Animals and Creatures-Bizarre facts Page 5

Bizarre Fact #201:
Did you know...
City squirrels will eat just about anything, and often, it's the junk food that people offer them that they prefer, like Cracker Jack peanuts. Many naturalists have concluded that a peanut diet is harmful to squirrels: it seems to result in a weakening of eyesight and a thinning of the animal's pelt.

Bizarre Fact #202:
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Contrary to popular belief, dogs do not sweat by salivating, they sweat through the pads of their feet.

Bizarre Fact #203:
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Contrary to popular belief, elephants are not afraid of mice, and they do not have any better memory than any other animal.

Bizarre Fact #204:
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Cows are the only mammals that pee backwards.

Bizarre Fact #205:
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Crickets don't chirp by rubbing their legs together, they make the noise by rubbing their wings together.

Bizarre Fact #206:
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Crickets hear through their knees.

Bizarre Fact #207:
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Dachshunds are the smallest breed of dog used for hunting. They are low to the ground, which allows them to enter and maneuver through tunnels easily.

Bizarre Fact #208:
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Deer can't eat hay.

Bizarre Fact #209:
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Despite being a nine-inch-tall bird, the roadrunner can run as fast as a human sprinter.

Bizarre Fact #210:
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Did you know that at Disneyland they have hundreds of wild domesticated cats running around the park? They never come out during the day because there's too many people, but the reason they're there is to catch the mice.

Bizarre Fact #211:
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Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears.

Bizarre Fact #212:
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Dogs mature very fast in their early years. However, most of their growth occurs during the first two years. After that, development slows down. A one-year-old dog is like a teenage human and a two-year-old dog is like an adult in his mid-twenties. Only when the dog is older—more than ten—does a single dog year equal about seven human years.

Bizarre Fact #213:
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Dolphins can kills sharks by ramming them with their snout.

Bizarre Fact #214:
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During WWII, Americans tried to train bats to drop bombs.

Bizarre Fact #215:
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Each year, Americans spend more on cat food than on baby food.

Bizarre Fact #216:
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Elephant tusks grow throughout an elephant's life and can weigh more than 200 pounds. Among Asian elephants, only the males have tusks. Both sexes of African elephants have tusks.

Bizarre Fact #217:
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Elephants and short-tailed shrews get by on only two hours of sleep a day.

Bizarre Fact #218:
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Elephants are covered with hair. Although it is not apparent from a distance, at close range, one can discern a thin coat of light hairs covering practically every part of an elephant's body.

Bizarre Fact #219:
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Elephants can smell water from as far away as three miles.

Bizarre Fact #220:
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Elephants communicate in sound waves below the frequency that humans can hear.

Bizarre Fact #221:
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Elephants have been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean.

Bizarre Fact #222:
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Elephants often communicate at sound levels as low as 5Hz. This means that if you flap your hands back and forth faster than five times a second, an elephant can actually hear the tone produced.

Bizarre Fact #223:
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Ergonomic waterbeds are the latest must-have on the bovine circuit. The beds, listing at $175, are said to enhance cattle health by reducing joint damage.

Bizarre Fact #224:
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February is the mating month for gray whales.

Bizarre Fact #225:
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Female mosquitos will obtain blood from humans and animals, but only to nourish their eggs. Their food actually consists of nectar and other plant juices.

Bizarre Fact #226:
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Finches love thistle seeds. But only goldfinches can eat upside-down. Goldfinch feeders have openings underneath perches so other birds can't elbow their way into that particular chow line.

Bizarre Fact #227:
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Fish can be susceptible to seasickness.

Bizarre Fact #228:
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Fish travel in schools, whales travel in pods or gams.

Bizarre Fact #229:
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Flamingoes feel safest when they are crowded together, hundreds in a group.

Bizarre Fact #230:
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Flamingoes live remarkably long lives: up to 80 years.

Bizarre Fact #231:
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Fleas can accelerate 50 times faster than the space shuttle.

Bizarre Fact #232:
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Fleas can jump more than 200 times their body length.

Bizarre Fact #233:
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Frogs never drink. They absorb water from their surroundings by osmosis.

Bizarre Fact #234:
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Giant squids have eyes as big as watermelons.

Bizarre Fact #235:
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Giraffes are the only animals born with horns. Both males and females are born with bony knobs on the forehead.

Bizarre Fact #236:
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Giraffes can't cough.

Bizarre Fact #237:
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Gopher snakes in Arizona are not poisonous, but when frightened they may hiss and shake their tails like rattlesnakes.

Bizarre Fact #238:
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Gorillas and cats sleep about fourteen hours a day.

Bizarre Fact #239:
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Gorillas beat their chests when they get nervous.

Bizarre Fact #240:
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Gorillas do not know how to swim.

Bizarre Fact #241:
Did you know...
Gorillas sleep as much as fourteen hours per day.

Bizarre Fact #242:
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Greyhound dogs can see better than any other breed of dog.

Bizarre Fact #243:
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Guinea pigs and rabbits can't sweat.

Bizarre Fact #244:
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Honeybees have hair on their eyes.

Bizarre Fact #245:
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Honeybees navigate using the sun as a compass, even when it is hidden behind clouds - they find it via the polarization of ultraviolet light from areas of blue sky.

Bizarre Fact #246:
Did you know...
Human birth control pills work on gorillas.

Bizarre Fact #247:
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Humans have three color receptors in their eyes, while goldfish have four, and mantis shrimp have ten.

Bizarre Fact #248:
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If two flies were left to reproduce without predators or other limitations for one year, the resulting mass of flies would be the size of the Earth.

Bizarre Fact #249:
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If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach will explode.

Bizarre Fact #250:
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In 1992 five cows were killed in drive by shootings in Clay County, Missouri.