- The air is so polluted in Cubato, Brazil, that no birds or insects
remain and most trees are blackened stumps. It's Mayor reportedly
refuses to live there.
- The term "dog days" has nothing to do with dogs. It dates back
to Roman times, when it was believed that Sirius, the Dog Star,
added its heat to that of the sun from July3 to August 11, creating
exceptionally high temperatures. The Romans called the period
dies caniculares, or "days of the dog."
- For Stephen King's "Cujo" (1983), five St. Bernards were used,
one mechanical head, and an actor in a dog costume to play the
title character.
- The closest relative to the manatee is the elephant. Scientists
think the elephant crawled back into the sea to become a manatee.
- Before the enactment of the 1978 law that made it mandatory
for dog owners in New York City to clean up after their pets,
approximately 40 million pounds of dog excrement were deposited
on the streets every year.
- Dolphins are the only other animals besides humans that get
pleasure out of sex. They are also the only other animals that
have sex for reasons other than reproduction.
- The declawing of a pet cat involves surgery called an onychectomy,
in which the entire claw and end bone of each toe of the animal
are amputated.
- Pekingese dogs were sacred to the emperors of China for more
than 2,000 years. They are one of the oldest breeds of dogs in
the world.
- A cat uses its whiskers to determine if a space is too small
to squeeze through. The whiskers act as feelers or antennae, helping
the animal to judge the precise width of any passage.
- Scientists found a whole new phylum of animal on a lobster's
lip.
- Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths
of their cats.
- The distance between an alligator's eyes, in inches, is directly
proportional to the length of the alligator, in feet.
- Macaroni, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Emperor are types of penguins.
- More than 99.9% of all the animal species that have ever lived
on earth were extinct before the coming of man.
- The average garden variety caterpillar has 248 muscles in its
head.
- You should not eat a crawfish with a straight tail. It was dead
before it was cooked.
- The name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box is Bingo.
- Goldfish lose their color if they are kept in dim light or are
placed in a body of running water, such as a stream.
- When a domestic cat goes after mice, about one pounce in three
results in a catch.
- The male penguin incubates the single egg laid by his mate.
During the two month period he does not eat, and will lose up
to 40% of his body weight.
- Chinese Crested dogs can get acne.
- According to one study, plant and animal species are becoming
extinct at the rate of 17 per hour.
- The grey whale migrates 12,500 miles from the Artic to Mexico
and back every year.
- One square mile of rainforest has more types of butterflies
than all of North America.
- In Central America, a scientist caught over 500 different species
of insects by sweeping a net through the air fewer than 2000 times.
|
