Every now and then, animal-themed hashtags on Twitter start trending, and – assuming they’re not about extinctions or deadly fires for once – they fill our silly hearts with disproportionate amounts of joy. Whether they are tales of escaped zoo animals or they’re just people rating dogs, they brighten up our day.
A new hashtag appears to be hanging about for a while, at least on American Twitter. #AnimalHallOfShameNominees is an eclectic, eccentric mixture of creatures, both real and fake, physically there or merely animated, that have warranted entry into a brand-new menagerie of mischief-makers.
Yes, it’s no #DoesItFart, nor is it anywhere close to achieving the glorious heights of the battle between London’s Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, but it’s a silly, aww-inducing distraction from two maniacs showing off the sizes of their nuclear buttons.
Here’s a selection of the silliest entries:
This corgi doesn't seem to be doing anything particularly shameful here.
The hashtag appears to have originated on the timeline of Adrienne Watson, a TV and radio presence from New York City who also occasionally controls an app/Twitter feed specifically designed to generate socially appealing hashtags.
It's not a bad mix, but we’d argue that, at present, the list is lacking in some distinctly shameful entries. Remember Inky, that octopus in the New Zealand aquarium that managed to escape its captors and slip away into the Pacific Ocean? This was a heartwarming story of derring-do until you realize that Inky left his tank-mate, another octopus, behind. What a bastard.
Then there was that escaped Guatemalan scorpion. Hiding in someone’s bag for some time, it decided to leap out during the middle of a crowded train journey and scare the bejeezus out of everyone. Shame on you, scorpion. Shame on you.
Every single animal that interrupted or partly damaged the Large Hadron Collider definitely deserves to be nominated. From the weasel that chewed through some wiring and met a smoky demise to the bird that dropped part of a baguette onto a compensating capacity, they’re all being just plain mean.
Oh, and don't forget this sneaky thief.
If you’ve got any other suggestions, we’d like to hear them. Drop us a word in the comments.
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