Interesting Facts about Animals

The ASPCA was founded in 1866. It was the first animal welfare organization in the Americas. Canada's first SPCA was established in 1869 in Montreal.

In just seven years, a single pair of cats and their offspring could produce a staggering total of 420,000 kittens.

Dr. Elizabeth Devitt, DVM, writing about cat color in www.catchannel.com, describes the black and white cat as born to be an ambassador. There is always a black and white cat in residence at 20 Downing Street, residence of the British Prime Minister.

An article in Cat Fancy about cats predicting earthquakes cited the experience of Simon Teakettle II (Tiki) just before the huge tsunami which devastated southeast Asia, which was detected by seismographs on the other side of the world (including Canada's national capital, where we live). In the aftermath of that disaster, it was revealed that most coastal animals left for higher ground hours before the quake causing the tsunami hit. Now scientists have discovered that a certain species of toad fled a town in central Italy just before an earthquake struck there. How many animals in Haiti and Chile predicted the quakes that hit there recently, or are these areas so quake-prone that the animals no longer react?

The National Zoo documented strange behavior in several of its animals in the minutes before the August 2011 earthquake struck the east coast of the U.S. Five to 10 seconds before the quake, many apes ditched their food and began climbing their tree-like structure. Flamingos also seemed to know it was coming, gathering into a group before the shaking began and remaining huddled throughout the quake. Most impressively, red ruffed lemurs let out an alarm call 15 minutes before the quake and then again just before it struck.

Dogs, cats, monkeys, and all other vertebrates all yawn. The giraffe is the only exception, and nobody seems to know why.

Nine out of ten humans are right-handed. Most animals are closer to ambidextrous than right-or left-pawed, clawed, etc.

An important difference between wild and domestic animals is that animals who live with humans have flatter faces, more range of colors, things like floppy ears and curly tails (to use dogs as an example). Wolves have larger brains than dogs, which allows them to have flashes of insight so they can solve problems on their own. Dogs, on the other hand, rely on humans to solve problems, so are much better than wolves in noticing and interpreting the gaze and gestures of humans.

Animals began to be domesticated about 15,000 years ago, when agriculture began. Humans no longer had to move around to follow game, and their settlements produced a lot of garbage, which attracted animals who had to learn how to co-exist with humans.

The only two animals that can see what's behind them without turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

The common, or northern, mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is well known as a mimic; it has been known to imitate the songs of 20 or more species within 10 minutes.

There are about 10,000 bird species in the world. About 925 have been seen in the U.S. and Canada. About 1,000 have been seen in Europe. By far the largest concentration of bird species are found in South America. Over 3,200 species have been seen there.

The crow is actually a large songbird. Instead of a musical voice, it has more than 20 rough calls, each of which has a different meaning. The raven is a relative of the crow, the largest songbird of all, three times larger than a cardinal. Jays, magpies and nutcrackers also belong to this family.

Research with jays has shown them to have superior abilities to plan for the future. They will cache food in the place where they previously found breakfast, in anticipation of needing it then.

Jays, ravens, rooks, and other corvids (as well as parrots) have a larger neocortex than other birds. Rooks, for example, will drop rocks into a tube where they can see a tasty worm just below the reach of their beaks, until the water level rises sufficiently.

Parakeets are enjoying a population explosion in London suburbs, devouring seed from feeders, fighting with native birds, and possibly threatening crops. No one knows why the parakeets have flourished. Possible reasons include residents putting out more food for them, planting berries they like to eat, the death of a predator, or climate change. Or it could be simply that once there are enough parakeets, it’s easier for them to find mates, and they breed faster. In any case, the government is keeping an eye on them lest they begin to ravage crops as they do in India. “I was delighted when I first saw one in my yard, but when you have a flock of 300, it’s a different matter,” said Dick Hayden, a retiree volunteering to help take a census of London’s parakeet population. “They eat all the berries. They ate all the food from my feeder in one day; it was ludicrous.”

Penguins can identify the scent of close relatives, as well as their mates. This means they can reunite with their life partners (yes, they're among the birds who mate for life) in crowded colonies.

Dolphins and humans have many of the same basic traits: high intelligence, self-awareness, and sophisticated social skills. They are among the few mammals able to recognize themselves in a mirror, and one of the few species with cells that act as bridges between brain areas devoted to cognition and self-awareness.

Whales, dolphins, and porpoises move through the water by plunging their tails up and down in a vertical motion. This action distinguishes them from fish, which move their tails from side to side when swimming.

Butterflies have been sighted near the top of the Empire State building, and some species live in mountain areas at elevations up to 5,500 meters.

The Mongolian pony is the only animal other than an elephant capable of fending off an attack by a healthy adult tiger.

Horses are not only intelligent, but they use both sides of their brains to process information. This may be because their eyes point to the sides instead of forward. This is why they sometimes don't appear to see something to the right of them as the go up the road, but may react to it coming back.

The largest recorded lobster, caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1934, weighed 44.4 pounds and was at least 100 years old, according to scientists.

