Which Animal Soothes Stressed-Out New Yorkers the Best?
Overcrowding, high rent, the MTA, oh my! New Yorkers deal with stress on a daily basis. What animal helps calm their nerves the best?
Here at Moodica, we like to think of ourselves as the stress-relief specialists. We create and curate videos designed give your brain a break, and some of our most popular videos are of peaceful animals chilling out. But what kind of animal relaxes New Yorkers the most? We tested 5,000 of our fellow New York City dwellers to see which animals helped them stop, take a breath, and relax. Here are the top 10 animals, ranked by how long our New Yorkers spent basking in their calming company.
10. Giraffes
Is it the neck? The spots? Maybe they’re just too tall. There’s something about giraffes that didn’t work for New Yorkers, and most viewers clicked off of them in a hurry–only 19% of people stuck around to watch these guys. In our calming competition, giraffes were neck-and-neck with…
9. Cats
You heard it here first. Cats might be classic comfort animals, but many New Yorkers are moving on. Been there, petted that. They’re still wildly popular in other parts of the country, but New Yorkers were looking elsewhere to calm their stress.
8. Lovebirds
Maybe it’s relationship envy, or the comparatively large, rent-free cages lovebirds enjoy, but New Yorkers looked elsewhere for animals to chill with.
7. Horses
Of course! Forget Central Park, New Yorkers preferred watching horses in their natural habitat.
6. Fish
When you spend a couple of hours each day packed like sardines in the subway, what New Yorker doesn’t dream to swim free in the ocean?
5. Jellyfish
Jellyfish truly are some of the most mesmerizing creatures to watch. Don’t believe us? Click here, we’ll wait. Maybe their resemblance to a floating brain is what makes our brains feel like we’re floating on air.
4. Lions
Lions are a big hit with New Yorkers, and not just on Broadway. Watching these magnificent beasts relax in the sun made our test subjects slow down and take it all in. Incidentally, lions were the last land mammal on our list. For ultimate relaxation, New Yorkers would search beneath the sea, and up overhead.
3. Sea Urchins
Spiny on the outside, tender on the inside, sea urchins are living, adorable fireworks explosions of awesomeness. Watching them sitting on the ocean floor can bring a calm spirit of contentment over anyone. New Yorkers agreed, and then maybe ordered sushi.
2. Crabs
Sometimes the most calming animals are also the most fascinating. Watching the precision movements of these bright, colorful kings of the sea sent tingles through New Yorkers’ brains, and the time they spent watching crabs bears that out. Who couldn’t use a tropical vacation, if only for a moment?
But it turns out that the animal New Yorkers spent the most time with was much closer to home…
1. Pigeons
Only rats would have surprised us more. By a wide margin, New Yorkers found pigeon-watching to be the ultimate in relaxation. In fact, more than twice as many people decided to sit back and enjoy a moment with pigeons than any other animal. Maybe we all crave the familiar.
Wherever you live, you could probably use a moment of peace at some point every day, whether that involves animals, stunning views of nature, or video art that’s totally unique.
Moodica is a vacation for your brain, bringing you the most soothing sights and sounds on earth. Watch these and more oddly satisfying videos on your desktop, Amazon Fire and Apple TV!
