Animal Triva

Animal Trivia

Here are some more interesting and fascinating facts about animals.

Every year, we spend about 1.5 billion euros on pet food. This is four times more than the amount we spend on baby food.

Dragonflies are the fastest insects in the world, and they can fly about 80 kph. And while we’re on the subject of speed, just have a look at the following “Speed Table”, with the maximum speeds for a variety of animals… and a human:

Animal Speed Cheetah 112 kph Lion 80 kph Horse 72 kph Rabbit 56 kph Kangaroo 48 kph Human 42 kph Elephant 40 kph Spider 2 kph Snail 0.2 kph

Each year, hungry insects eat 1/3 of the Earth’s food crop.

German shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

Dolphins sleep at night just below the surface of the water. They often wake up for a bit of air.

The honeybee kills more people world-wide than all the poisonous snakes combined.

The largest animal ever seen alive was a 33-metre, 1,700-kilogram blue whale.

Pigs, walruses and light-coloured horses can all get sunburnt. So, don’t forget to buy some suntan cream for your pets - they need it too, you know.

Elephants can communicate using sounds that we humans can’t detect. This is because the sounds are below our hearing range, which is between 14 and 35 hertz.

The giant squid is the largest creature without a backbone. It can weigh up to 2,000 kilograms, and can grow up to 15 metres long. Each eye has a diameter of about 300 centimetres.

The average cat eats about 127,750 calories a year - nearly 28 times its own weight in food. Incidentally, cats cannot survive on a vegetarian diet. The largest egg in the world comes from the ostrich. These eggs are from 15 to 20 centimetres long, and take about 40 minutes to hard-boil.

The breed of dog known as the greyhound was “created” in Egypt about 5,000 years ago. In England it was bred by aristocrats to hunt hares.

Female chickens (hens) can make one egg in about 24 to 26 hours. A fit, healthy hen can start producing another egg just thirty minutes after laying an egg.

Pet parrots can eat just about any food that we eat, except for chocolate and avocado pears. In fact, both of these things can kill the parrot. So now you know - the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation with an awkward parrot, just offer it some chocolate.

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world. The smallest ones are the size of your thumb nail when fully-grown. In fact, they are so small that one of their enemies is an insect: the praying mantis. Incidentally, hummingbirds are the only birds that can hover, and fly up, down and backwards; however, they cannot walk.

George Washington’s favourite horse was named Lexington; Napoleon’s was named Marengo; and US President Grant had three favourites: Egypt, Cincinnati, and Jeff Davis.

Goldfish lose their colour if they are kept for long periods in dim light or in running water.

New Zealand’s national bird, the Kiwi, cannot fly, is almost blind and lays only one egg each year. It spends most of its life in a hole in the ground, but despite this, it has survived for more than 70 million years and had a fruit named after it.

G L O S S A R Y

pet food n food for animals. “Pets” are animals we keep at home a crop n a type of plant or cereal we grow in large quantities for food a breed (of dog) exp a type of dog such as a chow, pitbull and German shepherd to get sunburnt exp if you “get sunburnt”, your skin becomes red because you have been in the sun for too long below our hearing range n a sound that is too low for us to hear a squid n a large animal that lives in the sea and has 8 legs a backbone n the long bone in our back up to 2,000 kilograms exp any weight less than 2,000 kilograms a diameter n a line that goes through a circle, passing through the middle of it an average cat n a normal, ordinary cat to hard-boil (an egg) exp to put an egg in hot water until it becomes hard inside to breed vb if you “breed” animals, you keep these animals so they can produce babies that you can sell a hare n a type of large rabbit to lay an egg exp if a chicken “lays” an egg, an egg comes out of the chicken’s body an avocado pear n food that is green inside and has the shape of an ordinary pear. People often use avocados in salads or to make guacamole awkward adj with a difficult nature and personality a thumb n the big finger on your hand a nail n the hard object at the end of your finger to hover vb if a plane or bird “hovers” in the air, it stays in one position in the air dim light exp light that is not bright running water exp water that is moving constantly blind adj if you are “blind”, you cannot see to name after phr vb to give something the same name as another thing