EXTRA!
November 6, 2026
Animal Fun Facts
- Birds’ hearts beat 400 times/minute while at rest.
- Individual dogs and cats have unique nose prints — like human fingerprints.
- Garter snakes can birth up to 85 little ones at a time.
- Ferrets are the third most-popular pet in the U.S. — as many as 10 million of them.
- Adult cats can run 12 miles per hour — 30 mph in sprints.
- The FDA banned sale of those little green Woolworth’s pet turtles in 1975; although they could live for 30+ years, most of those didn’t survive long.
- A bunch of kittens is a “kindle,” while a gang of adult cats is a “clowder.”
- Trained scent hounds can detect human cancer with 97% accuracy.
- Iguanas can hold their breath for 30 minutes.
- Even if you don’t like animals, interacting with them boosts your brain chemistry with serotonin and dopamine, making you happier and more relaxed.
- Dogs can smell our emotions.
- Cats have 230 bones, compared to humans’ 206, making them very flexible.
- The word “aquarium” was coined by a London zookeeper, who created the first one in 1850.
- Horses were domesticated in about 2000 BC, but dogs became pets 10,000 years ago.
- 95% of domesticated cat DNA is the same as tigers’.
- Large parrots and macaws live 75 years or longer. The oldest tortoise is Jonathan, born in the Seychelles in 1832.
- Dogs can locate sounds in 6/1000s of a second (although my dog can’t hear me when I call).
