Fun animal facts

• Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million relatives.

• The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can be detected over 800 kilometres away.

• Horses and cows sleep while standing up.

• Giant Arctic jellyfish have tentacles that can reach over 36 metres in length.

• Locusts have leg muscles that are about 1000 times more powerful than an equal weight of human muscle.

• Hummingbirds are so agile and have such good control that they can fly backwards.

• Instead of bones, sharks have a skeleton made from cartilage.

• Insects such as bees, mosquitoes and cicadas make noise by rapidly moving their wings.

• The horn of a rhinoceros is made from compacted hair rather than bone or another substance.

• Sharks lay the biggest eggs in the world.

• Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.

• Unlike humans, sheep have four stomachs, each one helps them digest the food they eat.

• Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears fur (which is transparent), it actually has black skin.

• As well as being a famous Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal that is only found in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.

• The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks.

• Mosquitoes can be annoying insects but did you know that it’s only the female mosquito that actually bites humans.

• Cats use their whiskers to check whether a space is too small for them to fit through or not.