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Did Ya Know? |
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| Domestic Cats | Pilgrims were the first to introduce cats to North America. |
| Sweat from the pads of their paws. | Maine Coon cat is America's only "natural" breed of domestic feline. |
| Cats have 244 bones in their bodies. | Domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour. |
| 32 muscles in each ear. | Heaviest recorded cat was called Himmy and weighed 21.3kg. |
| Cats are believed to see colors. | Must have fat in their diet, because they can't produce it on their own. |
| Meow is only reserved for humans. | Cat pregnancy is about 58-65 days; |
| 100 different vocalization sounds. | There are 100 breeds of Cats. |
| Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion. | A purring cat doesn't always mean its happy. Cats also purr if they're in pain. |
| Cats prefer even numbers to play. | A cat can jump 5 times as high as they are tall. |
| Reptile | Chinese Salamander can live up to 50 years old |
| Reptiles are cold-blooded. | 25 species of crocodilians |
| Most reptiles are carnivores. | Dinosaurs were not Reptiles. |
| 130 species of amphibians. | The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world. |
| Fish | Most of the 50 species or Piranha in South American eat seeds & fruit that fall into the water. |
| Florida produces and supplies 95 percent of the tropical fish sold in North America. | Fish aquariums lower blood pressure in both hypertensive and normal people. |
| Arowana babies live in their fathers' mouth until they are big enough to be on their own. | Well cared for Goldfish can live to be as much as 70 years old. |
| Climbing Perch can walk on dry land and even climb trees. | Discus feed their babies on mucus they excrete from their bodies |
| Fish age is determined by the growth rings in the ear. | First fish keepers were Sumerians, more than 4,500 years ago. |
| Aquarium fish are the most
popular pet in America. 12 million households owning more than 158,600,000 fish. |
Students who own fish score the highest on Math and verbal SAT, than non-pet owners. |
| Fish rest by blanking their minds. | There are more than 20,000 species of fish discovered and probably that many not yet discovered. |
| A pregnant goldfish is called a twit. | Goldfish are the most popular aquarium fish. |
| Birds | There are nearly 900 species today |
| Kiwi's mate for life, some have been together for 30 years. | More than a one thousand species extinct have been identified |
| Owls can't be heard when they fly. | The Kiwi is the smallest member of the family of birds called Ratities. |
| There are over 9,200 species of birds known. | The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards |
| A Pigeon's feathers weigh more that it's bones. Thanks to Marvin Vargas for that fact. | |
| The galah, or rose-breasted, cockatoo is one of the most plentiful in aviculture, | The Green-winged Teal is the only species of duck known to scratch in flight. |
| Cows | Cows were domesticated about 5,000 years ago |
| Cows can see color | Cows can detect odors up to 5 miles away |
| Cows spends 6 hours eating and 8 hours chewing cud each day. | Cows can hear lower and higher frequencies better than humans |
| Pilgrims first brought cows to America. | Cows can hear a low noise up to 2 miles away. |
| A cow has four stomachs. | 1611 Cows arrive to America
brought by pilgrims but there were 1624 Cows that reach Jamestown.
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| Horse | "Old Billy" an English barge horse, who lived to be 62 years old |
| There are over 350 different breeds of horses and ponies. | A horse's height is measured in hands. One hand =4" |
| Average life span for a horse is around 20-25 years | "OLDEST" pony reliably recorded was named Teddy E. Bear, and lived to be 55 and still going. |
| longest mane was 18 ft long | Horses can communicate how they are feeling by their facial expressions. They use their ears, nostrils, and eyes to show their moods. |
| Most foals are born at night | The Mare decides when & where the herd will go. |
| Horses cannot vomit | Horses were the last primary animal to be domesticated. |
| Horses cannot breathe through their mouths | China has the most horses...over 10,000,000!!! |
| Antarctic Inhabitants | Fish and animals living there live by having a low Hemoglobin. |
| Animals & Fish there have White Blood. | Organs normally Red are White there. |
| Elephants | One year an elephant can drink 15,000 gallons of water. |
| Elephants have only FOUR teeth | Male elephants usually weigh about 16,500 lbs and are about 20 feet long. |
| They can lose and replace teeth 6 times. | Most elephant communication is infrasonic. We can't hear it. |
| Elephants can live up to 70 years. | Tummy growling can be heard 600 feet away. |
| Gestation 22 months; birth weight about 265 pounds. Suckles for 3-4 years. | Elephants can heard each other 5 miles away. |
