Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks?: And Other Questions About Animals (Is That a Fact?) PDF
Preview Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks?: And Other Questions About Animals (Is That a Fact?)
41 This Page Left Blank Intentionally T h a T iS f a C T a Can an Old Dog New Learn Tricks? Other Questions And Animals about Buffy Silverman illustrations by colin w. thompson a Lerner Publications Company Minneapolis C o n te n t s Introduction ———— 4 Spider Silk Really Stronger Is Than Steel? ———— 5 Will a Mother Bird Abandon Her Babies after a Person Touches Them, Because She Smells a Human Scent? ———— 6 Are Sharks Really Bloodthirsty Killers? ———— 8 Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks? ———— 10 Hide Their Do Ostriches Really Heads in the Sand? ———— 12 Cats Always Land Is It True That on Their Feet? ———— 14 Bats Are Blind? Is It True That ———— 16 Porcupines Can Is It True That Throw Their Quills? ———— 18 Fish Don’t Sleep? Is It True That ———— 20 Opossums Really Hang by Do Their Tails When They Sleep? ———— 22 Early Bird Catches Is It True That the the Worm? ———— 24 Can an Alligator Really Live in the Sewer? ———— 26 Lemmings Kill Themselves Do by Jumping off Cliffs? ———— 28 a Worm Can Grow Inside Is It True That Your Brain? ———— 30 a Female Praying Mantis Really Eat Does Her Mate? ———— 32 Cat “Steal” Can a a Baby’s Breath? ———— 34 Camels Really Store Do Water in Their Humps? ———— 36 Glossary 38 Selected Bibliography 38 Further Reading 39 Index 40 Introduction Pehr hemaaprodsn ty hoseuas’yvee i n g s m c o : a b o u t a n i m a l s thIfe y Yoomoludou ttdhocoeaugrcn ’htnw etailewl aba cabtrhbaic ynak dnsbo! ir nd ,it ! FiBnsedtuxIo sptoyr lituooehatusre e?r’wvre eehtC h eaohtethnemhsyeaeee rrss do act elhdliaeoe bnnbs ocgseauet loiwty e rbfaiiitnseehn sgh iam uinsnasadd n l atdstmr s haus oeware reyee ? in . g s f a C T or f i C T i o n ! 4 Spider Silk Really Is Steel? Stronger Than Yes! In fact, it is several times stronger than steel of the same thickness. It’s even stronger than Kevlar, a material used to make bulletproof vests. What makes the silk so strong? Scientists are trying to learn how to Spiders spin their silk out of proteins. put proteins together in the same way These chemicals are made of long that spiders do. If they can make silk chains. The way the chains link in a laboratory, they may be able to together in a spider’s silk makes it figure out how to make all kinds of new extremely tough. materials. Maybe people could make clothing that could never be ripped or Spiders use their silk in many different wear out. Car manufacturers might be ways. They drop down from silk lines able to create a car fender that could to escape danger. Females spin sacs easily be bent back into shape if it of silk to protect their eggs while were dented. Many other new baby spiders develop inside the products could eggs. Some spiders hide in be possible as silk tunnels waiting for an well. insect or other tasty meal to arrive. Others make trapdoors of silk and dart out of the trapdoor when an insect goes by. Still other spiders depend on strong silk webs to catch their meals. 5 M o t h e r B i r d A bWai lnl da o n H e r B a b i e s afBteer caa Puesr seo nS Tho uec hSe sm Teh el l ms , m a n S c e n t ? a H u nope. Scientists are not even sure that birds can smell people. For years, scientists believed birds had a poor sense of smell because they have tiny olfactory lobes (the part of the brain that detects odors). Modern scientists are not so sure. They are discovering that some birds can smell different odors. 6 Regardless of whether birds can smell people, they do not abandon their babies after a person has touched them. But birds will not care for their young as long as a person stays near the babies. If you find a young bird on the ground, you might think it needs your help. Most likely, it does Fledglings, like this black- not. A bird with fluffy feathers that is throated blue warbler, are hopping on the ground is a fledgling. young birds that have recently left the nest and are still It cannot fly well, but it is ready to be learning how to fly. out of the nest. Its parents are nearby, ready to feed it and lead it to safety. Leave the fledgling alone, and its parents will return to care for it. A nestling is a baby bird that isn’t Sniffing Birds ready to be out of the nest. It has few feathers and cannot yet cling to Kiwis are flightless birds that live in New branches. Sometimes nestlings fall out Zealand. They have an excellent sense of nests. If you can safely reach a nest, of smell. A kiwi’s olfactory lobe is ten carefully place the nestling back inside. times bigger than that of other birds. Watch from a distance, so the parents will return. Kiwis are nocturnal (active at night), and they hunt for food in the dark. When a kiwi pushes its beak underground, it sniffs with its nostrils, which are on the tip of its beak. Its sharp sense of smell leads it to worms and bugs. 7 Are Sharks Really Bloodthirsty Killers? no. Sharks are predators, or animals that hunt and eat other animals. But they are not vicious killers. Most sharks do not harm people and are not eager to eat them. In fact, of the four hundred species of sharks in the world, only about thirty have been known to attack people. Most sharks are either too small to harm people or do not swim where people are. 8
The list of books you might like
