Hyenas Facts

October 6, 2008

Hyenas live in a female dominated society. Female Hyenas are the most masculine females in the animal kingdom. They have very high levels of hormones that are usually found in the males. Also many female hyenas have enlarged clitoris, to the point of looking like a penis. The female hyena urinates, mates and gives birth through this modified clitoris (it is inverted for mating).

Female Mosquitoes

Only female mosquitoes bites humans and drinks their blood. Male mosquitoes are much bigger than females, but they are harmless to the humans. Female mosquito uses blood to produce eggs since certain proteins are needed for reproduction. Actually mosquitoes are principally nectar feeders except of course for the females. However, mosquito family Toxorhynchites never drinks blood.

Octopus Facts

The largest octopus weighs about 15kg (Octopus dofleini). An Octopus has three hearts and it can squeeze through a hole the size of a 10-cent coin. Hapalochlaena species can inject enough venom in one bite to kill several adult humans. They can adopt a two-tentacles "walk" that frees up their six remaining limbs and makes them look like an armed vehicle.

Dogs as Suicide Bombers

In the Second World War, during the Blitzkrieg campaign, German tanks were too fast and too powerful for Russian military. Russians idea was to train the dogs to carry bombs under the German tanks. The trainers would first starve the dogs, and then train them to find a food under the tank. Unfortunately, problem was that dogs trained under the Soviet tanks not the loud German diesel tanks. Plan backfired on Soviets, but they did manage to disable a reported 300 German tanks.

Tasmanian Tiger Wolf Facts

Tasmanian tiger-wolf is an extinct wolf like carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania having stripes on its back. Despite its popular name, this animal is neither a tiger nor a wolf and it is closely related to the kangaroo. Tasmanian tiger-wolf has a pouch for its babies to climb in. The extinction of the Tasmanian wolf is attributable solely to activities of human beings, it was said to become extinct in 1936.

Armadillo Facts

A pound of armadillo meat contains 780 calories. Most armadillos seen dead on the road did not get hit by the wheels. When an armadillo is frightened it jumps straight into the air. Armadillos have four babies at a time, always all the same sex. They are perfect quadruplets, the fertilized cell split into quarters, resulting in four identical armadillos. Armadillos get an average of 18.5 hours of sleep per day. Armadillos can walk underwater.

Insects in Chocolate

Did you know that the average chocolate bar in the U.S. contains at least 8 pieces of an insect in it? Harvesting of the cacao beans occurs in the tropical countries of South America with low sanitation levels. Cacao tree beans are cut and piled in the farmer’s field where they ferment for 6 days. During this process, children and adults walk over the piles; insects, rodents, small animals and other living things that make their nests in the piles. Actually the The U. S. Department of Health publishes a book entitled "The Food Defect Action Levels" in which they list unavoidable defects in food (insect, rodents etc.) all allowed by FDA.

Fireflies Facts

Do you wonder where fireflies got their internal light? Fireflies actually contain the so-called Luciferin. This substance when combined with oxygen will enable them to produce light. This process is called bioluminescence and they light up to attract the mate. Same is true with angler fish which also produces light, but they use it to catch the prey.

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Lassie Facts

Although most known Scottish shepherd, Lassie, is white-brown, original Collies were mostly tricolor: white, brown and mostly black (on the back). It’s also interesting that Collies are better known as "Lassie", than "Collie" or "Scottish shepherd".

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