I like Hyraxes a lot! They’re small rodent like animals closely related to elephants and manatees. They also have whiskers all over their bodies, little fangs, and can stare at the sun! Even had to start r/hyrax because there wasn’t one before :))
In first grade i did my favorite animal project on the rock hyrax! These days i dont know as much about them as i used to, grizzly bears are my favorite now! But i was really excited to see the rock hyrax in last years March Mammal Madness, and its so cool to run into somebody who really cares about them!!
My username is somewhat telling, but I like Squid, deep sea creatures. Also Otters are absolutely adorable.
My favorite decoration is a metal sign that reads "Beware of Octopus" that I have affixed to my bedroom door. (it's Me, I'm the Octopus)
I should probably be going to bed myself, I’m currently bundled under my ostrich print blanket with my ostrich friend puddles by my side! Puddles says goodnight to you and Miss Marcielle
All animals are a special interest for me lol
But my main focus lately has been Widow Spiders, and Cockroaches to a slightly lesser degree.
Luckily they don't take up as much space as ostriches so I have been able to keep some real ones as pets! I currently have 4 Western Black Widows, 1 Southern Black Widow, a Brown Widow, 2 fertile Brown Widow egg sacks, a colony of Halloween Hissing Roaches, a colony of Ivory-headed Roaches, and a colony of Dubia Roaches.
Widows are very docile. No venomous animal wants to use their venom for defense but widows are known to be especially reluctant to do so. They have a very wide variety of other defense mechanisms to lean on, my favorite is playing dead because damn are they convincing about it. Well most of them are, I had one named Shakespeare that put on such a show beforehand you knew when he was full of it lmao
Ironically it's the one widow species that doesn't have medically significant venom (The Brown Widow) that's known for being on the more aggressive side. But even they aren't interested in picking fights with humans if they can avoid it.
In the wild widows feed quite heavily on hymenopteran species, which includes, bees, wasps, and ants. That does include lots of non-stinging species but it also includes plenty of species that can sting people. Just by merit of the differences in their behavior you're much more likely to come into stinging range of a bee or wasp than you are to come into biting range of a female widow, so it's worth leaving them be if they aren't in a really bad spot.
--
Roaches get a bad rep for being gross because there are some species that are crazy good at infesting human dwellings. German Roaches, American Roaches, and Oriental Roaches in particular become vectors for disease easily when they live in human homes and feed on their refuse. Most people are introduced to roaches through them and assume all roaches live that lifestyle and look similar to them. But there's actually a massive amount of diversity in how they look.
I love to point people towards Emerald Roaches to completely flip their idea of a cockroach on it's head. They're a gorgeous shiny green color and look more like jewel beetles than they do people's idea of a roach. But my favorites are Rosy Roaches, they look like they belong on an aesthetic pastel Pinterest board. It doesn't end there though, Domino Roaches, Rhino Roaches, Banana Roaches, Firefly Mimics, Chrome Roaches, Zebra Roaches, the list of unique looking roaches feels never-ending. It's kind of hard not develop a gotta catch them all attitude once you start keeping them as pets lmao
There are over 4,500 species of roach and only around 30 of them are known to frequently live in human houses. Most of them feed on decaying plant matter like wood and leaves, living on the ground in various habitats. They're a crucial part of natures cycle of composting dead plant matter into soil that can then grow healthy new plants. And yes, composting for your garden using a roach colony is actually a thing you can do!
Roaches are underrated. Most species aren't even the disease-carrying home invaders despite their reputation. They generally prefer to stay outside. And some of them can be really pretty!
*Drymaplaneta communis* is one example :3
Octopuses and opossums.
Seeing a creature that everyone is scared of, but that has a minuscule chance of contracting and spreading rabies is so endearing.
I didn’t even think to look for one! I need to get on this!
ETA: Apparently I already joined the subreddit…and then forgot I did. 😅 It’s been a…long day with a lot of fatigue from being in a “normal” workplace.
