Here's why they're considered bizarre:

* Color Charge: Gluons carry a property called "color charge," which is different from the electric charge we're familiar with. It's a bit like a new kind of charge that comes in three "colors": red, green, and blue (and their anti-colors). This color charge is what governs how strongly the gluons interact with quarks, the particles that make up protons and neutrons.

* Self-Interaction: Unlike other force carriers like photons (which carry the electromagnetic force), gluons can interact with each other. This means they have a complex and messy relationship, making them hard to understand and study.

* Confinement: The strong force is also responsible for "confinement," which means quarks are never found alone. They are always bound together inside particles like protons and neutrons. This is because the force between quarks grows stronger as they get further apart, making it impossible to isolate them.

In short, gluons are bizarre because they have a unique type of charge, interact with themselves, and hold quarks together in a way that prevents them from ever being seen alone. This makes them unlike any other fundamental particle in the universe.