It’s hard to say what it is about animals that we love the most their cute or beautiful looks, their natural innocence or the emotional reactions that they elicit from us. But whatever the case may be, one of these 30 happy animal facts is bound to bring a smile to your face.
A lot of these facts also underscore the similarities and emotional connections that people can share with animals, which raises a broader and more interesting question what is it about animals that we love so much?
According to scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Los Angeles, humans experience an emotional reaction to animals (both cute and dangerous) in a very old and basic part of their brain called the Alameda. The Alameda is involved with emotion, emotional learning and the formation of memories. So it could be that our appreciation for animals stems from an ancient need to evaluate whether these animals were friends or foes. And it could be that they react in just the same way to us.
1.Housefly
Houseflies don’t allow their short lifespans (14 days) to hinder their musical abilities. They always hum in the key of F.
2.Ostrich
Ostriches can run faster than horses, and the male ostriches can roar like lions.
3.Bat
Bats are the only mammals that can fly, but wouldn’t it be awesome if humans could fly too?
4.Kangaroo
Kangaroos use their tails for balance, so if you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t hop.
5.Spider
On average, there are 50,000 spiders per acre in green areas. Bet you’ll think twice before going outside now – unless you’re this guy.
6.Tiger
Tigers not only have stripes on their fur, but they also have them on their skin. No two tigers ever have the same stripes.
7.Crocodile
8.Flea
Fleas can jump up to 200 times their height. This is equivalent to a man jumping the Empire State Building in New York.
9.Cat
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. All the better for them to eavesdrop on your conversations and plot your demise.
10.Dog
When playing with female puppies, male puppies will often let them win, even if they have a physical advantage. Dogs’ nose prints are as unique as human fingerprints and can be used to identify them.
11.Elephant
Elephants can smell water up to 3 miles away. They are also one of the three mammals that undergo menopause – the other two being humpback whales and human females.
12.Turtles
Turtles can breathe through their butts. You can tell a turtle’s gender by the noise it makes. Males grunt and females hiss.
13.Penguins
Gentoo penguins propose to their life mates with a pebble. Norway knighted a penguin.
14.Koala
15.Beaver
16.Ant
Beware an ant uprising! There are one million ants for every human in the world. These resilient creatures also never sleep and do not have lungs.
17.Oyster
Oysters can change gender depending on which is best for mating. Talk about successful adaptation.
18.Butterfly
Butterflies have two compound eyes consisting of thousands of lenses, yet they can only see the colors red, green and yellow. Butterflies taste with their feet.
19.Snail
Don’t try this at home, but a snail can grow back a new eye if it loses one.
20.Giraffe
Giraffes have no vocal cords and their tongues are blue-black in color.
21.Squirrel
You might want to thank a squirrel the next time you enjoy the shade of a tree. Millions of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels that bury nuts and then forget where they hid them.
22.Blue Whale
Humpback whales create the loudest sound of any mammal. And you thought the loudest sound came from that two-year-old you sat next to on your trans-continental flight, didn’t you?
23.Seahorse
Seahorses mate for life, and when they travel they hold each others’ tails.
24.Hummingbird
25.Panda
In China, killing a Panda is punishable by death.
26.Dolphins
Dolphins have names for each other.
27.Puffins
Puffins mate for life. They make their homes on cliff sides and set aside room for their toilet.
28.Cows
A study measuring the effects of music found that cows produce more milk when listening to soothing music. They produce the most when listening to R.E.M’s “Everybody Hurts.”
29.Macaques
30.shrew
The closest relatives to the elephant shrew are actually elephants, not shrews.
31.jellyfish
Turritopsis nutricula Immortal jellyfish is the only species known to live forever.
32.Crows
Long-time bird watcher and nature writer Candace Savage has observed that crows are so intelligent they can play pranks on each other.
34.Camel
Camels can drink up to 40 gallons of water in one go.
Bees are the only insect in the world that make food that people can eat.
33.Owls
Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.
34.Camel
Camels can drink up to 40 gallons of water in one go.35.Bees
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
John Muir
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