8 Animal Myths Dispelled

MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM MISCONCEPTION JUNCTION PRESENTS... ANIMAL MYTHS DISPELLED MYTH #1: ONE DOG YEAR EQUALS ABOUT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. THERE IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT DOGS AGE SEVEN YEARS FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THE LIFESPAN OF A DOG IS ABOUT ONE SEVENTH IN DURATION TO A HUMAN'S AVERAGE LIFESPAN. THIS MODEL, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETLEY INCORRECT. IN FACT, DETERMINING THE EXACT AGE OFA PARTICULAR D06, RELATIVE TO A HUMAN SCALE, IS MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT WITH THE RATIO OF DOG YEARS TO HUMAN YEARS VARYIN6 WITH THE WEIGHT, BREED, AND HEALTH CONDITION OF THE DO6. There are four main groups of dogs each having a different ratio of translating dog years to human years: small dogs (20 pounds or less), medium doğs (21-50 pounds), "large dogs (51-90 pounds) and giant breeds (more than 90 pounds). Large dogš mature more slowly but at the age of five they will be considered elderly, while small and toy breeds åre not considered seniors until the age of ten. So overall, after the first two years, the ratio is about 5 dog years to I calendar year for småll and medium breeds and 6-7 dog years to I calendar year for large and giant breeds.So, for instance, at the age of 10 years old, a Great Dane would be considered 80 years old on the human age scale, while a Pug would only be 64. % MYTH #2: BATS ARE BLIND THE SAYNG "BLIND AS A BAT, SIMPLY ISN'T cORRECT. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL 1,100 BAT SPECES CAN SEE AND OFTEN THEIR VISION IS PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH, NOT AS GOOD AS MANY OTHER NIGHT-HUNTING ANIMALS. There are two main groups of bats, which are believed to have evolved independently of each other, but both from a common ancestor. The first group. Megachiroptera'. are mostly medium-sized or large bats who eat fruits, nectar, and sometimes small animals or fish. These species have big eyes and use both sight and smell to capture their prey The second group (about 70% of all bats). 'Microchiroptera' or micro bats. are smaller in size and mostly eat insects. These species uses echolocation to navigate and identify the food. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retinas of mammals: the cones, for daylight and color vision, and the rods, for night vision. Until recently, micro bats that are nocturnal were believed to have only rods. However, now scientists have proven that despite their poorly developed small eyes. these bats can still see during the day. So THE TRUTH IS, THERE ARE NO BATS WHICH ARE NATURALLY BLIND. SOME SPECES USE THEIR SENSE OF HEARING MORE THAN THEIR EYES AS A MATTER OF ADAP TATION TO A PARTICULAR LIFESTYLE, BUT THEIR EYES ARE STLL FUNCTIONAL. MYTH #3: GOLDFISH HAVE A THREE SECOND MEMORY Goldfish don't have a 3 second memory or even a short memory as many people believe. Goldfish actually have very good memorie's for fish. They can be trained to respond various ways to certain colors of light, different Kinds of music, and other sensory queues. Not only that, but they seem to be able to remember things they are taught as much as a year later. Researchers havě successfully taŭght goldfish to play fetch, push levers, do the limbo, and even play soccer. If they are fed around the same time of day, they also remember that and will anticipate the feeding leading up to that time, which imples they have a very good sense of time. MYTH #4: CHAMELEONS CHANGE COLOR To MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. CHAMELEONS DON'T CHANGE COLOR TO MATCH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. RATHER, THEY CHANGE COLOR AS A RESPONSE TO MOOD, TEMPERATURE, HEALTH, COMMUNICATION, AND LIGHT. In fact, not all Kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many typės of chameleons can only turn, green, brown, or gray. others have the ability, to change to a variety of différent colors including: pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, blue, yellow, turquoise, and so on. of the ones that can change color, they'll often change to darker shades, when they are cold, and will lie out in the sun during this time. Likewise, if they are hot, they can change to lighter colors which will reflect the sun better, helping to cool themselves off. Most color changes though are Simply due to mood changes or for communication purposes. For instance, the 'Panther Chameleon will change to red and yellow when they