| Dogs | basenji ( African wolf dog) is the only dog that cannot bark. |
| Pregnancy is 60 Days. | Most modern dog breeds were developed about 100 years ago |
| Laika was 1st dog in space, Russia 1957 | Dogs were first domesticated about 20,000 years ago |
| Dogs can see color. | Dogs are members of the order Carnivora family. |
| The only dog in the world that cannot bark is the Basenji, an African wolf dog. | Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears. |
| The Dalmatian is the only dog that gets gout. | Dogs and humans are the only animals with prostates. |
| .World's oldest dog was 29years, 5 months. | Largest dog recorded, Zorba a 343 lb , 8 feet 3 inches long Old English Mastiff |
| Dogs are responsible for most drug busts. | A dog's smell is estimated at 1 million times better than humans. |
| Heartbeat is 70-120 times per minute. | Eight million pets lose their lives in animal shelters each year. |
| About one family in three owns a dog. | Normal body temperature for a dog is 101.2 degrees F. |
| Average dog has 42 permanent teeth. | A Dachshund has 125,000,000, a Fox Terrier 147,000,000 and an Alsation has 220,000,000. Humans have 5,000,000. |
| Female dogs are more likely to bite. | Longest jump was by a Greyhound, 30 feet in 1849. |
| 50,000 year old cave painting in Europe seems to show a doglike animal hunting with men. | When Pompeii destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, was finally excavated, searchers found evidence of a dog lying across a child. |
| Dachshunds were bred to fight badgers in their dens | Chihuahua is the oldest breed of dog native to North America. |
| USA's first dog show Detroit, MI. 1857 | World's first dog show took place in Great Britain in 1859. |
| Wolves | Wolves use body language and facial expressions to communicate. |
| Wolves live in a family pack. | A subordinate wolf will cringe towards the leader with tail low and bent legs, ears back and down, in a submissive nature. |
| Wolves travel and hunt in a group. | Wolves communicate and mark their territories by scent. |
| Within each pack is an elaborate hierarchy. | Pups are fed by the adults who disgorge fresh meat from their stomachs, or carry back fresh pieces of meat to the den. |
| The parent wolves are the leaders of the pack. Alpha male and Alpha female. | Wolves were completely wiped out in England by the early 1500s.. |
| Wolves are also very territorial animals. | Scotland killed its last wolf in the mid-1700s |
| At first wolves were hunted for their thick winter fur. | By 1900, there were not many wolves left in the western United States. |
| Today the wolf is classified as an endangered species | The wolf is the largest in the wild canine family |
| The gestation period for the wolf is 63 days | Two species of the wolf in North America, the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus ) and the Red Wolf (Canis rufus ) |
| North America there are 10 recognized sub-species of the wolf | A wolf can achieve estimated speeds of between 28 and 40 miles per hour for up to 20 minutes |
| 2 types of hair, "Guards and "Undercoat" | Canine teeth "interlock" so the wolf can grip and hang on to struggling prey |
| Wolves breed only once a year; most dogs breed twice . | Wolves howl to greet one another |
| A wolf can consume almost twenty pounds of prey at a feeding | All members of a wolf pack take part in caring for the young . |
| 24 subspecies of wolves are recognized in North America. | Wolves have no natural predators, except for humans. |
| In the United States there has never been a documented case where a healthy wild wolf attacked a human, in fact it is very rare when a wolf even comes near a human. | Wolves are normally afraid of people, and try to avoid them when ever possible |
| More on Wolves Click Here | |
| At full speed wolves can run at close to 30 mph. | In captivity wolves can live to be about 16 years of age, in the wild most don't make it to be 8 years old. |
| Save the Wolf Petition Click Here | The Ethiopian wolf is one of the rarest and most endangered |
| Whales | There are up to 10,000 gallons of water, equal to 256,000 glasses of water, in each feeding mouthful of an adult blue whale. |
| whales and dolphins do not mate for life. | The northern right whale is one of the most endangered of cetaceans, numbering just over an estimated 300 animals |
| A blue whale calf can swim 22 mph | Over 50% of Northern right whales and New England humpback whales have scars from prior fishing gear entanglements |
| Fin whales are one of the fastest whales, and can hit top speeds of over 35 miles per hour | A blue whale calf drinks about 130 gallons of milk per day, and gains up to 200 pounds per day |
| Humpback whales have the longest migration of any known mammal | new species of beaked whale has recently been discovered. |
| Southern right whales have been seen to raise their flukes in the wind and use them as sails. | A 160 ton blue whale is equal in weight to 30 bull elephants, or 1830 adult humans weighing 175 pounds each |
