my $line = 'One animal="ap3!" and another one fish="s4lm%%on" 
can all be eaten. (So can the bird="sparr0w!$$")';

##</code><code>##

$something{animal} => ap3! 
$something{fish}   => s4lm%%on
$something{bird}   => sparr0w!$$

##</code><code>##

while($line =~ s/([\w\d\_]+)="(.+)"//) {
     $something{$1} = $2;
}