äre angry or are getting ready to attack. This serves as a warning to other chameleons and humans to back off. Some types of male chameleons will also change to mixed bright colors when they are trying to attract a nearby female chameleon. MYTH #5: KOALAS ARE A TYPE OF BEAR KOALA "BEARS' AREN'T A TYPE OF BEAR AT ALL, AS IT TURNS OUT, AND THEIR NON-SCIENTIFIC NAME DOESN'T INCLUDE BEARS" ON THE END, AS IS COMMONLY SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA BY THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. THEY ARE SIMPLY "KOALAS". So if they aren't a member of the family ursidae (bears), what are they? In fact, they are marsupials, along withy kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and possums, among others. Marsupials have the distinctive feature of a pouch called a 'marsupium'. unlike most marsupials though a female Koala's pouch opens downward, rather than upward The name "Koala Bear" is thought to come from English speaking settlers around the 18th century, who frequently would name 'new animals they saw based on what animal it looked like that they were familiar with Around this same time, Koalas were also often referred to as 'tree-bear', 'sloth', 'monkey-bear' and other such names by these same settlers. MYTH #6: LOBSTERS MATE FOR LIFE THIS MYTH WAS PUBLICLY POPULARIZED ON THE HIT T.V SHOW F.R.I.E.N.D.S. WHERE PHOEBE SAYS Ross IS RACHEL'S LOBSTER AND GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT LOBSTERS FALL IN LOVE, AND MATE FOR LIFE. HOWEVER, THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE Not only do Lobsters not mate for life. but the male lobster pretty much gets it on with every female lobster that comes, a knockin. Male lobsters pretty much spend their time daily coming out of their little dens and boxing all the other male lobsters while the females watch. One male lobster will inevitably dominate the other male lobsters in the area. So all the female lobsters. when they are ready to mate. will There's only one problemo, the male lobster has no interest in mating. He'd rather go out and fight some more with the other males. But. as is the case with most women. she has her go line up at the door of the dominate male in their region ways in this case by, drugging him with pheromone. from nozzles under her somewhat when the pheromonestarts kicking in. he becomes docile and forgets about fighting. Once his ego is sufficiently stroked and he's drugged enough she takes off her extremely vulnerable. If he falls for it. hell gently turn her overs clothes (no. really!) she sheds, her hard outer layer making her mate with her. If not. she might become his bedtime snack. After the deed is done. he'll let her stay in his den for a week or so until her hard shell grows back. Once her shell has grown back. he's no longer attracted to her (she's gained so much weight since they got together) so he kicks her out. At this point. The next lady lobster in line will take her turn with him! MYTH #7: POODLES ARE NOT ORIGINALLY FROM FRANCE The Poodle breed actually has its origins in Germany with some influenče from Russia and Denmark. The name of the breed is from the German word pudel meaning to splash in in water'. The water', or 'the one who plays English name poodle was derived from it's German counterpart. It wasn't until much later that the breed was standardized in France, where it is the national dog now. However in France, the Poodle is known as "Caniche" which means 'duck -dog, as originally, Poodles were retrievers or gun dogs and were bred as a dog of a water type MYTH #8: HANDLING A BABY BIRD WILL CAUSE ITS PARENTS To REJECT IT You'll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human scent on baby birds (even a skunk's spray doesn't seem to bother many types of birds). Not only that, but most types of birds aren't so quick to abandon their young when they sense danger. Some types will even do their best to defend their young when they are directly threatened, if they can. Occasionally, they may temporarily abandon the nest in order to better observe whether whatever disturbed their nest comes back. But this is all as a result of seeing something, not smelling. When this happens, the parent birds usually won't care, other than to be a little more cautious than normal. This myth was probably started by parents who didn't want their kids handling baby birds (whether out of the nest or not) because of the potential for the kids to hurt the birds and for the potential of the bird's parents to attack the kids, in defence. MISCONCEPTIONJUNCTION.COM