| Rabbit | There are twelve species of rabbits in the United States with the eastern cottontail being the most widely distributed. |
| A group of rabbits is called a herd. | Gestation is about 28 days |
| A group of rabbits lives in a warren | Young trees and saplings are most vulnerable to damage by rabbits |
| The gestation period of a rabbit is about 31 days | A Rabbit's teeth grow during their entire life |
| There is only one breed of domestic rabbit that changes color. It is the Champagne D'Argent. They are born black and change to a dull silver | The maximum speed of a domestic rabbit is about 35 mph |
| There are over 55 different breeds of rabbits | |
| Llama | Llamas are members of the camel (camelid) family |
| Originated in Central Plains in North America about 10 million years ago. | Domesticated from the guanacos of the Andean highlands of Peru 5,000 to 6,000 years ago |
| Closest cousin is the camel. | Weight: 200 to 450 pounds |
| One of the world's oldest domesticated animal. | Average Pregnancy 350 days or 11.5 months. |
| Estimated 7 million llamas & alpacas in South American today. | Usually gives birth during daylight hours. |
| Estimated 65,000 Llamas in the USA now. | Cria (baby Llama) usually stands and nurses within 90 minutes. |
| Life span: about 15 to 29 years | Can carry about 25% of body weight packing. (about 80 lbs) |
| Llamas have a 3 compartment stomach. | Llamas are extremely sociable and need another Llama. |
| Llamas communicate by humming and body gestures. | Llamas usually only spit at other Llamas to establish order. |
| Average height 5' to 5' 6" ( top of the head) | Piercing alarm scream call to signal danger |
| Sheep | People started raising sheep over ten thousand years ago |
| 1 lb of wool can make 10 miles of yarn. | Spinning wool into thread began about 5,000 years ago |
| Sheep prefer running water. | Sheep grow two teeth a year until they have eight |
| Ewes typically give birth to twins. | Less than 70,000 Big Horn sheep in the wild today. |
| Sheep originated from Mouflon. | There are 2 groups of sheep. Hair Sheep & Merino Varieties. |
| 80% of Australia's sheep flock is Merino | There are more than 300 breeds of sheep. |
| Domesticated around 9000 BC wild sheep | Rarest Sheep Breed Dwarf Blue Sheep. China. |
| Britain's rarest sheep Castlemilk Moorit | |
| Frog | There are about 6 to 14 species of tongueless, aquatic African frogs |
| Most frogs do in fact have teeth. | Frogs can jump up to 20 times their length. |
| Toads, do not have any teeth. | Largest enemy is pollution. |
| Frogs are one of the 1st signs that the ecosystem is off. | Goliath frog of West Africa is the largest frog and can weigh almost as much as a housecat. |
| Snake | Snakes have been found from below sea level to 10,000 +/- feet above sea level. |
| Some snakes have lived 30+ years in captivity. | Approximately 5500 different species of snakes are known. |
| Snakes can travel 3 - 5 miles an hour. | When a snake is growing, it sheds its skin as often as every 4 or 5 weeks. |
| Female snakes are larger than male snakes. | Snakes are nearsighted. |
| Snakes do not have eyelids. | Sea snakes have no gills and must rise to the surface for air. |
| 20 % of the total number of the snake species are poisonous. | Snakes have a strong sense of smell. |
| Fastest snake is 8 mph. | Snakes are deaf to airborne sounds. |
| Turtle | Loggerhead sea turtles are non-vocal. |
| 250 species of turtles. | The Galapagos tortoise is the largest living species, weighing in some cases, over 570 pounds. |
| Sea turtles nest on sandy beaches. | The carapace or upper shell of the tortoise or turtle is composed of about 50 bones. |
| The snapping turtle (Macroclemys sp.) has a worm-like, fleshy structure on its tongue, which it wiggles to attract fish. | Some species have hinges on either the carapace or the plastron, which allow closure of the shell. |
| Over 85% of the earth has fewer than 10 species and 44% has none. | Turtles cannot protrude their tongues from their mouths. |
| Snappers can live up to 60 years. | The highest diversity of turtles is in the South Eastern United States and in South East Asia. |
| Ferret | Ancient Egyptians over 3000 years ago and were brought to Britain almost 2000 years ago by the Romans. |
| Ferret males are called Hobs. | First Ferrets brought to England 2,000 years ago. |
| Ferrets are members of the Mustelidae family. | Ferrets can catch our colds and flu from humans. |
| Ferret Females are called Jills. | Ancient Egyptians first kept Ferrets 3,000 years ago |
| Baby Ferrets are called Kitts. | Cousins to the Ferret are weasels, stoats, polecats, martens, mink, badgers and a few more. |
| Ferrets eyesight is not good. | 16 hours of sunlight makes Ferrets go into heat. |
| life span: 5-8 years | Ferrets should be played with every day. |
| Reptiles | A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. |
| The only continent without reptiles or snakes is Antarctica. | |