Animal Facts

Animal Facts

1. When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.
2. Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning!
3. The Western African gorilla‘s scientific name is Gorilla gorilla, including a lowland subspecies named Gorilla gorilla gorilla. Source
4. Kangaroos can't walk they only jump.

5. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit or some other variation of "twit". Goldfish, however, or all other fish for that matter, do not in fact get pregnant, but lay eggs. Live-bearing aquarium fish, often simply called livebearers, are fish that retain the eggs inside the body and give birth to live, free-swimming young. Source
6. A jellyfish is 95 percent water!
7. Ants have graveyards. Two days after an ant dies, its body gives off oleic acid which creates an odor to let the other ants know that it is dead. Once the ants catch the scent, they pick up and carry the dead ant off to their ant graveyard. They do this because corpses have a lot of bacteria and concentrating the dead to one locations avoid the bacteria from spreading. Source
8. The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs!
9. A sheep’s wool never stops growing and it can actually roll over on its back from the weight and die of starvation. Source
10. Rats are empathetic and will altruistically lend a helping paw to a cage mate who is stuck in a trap. Not only will rats frantically work to free their trapped cage mate; they will do so even when there’s a tempting little pile of chocolate chips nearby, according to the new study. Instead of leaving their pal in the trap and selfishly gobbling the candy all by themselves, rats will free their cage mate and share the chocolate. Source
11. The starfish is one of the only animals who can turn it's stomach inside-out!
12. When first born a shrimp is a male and gradually evolves to a female.
13. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
14. There is a snake venom that causes you to bleed from all holes of your body. Source
15. The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head!
16. The bird that lays the largest egg in relation to its own size is the kiwi.
17. When a mouse is first born its skin is transperant and you can see milk flowing as it drinks.
18. Worms can grow a new tail if it is cut off.
19. A hippo can outrun a human.
20. There are catfish in France that have learned to lunge out of the water and hunt pigeons with a 28% success rate. Source
21. A bumble bee can pull 300 times its weight.
22. India’s nomadic Vadi tribe teaches their kids to charm venomous serpents. For a Vadi child, a decade’s worth of snake-charming training kicks off when he or she turns 2 years old. In keeping with sacred, millennium-old traditions, the boys are taught to charm the snakes, whereas the girls learn to keep the cobras and other snakes happy and healthy. Source
23. Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the bible and cats are not metioned once,
24. By the time you say 3,000 puppies, 3,000 puppies are born in the US.
25. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why. MYTH The quack does echo, but it is usually too quiet to hear. When you want to hear an echo, you usually make a very loud noise to make sure the reflection can be heard. But a duck quacks too quietly, so the reflection is too quiet to hear.
26. The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
27. Elephants can't jump. Every other mammal can.
28. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
29. Sheared sheep don’t recognize each other and fight for a few days to re-establish a hierarchy. Source
30. Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.
31. Chimpanzees deliberately seek out and eat fire ants, presumably to enjoy their venom in the same way we enjoy spicy food. Source
32. A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.
33. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
34. The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.( I always fell on my face)
35. Monkeys escaped a primate research center in Japan by using trees as catapults (and afterwards were lured back with peanuts). Source
36. Polar bears are left handed.
37. Pandas can poop up to 48 pounds per day. Source
38. The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, more than any other animal.
39. The flea can jump 350 times its body length, that is like a human jumping the length of a football field.
40. The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off.
41. An orangutan from a zoo reintroduced to the wild in Borneo began spear fishing after watching local fisherman. Source
42. Some lions mate over 50 times a day. (Real Quickies, They should talk to the pig)
43. Butterflies taste with their feet.
44. Cows milk gives 8 in 10 people coronary heart disease.
45. When pressured for grazing space, kangaroos have been known to kill competing sheep.
46. Cows sleep only 3 hours a day.
47. Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day and get attain by eagles a lot because of it.
48. One third of all land spices are beetles.
49. Aardvarks are the only ant-eaters with teeth.
50. Over 50% of a elephants diet becomes waste.
51. Camels can survive in the desert without drinking for almost 3 months.
52. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand!
53. Cat night vision is 6 times better than human night vision.
54. The placement of a donkey's eyes in its heads enables it to see all four feet at all times.
55. A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average.
56. Dogs mouths are 200 times more cleaner then human mouths.
57. Rats can't vomit - that's why rat poison works. Explanation - Rats can't vomit for several related reasons: (1) Rats have a powerful barrier between the stomach and the esophagus. They don't have the esophageal muscle strength to overcome and open this barrier by force, which is necessary for vomiting. (2) Vomiting requires that the two muscles of the diaphragm contract independently, but rats give no evidence of being able to dissociate the activity of these two muscles. (3) Rats don't have the complex neural connections within the brain stem and between brain stem and viscera that coordinate the many muscles involved in vomiting.
