Did you know that.....

[frostfire]

Thought it might be an idea to have a place were we could share random facts about random animals, which aren't worthy for a own thread, but this way they can still be shared!
A few did you know I can think of at the moment:

...ants count their steps
...cockroaches can live without their head for 9 days (they only die because they don’t have a mouth to eat with anymore!)
...polarbears don’t have white hairs, but appeare so because they are hollow and see-through
...the brain of a ostrich is smaller than it's eye
...a rat can last longer without water than a camel can

[black]

Here's a few

Dingoes, wild dogs of Australia, do not bark.

An albatross can sleep while it flies. It apparently dozes while cruising at 25 mph.

Camel milk does not curdle.

[frostfire]

Here a couple more:

The platypus is the only poisonous mammal. On both ankles, the male Platypus has sharp poisonous spurs which can kill small animals.

Fruit flies can get drunk and when they do, they become attracted to the same sex.

[Guy F]

Originally Posted by frostfire

Here a couple more:

The platypus is the only poisonous mammal. On both ankles, the male Platypus has sharp poisonous spurs which can kill small animals.

I think that Platypuses, along with the different Echidna species, are the only mammals in the world to lay eggs! Such strange creatures.
Guy

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Guy F

I think that Platypuses, along with the different Echidna species, are the only mammals in the world to lay eggs! Such strange creatures.
Guy

Yes, the monotremes (Monotremata) are similar to birds in many other ways. Monotreme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm impressed that there is now a Sir David's Echidna - Zaglossus attenboroughi .

[paul m]

Originally Posted by black

An albatross can sleep while it flies. It apparently dozes while cruising at 25 mph.

That is amazing .... although does it go fully to sleep? Indeed do all animals "sleep" in the same way - you can watch cats, large or small that appear to be asleep but will open a very observant eye when something approaches. Catnapping () ... but if you look at a row of birds in a roost, are they asleep as we think of it?

Mind, I've seen humans dozing in cars at far higher speed than 25 mph

[wild worlds]

The temperature at which crocodile eggs incubate determines the sex of croc.
A cheetah can’t roar or retract its claws like other big cats.

[H Dogg]

Think there are a few poisonous mammals, In Britain we have Europe's only poisonous mammal the Water Shrew Neomys fodiens which uses its poisonous saliva to stun its prey.

[wild worlds]

The spotted hyena has the strongest jaws of any mammal.It can remove a human limb on the run!

[frostfire]

Today I was told that galls used to be used for making yellow ink and it was taught at schools how to make it.

[frostfire]

In a dry period snails can sleep up to three years!

[goosey]

Bee hummingbirds have the fewest feathers of all birds!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by frostfire

Today I was told that galls used to be used for making yellow ink and it was taught at schools how to make it.

The main ingredient is the tannin in the galls so oak is preferred: needs iron salts as mordants to produce black inks. Other metals can be used to produce blues or greens I recall ....

The ink corrosion website: iron gall ink: ink recipes

[mtngoat]

One of the most placid fish in the ocean, placid enough to handle, is the most poisonous? They have spines on their backs that, when stepped on, rise and shoot poison.

[Guy F]

Originally Posted by mtngoat

One of the most placid fish in the ocean, placid enough to handle, is the most poisonous? They have spines on their backs that, when stepped on, rise and shoot poison.

That sounds like a Stonefish, I think there are a few species in the warmer seas. I'm not sure how they would judge it, but stepping on one is meant to be one of the most painful experiences in the world.
Guy

[mtngoat]

lol, whoops. Forgot to give it a name. I was watching a documentary (Ocean's Deadliest) and it told about how it is almost always fatal unless immediate medical attention. However, guess who eats them? It's the largest sea snake (have to find the name), and stonefish is top of the menu.

[goosey]

Hedgehogs legs are 4inches long and they can run as fast as humans can walk!

[chris butterworth]

Originally Posted by mtngoat

It's the largest sea snake (have to find the name), and stonefish is top of the menu.

Sea Snakes have the most virulent venom of all snakes but, the poison fangs are at the back of the mouth, and their mouths are that small you'd really have to stuff your finger down their throat to get bitten. They are also very inquisitive ( 'friendly') as I found out in Borneo. They seem to come from 'miles' just to investigate you.

Chris

[chris butterworth]

Oh - and to dispel an often quoted myth. Ducks 'quacks' DO echo. ( I MUST get a life ).

Chris

[Drosera]

Originally Posted by chris butterworth

Oh - and to dispel an often quoted myth. Ducks 'quacks' DO echo. ( I MUST get a life ).

Chris

Didn't know about that one! Of course you have a life - you are on WAW!

[chris butterworth]

Just to show I haven't really grown up here's one about poo. Ant-lions, Myrmeleontidae only excrete once in their lives, when they shed their larval skin and become adult.

Chris

[chris butterworth]

Originally Posted by frostfire

...polarbears don’t have white hairs, but appeare so because they are hollow and see-through

........... and Polar Bears skin is black.

Chris

[chris butterworth]

Originally Posted by black

An albatross can sleep while it flies. It apparently dozes while cruising at 25 mph

Common Swift ( and, I suppose, other species such as Pallid etc ) go for up to 4 years from leaving the nest to landing on a hard surface for the first time. They both sleep and mate on the wing. Arctic Terns see more daylight than any other species as they 'summer' in the Arctic, with 24 hour daylight, and 'winter' in the Antarctic, and, speaking of the Antarctic, Emperor Penguin are the only species of bird never ( except as vagrants ) to set foot on land, as they breed on sea ice.

Chris

[chris butterworth]

........... and back to poo. Horn Flies Haematobia irritans have such a narrow temperature range for their freshly laid eggs they have to lay them in the cow dung before it hits the ground .

Chris