At the point when the majority of us consider about animals, we think of a dog or a cat, maybe a giraffe or, if you're like me, a sloth. But the truth is, there are well over 950,000 species of insects alone, and more than 10,000 species of new animals are discovered every single year, so no one knows exactly how many animals actually exist. But one thing is for sure; there are plenty of myths about the most common animals that we know of. Like, do bees really die when they sting you? And if you touch a little baby bird, will its mother just not accept it back? Well, today I'm going to take seven on the most commonly believed myths that you likely still believe about animals and explain the truth behind them.
And trust me, these are all ones that we've all heard since being kids, but they're not true, so let's just right into it. These are seven myths you still believe about animals.
1. Bees die after they sting you.
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| Honeybee via wikipedia |
A myth that has most definitely made the rounds for a number of decades involves bees, specifically how they die immediately upon stinging someone. We've been told that when a bee stings you, it leaves its stinger behind, ripping out much of itself in the process and quickly goes to that big honeycomb in the sky. However, of the 20,000 different species of bees on earth, 19,999 of them live on well after the initial sting. That's right, only one, the honeybee, loses its life after a sting. Meaning that you're far more likely to be stung by something that doesn't have to stop at one puncture.
2. If you touch a baby bird, its mother won't care for it.
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| Baby bird via wikipedia |
This is one that everybody's heard, in fact, we've been told this since we were kids, that if you touch a baby bird that's fallen from a nest, its mother can smell your scent on it and will either kill it or completely abandon it. Well, the truth is, birds have an awful sense of smell, so it's incredibly unlikely that they would ever know that their offspring was touched. Even the species of birds that have been proven to have exceptional nose beaks still do not abandon their young. That is of course, unless you particularly smell bad, in which case shower more, you're killing birds, man.
3. Toads give you warts.
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| Toad via wikipedia |
Another one that we've all heard is that frogs and toads can pass on their warts to people who handle them through their own skin. Man, frogs and toads get a bad rap. First of all, frogs and toads don't actually have warts to begin with. Those bumps are actually glands which serve a number of different purposes. Secondly, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that contact with these toads or frogs in any manner cause warts at all. What warts actually are is an infection in the top layer of a person's skin, and most often require a scratch or break in the skin to form. But frogs and toads are still relatively dirty and slimy, so it's not like I'm recommending going up and licking them. That would be weird.
4. Female praying mantis' always eat their mates.
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| Mantis via wikipedia |
Many of you have heard that after mating, a female mantis must consume the head of her male counterpart. However, as multiple studies, both in labs and in the wild, have shown cannibalism typically only happens when an insect is starving. In fact, there have actually been many witnessed accounts of the male eating the female. Needless to say, head-eating is not a requirement in mantis lovemaking, but when you gotta eat, you gotta eat.
5. The black widow is the most poisonous spider.
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| Brazilian wandering spider via wikipedia |
It's common knowledge that the black widow spider is the most poisonous spider in the world, able to kill you with a single bite, but guess what? That's just a myth; there is worse. The Brazilian wandering spider, also known as the banana spider, is an extremely aggressive arachnid who's venom is highly toxic. In fact, it holds the Guinness world record for the most venomous spider. Their venom contains a particularly potent neurotoxin known as PHTX3. It acts as a broad-spectrum calcium channel blocker that inhibits glutamate release, calcium uptake, and also glutamate uptake in neural synapses. Essentially that's just a scientific way of saying that when it bites you, you stop breathing and asphyxiate.
6. Camels store water in their humps.
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| Camel via wikipedia |
Not long ago, scientists hypothesized that in order to go so long in the heat of the desert with little hydration, that camels must be storing water in their humps. So the idea of that spread until it became a very common myth. However, as it turns out, what these sand-walkers are actually storing up there is fat. A camel's humps are like reservoirs of fatty tissue, which is stored there to limit insulation in other parts of the animal's body, making it easier to withstand the heat itself. So obviously this does help with how much hydration the camel requires, but what's in those lovely camel humps is most definitely H2O.
7. Bats are blind.
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| Bat via wikipedia |
It's fairly common knowledge that bats have a form of sonar detection, but with that fact comes a little bit of fiction in the form of that bats are blind. Well, despite the fact that many species are nocturnal, and spend their waking hours in the dark, these flying mammals can actually see just fine. Since no animal can see in complete darkness, it was actually the nocturnal bats hunting their insect prey at night that led to this rumor in the first place. We now understand that these creatures have an additional sense called echolocation, which aids in their hunt, but absolutely does not render them unable to see like other mammals.
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