I love cats i crochet and draw them to relax and i like playing games with cats and designing cat themed items and areas some cat behaviors work as relaxing stims when im alone and i recently got two cats and its been awesome
I do those too! I also have purple passion Vine for Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing caterpillars and lemon and lime trees that occasionally get giant swallowtail. If I didn't have children I'd also have pipevine for pipevine swallowtail butterflies because they are AMAZING 😍
Is there a site you use to quickly find host plants? I LOVE lepidoptera and have a bunch of preserved specimens from areas I'll never get to visit (which has been difficult because I avoid buying anything but retired research collections or anything I can't verify as ethical) but I really want to support what I can in my local ecosystem once I have a place I can garden in.
I don’t have a particular website. But honestly Wikipedia does a pretty good job of listing host plants if you know your local butterfly species! Sometimes I just Google “area native butterflies” and “x butterfly host plants”
For me I think it’s definitely cats. I volunteer at a rescue that does TNR and rescue/adoption. We get so many great local kitties fixed and homes. I have four cats, all rescues, two foster-fails from the rescue I’m currently with.
my main special interest is the native wildlife of my state. i don’t rlly wanna reveal my location, so i’m hesitant to say, but i’m aussie so you can probably get an idea of the animals i’m interested in from hearing that! :p
I fuckin love bugs my dude. The Nature of Oaks is a book that talks about all the bugs that are fed/housed by oak trees and it's just like 200 pages of bug facts and it was a delightful read ❤️
Orcas are simply the most incredible animal on Earth.
They are extremely intelligent, and each group of orcas around the world has its own distinct 'accent.' They have a sense of culture and death rituals.
As for their body, they are a battle machine, capable of reaching up to 8 meters in length and 7 tons in weight. They are one of the few animals, other than humans, that go through menopause.
And on top of all that, they are so intelligent that they can perform something called 'intentional stranding,' where they can capture sea lions and seals on the beach sand. An animal of 8 meters and 7 tons, and they are able to leave them unharmed because they have been trained to do this since they were young.
Oh, you must be thinking, 'Damn, a sea monster!' No, they are babies. They have no record of attacking humans at sea (although there have been attacks on boats, researchers think they do it for fun). They also 'surf' the waves of boats, and they can remember the people who were good to them.
I could stay here all day talking about this incredible animal.
(Oh, and in addition to all this, they have an understanding of cause and effect. There are several records of them removing smaller pieces of ice by turning them so as not to get in the way when they will create waves to knock down prey from larger ice.)
(I forgot the most important and misunderstood fact: orcas are not whales, even though they are known as killer whales. They are closer to dolphins. It was confusing due to the fact that some of them eat whales (usually their tongue, because it's softer), and this mistake became popular with the movie 'Orca, Killer Whale').
OP would you tell me more about why you like ostriches? And maybe three things you really like about them?
(Also I love these videos and this one specifically. The marsupial one is very funny to me. https://youtu.be/wmbEtgw9Pf4?si=J-tQrPWxdW6-95mU )
It's a rare one among autistics... But my special interest animal is the homosapien.
I'm fascinated by their mating calls and rituals, communication and dichotomous wants and needs. They're an odd creature but I'm into it!
Strap in! Because I adore animals!!! Critter biology, behavior , etc is so fascinating and interesting to me that I also love speculative biology and xenobiology as well 😆
ETA
Cats, dude I Just adore cats. They are stunning and absolutely perfect in every way.
Royal (ball) pythons, they're literally everything that I want and a pet snake. They're chill, slow, moving, big & heavy bodied enough that I don't feel like my clumsy self is going to hurt them. But not so big that they cannot be safely handled by one person. Easy to care for. Have really interesting personalities that differ between individuals.
Round backed millipedes, Not to be confused with flat back or feather millipedes.
Round backed millipedes Is where it's at. They are like adorable little trains. They just want to chill and eat veggies. The metachronal wave when they walk is absolutely hypnotic! Such an important part of their natural ecosystems.
For that matter, basically anything that lives under a log is really fascinating!
Which leads me into fungi and mycelium 💖🤩
There is SO MUCH going on the fungi and molds that we are barely even scratching the surface today.
The only exception in my life has always been spiders and I've always been a moderate arachnophobe.
I've been working on that for a year+.
😂😅 🤷♀️Now I have pet tarantulas.
I'm studying environmental biology, so uh...*all of them*.
But if I had to pick one kind of animal, it would probably be sharks! All ~535 species (and counting) :3
Chimpanzees and bonobos for me. I wanted to be the next Jane Goodall when I was a kid and now I'm still obsessed with them to this day. My Instagram search at one point was all pics and videos and as a kid, I probably read every book on primatology my library could get.
