20 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PETS

MARICOR QUILNAT, the contributor, is from Las Pinas City, Philippines. (You, too, can have your articles published here. Send them through e-mail to OurHappySchool@yahoo.com.)

WE NEVER HAD A PET AT HOME. Once my dad brought a puppy in our house but my mom gave it to my uncle because of the mess it created so I didn’t have that much interest on it. However, this year 2010, my professor in philosophy gave me an assignment to collect 100 true statements about pets and I’ve discovered amazing facts about them that made me want to have a pet of my own.

Here are some of the amazing facts about them.

1.      Dogs yap, whine and even move their legs as if in a chase when they dream.

2.      For every year of reading to dogs, kids move ahead two years in school level. They are an effective technique for helping kids gain confidence and skill.

3.      Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears.

4.      Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic – a Newfoundland, a Pomeranian, and a Pekingese.

5.      Dog’s nose prints are as unique as a human’s finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them.

6.      An African wolf dog known as the basenji is the only dog in the world that cannot bark.

7.      Cats have better memories than dogs. Tests conducted by the University of Michigan concluded that while a dog's memory lasts no more than 5 minutes, a cat's can last as long as 16 hours—exceeding even that of monkeys and orang-utans.

8.      Young cats purr in a monotone, while older ones do so in two to three resonant notes.

9.      The only species of parrot that builds a nest is the Quaker Parrot. The Quakers link their nests together to form structures akin to "bird condominiums". These nests can reach weights greater than 200 lbs.

10.  The oldest parrot on record is a Blue and Gold Macaw named Charlie. Charlie is reported to have been owned by Winston Churchill, and is believed to be 104 years of age.

11.  Migratory bird species fly in formation to conserve energy -- much like driving in a larger vehicle's slipstream can reduce the amount of gas you require.

12.  The shape of a bird's beak directly corresponds to the type of diet it eats in the wild.

13.  A bird's feathers weigh more than its skeleton does.

14.  The oldest goldfish recorded was 43 years old.

15.  Goldfish don't have stomachs.

16.  Goldfish can survive in freezing water.  

17.  The shell of a turtle is made up of 60 different bones all connected together.

18.  About 6 to 8 million pets enter shelters each year and only half of them are reunited or adopted.

19.  Guinea pigs love being petted and will fall asleep in your lap if they trust you.

20.  White lion cubs are the most expensive pets in the world. They are worth $138,000.

This December my mom and I bought an aquarium and some little gold fish. I hope these facts would also awaken your interest to have a pet of your own.