Why do cats eyes shines at night?

Cat's Eyes

Most of us have seen a cat’s eyes glowing beside the road at night.  The glow is simply a reflection of a car’s headlight.  The back of a cat’s eye is lined with a special mirror-like material called “tapetum.”  

This shiny layer helps the cat to see in dim light by catching even the faintest gleam of light and concentrating it on the retina.  It also reflects the light of a car’s headlights and causes the cat’s eyes to glow brightly.  

The cat’s special kind of eyesight allows it to do most of its hunting at night.  A cat cannot see in complete darkness any more than we are.  – Dick Rogers

Why do snakes stick out their tongues?

The old belief that a snake stings with its tongue isn’t true.  The flickering tongue is actually a delicate sense organ that helps the snake to smell.  A snake’s tongue is long and forked at the end.  It darts through a small hole in the front of the snake’s mouth.  

As the snake moves along the ground, its flickering tongue senses odors in the air.  The tongue relays the information to special organs in the mouth which are linked to the snake’s sense of smell.  By picking up the odors, the tongue helps the snake to locate food and sense the presence of enemies. – Dick Rogers

What Is A Killer Whale?

Killer whale is the name of a large porpoise.  It gets its name from the popular belief that it is a blood-thirsty killer.  It has a glossy black back and a white underside.  These creatures often measure 30 feet in length and can weigh 10 tons.

Killer Whale

Killer whales get their name from the widely held belief that they will attack any creature in the sea – and, like man, are some of the few animals that kill for sport.  Though they have the reputation as killers, killer whales have not been known to attack swimming men or boats.  

Killer whales often hunt in packs, and will attack other whales many times their own size.  Their mouths and throats are big enough to swallow seals, penguins, and young walruses whole.  Only the tusked adult walrus holds the killer at bay.

When killer whales see a seal on a floating chunk of ice, they rush up under the ice and crash into it, knocking the victim into the water.  Killer whales also feed on fish and even sea birds.  Killer whales are found in all the oceans of the world, but prefer to live in the cold arctic and Antarctic waters.-Dick Rogers

How do gecko lizards walk on ceilings?

Gecko Lizard

Gecko has the ability to walk on walls and ceilings due to special adhesive pads on their feet.  These small lizards live in warm climates.  They have wide-spreading toes.  Each toe ends in a pad and hidden claw.  

These toe pads, made up of thousands of tiny suction cups, enable the gecko to cling to any smooth surface—even glass.  The claws can be moved out like those of a can, and are used on rough surfaces.  

The gecko’s grip is so good that it can scamper easily over walls, ceilings, and windowpanes while watching for insects and other prey.–Dick Rogers

Does an ostrich hide its head when it is frightened?

Ostrich

No, an ostrich doesn’t hide its head when it is frightened.  According to this old belief, the ostrich hides its head in the sand to escape danger, because it feels it is safely hidden.

What this tall bird actually does when it sights possible danger is lie flat on the ground with its long neck stretched out, thus producing a low profile.  And enemy may not be able to see the ostrich when it is in this position.  

If danger comes too near, the ostrich runs off at top speed.  Although an ostrich cannot fly, it can run as fast as 40 miles an hour, and can easily outrun most of its enemies.–Dick Rogers

How Do Snakes Move?

Snake

Despite the fact that they have no legs, snakes are able to move and get along very well indeed.  Most snakes slither along in a serpentine motion—pushing against the ground and weaving forward in  a series of graceful, S-shaped curves.  

Many large, heavy snakes crawl straight ahead like a caterpillar, pushing with their belly scales and humping along.  Snakes called “sidewinders” live in the desert where the sand is too loose to push against.  

This kind of snake moves in a series of sideways loops.  Snakes climb well, too.  And, oddly enough, they all can swim. – Dick Rogers

What are tails for?

Tails

The tails of animals are good for many things.  Jumping animals, such as cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance.  Many monkeys use their long tails to help them climb trees.  

Horses and cows swish away pesky insects with their tails. A fish swims with its tail, of course, and so do many other water creatures.  A bird without a tail would have a hard time taking of and landing. 

Dogs give special messages to other dogs by wagging their tails.  One kind of wag means, “I’m happy to see you.”  Another means, “I’m the boss around here.”–Dick Rogers

Why do dogs bury bones?

Dog

When a dog buries a bone, it is probably following an age-old habit of burying food for safekeeping. The ancestors of dogs were wild animals that lived outside. These animals had to hunt for their food.

They often buried the food they couldn’t finish eating in a meal, hiding it from scavengers.  This also enabled the wild dogs to have a leftovers for a future meal.  Modern house dogs are still born with this instinct to bury food, even though it is no longer necessary.  

When burying a bone, a dog digs the hole with its front feet, but covers the bone with its nose.–Dick Rogers

How can birds perch on electric wires without getting shocked?

Birds

A bird doesn’t receive a shock when it lands on an electric wire because it lands on only one wire.  Electricity takes the path of least resistance—it flows through some materials much more easily than others.  

It is simply easier for the electricity to continue along the metal wire than it is for it to detour through the bird.  If the bird landed on two wires with different voltages, however, the electricity would flow through the bird from the wire with the higher voltage to the wire with the lower voltage, and the bird would be electrocuted.–Dick Rogers

How do birds fly?

