Cracked Egg Trivia

When you hear the name Tasmanian Devil I can almost guarantee that the first thing that comes to mind is the famous Looney Tunes character, Taz. At least that's what I normally think of. But these little guys are actually animals although they look quite different from the cartoonish image that your mind conjures up. In real life Tasmanian Devils are small marsupials. They grow to about 23-26 inches long with a bushy tail roughly half that length, weighing in at anywhere from 11 to 30 pounds. Their coat is mostly black with the exception of whitish mark on their chest, and sometimes other white marks along their rump and sides. They also have an infamously large gape that paired with their large teeth gives them that devilish look. Contrary to popular belief this gape is less likely to signal aggression than it is to signal uncertainty or fear. These little guys are carnivores and rely on scavenging for the most part, and for this reason are very eco friendly because they'll ea...

1. They aren't as mean as you think. In fact, rattlesnakes only attack humans when they are provoked. A lot of times the victim has stepped on the snake and didn't even realize. They also give plenty of warning. Not only do they rattle their tails, but they hiss as well. Although sometimes the rattle cancels out the hiss because it's louder. 2. Sometimes they don't have rattles. A rattlesnake without a rattle, what's wrong with that picture? But even if it sounds weird it's true. Young rattlesnakes don't receive their rattle until they are about two weeks old, and even then it is only one section. The baby will grow another section each time it sheds its skin. And adults have been known to lose their rattle. Quick Tip: The second most distinctive physical characteristic of a rattlesnake is its triangular head. So if you don't see a rattle, look to the head for identification. 3. They don't eat very often. Adult rattlesnakes eat about once e...

Since some of these insects have been spotted here in America, I thought this was the perfect time to learn about them. So do they live up to the hype? The truth is nothing is really as scary as it seems at first and the Asian "Murder Hornets" are no different. By the way, the first thing that you need to know about these insects is their actual and less terrifying name, the Asian giant hornet or if you wanted to be really fancy the Vespa mandarinia . Their Sting A solitary sting from an Asian giant hornet probably won't kill you unless you have some sort of allergy. The real danger would be if you were stung multiple times which is unlikely unless you disturbed a hive as these bugs aren't normally aggressive unless provoked. In fact, yearly more people die from bee stings. In the US alone there 60 to 80 deaths resulting from reactions to bee stings each year, while in Asia (mostly in Japan) only about 50 people die every year from reactions having to do with stin...

The oak tree, it's pretty iconic but is there really anything interesting about it? The answer is yes, so here are a few fun facts about America's National Tree. 1. There are three main types of oaks. Let's start with the basics, the three main types of oak trees are the White Oak, Red Oak, and the Black Oak. You can identify what type of oak you're looking at in the way you'd expect, the bark of a white oak would be grayish in color, while a red oak's bark would be dark reddish brown, and black oak bark would be black. 2. The oak tree isn't only the national tree of America.  Various types of oaks are the national trees of many other countries, including England, Estonia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Jordan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Wales. 3. Oak tree acorns are poisonous. If fed in large amounts to livestock, the acorns and leaves of oak trees are poisonous and can lead to serious side effects like kidney damage and gastroenteritis...

Thanksgiving is in a few days and it seems fitting to learn about one of its main staples, the turkey. Try not to feel too guilty digging in at dinner after you read it since we'll be talking about the wild turkey not the domestic turkey that most people eat on the holidays. Wild turkeys can normally be found in the forest, but they have been known to live in grasslands and even swamps. By day turkeys spend their time foraging for food. Their diet consists of seeds, berries, nuts, insects, and sometimes salamanders. By night the turkeys sleep just like us except instead of a bed they rest on low branches of trees. When it is time for a female to reproduce she mates with a male, who does not help with the raising of the chicks, and makes herself a cozy nest in the woods, normally under a bush. She then lays her eggs which can be anywhere from 4 to 17 at a time. They take about a month to hatch, and when they do they're unable to fly for two weeks, during which time the mothe...