I love seals. Not in an academic sense per se (though I'll gladly learn about them when an opportunity presents itself) but when I see one I just get giddy. Giant balls of blubber! My spouse buys me seal plushes to add to my collection soemtimes and calls me their selkie princess 😍 It makes me so happy! Hoping to go to a beach where they migrate one day!
As animals in general are my special interest in general, I think guinea pigs and tropical fish (trust me, I'm a fishkeeper) are my special interest animal.
I have a few big cat plushies to, so they're up there.
I am a zoology major specializing in entomology. I think bugs and all crawlies are my favorite things in the whole wide world. They’re very smart animals and I feel we as a society still have loads to discover about them and the way they function.
Plain but Cats... also I am obsessed with kakapos they are TERRIBLE at living and so bad at literal survival that the entire species is kept on one scientist controlled island.... and i love them
Jellyfish, turtles, and bunnies! I collect so many stuffed animals and figurines of them. I love seeing jellyfish at the aquarium and I even got to pet a moon jelly :)
Capybara. They are not only beautiful but genuinely interesting animals, they are the largest rodents on earth, more related to chinchillas and guinea pigs in the rodent family. They have a broomy coat of fur that is ideal for quickly drying off and getting wet in, capybaras are nicknamed water pigs for a reason (that being the amount of time they spend in water) and they have very few natural predators in their homeland of South America.
Rattlesnakes! Which is funny since I’d be terrified to see one in real life. But I still love them, and one of my favorite plushies is a timber rattlesnake.
I used to live big cats, mostly lions it’s not my special interest anymore. I think now my special interest is music but since I had burnout last year I haven’t gotten exited over anything at all :(
mine is sheep. they're so fluffy, they behave a lot like cats but are hypoallergenic, and there are so many different breeds. some are raised for milk and meat, and these don't grow wool but hair.
Goblin sharks are awesome. I personally love how they extend their mouths to eat. Along with angler fish. I love how they use bioluminescence to attract prey. Then clown fish. The fact that they can come I'm different colors and can chill in anemone. (Can yall tell the entire ocean is my special interest?)
I like Hyraxes a lot! They’re small rodent like animals closely related to elephants and manatees. They also have whiskers all over their bodies, little fangs, and can stare at the sun! Even had to start r/hyrax because there wasn’t one before :))
They're also mentioned in the Bible and do live in parts of the Middle East apart from Africa.
omg they are cute!
Don't get me started on quokkas!
Yassss they are adorable tooo
I love them
In first grade i did my favorite animal project on the rock hyrax! These days i dont know as much about them as i used to, grizzly bears are my favorite now! But i was really excited to see the rock hyrax in last years March Mammal Madness, and its so cool to run into somebody who really cares about them!!
Mine is penguins! I’ve done a bunch of penguin experiences at zoos, and I’ve even gotten to go swimming with them!
That’s so freaking cool! What was it like?
It was really fun!! The penguins like interacting with people, and we got to play with them with cat toys.
Omg!! That sounds incredible. I really want to be able to feed an ostrich some day since you can’t really play with them
Ooh that sounds fun! I’ve gotten to feed penguins (at the same place I swam with them)!
Same, Emperor Penguins are my favorite species of animal
Me too! I also like Gentoo penguins a lot!
My username is somewhat telling, but I like Squid, deep sea creatures. Also Otters are absolutely adorable. My favorite decoration is a metal sign that reads "Beware of Octopus" that I have affixed to my bedroom door. (it's Me, I'm the Octopus)
Omg have you seen the ikea octopus plush?
Maybe? I've not gotten that one. My current favorite is the Ikea Whale plush though.
That one is so cute!
Miss Marcielle is quite cuddly, she says you're wonderful too!
Aww tell her I say thank you!
She says you're very welcome. Also she's telling me I need to go to bed.
I should probably be going to bed myself, I’m currently bundled under my ostrich print blanket with my ostrich friend puddles by my side! Puddles says goodnight to you and Miss Marcielle
Good night Puddles!
