Amazing Animal "Facts"?

•  More people are killed by donkeys than are killed in plane crashes.

As this video to the right shows, there are more donkey injuries than airplane injuries per year, especially in Greece. There are roughly 1,200 airplane deaths per year. No one really knows how many people are killed by donkeys, but there are millions who are making asses of themselves every day all over the world.

• Polar bears are left-handed.

Most polar bears are right handed. They use this dominant paw to cover their black nose to blend in the snow so they don't alarm their prey. They catch seals by  biting their heads or swatting at them to knock them onto the ice when they surface.

• The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

Actually, to be pedantic about it, squids do not have eyeballs, strictly speaking. They have two photosensitive membranes that grow with the animal. OK. OK. They're eyes.

• A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.

Actually, dragonfly’s lifespan is up to 6 months. But did you ever see a shoe fly? Or an elephant?

• Elephants are the only mammals that can’t jump.

Actually, guinea pigs can barely hop with the limited joints in their back legs. Has anyone ever seen a hippo jump? How about a dachsund? It can jump, but should be discouraged from doing so, according to Dogbreeds.com and DachsundNetwork.com because they tend to break their spines.

• A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A goldfish can remember an event for about 5 weeks according to scientific studies by people who have too much time on their hands. 

• A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

Pufferfish can blink. So can spongefish. 

• The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, the most of any animal.
  

Catfish do have a lot of taste buds, more than any othe species, but most of them seem to be out of order. Sorry, Charley. We want catfish that taste good, not catfish with good taste.