Six Quick Animal Facts

Armadillos found in the US nearly always give birth to identical quadruplets.

The largest bat colony in the world in Bracken Cave, Texas has 20 million bats.

Dolphins can stay active for 15 days or more by sleeping with only one half of their brain at a time.

Elephants are pregnant for almost two years.

Guinea pigs are neither pigs nor from Guinea.

Koala bears are not bears, they are marsupials.

Twenty Texas Facts

The great state of Texas is interesting and its people have always liked to brag. Here are some interesting facts about the great state.

1. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles - Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles
2. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
3. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.
4. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America that was built over water.
5. The Heisman Trophy is named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.
6. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
7. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
8. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
9. The first word spoken from the Moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston."
10. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
11. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43 inches in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.
12. Texas is the only state to enter the US by treaty, known as Constitution of 1845 by Republic of Texas to enter the union, instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag, and allowed to divide into 4 States.
13. A Texas Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 years old.
14. Caddo Lake, a 25,400 acres lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana is the only natural lake in the State.
15. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. (There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper)
16. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, Austin.
17. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. that is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).
18. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
19. The State animal is the Armadillo. Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
20. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

Leprosy

Contrary to popular belief, leprosy does not cause rotting flesh or the loss of limbs. It is actually a disease (now called Hansen’s disease, named after Gerhard Hansen a Norwegian physician who discovered the leprosy bacteria that damages nerve endings and effects the skin. Because of the numbness caused by leprosy, a sufferer can be unaware of harming himself accidentally. It is this accidental harm that can lead to infections and, consequently, the loss of limbs.

Leprosy has been treatable since the 1930s, but to this day there remain leper colonies in some nations such as India, Japan, and China.

Armadillos also carry leprosy and can transmit it to humans. Ninety five percent of humans are naturally immune to the disease, and the remaining five percent can be easily and successfully cured of it.