Strange But True : Just some really interesting trivia about animals
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The pet ferret (Mustela putorias furo) was domesticated more than 500 years before the house cat.
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If an average man had a metabolism comparable to that of a hummingbird he would have to eat 285 pounds of hamburger every day to maintain his weight.
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Turtles can recognize faces. They are one of the few reptiles that can be trained to do "tricks".
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The only marsupial with a pouch on its back is the bandicoot.
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Ferrets sleep for about 20 hours a day
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The opening to the cave in which a bear hibernates is always on the north slope.
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Jackals have one more pair of chromosomes than dogs or wolves, this means they are not truly a member of the dog species although they are considered to be a part of the dog family.
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A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average.
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All elephants walk on tip-toe, because the back portion of their foot is made up of all fat and no bone.
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Aphids are born pregnant, and can give birth 10 days after being born themselves.
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At 188 decibels, the whistle of the blue whale is the loudest sound produced by any animal.
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The turkey was named for what was wrongly thought to be its country of origin.
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There is no such fish as a "sardine." Canned sardines are generally young herring.
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You're more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas.
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The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people.
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Snails produce a colorless, sticky discharge that forms a protective carpet under them as they travel along, which is so effective they can travel across a razor blade without getting cut.
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Goldfish lose their color if they are kept in dim light or are placed in a body of running water, such as a stream.
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Goat's and octopus' eyes have rectangular pupils.
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Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
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Armadillos can walk underwater.
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Starfish don't have brains.
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Shrimps' hearts are in their heads.
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Ants cannot chew their food, they move their jaws sidewards, like scissors, to extract the juices from the food.
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The cheetah is the only cat in the world that can't retract it's claws.
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Most spiders belong to the orb weaver spider family, Family Aranidae. This is pronounced "A Rainy Day."
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The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny.
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The average garden variety caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head.
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The fingerprints of koala bears are virtually indistinguishable from those of humans, so much so that they could be confused at a crime scene.
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The individual hair of a chinchilla is so fine that 500 of them equal the thickness of a single human hair.
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A full-grown moose may grow to be eight feet high at the shoulder and weigh almost a ton.
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Penguins only mate twice a year.
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Birds do not sing because they are happy. It is a territorial behaviour.
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Other than humans, black lemurs are the only primates that may have blue eyes.
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The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times.
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Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
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The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog. The frog peels off several times a year with new growth.
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Anteaters prefer termites to ants.
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An elephant can smell water three miles away
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According to Genesis 1:20-22 the chicken came before the egg.
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A whale's heart beats only nine times a minute.
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A woodchuck breathes only 10 times during hibernation.
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A starfish can turn its stomach inside out.
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A snail can have about 25,000 teeth.
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A snake has no ears. But its tongue is extremely sensitive to sound vibrations. By flicking his tongue, a snake can pick up sound waves - so a snake 'hears' with his tongue... sort of.
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A shark can detect one part of blood in 100 million parts of water. They can also grow a new set of teeth in one week!
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A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
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A rat can last longer without water than a camel.
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A rhinoceros' horn is made of compacted hair.
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A rodents teeth never stop growing. They are worn down by the animal's constant gnawing on bark, leaves, and other vegetables.
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A mole can dig over 250 feet of tunnel in a single night.
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A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.
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A kangroo can hop 30 feet in one jump. They, however, can not jump unless their tail is touching the ground.
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The jellyfish is 95 percent water.
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A hippo can run faster than a man. A hippo can also open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside!
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Horses can sleep standing up.
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A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
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A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why.
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A crocodile can't move his tongue.
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A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of it's body.
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A blind chameleon still changes colors to match his environment
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Giraffes have no vocal cords.
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The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light.
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The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'
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Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
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The elephant is one of the few mammals that can't jump.
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Owls are one of the only birds who can see the color blue.
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Slugs have 4 noses.
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All porcupines float in water.
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Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
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Honeybees have a type of hair on their eyes!
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A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air is a skein.
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The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
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In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
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Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards.
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Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds; dogs only have about ten.
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Camel's milk does not curdle.
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Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cant find any food!
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An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
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An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
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A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
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A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
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All polar bears are left handed
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A turtle can breath through its butt.
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A cat has 32 muscles in each ear
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Rabbits and horses cannot vomit.
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Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day!
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A blesbok, a South African antelope, that almost the same color as grape juice.
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If birds could sweat they wouldn't be able to fly.
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Skunks can accurately spray their fluid up to ten feet.
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A chicken's top speed is 9 mph.
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The giraffe has the highest blood pressure of any animal.
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Lobsters like to eat lobster.
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A roadrunner purrs when it is content.
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Wolves could bark like dogs, they don't because they don't want to.
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A cow has four stomachs.
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Whales and Buffalos both stampede.
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The only time a turkey whistles is when it is panicking
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Squirrels cannot see the color red.
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Sheep snore.
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One humped camels run faster than a camel two humps.
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Both gorillas and housecats purr.
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Baboons cannot throw overhand.
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Cows and cats both get hairballs.
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Even bloodhounds cannot smell the difference between two identical twins
(from the Useless Facts website, the Land of Useless Facts website, Useless Facts of the Day website and the Trivial Trivia website)