Strange but True

A Peregrine falcon can dive through the sky at speeds over 200 miles per hour. To keep air from surging up its nose and popping its lungs like over-filled balloons, the falcon has little bumps in its nostrils that slow down the rush of air.

I’m losing my mind! Like many insects, a wood roach’s body can survive for weeks without its head. Even weirder, its detached noggin can remain alive and sense its surroundings for several hours until it runs out of energy.

Startle a lady beetle, and you might get a stinky surprise. When threatened, the brightly colored insects release blood from their leg joints. The blood smells and tastes awful, which makes most beetle-eaters quickly lose their appetites.

When an elk bugles, it actually makes two sounds at once: a low-pitched roar and a high-pitched whistle. To do this, it blows through its mouth and nose together — kind of like playing a trumpet and a kazoo at the same time.

Good luck, kiddo! Ruddy turnstone chicks learn to fly when they’re 19 days old. Two days later, they migrate thousands of miles south for winter. Mom and pop have already left, so the youngsters cross the continent all by themselves.

As the name suggests, groundhogs prefer to stay on the ground. Sometimes, however, a groundhog’s tummy gets the best of it, and the chubby squirrel climbs into trees to snack on pawpaws, persimmons, and other fruits.

Because their bodies are long and skinny, most snakes have only one lung. Like people, slither noodles have a windpipe that splits into two smaller airways. The right airway ends in a lung. The left ends in a tiny, useless pouch.