Just the Facts- Animal Edition Quiz

Answer: Become torpid

Bears do not really hibernate. Their metabolic rate is much higher than a true hibernator, and they can be woken up, unlike a true hibernator. They do become torpid- slow and unlikely to move.

Answer: Hares

Jackrabbits and snowshoe rabbits are hares. Hares, unlike rabbits, bear young that are fully-furred.

Answer: The diamondback rattlesnake

A very common vocabulary mistake is to confuse "poisonous" with "venomous." "Poisonous" means "toxic when ingested," "venomous" means "toxic when it bites you."

The pitohui is a strange little New Guinea bird whose feathers are coated with poison. The fugu is a Japanese delicacy that can kill if improperly prepared. Poison arrow frogs secrete toxins through glands in their skin.

Rattlesnakes are not toxic if ingested- like most strange animals, they are said to taste like chicken!

Answer: Either one- they are ambidextrous

It's a common myth that most polar bears are left-pawed, In reality, they are equally likely to use either paw.

Answer: None of these are harmful to birds

Rice is a grain like any other grain, and it won't harm birds. In fact, several birds, such as the rice finch, are named for their rice-eating ability!

Answer: They starve or are eaten by predators

It's a common misconception that lemmings commit suicide by throwing themselves into the sea. This myth was fostered by the Disney movie "White Wilderness", in which the filmmakers, to create a bit of drama, did indeed drive a horde of lemmings into the sea.

Answer: There is no special name- goldfish don't get pregnant

It's a common myth that "a pregnant goldfish is called a twit." For a very funny article on this spurious etymology, check out http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020329.html. Goldfish, like most fish, lay eggs that are fertilized outside of the female's body, so they cannot be pregnant, and there is no evidence that "twit" was ever used as a term for a fish in a family way.

Answer: One

The rumor, of course, is that the stegosaurus, whose brain was roughly the size of a walnut, had a separate "brain" in its hindquarters to run its hind end. However, contemporary research has shown that the space supposedly occupied by the "brain" actually housed nerves running into the spinal cord.

Answer: Get under shelter if they can

It's a common myth that "turkeys are so stupid that when it rains, they look up at the sky with their beaks open and drown." In reality, exposure deaths on turkey farms are not due to the stupidity of the birds, but to lack of shelter.

Answer: No one has studied this earthshaking phenomenon

It's a common myth that they fall on their right sides. This topic was discussed at some length on the The Ant Farm's and Myrmecology's Message Board. The entomologists who participated in this discussion were uniform in their skepticism of this "fact" and several suggested that the average ant is a teetotaler anyway.