1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (77 page)

575

FACT :
A zorilla, or striped polecat, is a type of weasel that resembles a skunk, and is arguably
the world’s smelliest animal
. If threatened, the zorilla ejects a powerful, foul-smelling fluid from its anus into the face of its assailant with impressive accuracy.
Babies can do that, too.

Robert Burton, International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. (Marshall Cavendish, 2002).

“Ictonyx Striatus,” University Of Michigan Museum Of Zoology,
www.animaldiversity.ummz .umich.edu
.

576

FACT :
An adult tiger can kill its prey
with a single bite
, and can eat a large amounts of food—up to 180 lbs—in just a few days.
Whew. I’m safe.

Valmik Thapar, Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (University of California Press, 1997).

577

FACT :
A giraffe has twelve-inch hooves and legs that
can kick in all four directions
with incredible power. Giraffe kicks have been known to decapitate lions.
I bet lions hate that.

Lynn Sherr, Tall Blondes: A Book about Giraffes (Andrews McMeel, 1997).

578

FACT : Female marsupials have three vaginal openings
, and males have a bifurcated, or forked, penis.
There’s a limerick in there somewhere.

Luis P. Villarreal, Viruses and the Evolution of Life (ASM Press, 2005).

579

FACT :
In 2009,
a 200-pound chimpanzee attacked an elderly Connecticut woman
, crushing her hands and ripping large chunks from her scalp, face, jaw, and eyes. Medics at first had trouble determining if the victim was a man or a woman.
Did it really matter at that point?

“Some Injuries Too Much Even for Doctors to Handle Alone,”
ABCNews.com
, February 24, 2009,
www.abcnews.go.com
.

580

FACT :
Elephants may appear friendly and approachable, but don’t be fooled: these unpredictable giants cause
an estimated 300–500 fatalities a year
. Even tame, trained elephants have been known to attack without provocation and kill zoo-keepers who have been with them for as long as fifteen years.
Elephant to her shrink: “I tried to forget all the hurtful things he said to me over the years, but I couldn’t.”

“The 10 Most Dangerous Animals in the World,” AOL Travel,
www.travel.aol.co.uk
.

581

FACT :
In 1972, the Chandka Forest area in India was hit by a heat wave so brutal, it caused elephant herds
to stampede through five villages
, leaving a trail of devastation and twenty-four fatalities.
And nobody heard them coming?

David Wallechinsky, The New Book of Lists: The Original Compendium of Curious Information (Canongate U.S., 2005), 397.

582

FACT :
The hippopotamus is a highly aggressive animal, and one of Africa’s most deadly.
Hippos will charge, trample, and gore victims
with alarming ferocity, and have upended boats and canoes to feast on victims inside, despite being herbivores.
They are sensitive about their weight, and the whole “hungry, hungry hippo” thing makes them furious.

“The 10 Most Dangerous Animals in the World,” AOL Travel,
www.travel.aol.co.uk
.