Strange but True

Your guide to all the unusual, unique, and unbelievable stuff that goes on in nature.

Winter weather can be rough for an opossum. Missouri’s only marsupial has ears and a tail that are practically hairless. Without fur to trap heat, the ends of these body parts can become damaged by frostbite.

Newlywed bald eagles build relatively small nests. But each year, the couple adds more sticks to their nursery. After several years, nests can grow enormous. One in Ohio was 12 feet tall and weighed over 4,000 pounds.

Many lichens produce mild acids. The chemicals react with minerals in rocks, causing the rocks to break down into smaller bits that become part of the soil. In this way, tiny lichens help turn big boulders into forests.

Female American eels spend most of their lives in rivers. But when it’s time for them to become moms, they swim thousands of miles downstream, far out into the Atlantic Ocean, and have their babies in the Sargasso Sea.

Bumblebee queens often spend winter underground. If spring storms flood their burrows it’s no problem. The fuzzy queens can breathe underwater for at least a week, something biologists discovered only recently.

Prairie voles — mouselike mammals with stubby tails — eat grass. While snipping their snacks, they build tangles of tunnels across prairies, pastures, and backyards. The paths are used not only by voles but also by mice, shrews, and other small creatures.

Most birds have hollow bones. This reduces weight to make flying easier. But a common loon’s bones are mostly solid. This helps the fish-eating fowl dive quickly so it can chase its finned food underwater.