The internet loves a weird animal friendship. A bird and monkey hugging, or a tiger cuddling a pig while resisting the urge to eat it. These relationships are often hallmarked by their G-rated quality, like cartoon animal friends who only get up to mischievous hijinks. We don’t often imagine the pair having sex, but that’s exactly what’s happening between a bull and a male donkey in Ethiopia.

According to a study published in Current Biology by University of Pisa researchers, ethologist Elisabetta Palagi and her team stumbled upon a whirlwind romance between a bull and a donkey, while studying monkeys in the Ethiopian highlands. The bull, named Achille, was seen repeatedly mounting a male donkey named Patroclo.

Scientists Observed a Bull and Male Donkey Having Sex 51 Times in Just Two Weeks

Achille and Patroclo belong to different owners, live on separate farms, and only meet up as they’re released for grazing. Both eligible bachelors have plenty of cows and female donkeys to choose from, yet they repeatedly choose each other.

Over the two weeks the researchers observed them, they logged 51 mountings, with 34 resulting in full penetration, often accompanied by affectionate licking, mutual grooming, and nuzzling. Sounds like human postcoital cuddling.

Whenever Achille tried to flirt with other donkeys, Patroclo would literally step in to cockblock the bull, while other male donkeys made it clear that Achille’s advances were entirely unwelcome. Patroclo willingly offered up his hindquarters and nipped at the bull in encouragement.

While there is a distinctly human urge to project romanticism onto some farm animals, it’s undeniable that the two share a deep social bond that transcends gender, sexual norms, and even species.

The star-crossed animal Farm lovers have since been moved to different pastures since the researchers observed their behavior.  

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If you have a cat, you likely know just how special the bond between human and feline friends can be. My little black kitty, Poe—named after the Gothic horror writer, of course—certainly boosts my mood (when he’s not being a complete a**, that is).

The same is true for many pet owners: According to a recent study published in iScience, A Cell Press Journal, the oxytocin levels of humans and their cats appear to rise and fall in sync. In other words, their moods and hormones affect each other. And before now, there’s been little research into this topic. 

“Cats are among the world’s most popular companion animals,” the study summary reads. However, “Owner-pet hormonal synchrony is documented in dogs but untested in cats.” 

The researchers set out to change this. 

The Chemical Connection Between Cats and Their Owners

In their study, the researchers measured oxytocin and cortisol in 19 owners and 29 pet cats over the span of one month. Then, they examined the owner’s mood and the owner-cat proximity to determine a potential connection.

“Owner and cat oxytocin were positively associated, whereas their cortisol concentrations showed little association,” the researchers found. “Higher cat oxytocin was linked to lower owner cortisol and less negative mood, while higher owner cortisol was linked to more negative mood.”

According to the study, the closer the cats were to their owners, the stronger the oxytocin link. Additionally, owners experienced better moods when their cats had higher oxytocin (feel-good love hormone) and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. However, when the cats’ oxytocin levels dropped and cortisol rose, owners seemed to mirror it in their own moods.

Study Limitations

This research suggests a clear chemical link between the mood, stress, and hormonal markers of humans and their cats. However, the study does have its limitations. For example, who’s to say the cat’s hormone levels aren’t influenced by their owners’ moods, but not the opposite?

“One major question about this study—one that the authors did not aim to address—is about who influences whom,” Bence Nanay, Ph.D., wrote in his Psychology Today article on the topic. “Is it that the cat’s happiness makes us happy? Or is it the other way round, and the cat feels whether we are stressed? Or maybe both? These questions will, no doubt, be addressed in future research.”

Now, I’m no scientist…just a writer who spends more time with her beloved cat than with her own friends. But I can attest that Poe triggers a calming sense of comfort and love whenever in my presence. I’m not so sure I do the same for him, with my otherwise frantic and overwhelmed nature (especially when I’m forcing cuddles on him). But hey, one can hope.

Either way, I’ll be paying closer attention to my own moods and their impacts on my little guy. Surely, my stress-induced groaning and late-night sob sessions aren’t helping him chill. But then again, neither are my energetic chit-chatting and loud cheering during Dancing With the Stars. If anything, my happiness seems to irritate him more. His name is Poe, after all.