The Odobenus rosmarus, also known as the walrus, can be found in various regions depending on which subspecies they belong to. There are Atlantic walruses and Pacific walruses. The Atlantic walruses live anywhere from northeastern Canada to Greenland, their counterparts in the Pacific live in areas from the Bering Sea to the Chukchi Sea during winter and migrate northwards towards the seas off of Alaska and Russia in the spring months. Walruses are known for their tusks, but they are there for more than show. Their tusks, which are actually canine teeth, are used to poke holes in the ice to hunt for food as well as to help them climb out of the water. The tusks grow throughout the walruses life, and can reach a length of about a meter. Males have larger tusks than females, and the males with the largest tusks tend to lead the herd. Walruses have a lifespan of about 20 to 30 years in the wild, and their life starts when they are born after a 15 to 16 month gestation period. This g...

1. No two zebras look the same. Their stripes are all different, and can be used for identification almost like a persons fingerprints. Their stripes are useful too, when the herd is standing close to one another the combined stripes confuse predators and make it hard for them pick out one of the zebras to chase. Scientists also think that the stripes may help cool the zebras down. Their theory is that air moves faster over their black stripes and slows down over their white stripes, that would create a convection current around the zebra, and would cool it down. 2. They have really good eyesight. In fact, we think that their eyesight in the dark is almost as good as that of an owl. This trait comes in handy for them because even at night their predators are lurking. Herds will actually set one zebra as a watchman to guard them when they sleep. 3. Not all zebras travel in herds. Grevy's zebra stallions wander alone and establish territories, females come into their terri...

I did a post on bumblebees last month with the hope that I wouldn't be as afraid of them after I knew more about them, it worked. But I'd like to start out this post by saying that I don't think the same will be true for wasps, I'm pretty sure I'll hate them until I die. There are many different types of wasps, about 30,000 species exist that we have identified. This list includes hornets, yellow jackets, and many others. Since there are so many we divide them into slightly smaller groups, solitary wasps or social wasps. Solitary wasps are the larger subgroup, there are only about 1,000 species of social wasps. One of the differences between the two is that solitary wasps don't form colonies, and social wasps do. Another one is that solitary wasps rely on their venom to hunt, while social wasps only use their stingers for defense. Social wasp colonies start fresh each spring. A queen that was fertilized the year before comes out of hibernation, and builds a ...

The amorphophallus titanum, titan arum, or corpse plant is a flowering plant that emits a terrible odor (similar to that of a rotting corpse) when it blooms. I know it's pretty gross, but it's also really cool. And there is a scientific reason for the smell. The corpse plant doesn't bloom very often, generally every 7-10 years, but when it does it has to make sure its species continues. To do this the plant must make sure it attracts pollinators. In order to attract the dung beetles, flesh flies, and other carnivorous insects that are its primary pollinators it needs to look, smell, and feel like rotting meat. This is the reason why the plant has it's pungent odor. It is also the reason why when it blooms the color inside the blossom is a deep burgundy, and why the corpse plant has the ability to warm up to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. I mentioned earlier that these plants don't bloom very often. Now its time to tell you why, it simply doesn't have the energy. It ...

1. They're harmless, mostly... There are only about 100 shark attacks a year, and only one-third to one-half of those are actually great whites. So in fact great whites are only responsible for about 5 to 10 attacks a year. Additionally research shows that the sharks are only "sample biting" and then letting the humans go, which is why most of these attacks aren't fatal. So that means that despite being the largest predatory fish in the world, they don't usually eat humans. 2. They don't have to work very hard for their first meal. The female develops several eggs in her womb after mating, and the baby sharks hatch inside her belly. Once they hatch they feed on unfertilized eggs in the womb while they grow and develop. And they need the food, by the time they're born (after about 12-22 months in the womb) they weigh 50 to 60 pounds. 3. Great whites aren't the largest shark . Even though they're impressively large, growing to an average of...

