It’s safe to say that giant mirrors are uncommon in open nature.
But one photographer decided to install a relatively large mirror in an open environment with plenty of wildlife.
We all know cats and dogs can react funnily to mirrors and are sometimes even scared of their own reflections, but how do larger animals react to an image of themselves?
Xavier Hubert Brierre, a French photographer, decided to set up an experiment.
He traveled to Gabon, a small African country with tons of wildlife and safari-worthy parks.
He took his wife and his cameras with him on a trip and installed a mirror in places where wild animals would often pass by.
Xavier did his best to keep a low profile and cleverly installed his cameras in security boxes that were attached to a motion sensor.
Whenever an animal passed, the cameras would automatically record their candid reaction upon seeing a reflection of themselves for the first time.
The reactions are hilarious, remarkable, and very diverse.
When the leopard sees his reflection, his actions are slightly flirty as he seems to think the mirror is a potential mate.
The same can be said for an elephant, whose reaction is a bit timider but still very funny.
It turns out silverback gorillas aren’t big fans of their own reflections.
One of the gorillas actually tried to charge and assault the mirror, thinking it was another silverback that posed a threat to him.
Another funny reaction can be seen from chimpanzees.
They actually seem to understand the concept of the mirror.
They use it to their advantage by checking out the parts of their bodies that they normally can’t see.
Of course, the mirror did have to be wiped down every once in a while.
But it was a small price to pay for this amazing footage.
“I had to wash the mirrors on which leopards and monkeys left greasy streaks, traces of blood and feces left by insects hitting their surface ignoring their reflective property,” Xavier told The Daily Mail.
“Myself and my wife spent many long days at the site, often being attacked by different types of fly and bees.”
Xavier felt like it was definitely worth it.
Although it wasn’t easy for the two to keep a low profile in the open nature, the dedication of Xavier and his wife definitely lead to some amazing and hilarious footage.
The footage on YouTube has been viewed over 82 million times.
People love how each animal reacts uniquely to the same mirror.
A few comments on the video read:
“The elephant was like, ‘you guys are dumb its just a mirror.'”
“I love how you can see the moment when it dawns on the chimps what’s going on.”
“The only thing wrong with this video is that it’s not long enough. I could have watched the animals interact with the mirror for way longer.”
Click the video below to see all of the animal reactions!
Nature works in amazing ways!
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Source: YouTube – Caters TV