The largest fish caught with a rod and reel was a Great White shark. It weighed 2,664 pounds and was almost 17 feet long.

According to an article in the New York Times by Natalie Angier, pigs are better than many other animals at learning new things. They can perform many tricks, including jump through hoops, bowing, spinning, and making sounds on command that mimic words. They can be taught to roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, and even to play videogames with joysticks.
Some scientists believe our relationship with dogs goes back as far as 100,000 years. One theory says that man and dog have co-evolved through the centuries in untold ways; one scientist speculates that we lost our own, keen sense of smell by relying on the sharper sniff of our beastly hunting partners.

In his new book, The Dog Who Couldn't Stop Loving, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson considers how a "mutual evolution" not only impacted dogs, but also the human capacity to love and to feel empathy for others.

Of the 650 dogs that have seen active combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 5 percent suffer from canine PTSD. The symptoms vary from hypervigilance and increased aggression to extreme timidity. The military is experimenting with desensitization treatment and anti-anxiety medication, but about half the dogs will half to be retired from service. They also stop being able to work.

There are five dog breeds that originated in Canada. The most famous are the Alaskan sled dog, the Newfoundland and the Labrador retriever. The Newfoundland dog evolved from the Tibetan Mastiff, which was crossed with a Viking bear dog in the first century. The Lab is thought to be descended from dogs abandoned by European fisherman.

In 2003, police in Warwickshire , England , opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. The dog had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had quite clearly been abused. In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a female greyhound, to the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary. Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It would not matter if it were a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting animal. Jasmine would just peer into the box or cage and, when and where possible, deliver a welcoming lick. Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and fifteen rabbits - and one roe deer fawn. See the full story and photos at: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/jasmine.asp

The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5? tall at the shoulder; 3.5? from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces.

Rin Tin Tin was part of a litter discovered in 1918 by an American soldier while serving abroad in World War I. He smuggled the pup into the U.S. from France, and trained him to jump so high he stood out from the many other German shepherd then working in Hollywood. His breakthrough film was Where the North Begins, based on a script by Duncan. He turned out to be one of Warner Brothers' most profitable commodities, and lived to the age of 14.

There are several species of squirrels, including the grey and black, which are actually the same. They're sociable animals who live near deciduous trees, and we've hosted a family of black squirrels in our big maple tree for many years. Their relationship with Simon Teakettle II (Tiki) is on the Cat Facts page. For more about squirrels, click HERE.

Monogamy, a pair-bond between a single male and female, is comparatively rare among mammals. Small songbirds, such as sparrows and warblers, are annually monogamous, forming new bonds each mating season. Perennially monogamous animals include: ducks, eagles, geese, swans, gibbons, lynx, marmosets, mountain lions, wolves, foxes, and beaver.

Bob & Frances Walker have built what Publisher's Weekly has called, the ultimate cat-friendly fantasyland. See "the Cat House" at their website, where you can use your mouse to track the cat paths through the floor plan, buy their books, and take the tour.

The Elephant Listening Project at Cornell University has classified elephant sounds into distinct categories. These range from greetings, to protests, to reassurance, to annoyance, to get out of my way. But it turns out these vocalizations are just a tiny fraction of the sounds elephants make. Bob Simon, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, investigated this, and discovered that elephants talk to each other. They communicate in their own secret language, most of which is inaudible to humans because it is infrasonic. He also noticed that there's a protocol to meeting an elephant. He will offer up his trunk and he expects you to blow into it. That way, he will remember you forever.

Elephants have a unique way of walking. Recent research indicates that they move each leg independently. Cats walk by moving their front and back legs on one side, then the other side. That is, the right hind leg moves forward, then the right foreleg; then the sequence is repeated on the left side. Only camels and giraffes move in the same way. Also, cats can rotate their front legs back and forth at a much greater range than other mammals. The elephant is the only animal with 4 knees.

An elephant’s trunk is extremely complex and sensitive, capable of performing delicate functions like picking up a coin from a flat surface or cracking open a peanut, blowing away the shell, and putting the kernel in its mouth.

The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.

The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry.

Most people have more than 1,460 dreams every year. Animals also dream, although it's hard to tell what these contain. Simon II (Tiki), however, was a rescued feral kitten, and often had dreams that disturbed his sleep sufficiently to cause him to twitch as if he was trying to escape from something frightening. Terzo's naps, on the other hand, are always tranquil.

The “nine lives” attributed to cats is probably due to their having nine primary whiskers.

Camelids are a species of two-hoofed mammals related to the camel and the dromedary. They include the llama, which is quite a bit taller than the alpaca. They hum when they congregate, and hiss and spit when they get into fights. See Brinks, who made it into the calendar put out by the Fort Smith Animal Shelter in the NWT, in Terzo's blog (August 13).

An African grey parrot named Alex was trained by scientist Irene Pepperberg to count, recognize shapes and colors, and identify different textures like wool, wood, and paper. Before he died, he had mastered more than 100 English words. Pepperberg has described her experiments in a book called Alex & Me, published by Harper Collins.

