I’m Just Curious: Interesting facts?

by Debbie Walker

Kids have some really good books. My latest example would be National Geographic KIDS, 5,000 Awesome Facts (about everything). Kathy is lucky; she gets any work out of me at school with all the books! I love books but you may have figured that out already. Anyway, the following is my latest and I hope you find some of it interesting to you.

North America’s only marsupial, the nocturnal Virginia Opossum, pretends to be dead = “Playing Opossum” – for up to six hours when threatened.

If a dolphin becomes sick, other dolphins will take turns pushing it to the surface so it can breath.

British author Ian Fleming, who created the character James Bond, was a spy himself during World War II.

A palindrome is a word that is spelled the same backward as forward such as noon, kayak, and race car.

Sign language is not a universal language – each country has its own sign language and vocabulary and grammar vary by region.

The word Quiz also means “odd person.”

A group of prisoners is called a PITY.

An Australian slang, “Bingle,” is a car accident, a “Captain Cook” is a look around, and a “whinger” is a complainer.

A Canadian Ice Breaker Ship weighs 33 million pounds and can break through thick ice sheets that are 62 feet thick. (Do we need one of those in Maine?)

Here are some survival facts. But I would check and double check on these before you rely on them.

Drinking salt water is worse than not drinking at all. Saltwater actually dehydrates you.

The International sign of distress when using fire is to build three fires in a triangle.

Quick sand can be an issue in some parts of Maine. The best way to escape Quicksand is to calmly lean back as if doing a back float. Slowly move your feet in small circles until you free yourself and can paddle to safe land.

Moving your arms like you’re swimming and keeping your mouth shut so snow doesn’t pack into your throat can help you survive an avalanche.

Compacted snow is like a recording studio sound proofed. When buried in snow, it’s a waste of oxygen to shout for help unless someone is very close by.

You are more likely to survive a shark circling your surf board if you stay calm. Thrashing around makes you look like its favorite food – a seal.

I love this one: A bear cub that survived a New Mexico forest fire in 1950 was nursed back to health and taken to the National Zoo. He became known as Smokey Bear!

If you count the seconds between the Lightning flash and the thunder and then divide by 5, that’s how many miles away the lightning is. It’s closer than you think.

Well, I hope some of this was informational for you, I enjoyed it and I haven’t gone a quarter of the way through the book. I probably won’t do much more of it unless you ask. Needless to say I’m Just Curious if I will hear from you. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com and don’t forget to check us out online. Thanks for reading!