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The UK hedgehog has been in the news for a while due to its dwindling population, which has fallen by 30-75% since 2000. In fact, these beloved animals are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and have been categorized as at risk of extinction in Britain. It is believed the UK now houses fewer than one million hedgehogs.

Thus, a wildlife expert is urging households to leave out between 50 and 100g of food for the prickly little charmers, as such acts of kindness could amount to the “difference between life and death.” This message is being received loudly and clearly, as sources like Wales Online and The Mirror have been dutifully spreading it.

This is a very important time of year to extend a helping treat to hedgehogs, since these typically nocturnal friends will soon be going into hibernation mode. This summer proved unfavorable to them for a number of reasons, including drought, pests, the difficulty of nabbing food from modern gardens, and humans taking over their habitats. Gardening chemicals have likewise proved a menace to the hedgehog.

Wildlife Experts Are Urging People to Leave Food Outside to Help Save Hedgehogs

Wildlife expert Sean McMenemy, the founder of Ark Wildlife, cautions that if hedgehogs do not weigh about 600g before entering hibernation, they could die. This means that each hedgehog should plump up to grapefruit size or, hopefully, even bigger. McMenemy recommends that the food be left in a space where hedgehogs will feel sheltered and unthreatened.

Country Living kindly lists the foods you can leave out for hedgehogs, in addition to specially-made hedgehog food that can be purchased online and from select pet stores:

• Plain, meat-based wet dog or cat food NOT including fish varieties
• Cooked, unseasoned chicken, turkey or mince (leftovers work well)
• Tinned meat (in water, not brine or sauce)
• Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs (plain, no salt or milk)
• Crushed dry dog biscuits (in moderation and broken up)

They also note, “Always put out a shallow dish of fresh water alongside any food. And one key rule: never give hedgehogs dairy products (especially milk), bread or sugary foods, as these can make them seriously ill. Similarly, avoid fish varieties of cat food, as this can cause indigestion.”

Creating openings at the bottom of gardens dubbed “hedgehog highways” allows the adorable creatures to travel from garden to garden with ease in search of food. Hedgehogs like to eat invertebrates, so creating conditions in your yard conducive to bugs (by setting up piles of logs, for example) will help them find their natural food sources.

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As we recuperate from Halloween, American families either dread or eagerly anticipate the even more gluttonous holiday that is Thanksgiving. A couple of years ago, we dutifully reported that 46 million turkeys are consumed annually during Thanksgiving meals. But watch the turkey so human that he’ll want to make you think before you gobble up another one of his kind.

Stewart the turkey lives with his loving family, which includes a variety of other animals; and in multiple videos posted by his human caretakers, his love for soccer can clearly be observed. He likes to shake his tail feathers and play with the ball, which has been cutely dubbed his “girlfriend.”

Stewart is not only a regular Erling Haaland but also a real comedian — in one video he spread his feathers, as if courting a pretty female, for a pair of Crocs. Stewart might just be the only intelligent being on the planet who finds Crocs sexy, but it’s always good when a provocateur comes along to challenge public opinion. Stewart, indeed, seems to be interested in aesthetic matters, as he appeared quite entranced by a live painting demonstration.

This Adorable Turkey Loves Playing Soccer, and the Internet Can’t Get Enough

Before Stewart, his family owned a turkey named Lawrence. Lawrence became a viral sensation for making uncouth noises with the help of his human mother… Verily, turkeys make fantastic pets, often kind and sometimes even a little too tolerant. I can add a personal anecdote: The moron running the camp I attended as a child kept a turkey on a leash for all the little brats to play with (or rather, abuse), and that turkey truly displayed the patience of a saint.

All that said, perhaps it just might be better to make friends with turkeys than to roast them. According to a recent study by The Vacationer, as picked up by the likes of Fox News, nearly 35% of Americans apparently dislike turkey as a dish. Still, the tradition sadly persists of having turkey for Thanksgiving, perhaps more as a centerpiece, or something to be pecked around and saved for the trash, than an actual food that anyone at the table enjoys consuming.

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