Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Fascinating Animal Facts

This post is inspired by a conversation my mom and I had on the phone yesterday. A snippet of the conversation is as follows:

I say, “Did you know that a baby porcupine is called a porcupette?”


Mom replies, “No, did you know a group of crows is called a murder?” We went on to discuss the symbolism/meaning behind a Counting Crows song named Murder of One.


I love animal facts. I don’t know what other parents watched on TV, but often I remember my dad in particular, watching PBS shows about reptiles or manatees or the dangers of the black bear. I was engrossed. Ever since, I’ve been taken by fascinating aspects of animal life. I even attempt to find ways to incorporate some of the unusual things into my novels.


Today for your reading pleasure I’m going to spill a list of unusual animal facts on the page:

  • One in every five thousand North Atlantic lobsters is born in a bright blue color.

  • Approximately 200 trees can be cut down by an average beaver.

  • When a dolphin is sick or injured, its cries of distress summon immediate aid from other dolphins, who try to support it to the surface so that it can breathe.

  • Certain Chinese and American alligators can survive the winter by freezing their heads in ice, leaving their nose out to breath for months on end.

  • Honeybees have hair on their eyes.

  • An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

  • Wild dogs don't bark or wag their tails.



  • Elephants are the only animals with 4 knees.



  • An armadillo crosses a river by holding its breath and walking across the bottom.

  • A grouping of kangaroos is called a mob.

  • All polar bears are left-handed.

  • A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body.

  • A rat can last longer without water than a camel can.

  • An electric eel can produce a shock of up to 650 volts.

  • Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 to 60 mph.

  • Infant beavers are called kittens.

  • Snakes are immune to their own poison.

  • The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat (yet another reason why I like dogs better.)

Don’t those just get the brain juices flowing? Do you know any interesting animal facts?





*I used over a dozen sources for these facts. If you’re interested, I can provide the names of each.
**photos by flickr

11 comments:

  1. Fascinating! I love animals!
    Some of the ones that jumped out at me were the elephant (never thought about the 4 knees, but it makes perfect sense) and that honeybees have hair on their eyes. That one gave me chills!

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  2. As a huge animal-lover, I love the facts! Some of them really surprised me. I especially liked the polar bear one - how do they know that?? I mean, who sets out to do that research?? :)

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  3. Wendy, that's awesome! That's cool about the lobsters. I've never seen a blue one before. I am planning on going to the zoo with the family tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember some of these cool things to wow the group with :D

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  4. We have a DVD called Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution. It's fantastic and has just tons of amazing animal facts that point to an intelligent designer! Thanks for sharing even more!

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  5. Fun fact. I love animals. You have a nice blog. If you get a chance you can visit me at http://writemoms.blogspot.com
    Cheers,
    DeAnna

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  6. I remember one beach vacation when the dragonflies invaded. There were so many of them just hovering on the beach, but they didn't bother the people. They were there for a mosquito feast, it was a summer of their invasion too. And when the mosquitoes were gone, so were the dragonflies, just like that.

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  7. Some really interesting facts-so how do they really know all polar bears are left-handed???Hmmm

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  8. Wow! There's so much wonder in the world. One of my favorite things (when we had TV reception) was to watch animal shows on PBS. My favorite was a special on bower birds. Evidently, they are much like humans. They bring sparklies to the girls they court, lay things out obsessively, and aren't above filching sparklies from the competition. :D

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  9. MeganRebekah, I liked the elephant one too. My favorites might have been the armadillo and dolphin ones.

    B.J., I thought so. I never want to be at a place in life where I'm done learning.

    Katie, I *know* why that one meant so much to you, my left-handed friend!

    Cindy, you'll be the star...like a guide or something. Cool timing.

    Jody, I wonder what God was thinking about when he created some of those creatures, us included.

    WriteMoms, I love animals, too. Hope you get the chance to stop by again soon.

    Joanne, see...something like that would fit into a key scene of a book.

    Terri, they go to shake their hands...sorry for the lame joke. I'm tired. :D

    Danyelle, it's stuff exactly like what you described that get me. Courting birds...I tell you.

    Nice to visit with you all today! Have fun at the zoo, Cindy. Think of us. :D :D

    Sleep well!
    ~ Wendy

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  10. I LOVE animal facts. Or any kind of cool facts. :)

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