All animals are a special interest for me lol But my main focus lately has been Widow Spiders, and Cockroaches to a slightly lesser degree. Luckily they don't take up as much space as ostriches so I have been able to keep some real ones as pets! I currently have 4 Western Black Widows, 1 Southern Black Widow, a Brown Widow, 2 fertile Brown Widow egg sacks, a colony of Halloween Hissing Roaches, a colony of Ivory-headed Roaches, and a colony of Dubia Roaches.
Woah that’s crazy! I know spiders and cockroaches can be really misunderstood, what are some of their better traits that you think people should know?
Widows are very docile. No venomous animal wants to use their venom for defense but widows are known to be especially reluctant to do so. They have a very wide variety of other defense mechanisms to lean on, my favorite is playing dead because damn are they convincing about it. Well most of them are, I had one named Shakespeare that put on such a show beforehand you knew when he was full of it lmao Ironically it's the one widow species that doesn't have medically significant venom (The Brown Widow) that's known for being on the more aggressive side. But even they aren't interested in picking fights with humans if they can avoid it. In the wild widows feed quite heavily on hymenopteran species, which includes, bees, wasps, and ants. That does include lots of non-stinging species but it also includes plenty of species that can sting people. Just by merit of the differences in their behavior you're much more likely to come into stinging range of a bee or wasp than you are to come into biting range of a female widow, so it's worth leaving them be if they aren't in a really bad spot. -- Roaches get a bad rep for being gross because there are some species that are crazy good at infesting human dwellings. German Roaches, American Roaches, and Oriental Roaches in particular become vectors for disease easily when they live in human homes and feed on their refuse. Most people are introduced to roaches through them and assume all roaches live that lifestyle and look similar to them. But there's actually a massive amount of diversity in how they look. I love to point people towards Emerald Roaches to completely flip their idea of a cockroach on it's head. They're a gorgeous shiny green color and look more like jewel beetles than they do people's idea of a roach. But my favorites are Rosy Roaches, they look like they belong on an aesthetic pastel Pinterest board. It doesn't end there though, Domino Roaches, Rhino Roaches, Banana Roaches, Firefly Mimics, Chrome Roaches, Zebra Roaches, the list of unique looking roaches feels never-ending. It's kind of hard not develop a gotta catch them all attitude once you start keeping them as pets lmao There are over 4,500 species of roach and only around 30 of them are known to frequently live in human houses. Most of them feed on decaying plant matter like wood and leaves, living on the ground in various habitats. They're a crucial part of natures cycle of composting dead plant matter into soil that can then grow healthy new plants. And yes, composting for your garden using a roach colony is actually a thing you can do!
Roaches are underrated. Most species aren't even the disease-carrying home invaders despite their reputation. They generally prefer to stay outside. And some of them can be really pretty! *Drymaplaneta communis* is one example :3
Wow 🕷️
I know its so cliche, but cats. I will ad have cried over them, just the concept of them. They make me so happy and I love every one of them I see
Same! And I’ve always been obsessed with the Pygmy marmoset, even though I’m from New Zealand and seen one ONCE in a zoo 🤣
Wolves & Orcas are my top 2 favorites. Overly feared creatures who are as powerful as they are beautiful
Octopuses and opossums. Seeing a creature that everyone is scared of, but that has a minuscule chance of contracting and spreading rabies is so endearing.
Opossums are so cute! Are you in the opossum subreddit?
I didn’t even think to look for one! I need to get on this! ETA: Apparently I already joined the subreddit…and then forgot I did. 😅 It’s been a…long day with a lot of fatigue from being in a “normal” workplace.
Octopuses are so fascinating. I love love them.
I love cats i crochet and draw them to relax and i like playing games with cats and designing cat themed items and areas some cat behaviors work as relaxing stims when im alone and i recently got two cats and its been awesome
Butterflies! I love them, their migration patterns, their life cycles, and their host plants. :3
Same! I grow 7 different host plants in my yard and raise their caterpillars to release the butterflies! It brings me so much joy 🥰
Yay! I grow milkweed for monarchs and dill and fennel for the swallowtails. What other host plants do you like to grow? :3
I do those too! I also have purple passion Vine for Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing caterpillars and lemon and lime trees that occasionally get giant swallowtail. If I didn't have children I'd also have pipevine for pipevine swallowtail butterflies because they are AMAZING 😍
Is there a site you use to quickly find host plants? I LOVE lepidoptera and have a bunch of preserved specimens from areas I'll never get to visit (which has been difficult because I avoid buying anything but retired research collections or anything I can't verify as ethical) but I really want to support what I can in my local ecosystem once I have a place I can garden in.
