20. Rat and Ox

Weird Animal Facts: Explicit

Happy Chinese New Year!
Today we look at 2020's Chinese Zodiac and 2021's and tell the tale of how and why there are 12 animals in the Chinese calendar. We start with 2020, the year of the rat. And even though 2020 sucked, DON'T BLAME THE RAT! If anything they were the perfect animal to tackle such a horrible year. In today's world rats do everything from make great pets, giggle, play basketball and win bomb sniffing awards! Rats are amazing!
2021 is the year of the ox. Yes the cow. Learn the Chinese myth behind the ox like: why doesn't it have front teeth? Why does it eat grass? Why does it help farmers? And Holy Cow is right! Cows are amazing; some cultures view them as sacred (in different ways then me and my love for cheese and other dairy products). And seeing that this is a science podcast we do touch on global warming and the roll the cow's farts and burp plan in it. And is Burger King helping?
Here are the scientific names of the animal mentioned in today's episode:
Fancy Rat: Rattus norvegicus domestica
Gambian Pouched Rat: Cricetomys gambianus
Yellow Cow: ??????????????
Zebu: Bos taurus indicus
To learn more about the amazing sniffing powers of the Gambian Pouched Rat; click on this link (also I'm pretty sure I said they were from Africa when they are really from Cambodia and work in many other South Asian countries...oops. These rats are much more accurate then me):
https://www.apopo.org/en/support-us/APOPO-Visitor-Center
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