# Shocking and Amusing Animal Facts
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 23, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573 "2005-02-23T18:52:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/21 "2005-02-24T05:45:41Z")
> [@featherlou](#):
>
> If human eyes were the same size as cats’ eyes, relative to the size of our faces, they would be the size of softballs!
>
> (I love the mind-picture I always get when I think of that.)
So basically, we’d look like we stepped right out of Japanimation?
Just like humans, cats are generally right-handed or left-handed. Most cats, however, are southpaws.
And my personal favorite-cats do not need to be housebroken. Mama Cat shows her kittens where to do their business in the litterbox.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/22 "2005-02-24T06:26:27Z")
> [@Scarface Z](#):
>
> deep sea octopi come across each other very rarely, and so mating is often done at any chance they get rather than in a certain season or time frame. Because of the pitch black darkness, a male octopus often cannot see the other octopus; this sometimes results in a male octopus trying (and sometimes suceeding) to “donate” his sperm to another male. So that’s interesting…
:dubious: How would anyone know that?
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### Author:  [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/23 "2005-02-24T07:16:30Z")
When geckos think they are about to be caught or harmed, they can release their tails from their bodies to flee. The tail will continue to wiggle for several minutes afterward. The lizard will regrow its tail.
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### Author:  [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/24 "2005-02-24T13:18:10Z")
And, Marge,…Geckos Giggle. (Or make a sound _Like_ a giggle. Used to always have a few living with us, in Hawaii (Dey’s Good luck) Our favorite was named…Wait for it…“Buddy”…Buddy Gecko… 🙂
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### Author:  [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/25 "2005-02-24T13:51:27Z")
A duck’s quack
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echoes.
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### Author:  [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/26 "2005-02-24T13:59:18Z")
A strange and amusing animal fact pointed out to me by another doper in another thread: Horses are physically unable to vomit.
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### Author:  [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/27 "2005-02-24T14:14:36Z")
Cows allegedly can survive on nothing more than water, newsprint and urea. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/28 "2005-02-24T14:31:09Z")
I’m pretty stunned at how smart the octopus is. In labs they’ve been known to crawl out of their own containers, crawl over to another container, take food from it, close that container, crawl back to their own, and close their container lid. They seem to have good memories and may show evidence of observational learning.
They’re also good at mazes and opening jars.
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### Author:  [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/29 "2005-02-24T15:12:41Z")
The adult platypus is smaller than you think. It’s been my experience that most North Americans think the platypus is a medium-sized animal, like muskrat/raccoon/otter size. Nope. An average size would be about a foot long, which surprised me - I thought they’d be bigger. But, boy, aren’t they cute.
Koalas and wombats are social as younguns, then become more and more solitary as they age. They like to know that there’s another koala or wombat in the area, but they generally keep to themselves. This is why wombats, especially, don’t make good pets. But I will say that the wombat is the cutest thing I’d ever seen - I’d give my eyeteeth for one. And they’re a solid animal. They’re not huge (maybe small to medium dog sized) but they just seem to have a good deal of mass. Very solid. But very cute.
Everyone knows that Australia has 'roos. Some even know that there’s two kinds: the red and the gray. However, the land of Oz has a ton of different kinds of wallabys, which, while separate species, look a lot like miniature 'roos (in differing sizes, depending on the type). There’s roos everywhere (sorta)!
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/30 "2005-02-24T15:53:01Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> Of all the primates, humans have the largest penis.
the dolphins’ are prehensile.
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### Author:  [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/31 "2005-02-24T16:06:57Z")
A giraffe’s tongue is 21 inches long and prehensile. Just ask **Giraffe**
> [@Agrippina](#):
>
> Dolphins have been known to rape, and to bully weaker dolphins for fun.
Dolphins are also the only animals, alongside humans, who engage in recreational sex.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/32 "2005-02-24T16:18:11Z")
An adult humpback whale’s testicles weigh more than a ton and its penis is more than 10 feet long.
Where does one find a jock strap that large?
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### Author:  [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/33 "2005-02-24T16:21:58Z")
Scorpions glow under blacklight! (It’s very cool to see.)
That thing about humans and dolphins being the only animals to do the nasty for fun isn’t true. [The master speaks on the topic](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_198.html)
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/34 "2005-02-24T16:54:18Z")
> [@nocturnal\_tick](#):
>
> Dolphins are also the only animals, alongside humans, who engage in recreational sex.
Bonobos do as well.
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### Author:  [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/35 "2005-02-24T16:58:34Z")
> [@Snickers](#):
>
> The adult platypus is smaller than you think… An average size would be about a foot long, which surprised me - I thought they’d be bigger.
The size range is more typically between 1.5’ and 2’. See here.
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### Author:  [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/36 "2005-02-24T17:00:51Z")
Corrected [link](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ornithorhynchus_anatinus.html)
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### Author:  [@Scarface\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarface_Z)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/37 "2005-02-24T17:26:03Z")
An octopus can lift ten pounds of weight for every one pound of body mass. That means those 50 pound octopi at the aquarium need at least a 500 lb. weight on the lid of the tank! Probably even more just to be safe.
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### Author:  [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/38 "2005-02-24T18:51:00Z")
> [@Scribble](#):
>
> Scorpions glow under blacklight! (It’s very cool to see.)
I had forgotten about this!! Yes, it is very cool! I was once on an entomological trip in the desert where, at night, we used portable blacklights to attract moths. I took one of the lights on a wander out across the desert and was surprised at all the glowing scorpions.
1. There were many more than I had ever expected!
2. Some of them were clinging to the tumbleweeds and brush at around mid-calf height! And I had been blithely tromping around in shorts! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/39 "2005-02-24T19:09:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Cows allegedly can survive on nothing more than water, newsprint and urea.
I was surprised to read that a significant portion of a cow’s nutrition comes only indirectly from what they eat. More directly, it comes from the bodies of the bacteria that thrive in their first stomach. I don’t know what percentage of nutrients the bacteria represent, but as long as you feed the cow something that the bacteria can digest, the bacterial portion of their feed would be the same.
Oh, I read the following in a Star Trek novel. I’m prepared to have someone tell me it’s untrue. --\> You can get a cow drunk by feeding it apples. The apples ferment and produce alcohol in their stomach.
And, man, those are big beavers. My dog only weighs 68 lb. and she’s hard to lift.
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### Author:  [@DrLoveGun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLoveGun)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocking-and-amusing-animal-facts/291573/40 "2005-02-24T19:13:45Z")
Dolphins are also the only animals, alongside humans, who engage in recreational sex.
[/QUOTE]
Bonobos, also known as the pygmy chimpanzee engage in recreational sex, and they don’t care about gender.
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