Animal Fun Trivia

Since my children's book, Animal Sound Mix-up, is about animals and the sounds they make getting mixed up, I thought it would be fun to see what kind of animal trivia I could discover and share with you. Here are a few I didn't know about, did you? The illustrations are by Kit Grady and can be found in Animal Sound Mix-up.

Illustration © Kit Grady

• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, dogs only have about ten. 
• Roosters can't crow unless they can fully extend their necks. 
• A duck's quack doesn't echo.
• A dolphin's hearing is so acute it can pick up underwater sounds from fifteen miles away.
• Crickets hear through their knees.
• Giraffes don't have vocal cords. (I'm glad to know that one since no one I've asked has been able to come up with the sound a giraffe makes!)

Illustration © Kit Grady 

• The fingerprints of koala bears are almost indistinguishable from those of humans, enough that they could be confused at a crime scene.
• The bottom of a horse's hoof is called a frog. 
• A donkey's eyes are placed in its head so that it can see all four feet at all times.

 Illustration © Kit Grady

• Camels have three eyelids for protection from blowing sand.
• Kiwi birds are blind and hunt by smell. 
• When opossums are playing opossum, they aren't "playing" but actually pass out from sheer terror.
• An elephant can be pregnant for up to two years. Elephants walk on tip-toe because the back part of their feet is made up of all fat and has no bones.

 Illustration © Kit Grady

• The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. 
• The bones of a pigeon weigh less than its feathers.
• Camel hair brushes are made from squirrel hair.
• Bees have to collect nectar from 2,000 flowers to make one tablespoonful of honey.

You can read these and many other bits of animal trivia on Animal Trivia and Useless Facts.

I don't think the animals in Animal Sound Mix-up know these facts either. They can't even get the sounds they make right! Do you know any other interesting animal facts?