Cicada Rain - you don't wanna know. PLUS Dolphins getting high on Puffer Fish!

0:03 Callaroga Shark Media. Hello, I'm Johnny Mack with five good news stories. Hey, good news if you're a dolphin that likes to get high. What Yeah. According to the BBC one documentary Dolphins Spy in the Pod, young dolphins were seen manipulating a puffer fish, which, if provoked, releases a nerve toxin. Although large doses of the toxin can be deadly, in small amounts, it's known to producing a narcotic effect, and the dolphins period of worked out how to make the fish release just the right amount, carefully chewing on the puffer fish and passing it between one another. Again, they're passing around the puffer think about it. The dolphins then enter what seems to be a trance like state. Now, this is another one of those stories that I was writing this script on April first, and I had to make sure this was not an April fool's joke. This is real. Rob is a zoologist. He worked as a producer on the series, and he said this was a case of young dolphins purposely experimenting with something we know to be intoxicating.

1:03 After chewing the puffer gently and passing it around, that began acting most peculiarly hanging around with their noses at the surface as it fascinated by their own reflection. Man, it reminded us of that crazy a few years ago when people started licking toads to get a buzz, Especially the way they hung there in a daze afterwards. It was the most extraordinary thing to see. It is unclear if the dolphins had the munchies. Nice job by school bus driver Larry. He noticed a little boy having a rough morning. Larry told today, Normally, when I pull out, you're standing there waiting for me with a big smile. But on this day he was sitting on the ground with a jacket over his head. I asked him, Hey, buddy, what's going on. What's wrong? The little boy explained he didn't have pajamas. For a pajama day. Bus driver said, I thought, I gotta fix this. After finishing up the morning route, he had it to a family dollar store and purchased two pairs of pajamas for the boy. He had it over the school and said, you know you were hurting this morning. You were crying, so I got these pajamas. He was so excited. You should have seen how his face lit up. In a news Really, the boy said, I can tell mister Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy. When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.

2:06 Larry said, I've been driving buses for seven years. It's my passion because I get to build bonds with the children. I truly love every minute of it. Good news. Your dog can understand certain words that refer to specific objects. Now, if you have a dog, you know this already. He could say the W word meaning let's go for using her feet outside. They know that word. My old golden retriever understood what the word jail meant, which meant you're in trouble, go put yourself in. We didn't have a creep back then, and she would put herself in the bathtub. That was jail. Anyway, scientists have researched this. I could have told you guys this thirty years ago. It is long but known that dogs can learn commands like sit and stay or fetch. Oh yeah, those are pretty obvious examples to John and corresponded these words with learned behaviors. Anyway, they did some sort of electro and senphilography. I'm sure I pronounce that right, and they noticed that the brain activity in fourteen of eighteen dogs surveyed were different when they were shown an object that matched with the word compared to one that mismatched. Scientists said the resulting brain activity was the same as those produced by humans in similar experiments. Meanwhile, can you stop bothering your cat with cucumbers?

3:09 Apparently placing a cucumber behind a cat when it's eating appears to startle them. Don't do that. Jill is a certified animal behavior as she told National Geographic the cucumbers were triggering the cat's natural startle reflexes. She says, with a startle response, a cat will often try to get out of their as quickly as possible and then reassess from a distance. Now, why a cucumber? She suspects cats may associate the cucumber with snakes. Sure, whatever, cicada is her back baby. It's supposed to be a big year for cicadas. Scientists tell us. Cicadas are the strongest urinators in the animal kingdom. You didn't think I was going to say that, did you know? You didn't? The strongest urinators in the animal kingdom, with flows that put humans and elephants to shame. They have pumps in their heads that pull moisture from the roots of trees that allows them to feed for more than a decade underground.

3:59 They and nearly their entire lives drinking a year after year, scientists studied the urination flow have animals across the world. Cicadas are two to three times stronger and faster than elephants in humans. Obviously, cicadas don't have kidney stones. If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about. Cicada urination rates ten feet per second. That sounds like a lot. They have a muscle that pushes the waist through a tiny hole like a jet. University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley will horrify you when I read you this next sentence. He says, you walk around in a forest where they're actively coursing on a hot, sunny day, it feels like it's raining. It's called cicada rain. Thanks entomologist John Cooley for that mental picture and good news if you're a caterpillar that likes to eat cicadas. Scientists tell us cicadas are lazy, fat, and slow. They're extraordinarily easy to capture for us and for their predators. Woo. That's your fucking good news stories for today.

4:56 Watch out for Cicada Rain. Tell a friend about the show they might like. Get to bring an umbrella, See you next time. Wow.