Animals and Creatures

Bizarre Fact #461:
Did you know...
To provide their young with all the comforts of home while growing up, ichneumon wasps lay their eggs in or on the bodies of host grubs. But there's a catch. The grubs are sometimes those of wood-boring insects hidden deep within tree trunks. How to reach them? Ichneumons' abdomens come equipped with an egg laying structure, or ovipositor harden with ionized manganese or zinc. "Some can drill as much as three inches into solid wood," says Donald Quicke of Britain’s Imperial College. When the wasps hatch, they chew their way out with mouth-parts also hardened with minerals from the grubs they ate.

Bizarre Fact #462:
Did you know...
To see at night as well as an owl, you would need eyeballs as big as a grapefruit.

Bizarre Fact #463:
Did you know...
Tropical ants, when a flood sweeps down on them, roll themselves into a huge living ball which drifts upon the water, with the young safe and dry at the core.

Bizarre Fact #464:
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Tuatara lizards, from New Zealand, have two eyes in the center of their heads and a third one on top of their heads.

Bizarre Fact #465:
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Unlike most cats, tigers love the water and can easily swim three or four miles.

Bizarre Fact #466:
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Until very recently, no centipede was found that did not have an ODD number of leg pairs. Usually the number varies from 15 to 191 pairs, all odd. No one knows why. However, Chris Kettle, a doctoral student in ecology, recently found a centipede with 48 pairs of legs, an even number. The remarkable discovery was presented to the International Congress of Myriapodology in Poland and featured in the science journal Trends in Genetics. Mr. Kettle suspects a genetic mutation is responsible for the even number of leg pairs.

Bizarre Fact #467:
Did you know...
Weighing approximately 13 pounds at birth, a baby caribou will double its weight in just 10 days.

Bizarre Fact #468:
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When a hippopotamus exerts itself, gets angry, or stays out of the water for too long, it exudes red sweatlike mucus through its skin.

Bizarre Fact #469:
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When reflected from bright lights (head lights) deer's eyes are orange, whereas cats and dogs are green. Rabbits eyes remain black.

Bizarre Fact #470:
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When two zebras stand side by side, they usually face in opposite directions. They say this is so they can keep an eye out for predators.