What’s the smartest bird on Earth? Which creature has an ear between its legs? And
how do bears go to the bathroom while hibernating? I’m guessing very quietly. Here are the
most random yet fascinating facts for all the animal lovers out there!
1. The most dangerous bird in the world is the cassowary. It can't fly, but it can easily
outrun you on its two powerful legs. Its claws look more like daggers, and all it takes is
one lethal strike from this real-life angry bird!
2. Another member of the flightless bird family, kiwis might look like they don’t have wings,
but they actually have tiny ones under all those fluffy feathers! The only truly wingless
bird was the long-extinct moa.
3. The alligator snapping turtle catches its prey by going fishing! Its tongue looks like
a worm, and the turtle waits with its mouth wide open at the bottom of a stream, lake,
or pond until some unsuspecting fish takes the bait. Then…snap! The jaws come together
faster than the blink of an eye, and dinner is served!
4. Another fisher from the animal kingdom is the Striated Heron – it throws a leaf
or stick in the water as bait. The bird watches the leaf and waits until some small fish will
come to the surface to check out the strange floating object. And then, well, you know
the rest. Gulp!
5. Jellyfish don't have blood or a heart to pump it. They don’t have a brain – just
nerves. And they don’t need lungs either – their body walls are thin enough for oxygen
to pass right through the skin. Meaning, the jellyfish breathes with its body.
6. A hippo’s skin gives off a red oil that protects the animal from sunburn. Yes, you
could say, hippos use sunblock! Only, their au-naturel SPF doubles as an antibiotic cream
too!
7. Moose have such sensitive antlers that they can feel a fly landing on them.
8. There are real Flying Dragons in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. But if you’re expecting
a massive fire-breathing reptile soaring over the poor townspeople, tough luck! It’s a
tiny little lizard about the size of your hand, and it doesn’t really fly – it glides
over a short distance. Or Falling – with style!
9. You might know of poisonous plants and venomous reptiles and arachnids. But there
are poisonous birds too! The toxins are in their bodies, feathers, and skin, making it
dangerous for predators to eat them!
10. Starfish can cover their prey with their stomachs and eat it outside the body. Then,
they simply bring their stomachs back inside. Well that’s handy.
11. Their relatives, sea cucumbers, can do the same party trick. Except that they leave
part of their guts behind to scare their attacker! It’s ok – the missing parts quickly grow
back!
12. Crows and ravens are the smartest (and sneakiest!) birds on Earth. A raven will follow
another one long enough to find out where the other guy is hiding his food. Then the
sneaky stalker takes it for himself!
13. But the brainiest of them all is the New Caledonian crow. It makes complex tools like
hooks and spears to get insects out from their hidey holes in trees and branches!
14. A koala's fingerprints are almost identical to human ones.
15. Dolphins have highly developed communication. They call each other by name. That is, each
dolphin responds to a specific sound. Mostly they say “stop calling me Flipper”.
16. A bird's feathers weigh more than its skeleton. So there.
17. The most fearless beast on Earth that really doesn’t care is the honey badger.
They have virtually no enemies because they’re not afraid of ANYONE! One honey badger can
take on a whole pack of lions and come out unscathed! These hardcore honey-lovers are
also resistant to snake venom, so, yeah, there’s that…
18. Their cousin, the European badger, builds extensive underground burrows called setts.
They have tunnels and room-like off-shoots for everybody. Foxes and rabbits are welcome
to share the home, as long as they abide by the strict hygiene rules!
19. The praying mantis has an ear between its legs. The insect uses it as a sonar, kind
of like bats!
20. Sea turtles are constantly crying. They’re not sad or anything – the weeping is only
because they excrete excess salts from the body through tears.
21. The Black Swift is a mysterious bird that lives, eats, and even sleeps in the sky! They
don't land for months at a time, which is why so little is known about them. The distance
they fly over a lifespan is like going to the Moon 14 times!
22. Fish can fly too! Thanks to their wing-like fins, flying fish can soar a distance of about
600 ft, almost as long as two football fields. They need flight to escape from predators.
23. When a bear hibernates, its pulse and metabolism slow down. Metabolism is when your
body breaks food down into the basic elements it needs – protein, calcium, and whatnot.
But during hibernation, all the bear’s eaten food from its stomach accumulates in the intestines
like a cork. The animal doesn’t go to the bathroom this entire time, for all of winter.
It goes to the toilet as soon as it wakes up. I’ll bet.
24. Loud noises might not wake a bear from its torpor (that’s the deep sleep during
hibernation), but that doesn’t mean you should go near one. They can still sense danger
during this time, and, yes, they can wake up instantly to deal with it!
25. The Heikegani crab lives off the coast of Japan and has a distinct pattern on its
shell that looks like a human face. More specifically, the face of an angry samurai, hence the nickname:
The Samurai Crab.
26. The fastest bird is the Peregrine Falcon. It can reach speeds of 200 mph during dive
flights. That’s faster than an arrow flies from a bow!
27. Polar bears touch each other's nose to say hello and ask to share food. At least
they ask!
28. When you hear birds singing, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re full of joy or
having a great day. Birds use singing to mark territory and attract mates.
Well, that’s one thing we have in common. Not the mate thing, no – I’m always singing
at my neighbors to get off my lawn…
29. When some foreign object gets into an oyster’s shell – be it a grain of sand,
a parasite, or garbage – the thing irritates the mollusk’s inner walls. Since the animal
can’t spit the item out, it envelops it in thin layers that separate from the body.
These pearlescent layers accumulate until they form a round pearl. In the past, people
believed that pearls were the tears of mermaids. Now we know they’re just some decorated
debris!
30. Owls are considered one of the most dangerous predatory birds. Because of their unique feathers,
this wide-eyed fowl can fly practically silently. Oh yeah, and about those eyes: owls can’t
move them. That’s why they must turn their head in an almost complete circle to look
around.
31. People used to bring canaries to mines to alert of danger. These birds are very sensitive
to toxic gases and the slightest change in the air. If the canary started chirping, the
miners knew they had to get out of there.
32. Flamingos stand on one leg to keep warm. They warm each leg one at a time under their
feathers.
33. All over the globe, monuments have been dedicated to sparrows to show thanks to the
birds for keeping insect pests away.
34. When hunting, tigers and lions let out a deafening roar that literally stuns their
prey to the point that it can’t move.
35. The first bird to be domesticated by humans is the goose.
36. The way beavers build their dam is one of nature’s greatest secrets. A hundred
or so beavers construct a mile-long dam in a coordinated manner as if they're adhering
to a strictly designated plan. Nobody knows how they build the dam thing.
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