58. Jaws is the most common name for Goldfish in the U.K.
59. The parrots intelligence is comparable to a 5 year old child.
60. If a wolf gets its leg caught in a trap, it will chew it off.
61. On new years in Spain they throw a goat off a church.
62. Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
63. Slugs have 4 noses!
64. Owls are one of the only birds who can see the color blue!
65. Honeybees have a type of hair on their eyes!
66. Polar bears are left handed.
67. The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
68. A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it starves to death.
69. The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off.
70. Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
71. A crocodile can't stick it's tongue out.
72. A shrimp's heart is in their head.
73. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
74. The shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
75. There are more chickens than people in the world.
76. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
77. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
78. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
79. A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night!
80. A crocodile always grows new teeth to replace the old teeth!
81. A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air is a skein!
82. A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average!
83. A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside!
84. A hummingbird weighs less than a penny!
85. After eating, a housefly regurgitates its food and then eats it again!
86. Bulls are colorblind, therefore will usually charge at a matador's waving cape no matter what color it is -- be it red or neon yellow!
87. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand!
88. Porcupines float in water!
89. A species of salamander called the Tiger Salamander have a unique way of controlling the population within their little society. If they sense their population has overgrown, they develop offspring with specially adapted heads to eat their own species until it’s back to a normal pace. Source
90. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!
91. The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'!
92. The placement of a donkey's eyes in its head enables it to see all four feet at all times!
93. The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people!
94. The sloth (a mammal) moves so slowly that green algae can grow undisturbed on its fur!
95. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
96. A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.
97. A rat can last longer without water than a camel.
98. A rhinoceros' horn is made of compacted hair.
99. A species of earthworm in Australia grows up to 10 feet in length.
100. An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.
101. Anteaters prefer termites to ants.
102. Crickets hear through their knees.
103. Despite the hump, a camel's spine is straight.
104. Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.
105. Hummingbirds can't walk.
106. Iguanas, koalas and Komodo dragons all have two penises.
107. Only female mosquitoes bite.
108. Other than humans, black lemurs are the only primates that have blue eyes.
109. Roosters can't crow if they can't fully extend their necks.
110. Snails can sleep for 3 years without eating.
111. The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark.
112. The pet ferret (Mustela putorias furo) was domesticated more than 500 years before the house cat.
113. The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows!
114. It's possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
115. Hippo milk is pink.
116. Vampire bats adopt orphans, and are one of the few mammals known to risk their own lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates.
117. Jellyfish as a species are actually older than dinosaurs and sharks.
118. Squirrels forget where they hide about half of their nuts.
119. An alligator can go through 2,000 to 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.
120. Lobsters have blue blood.
121. The oldest known animal in the world was 'Ming' the 405 year old clam, discovered in 2007.
122. Sharks, like other fish, have their reproductive organs in their chests.
123. Dogs have been man's pet for over 14,000 years.
124. The world's smartest pig, owned by a mathematics teacher in Madison, WI, memorized the multiplication tables up to 12
125. Rattlesnake mating sessions have been known to last more than 22 hours.
126. Flies are deaf.
127. Turtles can breathe through their butts.
128. Bears in Russia are addicted to jet fuel, and the sniff it to get high, and then pass out. Source
129. A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.
130. A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.
131. The average cat sleeps about 2/3 of the day.
132. The smallest known dinosaur is Compsognathus.
133. The Kangaroo Rat can last longer without water than a camel.
134. Dogs have four toes on their hind feet, and five on their front feet.
135. On average, there's 300 billion neurons in the octopus brain.
136. A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.
137. Honeybees never sleep.
138. Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour.
139. In Brazil, there's a species of cockroach that eats eyelashes, usually those of young children while they are asleep.
140. If you keep a goldfish in the dark, it will eventually turn white
141. The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs!
142. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!
143. Most domestic turkeys are so heavy they are unable to fly.
144. When it comes time to give birth, the female shark loses her appetite so she won't be tempted to eat her own pups.
145. Ants began farming about 50 million years before humans thought to raise their own crops.
146. A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
147. The animal responsible for the most human deaths worldwide is the mosquito.
148. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
149. The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.
150. Ants make up 1/10 of the total world animal tissue. The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is about equal to the total biomass of all the people.
