Animals and Creatures-Bizarre Pacts Page 3

Animals and Creatures

Bizarre Fact #101:
Did you know...
The sex of a baby crocodile is determined by the temperature in the nest and how deeply the eggs are buried.

Bizarre Fact #102:
Did you know...
The silk that is produced by spiders is stronger than steel.

Bizarre Fact #103:
Did you know...
The sloth moves so slowly that green algae grows in the grooves of their hair.

Bizarre Fact #104:
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The state of Alaska has almost twice as many caribou as people.

Bizarre Fact #105:
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The town of Olney, Illinois celebrates a "Squirrel Day" festival to honour the 200 albino squirrels that live in the town. The festival includes a squirrel blessing by a priest.

Bizarre Fact #106:
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The tridacna clam can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds.

Bizarre Fact #107:
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The tuatara lizard of New Zealand has three eyes, two in the center of its head and one on the top of its head.

Bizarre Fact #108:
Did you know...
The word "moose" comes from the native Algonquian Indian word meaning "twig eater."

Bizarre Fact #109:
Did you know...
The word alligator comes from El Lagarto which is Spanish for The Lizard.

Bizarre Fact #110:
Did you know...
The word alligator comes from the Spanish word El Lagarto, which means "The Lizard."

Bizarre Fact #111:
Did you know...
There are no ants in Iceland, Antarctica and Greenland.

Bizarre Fact #112:
Did you know...
There are over 1,800 known species of fleas.

Bizarre Fact #113:
Did you know...
There are some species of snails that are venomous. Their venom can be fatal to humans.

Bizarre Fact #114:
Did you know...
True spiders always have organs for spinning silk known as spinnerets.

Bizarre Fact #115:
Did you know...
When a porcupine is born, its quills are soft and mostly white, but harden within hours.

Bizarre Fact #116:
Did you know...
When a predator is chasing an impala, a type of antelope, it runs in a zig zag formation jumping as high as three metres.

Bizarre Fact #117:
Did you know...
A spiders web is made of two types of silk, one sticky and the other not. The spider begins the web with the non sticky silk and forms the "spokes". After the frame is constructed and secure, the spider goes back with the sticky silk and completes the web design we are so familiar with, connecting spoke to spoke. They will also add rows connecting the spokes to allow them access for web maintenance.
Spend time watching a spider and you will see that they painstakingly avoid the sticky silk and walk on the spokes. Should the spider be startled and walk in the sticky silk it will affix to the spider the same as it would you or any thing else.
Spiders recycle their webbing, so a spider that gets stuck in its own web may eat its way out.

Bizarre Fact #118:
Did you know...
62 degrees Fahrenheit is the minimum temperature required for a grasshopper to be able to hop.

Bizarre Fact #119:
Did you know...
78% of cats never travel with their owner.

Bizarre Fact #120:
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A 4-inch-long abalone can grip a rock with a force of 400 pounds. Two grown men are incapable of prying it up.

Bizarre Fact #121:
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A baby eel is called an elver, a baby oyster is called a spat.

Bizarre Fact #122:
Did you know...
A bee could travel 4 million miles (6.5 million km) at 7 mph (11km/h) on the energy it would obtain from 1 gallon (3.785 liters) of nectar.

Bizarre Fact #123:
Did you know...
A bee has four wings.

Bizarre Fact #124:
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A biological reserve has been made for golden toads because they are so rare.

Bizarre Fact #125:
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A bird "chews" with its stomach. Since most birds do not have teeth, a bird routinely swallows small pebbles and gravel. These grits become vigorously agitated in the bird's stomach and serve to grind food as it passes through the digestive system.

Bizarre Fact #126:
Did you know...
A bird sees everything at once in total focus. Whereas the human eye is globular and must adjust to varying distances, the bird's eye is flat and can take in everything at once in a single glance.

Bizarre Fact #127:
Did you know...
A bison can jump 6 feet.

Bizarre Fact #128:
Did you know...
A blue whale's tongue weighs more than an elephant.

Bizarre Fact #129:
Did you know...
A bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed every animal in the Berlin Zoo except the elephant, which escaped and roamed the city. When a Russian commander saw hungry Germans chasing the elephant and trying to kill it, he ordered his troops to protect it and shoot anyone who tried to kill it.

Bizarre Fact #130:
Did you know...
A British medical journal called The Practitioner has determined that bird watching can be hazardous to one's health. They have officially designated bird watching a hazardous activity, using the example of the death of a bird watcher who became so wrapped up in watching a particular bird that he failed to notice his potentially dangerous surroundings and was eaten by a crocodile.

Bizarre Fact #131:
Did you know...
A castrated rooster is called a capon.

Bizarre Fact #132:
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A cat's jaw cannot move sideways.

Bizarre Fact #133:
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A cow's sweat glands are in the nose.

Bizarre Fact #134:
Did you know...
A crocodile really does produce tears, but they're not due to sadness. The tears are glandular secretions that work to expel excess salt from the eyes. Hence, "crocodile tears" are false tears.

Bizarre Fact #135:
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A dog's mucus membrane is the size of fifty postage stamps.

Bizarre Fact #136:
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A donkey will sink in quicksand but a mule won't.

Bizarre Fact #137:
Did you know...
A dragonfly flaps its wings 20 to 40 times a second, bees and houseflies 200 times, some mosquitoes 600 times, and a tiny gnat 1,000 times.

Bizarre Fact #138:
Did you know...
A dragonfly's penis is shovel-shaped at the end, to scoop a rival male's sperm out of the female it's impregnating.

Bizarre Fact #139:
Did you know...
A female swine, or a sow, will always have a even number of teats or nipples, usually twelve.

Bizarre Fact #140:
Did you know...
A few species of monkeys and apes see the full spectrum of color, as well as some birds and possibly fish. Most animals, however, perceive the world in shades of gray, including the bull. A bull who charges a bright red cape is charging because of the movement of the cape, not the color.

Bizarre Fact #141:
Did you know...
A fly can react to something it sees and change direction in 30 milliseconds.

Bizarre Fact #142:
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A group of twelve or more cows is called a flink.

Bizarre Fact #143:
Did you know...
A house cat has 18 claws.

Bizarre Fact #144:
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A housefly can transport germs as far as 15 miles away from the original source of contamination.

Bizarre Fact #145:
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A jynx is a woodpecker, also know as the wryneck because of its peculiar habit of twisting its neck.

Bizarre Fact #146:
Did you know...
A kind of tortoise in the Galapagos Islands has an upturned shell at its neck so it can reach its head up to eat cactus branches.

Bizarre Fact #147:
Did you know...
A large kangaroo would make a great long-distance jumper, covering more than thirty feet with a single jump.

Bizarre Fact #148:
Did you know...
A mature, well-established termite colony with as many as 60,000 members will eat only about one-fifth of an ounce of wood a day.

Bizarre Fact #149:
Did you know...
A mature, well-established termite colony with as many as 60,000 members will eat only about one-fifth of an ounce of wood a day.

Bizarre Fact #150:
Did you know...
A mosquito has 47 teeth.