Archive for the 'Animal Life' Category

What is the largest bear ever recorded?

January 15th, 2009 by Admin


While the American grizzly bear is fearsome and cool to look at, the polar bear is generally considered the largest bear in the world. Its average weight is between 900 and 1500 pounds. The brown bear, averaging 500 to 900 pounds a close second.
The biggest polar bear ever recorded was a male shot in Kotzebue […]

What is the world’s smallest mammal?

November 26th, 2008 by Admin


There has been some debate on this, depending on how you define an animal’s size. The Bumblebee Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is definitely the world’s smallest species of bat. It is about 30mm in length and weighs about 2 grams (less than an American penny). It is the only known species in its genus and is […]

What is the largest spider in the world?

November 21st, 2008 by Admin


The largest spider in the world is a tarantula called the Goliath Birdeater. An adult can weigh over four ounces (about the size of a large mouse) and has a leg span of up to 12 inches. The spider was given its unique name by Victorian explorers who witnessed one eating a hummingbird although birds […]

What do snakes eat?

November 12th, 2008 by Admin


This is a very generic question, but one that actually gets asked quite frequently.  Of course, the short answer is that snakes have a varied diet, depending on factors such as their species, size, age, geographic locale, etc. A fairly accurate answer for what most snakes eat might be: insects, worms, lizards, birds, small amphibians […]

Which mammal has the shortest gestation period?

October 10th, 2008 by Admin


The shortest known gestation period is 12 to 13 days. This record is shared by three marsupials, which is kind of an unfair comparison to all other mammals as in marsupials, the young are born immature and have to continue developing in a pouch on the mother. The three mammals with this very quick gestation […]

What is the most poisonous snake in the world?

October 7th, 2008 by Admin


While this question is often debated, the land snake commonly believed to have the most lethal poison in the world is the inland taipan. They primarily live in the arid deserts of central eastern Australia. Anything or anyone unlucky enough to be bitten by a taipan is injected with some nasty venom
Inland taipans are also […]

How much electricity does an electric eel generate?

September 27th, 2008 by Admin


The quick answer is that a mature electric eel can produce a shock up to 500 volts at 1 amp of current (500 watts).  The eel’s organs are capable of producing two types of electric discharge– low voltage and high voltage. Both could be harmful to an adult human.
The longer answer, or exactly how the […]