151. If NASA sent birds into space they would soon die; they need gravity to swallow.
152. Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.
153. The Slave-Maker Ant (Polyergus Rufescens) raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony.
154. The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.
155. An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.
156. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.
157. The average life expectancy of an ant is 45-60 days.
158. Dalmatians are born without spots.
159. Snails can live up to 15 years.
160. The world's largest amphibian is the giant salamander. It can grow up to 5 ft. in length.
161. A slug has four noses.
162. A cow produces 200 times more gas a day than a person.
163. You are more likely to get attacked by a cow than a shark.
164. Woodpecker scalps, porpoise teeth and giraffe tails have all been used as money.
165. When you correct for weight differences, men are proportionately stronger than horses.
166. When a giraffe's baby is born it falls from a height of six feet, normally without being hurt.
167. What you find when you shave the striped fur off of a tiger? Striped skin.
168. Vultures fly without flapping their wings.
169. Under extreme stress, some octopuses will eat their own arms.
170. Turkeys can reproduce without having sex.
171. Turkey's often look up at the sky during a rainstorm. Unfortunately some have been known to drown as a result.
172. To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly.
173. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur!
174. There is a species of clam that can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds.
175. There are some species of snails that are extremely venomous.
176. There are over 58 million dogs in the U.S!
177. There are no penguins in the North Pole.
178. There are more than one million animal species on Earth!
179. The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1!
180. The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny.
181. The Wild Turkey is the only bird with a beard.
182. The venom of the king cobra is so deadly that just one gram of it can kill 150 people.
183. The venom of a small scorpion is much more toxic than the venom of a large scorpion.
184. The United States has never lost a war when donkeys were used.
185. The sloth (a mammal) moves so slowly that green algae can grow undisturbed on its fur!
186. The quills of a porcupine are soft when they are born.
187. The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head!
188. The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people!
189. The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times.
190. The penis of a barnacle may reach up to 20 times its body size!
191. The penguin is the only bird who can swim, but not fly!
192. The only food that cockroaches wont eat are Cucumbers!
193. The oldest pig in the world lived to the age of 68.
194. The octopus' testicles are located in its head.
195. The most powerful electric eel is found in the rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru, and produces a shock of 400-650 volts.
196. The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off.#
197. The male platypus has poisonous spurs on its legs.
198. The male gypsy moth can "smell" the virgin female gypsy moth from 1.8 miles away!
199. The lungfish can live out of water for three years in a state of suspended animation.
200. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!
201. The lifespan of the common goldfish is over 20 years!
202. The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs!
203. The heart of a mouse beats 650 times per minute!
204. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
205. The Giant South African Earthworm can grow up to 22 feet long and 1 inch in thick.
206. The flea can jump 350 times its body length, that is like a human jumping the length of a football field.
207. The first two years of a dog's life are equal to 24 human years.
208. The female pigeon cannot lay eggs if she is alone. In order for her ovaries to function, she must be able to see another pigeon.
209. The faster a kangaroo hops, the less energy it burns!
210. The elephant is one of the few mammals that can't jump!
211. The cicada, a fly found in Africa, spends 17 years of its life sleeping; and only two weeks is awake during which mates and then dies.
212. The Chow and the Chinese Shar-Pei are the only dogs that have black tongues.
213. The blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same color as grapejuice.
214. The blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same color as grapejuice!
215. The bagpipe was first made from the liver of a sheep.
216. The average life span of a hermit crab is 75 years!
217. The average housefly weighs 10 to 15 millionths of a pound.
218. The average housefly lives only two weeks.
219. The average city dog lives three years longer than the average country dog.
220. The average 1 1/4 lb. lobster is 7 to 9 years old.
221. The ant can lift things 10 times its own weight.
222. Termites eat wood twice as fast when listening to heavy metal music.
223. Spotted skunks do handstands before they spray.
224. Spiders have transparent blood.
225. Spider monkeys like banana daiquiris.
226. Some species of fish have voices!
227. Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cant find any food!
228. Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
229. Some breeds of chickens lay colored eggs!
230. Snails breathe through their feet.
231. Slugs have 4 noses!
232. Sheep outnumber humans in New Zealand 15 to 1.
233. Sheep can recognize other sheep from pictures!
234. Roosters can't crow if they can't fully extend their necks.
235. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
236. Rats can tell the difference between two human languages.
237. Racehorses can wear out new horse shoes in one race.
238. Porcupines float in water!
239. Polar Bears can eat more than 50 lbs. of meat in one setting.
240. Polar bear fur is not white, it's clear.
241. Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water.
