Strange but True

Your guide to all the unusual, unique and unbelievable stuff that goes on in nature.

• Don’t make a squeak. Barn owls have the best hearing of any animal ever tested. Using nothing but their ultra-keen ears, the nocturnal birds can find and catch mice in total darkness.
• Here tonight, gone tomorrow. The blossoms of Missouri evening primrose last only a day. The flashy flowers unfurl in the late afternoon, bloom through the night, and wilt the next morning.
• White-tailed deer fawns turn into toddlers almost instantly. A few minutes after birth, a fawn can stand on its skinny legs and take its first wobbly steps.
• If a coyote tries to nibble on a Texas horned lizard, it’s in for a nasty surprise. When threatened, horned lizards shoot blood from their eyes. The blood tastes terrible and startles predators, giving the lizard time to scurry away.
• Prickly pears are twice as pokey as other pointy plants. In addition to its long spines, Missouri’s native cactus is also armed with clusters of tiny, barbed prickles.
• Like many birds, bobolinks have built-in compasses. Iron oxide (a kind of metal) is found in a bobolink’s beak and brain. Earth’smagnetic field tugs on the metal, which helps the bird know the direction it’s traveling.
• Red fox pups love to play with sticks, feathers, and bones. If the fox family moves to a new den, the parents carry the pups’ toys to their new home.