bunjywunjy:

there actually is one unique aspect of humans that’s INCREDIBLY dangerous to small animals, especially birds! can you guess what it is?

I’ll give you a hint: it’s on your head right now.

that’s right! FUR HAIR IS MURDER.

see, human hair isn’t just long, it’s INCREDIBLY strong- if your hair is long enough, go ahead and pluck a strand from your head right now, then gently pull it between your hands until it finally breaks.

how much strength did that take? do you think a lizard or a small bird could generate that kind of force?

(spoiler! no.)

(because he is just a little boy.)

so what happens is a small animal gets one of its extremities tangled up in a long strand of discarded human hair, and if it can’t reach the strand to bite it off or doesn’t even have teeth in the first place, it’s stuck!

(like this but way sadder)

and because human hair doesn’t decay in any kind of a reasonable timeframe, the animal will STAY tangled until something yanks on the end of the hair and pulls it tight, cutting off bloodflow to the affected limb. if this isn’t corrected by a helpful passer-by, the limb will die and fall off.

this is why there’s been an epidemic of toeless pigeons in urban centers in recent years- they get their feet tangled in hair and lose their toes!

I was going to try and say something funny here, but, well.

if you have long hair, keep track of your hairbrush and DEFINITELY don’t offer any of that stuff to birds for nest building material!