Did you know, that female ferrets need to mate in order to stay healthy and survive? This is because for females, they can experience what is known as, oestrogen toxicity, meaning that they produce too much oestrogen for their body to handle if they don’t mate. It is very important that if you do not plan to use your ferret for breeding, then she needs to be spayed.

If a female ferret doesn’t mate, this can lead to serious complications including, blood clotting, anemia and even death, due to the oestrogen toxicity.

Did you know, that snails have no sense of hearing? Instead they feel the vibrations from under or around them and take that in as an alert to sound. They also have chemosensors that help them which is a mixture of smelling and tasting. In fact, one of their main sensors is touch and get around using this the most.

Did you know, that if a goat is separated from their companions, then they will likely become depressed? This is due to the fact that they are social animals and prefer to be accompanied by one another. This is why it is best to buy goats together with other goats they have grown up with to prevent the isolation from making a goat unsettled and to keep them near another they know and are already friendly with.

Did you know, that sharks don’t have bones? Instead they have a soft material called cartilage, which is a tough, stretchy tissue, that humans also have in their ears and tips of their noses. It is theorised that this is because it better suits their environment and lifestyle; it would be easier to move around in the water and therefore they will also be a lot faster than regular, bony fish.

This is true for every shark, from the great white to the whale shark etc.

Did you know, that hornets are actually quite peaceful insects? Hornets are much more tame than the common wasp as they only attack when someone or something is within a certain radius to their hive and they feel threatened. Otherwise, they are great pollinators and predators to other insect pests that are harmful to gardens.

It is improbable that they will sting as long as they are left alone.

Did you know, that horses can sleep standing up? Horses have a unique ability to lock their legs in position called the “stay apparatus”; a system of tendons and ligaments that will secure the legs in place so the horse will not be able to fall over while asleep. They can also do this during the day as a way for the horses to rest for long periods of time without having to lay down. This lets them preserve energy in order to run if they need to.

However, horses still do lay down at times for a deeper sleep. Most horses also only have to sleep for around 3 hours a day.

Did you know, that there have been multiple sightings where sheep/lambs and cats have been seen to have gotten along? Some of these cats being rescues that were adopted by the farmer. The most assumed reason being the fact that sheep and lambs are fluffy and warm, which is what cats like and look for when they want to snuggle.

Cute lamb & cat fact for @bamsara

Did you know, that domesticated cats only have around 473 tastebuds, in comparison, a human has 9,000 and a dog has 1,700. Cats can taste bitter, sour, salty and savoury flavours, but they can’t taste sweet.

Did you know, that the only reason why a leopard gecko will drop their tail is if you pick them up by it? This is because in the wild, when it comes to mating season, the male leopard geckos will wave their tail in the air when they spot a female, however this will leave them at a disadvantage and will encourage birds to spot them, swoop down and pick them up by the tail. When this happens, the tail detaches itself and the gecko falls back to the ground and runs away. A very clever escape design.

But, a geckos tail will only be able to detach around 3 times before it is unable to be regrown again, due to the fact that the tail becomes more and more deformed and smaller the more it is removed. However, they do not feel it when the tail comes off and it even moves around after.

It is highly recommended to never pick up a gecko or forcefully remove the tail unless it is performed by a professional reptile veterinarian as it can cause the gecko immense stress.

Did you know, that nudibranch’s (aka. Sea slugs) are hermaphrodites, which means that they have both male and female reproductive systems, meaning that when they find a mate, they inseminate each other at the same time; they do this by spearing each other with their genitalia.

Here is my favourite sea slug, the butterfly cyerce nudibranch, and they feed on algae:

Did you know, that tigers ears are black with white spots? This is used to trick predators into thinking that the tigers are looking at them and therefore won’t attack them.

These are the eyes on the back of a tiger’s ears:

Did you know, that iguanas are able to leap from heights of 40-50 feet high and still not obtain any injury? This is a tactic used as an escape as they tend to jump into water and use their powerful tail to swim to safety.

Did you know, that wasps can create their own paper? This material is what is used to create wasp nests. When a lone Queen wasp finds a good place to build, she begins to chew on wood fibres, mixes it with her saliva and then spits it back out to form walls. The nest starts as a durable, vertical stalk and then she builds an inverted cup shape that has 6 sided cells, as a nursery for larva. She also sprays this first part of the nest with a chemical that is able to repel ants.

When she is done with the first part, the Queen wasp lays eggs in the cells she created and when they then reach adulthood, these worker wasps will then continue to build the nest, allowing for the Queen to resign to egg laying.

It can typically take a hive around 2-4 weeks to build a full, finished nest.

Did you know, that an alligators sex is determined based on the temperature of the water they are hatched in? For an alligator to be female, the water the egg is incubated in would need to be 30°C or less and for a male, 34°C or higher.

The sex of the alligator after hatching is irreversible.

Did you know, that some species of shrimp act as a “clean up crew” for other fish? These shrimp are called, the pacific cleaner shrimp. To do this, they find a reef that they can settle down by and then they move their bodies from side to side and moving their antennas to signal to other fish, they can also just pick random fish passing by and clean them or the fish will signal to them.

The shrimp will then go over to the fish and start picking off bits of dead skin and bloodsucking parasites that live on them and remove them, even going around the fish’s gills and MOUTH. However, the fish will not eat them, generally because the shrimp is doing them a favour and hence they create a mutual bond.

Shrimp do this action all to get a good meal out of parasites. And then the fish they clean start to heal and feel less stressed.

Did you know, that sea slugs aren’t very smart, this isn’t to do with anything that they have done but just down to the fact that they don’t have a lot of brain cells. Sea slugs have on average, around 20,000 brain cells; in contrast, humans have around 86 billion.

A piece of random advice: if you ever come face to face with a cheetah where you are worried about being attacked, avoid eye contact, stay calm, do NOT turn your back and do not run away.

If possible, back away slowly but if unable then you have a couple of options, you can sit and wait for someone to help you or (in case of an attack) make yourself look bigger, stand your ground, make a lot of noise and make intentional arm movements towards the cat to frighten it.