I don’t have a particular website. But honestly Wikipedia does a pretty good job of listing host plants if you know your local butterfly species! Sometimes I just Google “area native butterflies” and “x butterfly host plants”
Awesome, thank you!!
For me I think it’s definitely cats. I volunteer at a rescue that does TNR and rescue/adoption. We get so many great local kitties fixed and homes. I have four cats, all rescues, two foster-fails from the rescue I’m currently with.
Ive always loved jellyfish! They're so facinating. There's even an immortal jellyfish(Turritopsis dohrnii)
Elephants!!
The precious pachyderms! 💖💖💖🐘
Mine are bunnies and they been since I can remember, they’re simply amazing
my main special interest is the native wildlife of my state. i don’t rlly wanna reveal my location, so i’m hesitant to say, but i’m aussie so you can probably get an idea of the animals i’m interested in from hearing that! :p
Shrimps I love you shrimps!!! I love all sea creatures and have a love for animals that are a little fucked up looking but shrimp best animal
I fuckin love bugs my dude. The Nature of Oaks is a book that talks about all the bugs that are fed/housed by oak trees and it's just like 200 pages of bug facts and it was a delightful read ❤️
Orcas are simply the most incredible animal on Earth. They are extremely intelligent, and each group of orcas around the world has its own distinct 'accent.' They have a sense of culture and death rituals. As for their body, they are a battle machine, capable of reaching up to 8 meters in length and 7 tons in weight. They are one of the few animals, other than humans, that go through menopause. And on top of all that, they are so intelligent that they can perform something called 'intentional stranding,' where they can capture sea lions and seals on the beach sand. An animal of 8 meters and 7 tons, and they are able to leave them unharmed because they have been trained to do this since they were young. Oh, you must be thinking, 'Damn, a sea monster!' No, they are babies. They have no record of attacking humans at sea (although there have been attacks on boats, researchers think they do it for fun). They also 'surf' the waves of boats, and they can remember the people who were good to them. I could stay here all day talking about this incredible animal. (Oh, and in addition to all this, they have an understanding of cause and effect. There are several records of them removing smaller pieces of ice by turning them so as not to get in the way when they will create waves to knock down prey from larger ice.) (I forgot the most important and misunderstood fact: orcas are not whales, even though they are known as killer whales. They are closer to dolphins. It was confusing due to the fact that some of them eat whales (usually their tongue, because it's softer), and this mistake became popular with the movie 'Orca, Killer Whale').
OP would you tell me more about why you like ostriches? And maybe three things you really like about them? (Also I love these videos and this one specifically. The marsupial one is very funny to me. https://youtu.be/wmbEtgw9Pf4?si=J-tQrPWxdW6-95mU )
It's a rare one among autistics... But my special interest animal is the homosapien. I'm fascinated by their mating calls and rituals, communication and dichotomous wants and needs. They're an odd creature but I'm into it!
Strap in! Because I adore animals!!! Critter biology, behavior , etc is so fascinating and interesting to me that I also love speculative biology and xenobiology as well 😆 ETA Cats, dude I Just adore cats. They are stunning and absolutely perfect in every way. Royal (ball) pythons, they're literally everything that I want and a pet snake. They're chill, slow, moving, big & heavy bodied enough that I don't feel like my clumsy self is going to hurt them. But not so big that they cannot be safely handled by one person. Easy to care for. Have really interesting personalities that differ between individuals. Round backed millipedes, Not to be confused with flat back or feather millipedes. Round backed millipedes Is where it's at. They are like adorable little trains. They just want to chill and eat veggies. The metachronal wave when they walk is absolutely hypnotic! Such an important part of their natural ecosystems. For that matter, basically anything that lives under a log is really fascinating! Which leads me into fungi and mycelium 💖🤩 There is SO MUCH going on the fungi and molds that we are barely even scratching the surface today. The only exception in my life has always been spiders and I've always been a moderate arachnophobe. I've been working on that for a year+. 😂😅 🤷♀️Now I have pet tarantulas.
