Voorhees - The extraordinary book of useless information: the most fascinating facts that dont really matter

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Copyright 2013 by Don Voorhees

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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-62139-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Voorhees, Don.

The extraordinary book of useless information : the most fascinating facts that dont really matter / Don Voorhees. First edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-399-16517-7

1. Questions and answers. I. Title.

AG195.V645 2013

031.02dc23 2013017463

First edition: September 2013

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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To all my loyal readers who enjoy useless information as much as I do. Enjoy!

Mascot Musings

There are 1.8 million squirrel hunters in the United States.

Squirrels will dig up crack cocaine buried by drug dealers/addicts, eat it, and become quite aggressive.

Sugar Bush Squirrel is an eastern gray squirrel that was rescued by one Kelly Foxton and now is featured on its own website (sugarbushsquirrel.com) appearing in photos wearing one of three thousand custom-made little outfits and posed with various props.

Female red squirrels will mate with up to fourteen different males a day when in heat.

In 2012, a bright purple squirrel was captured in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. Scientists were unable to explain its bizarre coloring.

Marmots, which are really large ground-dwelling squirrels, now leave hibernation earlier in the Rocky Mountains and are getting fatter, due to global warming.

Twice in one week, a flying squirrel invaded the emergency room at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Paleontologists have discovered the fossilized remains of a 100-million-year-old saber-toothed squirrel in Argentina.

Squirrels in California have been found that carry the plague.

Just in time for Christmas, one enterprising company is now selling freeze-dried squirrels feet earrings.

B ody S hop

OH BABY!

Babies cant taste salt until they are between two and six months old.

Infants have taste buds all over the insides of their mouths, not just on the tongue.

A protein called, appropriately enough, noggin delays the plates in a babys skull from fusing together until the baby reaches the age of six months.

A baby born in 2011 has a 50 percent chance of living to be one hundred, according to current estimates.

Babies born in the autumn have a better statistical chance of living a long life.

The most popular day for a baby to be born is Tuesday, followed by Monday. Sunday is the slowest day in that regard.

The most babies are born in September, followed by August, June, and July.

An infant loses much more heat through its head than an adult, which accounts for those caps put on babies in hospital maternity wards. An adult loses about 10 percent of body heat through the head.

New studies have found that third-hand smoke, found in clothing, is a danger for young childrens brain development.

One in ten women report having smoked during pregnancy.

Scientists suspect that about one in eight pregnancies are multiples at the very beginning, but one fetus dies early and is never detected. This is known as a vanishing twin.

Fetuses can regrow almost any body part damaged in the womb and children under two have been known to regrow fingertips.

THE EYES OF BABES

At the age of six months, babies stop fixating on other peoples eyes and begin watching their mouths to figure out, by lip reading, how to make the sounds of speech. By age one year, most babies have figured this out and go back to paying more attention to the eyes of others.