Odd Animal Facts Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Squirrels have been known to attack humans (extremely rare - mostly in an attempt to get food).

It is exceedingly rare for a squirrel to contract rabies (with only a dozen documented cases in the US since 1950), and there are no known cases whereby a human being has contracted rabies as a result of a squirrel bite. So while caution is advised as always when dealing with wild animals, there really is no need to keep an eye out for those long, pointed teeth.

Answer: Rats cannot vomit

Rats are effective scavengers, and will eat a small amount of something and then wait. If there are no ill effects, they will continue to eat. Rats lack the ability to vomit, and are therefore unable to expel the poison from their bodies. The most effective poisons are tasteless and odourless in lethal doses.

Answer: The temperature of the nest in which the egg is hatched

Whether an alligator is a male or female is determined by the temperature of the nest where the egg is hatched - 90 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 to 33.8 degrees Celsius) will make it a male; 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (27.8 to 30 degrees Celsius) will make it a female.

Answer: Turn off the lights and examine the carpet with a black light

Having the carpet steam cleaned will probably solve the problem, but not identify the source. Sniffing out the area yourself will bring limited success, but the human nose isn't really equipped to exactly identify the source of the problem. Luminol would probably work, but would be expensive, and it is also thought to be a carcinogen. Black light technology makes use of special ultra-violet rays which are on the same wavelength as biological waste, such as cat urine, thus turning a tedious task into a breeze.

Other side uses for black lights include detection of ringworm.

Answer: Transparent

Polar bear fur is actually transparent. It looks white because of the way it reflects light, but in fact the skin underneath the fur is dark in colour. So don't judge a book by its colour.

Answer: They have inefficient digestive system and insufficient nutrients from their food source of choice (bamboo)

Pandas eat about 18 kg (40 pounds) of food each day. Bamboo is very low in nutritional value, and the panda is also unable to digest most of the bamboo, and the bulk of it will pass almost unprocessed through the digestive tract. I guess that too much fiber in one's diet can be a bad thing.

Answer: True

Pfiesteria piscicida is a plankton that can be found in brackish coastal waters from the Delaware Bay to North Carolina. Other Pfiesteria-like organisms occur along the southeast coast of the United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico.

Exposure to Pfiesteria toxins in the air, water, or fish at the site of an outbreak can cause skin irritation as well as short-term memory loss, confusion, and other cognitive impairments in people. It has been shown that similar human health effects can be caused by exposure to Pfiesteria toxins in a laboratory setting.

Answer: To establish rank in the herd

Llamas spit to uphold the social order in the herd. Spitting is used by llamas to settle arguments, establish dominance and pecking order, tell males that females are pregnant, discipline crias (baby llamas) and express fear or discomfort.

Llamas do not spit without some type of warning which can be easily read by a person or another llama. As an initial warning, a llama will put its ears back. If challenged further, a llama will pin its ears back very tightly and tilt its head back so that the nose is pointed up in the air. Often as a final warning a llama will spit into the air. If this has not yet convinced the other llama or person to back off, a llama may spit directly on whomever they are perceiving as a threat or nuisance.

There are some llamas, especially at petting zoos, which have been deliberately imprinted on people. These llamas see humans as if they were another llama and have no qualms about spitting on a person who might invade their space. A properly trained and socialized llama will not spit at people at any time, even during veterinary procedures. Most llama owners only meet with spit when they get caught in the crossfire of llamas spitting at each other.

Answer: All of them

And you were thinking of giving Polly a little extra something with her cracker! Avocados contain a toxin called persin, which has been shown to produce cardiac tissue damage, respiratory distress and mammary gland damage in a variety of animals - including horses, goats, sheep, dogs, cattle, rabbits, fish and birds. The toxin is more concentrated in the leaves, bark and seeds of avocados, and in low concentrations in the meat of the fruit. While perfectly safe for humans, can be deadly to your pet.

Given that the concentration is extremely low in the meat of the fruit, overindulging in the fruit can still lead to persin poisoning in humans. So I guess that there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" after all.

Answer: Poison arrow frog

Nasty little beasties, the lot of them. If you're bitten by the blue-ringed octopus (who's venom contains tetrodotoxin) no antidote can save you, and the venom of the box jellyfish, while deadly, is still treatable. The inland taipan from central Australia has the most potent venom of any land animal.

The poison arrow frog of South America, however, produces batrachotoxin - the most poisonous animal substance known to man. The lethal dose for a 68 kg (150 pound) person would be approximately 100 micrograms, or equivalent to the weight of two grains of ordinary (fine) table salt.