Watch Out...They Bite! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Badger

Solution: BAD GERms

The badger is a member of the weasel family that has a coat that is generally a black and grey colour. This is a heavy-set mammal, that is omnivorous and nocturnal. Alternatively, to badger someone is to pester them, annoy them or "harass" them.

Answer: Bear

Solution: BE ARound

The bear is a carnivorous mammal of the Ursidae family. Yes, they are furry, but do not mistake a grizzly bear or a polar bear for being friendly and cuddly. On the other hand, bear (not bare) is a verb that means to endure something, hold up or support something... "carry that weight" in other words.

Answer: Snipe

Solution: SNIP Every

Snipes are wading birds of the genus Gallinago. There are 26 different species of the bird. Not that I would recommend that you do, but if you choose to go and hunt them, conceal yourself, and shoot accurately at them from long range... then you're sniping snipes. To snipe, it's just like "shooting someone".

Answer: Pig

Solution: pepPI Gorged

Another word that comes to us with multiple meanings. The pig is a mammal. Nowadays, it is domesticated and is kept for its meat... hmmm bacon. An omnivorous creature, it is hoofed, has a sparse sprinkling of hair and it possesses a snout to help it root out food. Informally, as a verb, to pig means to "gorge" out on food. "Oh look, he's made such a pig of himself". Alternatively, a person who is a bit of a slob can also be described as a pig.

Answer: Owl

Solution: somehOW Lenny

To owl, is an old term, that described the art of smuggling sheep or wool, primarily, out of England and across to France. Those that did the deed were called owlers. Owls are birds and there are over 200 species of them. They are birds of prey that are nocturnal in nature. Most of them have been adapted for "silent" flight, have sharp talons, extraordinary binocular vision and binaural hearing.

Answer: Ape

Solution: sAP Equals

Apes are large primates and good examples of these are gorillas and orangutans. You can throw in chimpanzees, though they're not as big, and gibbons into that mix. Informally, it could also mean that someone is big, clumsy and, possibly, not overly intelligent. In the alternate world, to ape someone is to mimic them, "imitate" them, though, usually, in some form of comical way.

Answer: Bat

Solution: tuBA Trumpet

The bat is a mammal of the order Chiroptera. It is the only mammal capable of sustained flight. But, bat (that's a mouthful) has a string of different meanings. It can be a stout stick. It can be a wooden implement that is used to strike a ball in various sports such as baseball. It can also mean to swat something away or, as mentioned above, to "flutter the eyelashes".

Answer: Crane

Solution: Le CRA NEarly

Cranes are birds from the Gruidae family and typically long-legged and long-necked. They are similar in make-up to herons, but you can spot the difference when they fly. Herons are likely to fly with their necks pulled back, whereas cranes will do so with their necks stretched out. Crane is also one of those greedy words that has, not one, not two but at least three different meanings. In the example above we had Pompadour Le Cra crane his neck out ("stretching his neck out"), possibly from a window, to get a glimpse of something. Thirdly, a crane is also a piece of machinery. It is generally a large piece of equipment used for moving heavy objects.

Answer: Rat

Solution: loweR A Traitor

There's an idiom that indicates that "rats desert a sinking ship", which is what the hint in the question was alluding to. In other words, to rat means to desert a party's or team's cause. It may also mean to reveal that team's secrets. In the creature world, a rat is a rodent that looks like a large mouse with a pointed nose and a tail.

As an aside, rat can be a cursing word that expresses a mild annoyance... "Rats! I missed it by that much".

Answer: Ferret

Solution: jenniFER RETains

We opened this quiz with a badger, it seems appropriate that we close with a ferret. The ferret belongs to the Mustelidae family, the same as the badger, and they share that family with stoat and the mink. Ferrets are a type of domesticated polecat who were mainly used to race into burrows and force out rabbits. But, when we use ferret as a verb, it means to look for something assiduously, in other words, you "rummage" about searching for something.