Hey, I'm talking to you! Photo courtesy of Bigstock

Fun Animal Facts about Pets

1. Adult cats only meow at humans, not at other cats.

2. There are over 400 million dogs in the world. (That's about 1 dog for every 20 people!)

3. Dogs and cats have unique nose prints, just like human fingerprints.

4. Dogs are not colorblind, but they can’t see red. Dog vision only includes shades of yellow and blue.

5. Rats are ticklish, and they laugh when they are tickled.

6. Cats can rotate their ears 180 degrees—from pointing directly forward to all the way back.

7. A dog’s sense of smell is over 10,000 times better than a human’s.

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Why did the baby T-rex cross the road? Photo courtesy of Flamig Farm 

A-moo-zing Fun Facts about Animals on the Farm

8. The chicken is the closest living relative to the T-Rex. 

9. Cows have best friends, and they get stressed when they are separated.

10. Goats and sheep don’t have any teeth on their upper jaw, only a row of lower teeth.

11. Horses and cows can sleep standing up. 

12. A baby lamb can identify its mother by her unique bleating (baaaah) sound.

13. Some chickens lay eggs that are green or even blue! 

14. Pigs are one of the most intelligent non-human animals (after chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants). 

15. A horse’s leg is essentially one big finger, and its hoof is a giant fingernail.

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Why isn't it schools of octopuses if they're so brainy? Photo courtesy of Oceana Canada

Fishy Fun Animal Facts from Under the Sea 

16. Octopuses have nine brains. (And cows have four stomachs!) 

17. Male seahorses are the ones who are pregnant and give birth, not the females. 

18. Sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don’t drift apart.

19. Great white sharks have over 300 teeth arranged in up to seven rows, and they grow new teeth almost constantly. 

20. Green sea turtles can go over 4 hours without coming up for air. If they’re sleeping, they can stay underwater for more than seven hours. 

21. Jellyfish have no brain, heart, bones, or eyes, and they’ve been around since before the dinosaurs. 

22. Horseshoe crab blood is blue! 

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Whooooooo you looking at? Photo courtesy of the Houston Audubon Raptor & Education Center

Fun Animal Facts about Birds 

23. Barn owls are completely silent when they fly, thanks to their special feathers.

24. Peregrine falcons can dive up to 236 miles per hour—that’s three-and-a-half times as fast as a Cheetah! 

25. Hummingbirds lay some of the smallest eggs of any bird—the smallest are the size of a pea.

26. Owls can turn their heads almost 360 degrees (a complete circle) but they cannot move their eyes. 

27. Mockingbirds can imitate many sounds, from a squeaking door to a cat meowing. 

28. Some species of birds, including crows and pigeons, can recognize human faces. 

29. Hummingbirds can fly backward, but kangaroos cannot walk backward.

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Elephants can self-soothe with their trunks! Photo by Pixabay

Wild Fun Animal Facts about Wildlife

30. Baby elephants use their trunks the same way that baby humans use a pacifier. 

31. There are about 100,000 muscles in an elephant’s trunk, but not a single bone. Humans only have around 700 muscles in their entire bodies. 

32. You can hear a lion’s roar from a distance of 3 miles. 

33. Prairie dogs will “kiss” to identify each other. 

34. Female lions do about 90% of the hunting. 

35. Hippopotamus milk is pink. 

36. An ostrich’s eyes are bigger than its brain.

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Did you know a polar bear isn't white? Photo by Pixabay

Bear-y Interesting Animal Facts about Bears 

37. Polar bears are not white. Their fur is actually transparent, and their skin is black! They look white because of the way the light shines through their transparent fur. 

38. Grizzly bears can run up to 30 miles per hour—the fastest a human has ever run is 23 miles per hour. 

39. A polar bear can hold over 150 pounds of meat in its stomach. 

40. Koala bears aren’t actually bears at all! They’re marsupials, and are more closely related to kangaroos and opossums. 

41. Almost two-thirds of the bears in the world live in North America.

 
Can you imagine tasting things with your feet? Photo courtesy of the CT Science Center

Creepy-crawly Fun Facts about Bugs 

42. Butterflies taste with their feet.

43. Next to humans, mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on Earth. 

44. Snails can sleep for three years at a time. 

45. Fruit flies were the first living creatures to be sent into space.

46. Many species of bugs fart, but their farts are so tiny we can’t smell them.

Batty Fun Animal Facts about Bats 

47. Some bats can eat up to 1,000 insects in an hour. 

48. Bats are the only mammals that can fly, but their leg bones are so thin that it is almost impossible for them to walk. 

49. Pallid bats eat scorpions, and are immune to their stings! 

 
Baby Missy has a cute little belly button, just like a human baby! Photo courtesy of Tolga Bat Hospital, Australia

50. Just like humans, bats have belly buttons.