Some Chimps Are Putting Grass in Their Ears (2014)

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/animal-fashion-some-chimps-are-putting-grass-ears-and-nobody-knows-why-180951888

by suprgeek • 10 years ago

61 26 10 years ago

smithsonianmag.com

geooooooooobox• 10 years ago

well not surprising, I mean try explaining to any organisms studying humans as to why we(humans) take so many selfies....for no particular reason....

trentmb• 10 years ago

I use qtips in my ear canal (even though i shouldnt) because it feels awesome.

Maybe the chimps get a similar feeling?

jobigoud• 10 years ago

because it feels awesome

OK. Is this a studied phenomenon? It just feels normal to me, but my girlfriend is having much stronger reactions to it, like she's pleasuring herself. It's weird. (She has playfully used the term "ear orgasm"). Maybe there's a bundle of nerve ending beneath there.

On my side if I touch a specific spot in the left ear it makes me cough for some reason.

internaut• 10 years ago

This is my hypothesis.

(even though i shouldnt)

It seems weirdly taboo.

Using qtips for this purpose is supposed to be off label I've heard. Yet the trade goes on.

reustle• 10 years ago

The better the selfie, the better mate you can attract.

sp332• 10 years ago

Selfies are good at communicating emotion and context. It's a lot easier than trying to write down where you are, what's happening, and how you feel about it.

nevster• 10 years ago

I immediately thought they may be copying humans who seem to all have these white things trailing from their ears...

yousry• 10 years ago

Did a doctor check the ears. Perhaps it is a contagious ear infection and the straw is a primitive replacement for a surgical drain to remove the pus.

amelius• 10 years ago

Or they were just trying to fool the behavioral biologists.

jschwartzi2• 10 years ago

When I was at university, I was told a story that some of the chimps that were kept in the primate house at the school started popping the collars on their shirts after they saw humans doing the same thing.

And yes, the chimps had clothes, and toys.

puranjay• 10 years ago

I can't upvote this joke enough!

rangibaby• 10 years ago

jschwartzi2• 10 years ago

It's not a joke. This is a thing that happened.

Chris2048• 10 years ago

"primate house at the school" hmmm....

wiredfool• 10 years ago

The Orcas in Puget sound do something similar with kelp, draped across their dorsal fin. Helpfully enough, it's called 'kelping'. There doesn't seem to be a point, other than style.

mark_integerdsv• 10 years ago

So? Some Orcas are fabulous, get used to it.

dharma1• 10 years ago

In-ear grass is so 2014. But still beats AirPods

gulpahum• 10 years ago

Some monkeys are also flossing their teeth and teaching it to their children. Smart animals.

http://www.allaboutwildlife.com/2009-10/monkeys-teach-their-...

spamm0r123• 10 years ago

Some chimps are putting grass on top of their head and paint their face orange.

Some Chimps Are Putting Grass in Their Ears (2014)

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