Why Doesn't My Cat Roar?: Mind-Blowing Facts About Animals

HOW STRONG ARE RATS?

Rats are so tough that they can fall from the fifth floor of a building and walk away unharmed.

DID YOU KNOW?

Rats’ teeth are so strong that they can bite through wood, metal, and electric cables. Not good news if they’re in your attic, then!

HOW LONG DO A RAT’S TEETH GROW?

A rat’s teeth grow continuously during its life. If it didn’t keep chewing, its lower teeth would eventually grow through its top jaw and through the roof of its mouth.

CAN RATS SWIM?

Rats can tread water for three days and swim for 0.8km (half a mile) without a rest.

DO RAT TAILS GET TANGLED?

Rats that hibernate together sometimes get their tails tied up in a big knot. If the rats urinate over themselves in the winter, they can freeze together in a block!

HOW MANY BABIES DO RATS HAVE?

In just 18 months, two rats can have between 2-3 million babies.

HOW MUCH BLOOD DO VAMPIRE BATS DRINK?

A vampire bat can drink half its own body weight in blood every day.

HOW MUCH FRUIT DO FRUIT BATS EAT?

A plague of flying foxes (fruit bats) has been known to consume an entire orchard in just one night!

DID YOU KNOW?

Vampire bats are surprisingly thoughtful. If a bat is too ill to go out and feed, another bat will suck blood all night, come home, and vomit it over the sick bat so that it doesn’t miss out on a meal. How kind!

HOW MANY BUGS DO BATS EAT?

Just a single bat can eat between 3,000 and 7,000 mosquitoes in a night. A colony of 500 of the flying fiends can munch their way through a quarter of a million bugs in an hour.

WHAT USE IS BAT POOP?

Bracken Cave in Texas, USA, is home to 20 million bats. The floor is caked in a thick layer of bat feces that the locals collect to use as fertilizer.

DID YOU KNOW?

West African woolly bats are so small that they live in large spiderwebs.

WHY DOES A SKINK LOSE ITS TAIL?

The Polynesian skink (a small lizard) has a bright blue tail which it can shed if it is attacked. The tail continues wriggling after the lizard has gone, keeping the predator distracted.

DID YOU KNOW?

A chameleon can look in two directions at the same time because its eyes can move separately.

HOW DO CHAMELEONS CATCH BUGS?

Some chameleons have long tongues with a sticky, goo-covered lump on the end that they shoot out to snatch insects.

HOW MANY TEETH DOES AN ALLIGATOR HAVE?

An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in its lifetime. Maybe somebody should teach them to brush properly!

DID YOU KNOW?

A crocodile can’t stick out its tongue.

HOW DO CROCODILES EAT?

Crocodiles can’t chew their food. Instead, they hold their prey and then twist their bodies and teeth around it to tear off chunks of flesh.

HOW MANY TEETH DOES AN ELEPHANT HAVE?

An elephant has