… That when hippos are upset, their sweat turns red? I stumbled across this weird fact and dug a bit deeper. Actually it’s more like they secrete an oily red substance that acts as a moisturizer, sunblock and protects them from germs. This also makes them look like they are sweating blood. While looking up the “red blood fact” I found some more interesting facts about this beautiful grey giant:
- Hippos can’t swim or float! They walk or stand on surfaces below the water like sandbanks. Even so, they spend most of the day in water to protect their sensitive skin from the sun.
- Although hippos can hold their breath for approximately seven minutes, most adult hippos resurface every three to five minutes to breathe. This is an automatic process – even sleeping hippo surface to breathe without waking.
- Hippos can close their nostrils and ears to prevent water from entering. This is why hippo calves can suckle on land or underwater.
- An open mouth is not a yawn but rather assign to warn you off. You will only see hippo ‘yawning’ while in the water because they are only territorial while in the water. You will also hear them ‘honking’ and ‘grunting’ which how they mark their territory.
- A hippo can live for up to 40 years.
- Hippos usually come out of the water for four to five hours at night to graze and can cover up to 10km in this time. Their diet consists of grass and they graze using muscular lips.
- The hippo is considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa and it is highly aggressive, particularly if you get between it and the water. Their canine teeth (sharp teeth) are used for fighting.
- The hippo’s closest living relatives are whales and porpoises!
- The hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal after the elephant and white rhino.
Fun hippo facts!
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Thank you, I thought so too 🙂
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I love hippos! Thanks for all the info!
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Me too 🙂
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A delightful interesting post. Facts that I knew nothing about as far as Hippo’s go. Thank you for sharing. ☺☺
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Yeah, they took me by surprise too 😉
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Whales and porpoises? Wow, they really missed the memo on “aquadynamics”.
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Hahahahaha… love your remark!!!
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Interesting facts. Definitely not a good swimming companion.
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Nope…
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That’s really interesting facts, Sandra!! I did not know they are more in the water than on the land and that their skin was so sensitive!
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Just put a Happy Hippo out in the sun and you will see 😉
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Now I know… lol!
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Reblogged this on 'Enability' blog.
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Ha 😉 Thanks for sharing!
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I just figured out why hippos are so cranky and aggressive! They’re jealous of their more sleek and graceful cousins! I’d be cranky too if I were a fat dolphin with legs who couldn’t swim 🙂
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You just made me spill my coffee… laughing so hard now… you got a point there… poor hippo….
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😀
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When they yawn, that weapon they have in their mouth is enough to drive anyone away from them! And they sprinkle their shit everywhere..literally! Pleasant animals! :p
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Hahahaha!!!
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According to a 2004 article in The Globe and Mail “hippo warning signs: first the huge “yawn,” which is actually threatening; then a huffy series of loud grunts. An angry hippo will then wiggle its ears, before lowering its hindquarters and its snout, to peer at an intruder with its most threatening squint.”
It went on to quote Graham Wallington, a South African wildlife photographer. “By the time you see their ears wiggling, you’ve really overstepped the mark.” The Jungle Boat captains as Disneyland quoted this fact and I was only mildly shocked when it was confirmed in this article. Thanks for inspiring me to dig deeper into the facts about hippos.
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And they are actually pretty fast when in the water… so you better watch out!
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At Disneyland they just go up and down/in and out of the water. They only other thing that moves there is their ears! Thanks for your concern about my safety, though.
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Hahahaha 😉
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