Cirrus clouds form high in the atmosphere, and are made of tiny ice crystals. The word cirrus is Latin for "curl of hair", so the name is fitting for these thin, wispy clouds. Although cirrus clouds can mean that rain or snow is on the way, the clouds themselves hardly ever release precipitation, and if they do the ice crystals that they drop will evaporate before they reach the ground. Cirrus clouds mean changes in the weather. Stratus clouds are relatively low-lying. They look like fog that isn't touching the ground, and in fact sometimes they are formed from fog that has lifted. Stratus do produce light precipitation, and will often be accompanied by a drizzly rain or snow. This is more likely to happen if it is a nimbostratus cloud. Stratus clouds mean that the weather will be gloomy, even if it doesn't rain.             Cumulus clouds are also pretty low in the sky, and look like big balls of cotton. Cumulus clouds develop vertically, s...

To animals its food, and to us its something to be mowed, but grass is so much more than that. Here are three quick facts about the under appreciated grass, plus a little extra. 1. There are a lot of different kinds of grass. In total there are over 10,000 types of grass, and they all belong to the Poaceae or Graminae family. Grasses are split up into many different groups though. There are turf grasses (the grasses that grow in places like your yard, golf courses, and playgrounds), forage grasses (which are grasses used for livestock grazing), and cereals (such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, and corn) among others. 2. Palm trees are a type of grass. That's right palm trees are technically classified as grasses. Grasses are monocots, which means that they have one seed and a fibrous stem, and palm trees fit those requirements. Although they are often categorized as trees because of their size. 3. Grass is used to make some alcoholic beverages. Whiskey is made with ...

1. Their fur isn't really white. A polar bear's fur is actually translucent, but light reflects off of it making it look white. Sometimes the bear will even look yellow because of the oils they get on them from eating seals. 2. Although polar bears mate in the spring, the fertile eggs don't implant until fall. This is due to a process called delayed implantation. Not only will the eggs not implant until fall, but they also won't do it unless the mother has enough fat to sustain her and her cubs through the denning season. 3. They have excellent hygiene. Polar bears don't like to be dirty, but its not just because of the smell. Their fur helps insulate them so they won't freeze to death in the cold climate they live in, but the fur isn't as effective if its wet and matted. In the summer months they take a fifteen minute bath in the open water, licking their paws, chests, and muzzles. When they're done, they shake and rub their fur in the snow...

Just the other day I saw a bumblebee while trying to get a picture of a flower, I tried to avoid it because I'm scared of bugs. However they are pretty cute (from a distance) so I decided to learn about them, and there's a lot to know. Bumblebees have a pretty short life span, but they make the most of it. The cycle starts in early spring when the queen comes out of hibernation. She immediately starts to find food and a place to nest, normally someplace close to the ground like under piles of wood or dead leaves, but they've even been known to nest underground in abandoned rodent tunnels. After she finds the perfect spot she lays her eggs, and sits on them to keep them warm for about two weeks. After they hatch she feeds them for another two weeks until they cocoon themselves, they stay cocooned until they're adults. After that all the queen does is lay eggs, and the worker bees take care of everything else. Among the new bees there are drones (male bees), and the fut...

Elephants are pretty amazing creatures, and here are five facts you may not know about them. 1. They're pregnant for a really long time. In fact, elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal, 20-22 months! That's a really long time to be pregnant, but scientists believe it pays off. The babies need the extra time in the womb to let their brains develop so they can understand how to use their trunks, and how to fit into the complicated social structure of their herd after birth. 2. Humans can't hear every noise they make. I know you'd think that elephants would be pretty loud, and so they are. However sometimes they'll make a sound with a low enough frequency that we humans can't hear it. How do elephants do it? They use the same physical principles as we do to sing or talk, but since their larynx is so large, it produces much lower notes. 3. They drink a LOT. Elephants drink 20 to 50 gallons a day, that's about as much as you can f...