Walruses are my favorite animal. I don’t know why, but I find them adorable and cuddly. Like I just want to snuggle up with one and squeeze its squishy blubber all day. As if they’d actually be warm to cuddle with at all, considering they tend to live in the Arctic. In fact, they can even slow down their own heart rate to withstand the severely low temperatures of their natural habitat. So unless I plan on doing something crazy, like wearing the blubber of a dearly departed walrus for warmth, then that dream will, sadly, have to wait. Along with their cute appearance, walruses are also very gentle creatures. You know, except when they’re horny little fu*ks. That’s when they’ll thrash you up and down the iceberg, but after mating season they’re gentle again, so it’s okay. So once they’ve impregnated all their women, or cows as they’re called, they go back to the herd according to their gender. Then around 15 to 16 months later, a chubby little baby walrus is birthed, already knowing how to swim. After the little one is born, the calf and its mother will float together for around three years, eating shellfish or evading killer whales and polar bears. After the conclusion of the third year, the calf, if it has a penis, will ditch the lady herd for the man herd. Girl walruses will just stay with the lady herd, obviously. Although, how you could tell which herd was which sex, besides from their body sizes, is beyond me. I mean, both sexes of the walrus look similar, and also have tusks. Actually, their tusks, among other things they possess, is what made walruses a prime target for humans in the 18th and 19th centuries, which lead to their near extinction. Then we humans got wise and saw the need to help save and conserve the walrus and all its majesty. So, now it’s against the law to kill them, so that’s amazing. Unless, you’re a native of the Arctic, they’re the only people allowed to hunt them, but that’s because walruses are their main food source. Sadly, even though the walrus population was prospering since the 1980s, some scientists say that they’re starting to go down again due to climate change, while others disagree. Their population numbers are actually unknown, so we can’t be sure if they’re still flourishing, or if they’re all dying and what not. However, I’m sure scientists would know if the population was getting super low and notify the public, so I think we’re good for now, at least! So now you have a very basic knowledge of the walrus! Congrats dude, how do you feel?
