Sea otters use rocks as tools to break open hard-shelled food, and they often store favorite rocks in a pouch under their armpits. European Starlings, one of the most abundant birds in North America, are an invasive species—they were released in Central Park in 1890 by a man named Eugene Schieffelin, who thought that every bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays should be found in New York. Owls have tubular, bell-shaped eyes. Their eyeballs are immobile, which is why they can rotate their heads 270 degrees. Aspen groves are actually one interconnected organism. The largest organism is an aspen grove in Utah named Pando. There are 70,000 different types of soil in the United States. Licking a banana slug will cause your tongue to go numb. Skunks can spray up to 10 feet. Markings on a wolverine’s chest and underside are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern. Geckos can’t blink. Instead, they clean their eyes with their tongues. Fir needles contain vitamin C, and were once used to prevent scurvy with tea made by sailors.
