Soter
October 15th, 2008, 10:55 AM
I know lately I have been posting a lot of new threads. This is just another one. 2 Christmas’s ago I got a book called 'Why pandas do handstands and other curious truths about animals' and now I have decided to share some occasionally funny and quite interesting facts with you. I hope you aren't bored!! :D:D:D
You are who you eat
ANIMALS really are what they eat... Flamingos are not naturally pink in colour, they are actually white. Their distinctive pigmentation comes from their food, tiny green algae, which turns pink during the digestion process. Shrimp too lend them their interesting colour.
YOU ARE also as deadly as what you eat. Poison frogs have glands in their skin that exude secretions so toxic that a tiny smear can kill a horse. The frogs brew their poison by eating a diet of toxic insects.
The joy of laughter
LAUGHTER is common to many species, not just humans. Rats play chirp with joy. Dogs laugh by panting. Man's best friends make a distinctive breathing noise that to the human ear sounds like the normal breathless panting a dog makes after exercise, but closer analysis of recordings revealed that when dogs make this sound they exhale in a wider range of frequencies than during normal panting. This is a dog’s way of signalling to each other that they are happy and in a playful mood. (I always thought it was because they were thirsty/tired ect.:rolleyes:)
ICE-SKATING buffaloes emit excited noises. They have been observed sliding across frozen surfaces, letting out a joyous 'gwaaa!' as they go!!!!:laughing:
Eating habits
GEESE are partial to polystyrene. In 2005 a gaggle of geese ate their way through the polystyrene walls of and entire school in the Romanian village of Risesti.
CATS DON'T like sweets. They can’t taste them. Researchers have discovered that all the members of the feline family, from the domestic cat to the lion, have a strong dislike for sugary foods. By analysing the cats genetic code they learned that part of the code that normally provides an animal with sweet taste receptors is missing. This has left cats simply unable to detect sweet tasting compounds like sugars and carbohydrates. This would explain why cats are keener on savoury tastes like meat. And it would also explain why they are, in the wild, among nature's most expert hunters.
Builders???
CHIMPANZEES use tool kits. Scientists have observed them use a range of different tools including 'chisels', a 'hole punch' and a dipping instrument to gain access to a supply of honey in a bee-hive.
AS THEY wade into lakes or pools, Gorillas test the depth with sticks. Photographs have been taken of apes guiding themselves through water using a metre long (3 foot) piece of wood.
The calmer animal
TELEVISION makes chickens calmer. Scientists discovered that battery hens became less anxious and aggressive when they watched random images on the box for ten minutes a day. The most relaxing images were fish and flying toasters. :laughing:
MOOSE surf. After heavy rains in Norway, a large moose was observed surfing down the raging waters of the Namsen River on a large chunk of ice.
YAWNING is contagious with Chimpanzees. When one starts, they all start, just like with humans (most of the time)
I hope they were interesting....:)
Shall I post more???
You are who you eat
ANIMALS really are what they eat... Flamingos are not naturally pink in colour, they are actually white. Their distinctive pigmentation comes from their food, tiny green algae, which turns pink during the digestion process. Shrimp too lend them their interesting colour.
YOU ARE also as deadly as what you eat. Poison frogs have glands in their skin that exude secretions so toxic that a tiny smear can kill a horse. The frogs brew their poison by eating a diet of toxic insects.
The joy of laughter
LAUGHTER is common to many species, not just humans. Rats play chirp with joy. Dogs laugh by panting. Man's best friends make a distinctive breathing noise that to the human ear sounds like the normal breathless panting a dog makes after exercise, but closer analysis of recordings revealed that when dogs make this sound they exhale in a wider range of frequencies than during normal panting. This is a dog’s way of signalling to each other that they are happy and in a playful mood. (I always thought it was because they were thirsty/tired ect.:rolleyes:)
ICE-SKATING buffaloes emit excited noises. They have been observed sliding across frozen surfaces, letting out a joyous 'gwaaa!' as they go!!!!:laughing:
Eating habits
GEESE are partial to polystyrene. In 2005 a gaggle of geese ate their way through the polystyrene walls of and entire school in the Romanian village of Risesti.
CATS DON'T like sweets. They can’t taste them. Researchers have discovered that all the members of the feline family, from the domestic cat to the lion, have a strong dislike for sugary foods. By analysing the cats genetic code they learned that part of the code that normally provides an animal with sweet taste receptors is missing. This has left cats simply unable to detect sweet tasting compounds like sugars and carbohydrates. This would explain why cats are keener on savoury tastes like meat. And it would also explain why they are, in the wild, among nature's most expert hunters.
Builders???
CHIMPANZEES use tool kits. Scientists have observed them use a range of different tools including 'chisels', a 'hole punch' and a dipping instrument to gain access to a supply of honey in a bee-hive.
AS THEY wade into lakes or pools, Gorillas test the depth with sticks. Photographs have been taken of apes guiding themselves through water using a metre long (3 foot) piece of wood.
The calmer animal
TELEVISION makes chickens calmer. Scientists discovered that battery hens became less anxious and aggressive when they watched random images on the box for ten minutes a day. The most relaxing images were fish and flying toasters. :laughing:
MOOSE surf. After heavy rains in Norway, a large moose was observed surfing down the raging waters of the Namsen River on a large chunk of ice.
YAWNING is contagious with Chimpanzees. When one starts, they all start, just like with humans (most of the time)
I hope they were interesting....:)
Shall I post more???