10 facts you never knew about animals!

Animals are incredible creatures. They do so much for the Planet. They provide source material for cute animal videos. There are some hazardous and incredibly adorable animals. But here are 10 facts you never knew about animals!

1- Wombats

To kick things off let’s start by talking about one of my favourite subjects. Poo. Wombat poo is the shape of a cube. I suppose it would mean they could build a house out of it afterwards. If you lived with a wombat you certainly wouldn’t have any trouble knowing who hadn’t flushed the toilet after they’d finished.

2- Cows

Speaking of poo did you know that cows poo up to 15 times a day? So the next time you head to the shop and there’s no toilet paper left you can probably guess where it’s all gone. Cow poo is put to good use, however, we use it for fertilising crops and for pulling pancake pranks. Either way- cow poo is udderly disgusting… I won’t milk it… Cow jokes are a-moo-sing.

Three pale cows looking down at a camera on the ground — Cows gathering to watch a moo-vie

3-Capuchin monkeys

Capuchin monkeys wash their hands and feet in urine. I challenge everyone reading to wash their own hands in urine for a week- be sure to use your own urine though – it would just be weird otherwise.

4-Polar bears

Polar bears are almost undetectable by infrared cameras as they have such good insulation their body heat (what infrared picks up) is trapped inside them and the bear’s fur is the same temperature as the snow around it.

A polar bear stood in the snow with water in the background — A polar bear strolling

5-Dogs

Dogs are ridiculously cute, I’m not a massive fan of small dogs, but dogs, in general, are incredible. Did you know they have two breathing passages—one for breathing and one for smelling?

Wow already half through our list of 10 facts you never knew about animals. Which has been your favourite so far?

The bottom half of a golden dog with brown eyes and a black nose — A dog playing peek-a-boo

6- Baby elephants

I’m sure if you’ve been a baby or a young child or you’ve seen a baby or young child you will probably know they suck their thumb. Maybe you sucked your thumb when you were a baby. People suck their thumbs as a source of comfort. Baby elephants do exactly the same thing! Well, not exactly the same thing- they don’t have thumbs so they suck their tusks.

A baby elephant walking in the grass — A baby elephant

7- Grizzly bears

A grizzly bear’s bite is so strong it can crush a bowling ball meaning you should probably add “a grizzly bear’s mouth” to the list of places not to put your head.

Shockingly the grizzly bear is only in second place when it comes to the most powerful bear bite. First place goes to the polar bear.

Which animal has the strongest bite? The crocodile.

A grizzly bear stood in a shallow stream looking off into the distance — A grizzly bear- most likely having a wee in the stream

8-Giraffes

Giraffes are incredible animals and have the honour of being my favourite animal ever. If I could have any animal as a pet it would definitely be a giraffe- or maybe a goat? I forget my point…

Giraffes are the tallest land animal in the world and can grow to a height of 19 feet (5.8metres). Over 2 metres of the giraffe’s size are their necks which help them reach the high tree leaves and also allowed for the choreography of the “just can’t wait to be king” from the Lion King to be given much-needed height.

Giraffes have black tongues and can actually stand up less than half an hour after being born- the newborns are taller than humans. They need between 10 minutes and 2 hours of sleep each day which isn’t a lot at all and spend the majority of their 25-year lifespan standing up.

How can anyone look at the below image and not love giraffes?

The head of a giraffe looking towards the camera with trees in the background

9-Koala

Believe it or not, koalas can sleep up to 22 hours a day- the complete end of the spectrum compared to a giraffe! That means they only have 2 hours a day to get everything done, their washing, their shopping, eating- everything!

Sleeping 22 hours in a day may sound impressive but I know a human who would love to be able to do exactly the same thing- and sometimes very nearly did!

A koala sat on a tree branch — A rare picture of a koala with its eyes open

10- goats

To round off these 10 amazing facts you never knew about animals I would like to finish with my second favourite animal in the world. The goat. Goats were amongst the first animals to ever be tamed by humans. They call it the great goat domestication which sounds incredibly awesome. I wonder if the goats resisted at first? What if there was a battle?

Goats were amongst the first animals to be taken to America- with them being listed as an expensive possession in the 1600s.

I recently found out that goats don’t have teeth on their upper jaws, have 4 stomachs and rectangular pupils.

I also once took a goat for a walk on a lead at work- and to say I didn’t work with animals it’s safe to say that was fairly unexpected…

A white goat eating some grass in a field. — A goat munching on some grass

So there are 10 amazing facts you may never have known about animals. Which one was your favourite? Do you know any other animal facts you think we should know?

Be sure to read about the 5 most endangered animals in 2022 and why it matters if they disappear

Let me know your favourite animal and your favourite animal fact in the comments below!