A parrot in Japan who escaped from his cage was brought to a veterinary hospital, where he told the staff his name and address. “I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs. The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day. Cats and grey parrots probably have just as many questions, but can't find the words to express them!

After observing the Kanyawara group of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park in Uganda for more than a decade, researchers have concluded that differences in their play behavior may be gender-driven. Over a hundred instances of young female chimpanzees playing with sticks as though they were dolls were observed over the years. This sort of behavior was very rarely observed in young males. They typically used sticks as weapons, shaking them to intimidate playmates.

Recent research indicates that the reason why chimps can't speak has to do with a single gene that has two extra amino acids in humans. When this gene mutates, humans have difficulty with language. Evidently this gene doesn't function well in chimps. That may mean that chimps have the ability to compose rational thoughts, just not the means to express them, except by gestures, actions, and vocal sounds.

Could this be the case in other animals as well? Maybe those of us who think our cats, dogs, horses, parrots, and other domesticated animals (including the very intelligent pig) have the ability to form complex thoughts are not so silly after all.

Most of us had heard of the famous lowland gorilla, Koko, who was taught American Sign Language when she was about a year old. There were many stories about how she adopted a kitten. Now, at 40 years old, she has a working vocabulary of more than 1000 signs and understands about 2000 words of spoken English. Most remarkable is that she is always learning, and creates signs for new things in her environment. She often strings signs together to express something new, so that a hair brush became scratch comb, and a ring became a finger bracelet.

Hyenas communicate clues about their social rank in the "laughing" sounds they make. Pitch reveals age, and the "notes" and their frequency denote whether the hyena is dominant or submissive. They can call each other for help in hunting or defending their food from lions.

Scientists have identified more than 800 genes in the zebra finch that reveal the tiny birds learn to sing in a similar way to how human babies learn to speak. There's a possibility that this might lead to finding genetic components related to human speech disorders, such as autism and stuttering.

Many animals have what appear to be human-like impulses in their brain's higher centers. Researchers have identified seven basic emotional drives common to both humans and mammals in sections of the mid-brain called the PAG (periaqueductal gray). These include basic emotions, such as fear, rage, lust, and separation-distress, but also the desire to nurture and be nurtured, the drive to play, grief, despair, sadness, and joy. Some examples include elephants, who keep vigil over the dead, and have been known to collect the scattered bones of the dead family and friends.

In a basic numeracy test, long-tailed macaque monkeys were able to understand relative quantities and to point out which of two plates contained more pebbles. Researchers initially performed the test using raisins, which the monkeys would then be fed as a reward; however, the monkeys’ impulsive desire to eat the raisins impaired their judgment, and they frequently chose wrong on that test. Once researchers swapped out the raisins for inedible items, the monkeys were able to successfully complete the task.

Some grey parrots are as smart as a five-year-old child. A grey parrot who shares a birthday with Terzo (Simon Teakettle III) is Mrs. Doyle. Read about her on Terzo's blog.

There are more insects in one square mile of rural land there are humans in the entire world.

Bears are three-gaited, meaning they walk, lope or gallop. It has been reported that a grizzly bear can run nearly as fast as a horse (33-34 mph) for a distance of 50 to 100 yards. This is definitely faster than a human being. The lope, slower than the gallop, is an easy, ground-covering, bounding gait that does not seem to tire the bear and can be maintained for a long time.

Swiss biologists determined that stupid flies live longer than smart flies because intelligence wears out flies' brains. Canadian researchers claim that straining to recall information which seems to be “on the tip of my tongue” makes us learn mistaken guesses instead of the correct answers we may (or may not) eventually remember. (source: Harper's)

One in two mammal species on Earth are in decline and at least one in four are at risk of disappearing forever, according to a scientific survey which described the trend as an "extinction crisis in the making."

James Spratt, an Ohio electrician, who had gone to England to sell lightning rods in 1860, saw British dogs being fed old ship biscuits, and thought he could make a better biscuit. His formulation, based on guesswork, not science, succeeded and he soon had a thriving business among English gentlemen who owned sporting dogs. In 1890 the company went public and came to the US. Thus, an American lightning rod salesman started the entire pet food business. (written by Barbara Moss, www.barbcat.myweb.com/myweb/)

According to a recent survey:
Dog people: 15% more likely to be extroverts; cat people: 11% more likely to be introverts.
Dog people: 30% more likely to enjoy slapstick humor and impressions; cat people: 21% more likely to enjoy ironic humor and puns.
Dog people: 67% more likely to call animal control if they happen upon stray kittens; Cat people: 21% more likely to try to rescue stray kittens.
Dog people: 11% more likely to say they'd support cloning, but only for animals or pets; Cat people: 17% more likely to have completed a graduate degree.
Both dog and cat people: talk to animals of all kinds, are equally likely to have a four-year degree, and dislike animal-print clothing.

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