NatureThe BestieBeginner
Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom course icon

Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom

Like Duolingo, but for Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

26 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Barnaby the Bear
Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom
with Barnaby the Bear
26
Levels
3
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom

  • A wagging tail can indicate high arousal or tension, not just happiness
  • Stiffness in the torso and pinned ears are signs of stress or a defensive warning
  • Physical tension is a primary indicator of negative stress
  • Softness in the eyes and muscles indicates a lack of perceived threat
  • Applying the 'whole-body' rule to distinguish between excitement and aggression
  • Mapping specific body combinations to their emotional states
  • Animals use 'whole-body' language where one signal can be overridden by others
  • Cats may purr when in extreme pain or distress as a self-soothing mechanism
  • Deer leave 'beds' in tall grass
  • Rabbits have sharp teeth that cut stems at a 45-degree angle
  • Predator scat often contains undigested hair or bone
  • Animals prefer 'edges' where two habitats meet
  • Edges provide both easy access to food and quick cover for safety
  • Frequent travel creates 'runs' or packed-down paths in vegetation
  • Identifying common non-footprint animal signs
  • Disturbed dew or bent grass blades indicate recent passage
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Decoding the Tail and Torso

If a dog's tail is moving but its torso is completely stiff and its ears are pulled back, what is it likely feeling?

Get it right to open this lesson and 25 more in the app.

Course map

Where Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom takes you

Ever wondered why your dog wags its tail or how a bird finds its way home? Discover the secret languages and clever tricks animals use to survive and thrive in our shared world.

  1. 1

    Read the Signs Around You

    • What Your Pet is Trying to Tell You
    • Spotting Wildlife in Your Backyard
    • How to Approach Animals Safely
    • Decoding Bird Songs and Calls
  2. 2

    Mastering the Wild World

    • The Art of Hiding in Plain Sight
    • How Animals Build Their Homes
    • Finding Food in the Deep Forest
    • Staying Warm and Keeping Cool
    • The Long Journey of Migration
    • Raising a Family in the Wild
  3. 3

    The Science of Survival

    • How Different Eyes See the World
    • The Power of Super Senses
    • Why Some Animals Live in Groups

3 sections · 13 units · 26 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Bestie

Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Keep going

More Nature on Tomo

Start free

Start Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom today.

Download Tomo, search Making Friends with the Animal Kingdom, and play your first lesson in under a minute.