Strange but True

Eastern whip-poor-wills time their egg laying so their chicks hatch about 10 days before a full moon. As the moon gets brighter each night, the parents are able to hunt longer and catch more insects to feed their growing chicks.

Here’s the scoop on wild turkey poop: Male turkeys usually leave J-shaped droppings. Female turkeys usually leave spiral-shaped droppings.

During winter, American black bears can sleep for 100 days without eating, drinking, peeing, or pooping. One of the first things a bear does when it wakes up is go to the bathroom.

What does a Cooper’s hawk do after it catches dinner? It gives it a big squeeze. Unlike most raptors that kill with a bite from their beaks, Coops dispatch prey by clamping down on it — over and over if needed — with their needle-sharp talons.

Baby river otters can’t swim. So when they’re about 12 weeks old, mama otters start swimming lessons. Pups aren’t enthusiastic students — most seem scared of water — so mom has to drag them in and teach them how to float, paddle, and dive.

Hercules beetles make human weight lifters look like wimps. The brawny bugs can push press 100 times their weight. To do the same, an Olympian would need to lift more than 20,000 pounds!

Paddlefish may grow 7 feet long and weigh 150 pounds. What does a fish that big eat? Itty-bitty animals that drift as plankton. A paddlefish swims with its mouth open, and plankton is trapped in the fish’s throat by an organ that acts like a strainer.