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Birds
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Q. |
Which bird has the fastest and slowest
wing beat? |
A. Hummingbirds
and Vultures - Depending on the species hummingbirds,
wings complete 75-90 up and down movements in 1 (one) second.
The house sparrow beats its wings almost 13 times per second in
fast flight while the heron just two or three. The slowest wing
beats are attributed to several species of the New World vultures.
They were observed beating wings one time per second on a level
flight.
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| Q. |
Slowest flying bird
in North America? |
A.
The American woodcock
(Scolopax minor) been timed flying as slow as 5 mph during
their courtship displays.
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Mammals
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Q. |
Which member of the deer family has been
used by mounted soldier? |
A.
The Moose - in
the 1700 the Swedish hoped for a new secret weapon.....the moose
mounted "cavalry" or "mooslary" of Hussar.
The idea was that horses that have never smelled such an animal
would go bonkers thus giving an edge to the attacking Hussar.
This was not a success, due to the difficulties in providing the
proper forage for the captive moose, despite their excellent riding
ability.
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Fish
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Q. |
What is the longest a fish can live? |
A.
Rougheye rockfish are known to live about 140 to 150
years.
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| Q. |
Which water creature
can swim fastest? |
A.
Dolphins have been timed at more than 35 miles per hours. - (we
know they are not fish, but they swim don't they?)
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Biking
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Q. |
Do you know who invented
air-filled or the pneumatic tire? |
A.
It was a Scottish veterinarian - John Dunlop in 1888.
The cobbled streets of Scotland made cycling quite uncomfortable
and Dunlop was looking for a way to soften the bumpy ride. His
invention contributed to the great success of the biking industry
at the end of the 19th century and the automobile industry soon
after.
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Misc.
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Q. |
Free Lancer used for Photographers or other
professionals? |
A.
The word comes from the old mediaeval days where some
of the knights where selling their fighting skills and their legion
to the highest bidders. Their main weapon being the long lance
or spear, they where called "free lancers"
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Horses
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Q. |
What is the derivation
of the word Mustang? |
A.
The word comes form the Spanish, mesteno - meaning
"stray or ownerless" horse or "unclaimed horse"
or more literally wild, stray, ownerless," lit. "belonging
to the mesta, an association of cattle ranchers who divided stray
or unclaimed animals that got "mixed" with the herd.
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