242. Parrots have 500 pounds per square inch of pressure in their beaks.
243. Owls are one of the only birds who can see the color blue!
244. Over one million stray dogs live in the New York City metropolitan area.
245. Over 90% of all fish caught are caught in the northern hemisphere.
246. Over 10,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows.
247. One million people each year are bitten by animals in the United States.
248. On some Caribbean islands, the oysters can climb trees.
249. On average, it takes 660 days from conception for an elephant to give birth.
250. Most of a hog's sweat glands are in its snout.
251. Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice as much as any other color.
252. More than 90% of shark attack victims survive.
253. Minnows have teeth in their throat.
254. Mexican Jumping Beans jump because of moth larvae inside them.
255. Maggots will only eat flesh if it is dead. For this reason, they are often used to remove the burnt skin from severe burn patients.
256. Large kangaroos can cover more than 30 feet with each jump!
257. Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only fresh water lake in the world that has sharks.
258. Koala Bears are not bears.
259. In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
260. In Pakistan, goats are often sacrificed to improve the performance of the stock market.
261. In just about every species of mammal, the female lives longer than the male.
262. Iguanas have two penises!
263. If it isn't moving a frog can't see it. If the frog can't see it, he won't eat it.
264. If a Lobster loses an eye, it will grow another one.
265. Hyenas regularly eat the feces of other animals!
266. Hummingbirds can't walk.
267. Hummingbirds can weigh less than a penny!
268. Human birth control pills work on gorillas.
269. How does a shark find fish? It can hear their hearts beating.
270. Honeybees have a type of hair on their eyes!
271. Goldfish lose their color if they are kept in dim light or are placed in a body of running water, such as a stream.
272. Giraffes are unable to cough.
273. Giant Panda Bears give birth to a 4 ounce Baby Panda!
274. Frogs cannot swallow without blinking.
275. Eagles mate while airborne.
276. Ducks will only lay eggs early in the morning.
277. Drivers kill more deer than hunters.
278. Dragonflies can travel up to 60 mph.
279. Domestic cats hate lemons or other citrus scents.
280. Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
281. Dogs and cats, like humans, are either right or left handed... or is that paws?!
282. Despite the hump, a camel's spine is straight.
283. Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.
284. Crocodile babies don't have sex chromosomes; the temperature at which the egg develops determines gender.
285. Contrary to popular belief, possums, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice do not carry rabies.
286. Chained dogs are 3 times more likely to bite than unchained dogs.
287. Cattle are the only mammals that pee backwards.
288. Cats make over 100 different vocal sounds; dogs can make about ten.
289. Cats cannot taste sweet things.
290. Catgut comes from sheep not cats.
291. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand!
292. Beavers can swim half a mile underwater on one gulp of air.
293. Baby beavers are called kittens.
294. At birth, a panda bear is smaller than a mouse.
295. At one 'feeding', a mosquito can absorb one and a half times its own weight in blood.
296. Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping people awake in the morning.
297. Anteaters prefer termites to ants.
298. An elephant's tooth can weigh as much as 12 pounds.
299. An elephant trunk has no bone but 40,000 muscles.
300. An eagle can attack, kill, and carry away an animal as large as a small deer.
301. An adult giraffe's tongue is 17 inches long.
302. All species of beetles are edible.
303. After eating, a housefly regurgitates its food and then eats it again!
304. A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.
305. A tuna fish can swim 100 miles in a single day!
306. A spider's silk is stronger than steel.
307. A species of earthworm in Australia grows up to 10 feet in length.
308. A snail can sleep for three years.
309. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
310. A rodent's teeth never stop growing.
311. A queen bee uses her stinger only to sting another queen bee.
312. A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night!
313. A male baboon can kill a leopard.
314. A lion's roar can be heard from more than five miles away.
315. A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside!
316. A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average!
317. A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
318. A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air is a skein!
319. A group of frogs is called an army.
320. A crocodile always grows new teeth to replace the old teeth!
321. A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
322. A baby eel is called an elver, a baby oyster is called a spat.
323. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
324. A king penguin in Japan was rescued and nursed back to life. He refused to leave, and now lives with the family. He has his own extra cold room, and he goes out on walks around the neighborhood to pick up groceries.

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