Results: Feel Like A Bad Parent?

Ever feel like a bad parent? (OK, so some of you are not parents, but for the purposes of this survey, just go with it...) You may feel better to know that one of the world's most photographed animals, the Australian quakkas will actually sacrifice their babies in order to escape predators. Recently a meme has been circulating that says these little creatures "throw" their babies at the predator to escape them, but that's not really the case. Their pouch is really muscular so the mother will relax it and the baby will fall out, giving the quokka the chance to escape their predator. It's the "ultimate survival strategy" that's only really available to marsupials. Did you know this, and did you happen to see this somewhat misleading meme?

Harp seals are highly dedicated for the first twelve days of their pups' lives. In fact, they do not eat at all during that period. Unfortunately, once the feeding is over, that's it for mother-child bonding—she's out of there, ready to mate again. Unlike many other species with such abrupt weaning periods, the harp seal pup can't go on to survive on its own yet. Instead it is left stranded on the ice for the next month and a half, leaving it incredibly vulnerable to predators. The babies will lose half of their body weight during this lengthy fasting period. Finally, when they are about eight weeks old, they are ready to swim and are able to start hunting for their own food. At least 30% of all pups die during their first year. So bad mother or just basic animal survival mode?

Perhaps the most famous bad mother, the cuckoo tricks other birds into raising her own youngster, freeing her up to enjoy life as a single bird. She does this by laying her eggs in the nest of another bird. Unfortunately for her victims, the cuckoo chick is hardly a grateful adoptee. Instead, the chick hatches earlier and grows faster than the other bird's real brood, forcing the smaller chicks out of the nest to die. So, maybe this is a case of bad mother, bad babies...

Who doesn't love a panda? They may be adorable, but the reality is that they're pretty negligent parents. In fact, despite the fact that pandas often have twins, they almost never care for more than one cub. The mom will choose the weaker of the two babies and start ignoring him or her in favor of the stronger sibling. It's not entirely her fault; bamboo is notoriously low in nutrients, so it's near impossible for a mother to make enough milk to feed two cubs. Even so, it's a harsh decision for a mother to make. At least the cubs abandoned in zoos are still cared for since zookeepers don't have to worry about limited milk production like the cub's natural mothers do. Did you know that pandas do this?