Bird

Most birds are well suited for flying.  First of all, a bird has feathers and wings, and powerful muscles in its breast with which to flat them.  A bird’s body is streamlined to other little air resistance. Its bones are light in weight. Many of them are hollow and filled with air. 

When a bird beats its wings downward, it produces a lifting force that holds the bird in the air.  As the wings flap downward to flight, the long wingtip feathers twist and push against the air, moving the bird forward.  The bird uses its tail feathers as a brake and as a rudder for steering. – Dick Rogers

Why do owls come out at night?

Owl

Owls are creatures that few people ever see.  This is because most owls, like many animals, are nocturnal in their habits—they are most active at night.  Most owls hunt at night because they feed on mice and other small creatures that are also nocturnal.  The owl is well equipped for night hunting. 

It has large eyes and can see well in the dark. Its ears are so sensitive that it can hear a mouse scamper over the ground many yards away.  And its feathers are so soft that there is hardly a sounds as it swoops down to capture its prey in its talons.– Dick Rogers

Do insects have bones?

Insects

If you could look inside an insect’s body, you wouldn’t see any bones. But insects do have skeletons!  Insects differ from creatures with back-bones, such as humans, horses, dogs and fishes.  These animals have hard skeletons inside their bodies. Your skeleton is made of bone, and the rest of your body is shaped around it. 

An insect’s skeleton though, is a tough outer shell.  It provides support and protection for the insect’s soft insides.  Some insects, especially beetles have hard, heavy skeletons.  Others, such as butterflies have light, thin skeleton. – Dick Rogers

Are Elephants Afraid Of Mice?

Elephant and Mice

It is amusing to think that a tiny mouse can frighten the huge elephant.  The reason, supposedly, is that a mouse could crawl into the elephant’s trunk and this might suffocate the elephant.  The truth is, that although mice are often seen running about in an elephant stall, the elephant shows no fear of them at all. 

Since the elephant’s nose is a double barreled tube, it would be impossible for a mouse to suffocate an elephant by crawling into its trunk.  But should a mouse ever try, the elephant would simply blow the mouse out with a might sneeze. – Dick Rogers

Why Does Not A Spider Get Caught In Its Own Web?

Spider Web

Spiders build their webs to trap flies and other insects for food.  An insect is unable to escape once it has become caught in the spider’s web.  The more the insect struggles, the more it becomes entangled in the sticky threads. A spider’s silk is strong enough that most insects cannot break through it. 

A web-spinning spider does not become caught in its own web.  When walking across the web, it grasps the silk threads with special hooked claw on each foot.  The spider also secretes an oily liquid onto its legs and feet that prevent the sticky silk from sticking to its body. – Dick Rogers

Why are piranha fish so dangerous?

Piranha Fish

In South American rivers swims one of the world’s most dangerous fish—the piranha.  This savage fish is only ten or so inches long, but its teeth are so sharp and its jaws are so strong. 

It can chop a piece of flesh from an animal or a human as neatly as a razor. Piranhas often travel in schools of several hundred. 

Their diet usually consists of other fish.  But if an animal happens to be in the water near a school of hungry piranhas, they attack and devour it instantly.  Animals as bit as a horse have been eaten down to a bare skeleton in only a few minutes. – Dick Rogers

How does coral grow?

Corals

Beneath the surface of the sea lie coral formations of many shapes and colors.  The formations may look like branching trees tinted green or lavender, lacy sea fans, or even like tiny organ pipes.  

Coral is formed by millions of tiny sea animals called “coral polyps.”  Coral polyps look much like little flowers. 

They wave food into their mouths with a circle of tiny tentacles.  Young coral polyps attach themselves to older ones and build limy, cup-like skeletons around their soft bodies.  When the polyps die, their hard skeletons remain as part of the growing coral formations. – Dick Rogers

How does a clam make its shell?

Shell of a Clam

If you have ever examined a clam shell, you may have wondered how the shell got bigger as the clam grew.  A clam is born with a shell just the right size for its body.  Inside the protecting shell of the living animal is a fleshy layer of tissue called the “mantle.”  

The mantle oozes a limy shell liquid which quickly hardens and becomes part of the shell.  As long as a clam grows, its shell also grows.  The food that a clam eats provides the minerals that form the shell.  The hard shell serves as a clam’s skeleton, and the soft animal inside can never leave it.–Dick Rogers

Where do bees go in the winter?

Bees spend the winter huddled together in their hives.  Inside the hive, the bees move about slowly, eating the extra honey that they stored during the busy summer season, and buzzing their wings to keep warm.  If a bee becomes too cold, it cannot move and thus, soon dies.  

Before the end of winter, the queen bee begins to lay eggs again, and in the spring, all the busy activities of the hive are resumed.  In warm climates, however, where there is something in flower the year round, honeybees remains active, making honey in every season.–Dick Rogers

What are the whiskers for an animal’s face?

Tikoy - My Dog

The whiskers on an animal’s face are organs of touch.  They help the animal sense what going on around it.  Scientists call whiskers vibrissae (vi-BRIS-see). These long, sensitive hairs are most helpful to animals that prowl about in dark places.  

A cat’s whiskers brush against objects the cat might not see as it hunts at night.  Whiskers help some animals find food.  The whiskers on a seal’s face are helpful in detecting fish in the dark or cloudy water.  And the thick whiskers on a walrus’s upper lip help it to feel for clams in the ocean bottom.–Dick Rogers