More Amazing Animal Facts

I thought I’d share one more blog of amazing animal facts before getting back to the usual environmental blogs. Mother Nature is so wonderful I just can’t help sharing.

1. The African elephant has a gestation period of 22 months (nearly 2 years) while a short-nosed bandicoot gestates for 12 days (less than 2 weeks).
2. Hummingbirds consume half their weight in food daily.
3. A woodpecker can peck 20 times per second.
4. It takes a lobster about seven years to grow to be 1 lb.
5. Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 – 60 mph.
6. Turtles can take in oxygen through their bottoms.
7. A female rat can produce up to 12 litters of 20 young each yearly.
8. Rats destroy 1/3 of the world’s food crop yearly.
9. Sharks seem to be the only animals that never get sick. They are immune to every type disease – even cancer.
10. A cockroach can survive for about a week without its head before starving to death.
11. The fastest bird, the spine-tailed swift, can fly as fast as 106 mph.
12. On average, pigs live for about 15 years.
13. A chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of its body.
14. Giraffes have no vocal cords.
15. During warm weather, hippopotami secrete sweat that is pink. This substance not only cools them down; but, helps to fight infections of the skin. Despite their skins appearance, it is actually quite sensitive.
16. The whale shark has over 4,000 teeth; however, they are only 3 mm (1/8”) long.
17. The rat has been called the world’s most destructive mammal other than man.
18. Large kangaroos can cover over 30’ with each jump.
19. Male seahorses produce the offspring.
20. Elephants have been known to remain standing after they die.
21. A mosquito has 47 teeth. (No wonder they hurt so much!)
22. A bird “chews” with its stomach.
23. Some birds have been known to put ants into their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which kills parasites.
24. An albatross can sleep while flying.
25. Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas.
26. The sex organ of a male spider is located at the end of one of its legs.
27. Armadillos, opossums and sloth’s spend about 80% of their lives sleeping.
28. The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs just below the knee.
29. Owls swallow their prey whole because they have no teeth (unlike the tiny mosquito). After 12 hours, they cough up the feathers, bones and fur in the shape of football pellet.
30. 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.