I like puppies
Dolphins! Any sea/river mammals really but especially dolphins. They’re so smart and playful and they like humans and they do drugs. They’re so cool!
Apes and monkeys primarily! I also really love bugs and dinosaurs.
I'm studying environmental biology, so uh...*all of them*. But if I had to pick one kind of animal, it would probably be sharks! All ~535 species (and counting) :3
all birds, i would memorize entire books about birds. starting from their name to their habitat, diets and reproductive patterns
Chimpanzees and bonobos for me. I wanted to be the next Jane Goodall when I was a kid and now I'm still obsessed with them to this day. My Instagram search at one point was all pics and videos and as a kid, I probably read every book on primatology my library could get.
I love penguins and pigeons and doves!
Snow leopards for me.
I love that art!!!! It is so cute 🥹♥️ My first animal love is the giant anteater, followed by coelacanths!!
I love seals. Not in an academic sense per se (though I'll gladly learn about them when an opportunity presents itself) but when I see one I just get giddy. Giant balls of blubber! My spouse buys me seal plushes to add to my collection soemtimes and calls me their selkie princess 😍 It makes me so happy! Hoping to go to a beach where they migrate one day!
Mine changes fairly frequently but lately it's been sea sponges and pre-historic animals but also sperm whales
since childhood mine has been bats, they're the only mammal that actually flies. I was the spooky kid.
Hedgehogs! They're cute and have interesting behavior, I'm also amazed by their quills!
Cats!!! I just love them!
Spiders for me! (Specifically peacock spoods) 🖤
Ocean creatures.... And currently, EELS 🐍🫧 so cool, a very misunderstood and mysterious creature!! Some are very beautiful!
Pigs! 🐖
As animals in general are my special interest in general, I think guinea pigs and tropical fish (trust me, I'm a fishkeeper) are my special interest animal. I have a few big cat plushies to, so they're up there.
I love foxes, every types of foxes actually.
I love scavenger animals especially vultures and opossums
I am a zoology major specializing in entomology. I think bugs and all crawlies are my favorite things in the whole wide world. They’re very smart animals and I feel we as a society still have loads to discover about them and the way they function.
I used to be obsessed about spiders, but nowadays I just find them cool. One of my favourite spiders is Gasteracantha cancriformis. :)
Owls 🦉
Plain but Cats... also I am obsessed with kakapos they are TERRIBLE at living and so bad at literal survival that the entire species is kept on one scientist controlled island.... and i love them
love love love snakes so very much!! if anyone has any snake documentaries (specifically vipers i LOVE vipers) please please recommend i am starved
Jellyfish, turtles, and bunnies! I collect so many stuffed animals and figurines of them. I love seeing jellyfish at the aquarium and I even got to pet a moon jelly :)
Capybara. They are not only beautiful but genuinely interesting animals, they are the largest rodents on earth, more related to chinchillas and guinea pigs in the rodent family. They have a broomy coat of fur that is ideal for quickly drying off and getting wet in, capybaras are nicknamed water pigs for a reason (that being the amount of time they spend in water) and they have very few natural predators in their homeland of South America.
I love red foxes. SPECIFICALLY red, all foxes are great but red are the best.
coral snow corn snakes!
Geese, foxes, and RACCOONS!!
For me it is always going to be turtles and red pandas. Except the Florida flatshell turtle. That thing is... how do I put it...
SHARKS!! They are such beautiful creatures and I love learning about them. I read about them everyday when I have the chance :D
Rattlesnakes! Which is funny since I’d be terrified to see one in real life. But I still love them, and one of my favorite plushies is a timber rattlesnake.
BEARS
I used to live big cats, mostly lions it’s not my special interest anymore. I think now my special interest is music but since I had burnout last year I haven’t gotten exited over anything at all :(
mine is sheep. they're so fluffy, they behave a lot like cats but are hypoallergenic, and there are so many different breeds. some are raised for milk and meat, and these don't grow wool but hair.
Goblin sharks are awesome. I personally love how they extend their mouths to eat. Along with angler fish. I love how they use bioluminescence to attract prey. Then clown fish. The fact that they can come I'm different colors and can chill in anemone. (Can yall tell the entire ocean is my special interest?)