Animal Myths You Think Are Right… But You’re Wrong!
Animals are truly remarkable and there are many myths we have believed about them that are very wrong. From poisonous daddy long legs to the truth about the earthworm cuttings, here are the most popular myths about animals and where the myths came from.
11 The Poisonous “Spider”!
Spider! Most of us will run the other way at the mere mention of one!! They have long legs and their bite can be poisonous. Daddy long legs or harvesters have been clarified as dangerous too! The truth is other… daddy long legs is not a spider! their body is fused, not segmented like regular spiders. Their long legs don’t help their scary case either!! Anyway, daddy long legs are wrongly convicted as dangerous when in reality they don’t even have venom glands! They hunt and eat insets and that’s as dangerous as they get!
10 Bite Of The Komodo Dragon
On the top of list of animals, we don’t want to encounter during a vacation are sharks, crocodiles and of course Komodo dragons. The later one is only found in the islands of Indonesia. But its best known for its imposing size and its hunting style. The Komodo monitors as its also known hunts by biting its prey and lets the nasty bacteria accumulated on it mouth do the rest… or do they... Recently in 2009 it was revealed that Komodo dragons don’t actually have the nasty bacteria we have been told about. The university of Queensland discovered a venom gland the Komodo dragon inject its pray with before having its meal.
9 Momma Bird Will Reject Her Baby
When you were a kid you heard the adults tell you to not touch the baby animal as the mom would reject her baby if you did. That would be any baby critter including baby birds. The reality is that momma birds don’t actually have a develop sense of smell enough to smell you on her babies. The only bird who has a very developed sense of smell are vultures… and you don’t want to mess with them anyway. We probably were told this myth to protect the birds too from our grabby hands.
8 The 3 Second Memory Of A Fish
Wishing we had the memory of an elephant? There are many animals that have great memories, elephants, apes are great examples. They can remember friends they have not seen for decades. But how about your gold fish? We have been told that gold fish only remember 3 seconds, but according to studies, the opposite is true, gold fish can actually remember things from as far as a year later. Researchers have taught them to limbo, play fetch and even soccer! So next time you are going to feed Flipper, always feed him at the same time, your little friend will start to anticipate the feeding! and see what happens!
7 The Bad Garden Ant!
As you work on your garden on a sunny day, you want transplant your favorite flower and see an ants nest. If you don’t know much about ants, exterminating them would be your first thought. But just hold it for a minute. If you actually love your plant, then leave the ants be. They are actually doing a great job protecting your plants from predators, dispersing seeds and even more importantly, due to their nest right next to it, when it rains, your plant will increase water absorption and space for the roots to grow better! Flowers attract ants with their sweet nectar and some, like the peonies would not be able to open the breathtaking blooms if ants don’t help! So, thank you ants for the beautiful garden!
6 The Smelling Shark!
The movie Jaws did a job with the gorgeous great white sharks. Not only it scared us all of the water but also propagated the belief that sharks can smell a drop of your blood from miles away. In close quarters sharks can sniff you out blood really fast, but the ocean is too vast for the big white. So, although its not miles away, on a good day with the currents heading towards the shark, it can sniff blood from couple of football fields away. Okay, this is still kind of unsettling…
5 Burying Your Head Like An Ostrich!
What do you do if you don’t want to deal with an issue? The answer you may give is “to burry your head on the sand like an ostrich!” actually, Ostriches don’t burry their heads on the sand, they would not be able to breath if they did. But they do actually dig holes... in this case not for hiding out of fear but to make their nests. Couple of times a day, when ostriches need to turn the eggs, they lean their heads on the sand and use their beaks to rotate the eggs or feed the chicks... so, from afar, the optical illusion created the myth of the ostriches burying their heads!
4 One Worm In Half, Is…
Earthworms, another little animal we have been getting wrong all along. The myth says that if you cut a worm in half, you get two perfect and complete worms… Well, half way true… There is relative of the regular earthworm called the Planaria. This flat worm lives in salt and fresh water around the world and has the incredible ability to become as many planarians as its been cut into. So, if a Planaria gets cut into 100 pieces… you guest it, 100 new little planarians will be swimming in your fish tank!
3 Hanging By Its Tail
The only American marsupial, the opossum is fantastic for our ecosystem as it eats ticks and other vermin that are harmful for us humans. But, another myth we have been told for ages is that opossums hang by their tails. But hanging by its tail is not one of the tricks. Only babies can do it and only for few seconds. Opossum can use their tail when moving from one branch to the other. Hanging is not something that would help them survive at all… So, I guess the only mammal besides a monkey that likes to hand upside down would be bats!
2 Coackroaches: The Last Survivors
If there is a nuclear war, who will be the last one standing? According to pass down stories and perhaps not so well-informed science, the last animal standing is actually not the cockroach! they are tough little bugs and have survival skills that would surpass pretty much anything, cockroaches can stay submerged under water for a day and be headless for a week! But if there is a nuclear issue, roaches will perish just as fast as any other friendly critter. The sole survivor its actually a little wasp called the habrobracon. Sometimes the smaller, the mightier!
1 Not So Fast
Who’s the fastest animal? The cheetah has been in the list for the fastest animal... and this is partially true. On land, cheetahs can run up to 68MPH for short sprints! But, if we search for the fastest animal in the world, flying will speed thing up more! The fastest animal is actually the spine tailed swift! This little bird has been recorded to speeds of up to 69M/H. In the list of faster creatures, we also have the sailfish that has been swimming at a recorded speed of 68 MPH almost as fast as a cheetah! But not as fast as a bird…
