, sock pocket-like shapes that can grow up to 50 centimeters in length. They may be much smaller than a Great White shark, but that's the kind of animal they attack with those teeth!

Yes, the cookie-cutter shark does attack humans. And they attack smaller animals of the ocean that they can actually consume as prey. Either way they are eating just about everything they come across, and scientists say that most animals don't do anything like this. The good news is that they usually only come up to where humans swim at night to dine on bigger predators, so if humans want to avoid them, they can stick to daytime swims.

What other weird animals have you seen this week? Share them in the chat.

There are enough strange and unusual animals in the world to never have to create a new one, but some toy makers have indeed done that. There are so many weird animal toys and stuffed animals all over the world. Some are cute, some are creepy and others are just plain weird, but all of them are strange in their own unique way.

Take Moochie the Slacker Sloth. At first glance, we see it's a sloth toy, which I love... but then you notice the booze in his hand. And then you see that he's also a smoker. Somehow he's much weirder than my Skelanimals Sloth. Of course, if you leave Amazon, you can find MUCH weirder stuff on Etsy. From homemade Falkor dragons to Baphomet plushies, you can find just about anything you could ever want--and if you can't, lots of Etsy folks are happy to take commissions. 

What about you? What's the strangest plushy you've ever seen online, or that you own? Share it in the chat.

Those who've seen James Gunn's The Suicide Squad (which is highly superior to the previous, unrelated Suicide Squad film in every way) have met the character Weasel, who was hilariously portrayed by Gunn's own brother, Sean. Weasel has a twist to his story, as do most of the characters in the film, thanks to Gunn's signature moves, which we won't reveal, but we can take a look at his character, who is one of the weirdest animals in all film.

Weasel first appeared in 1985's The Fury of Firestorm #35. He's a villain who definitely is involved with the Suicide Squad, but he's not very prominent--and he's not a real weasel. He dresses in a weasel costume because he's mocked for having weasel-like features. He's also a murderer. The Weasel in Suicide Squad is delightfully different and those who want to see just how strange he is will have to watch the movie.

What other weird animal characters do you love in movies and TV shows? Share them in the chat.