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greentree 185802. Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:53 am





A flea can jump 30,000 times without stopping.



Fleas can jump over 150 times their own size (12 inches high), the equivalent of a human jumping about 1,000 feet  which is higher than St Paul's Cathedral.



Fleas can pull 160,000 times their own weight, the equivalent of a human pulling 11 million kilos  or 2,679 double-decker buses.



There are 2,200 species and sub-species of fleas throughout the world.



Female cat fleas can drink 15 times their body weight in blood.



Cat fleas have been found on as many as 50 different hosts including foxes, skunks, rodents, raccoons and ferrets.



Around 70 fleas can ingest 1ml of blood from a pet per day.



Fleas dont have ears and are virtually blind.



The average flea is 2-3 millimetres long and weighs half a grain (a millionth of a pound).



79% of fleas found on dogs are cat fleas.



Fleas reverse direction with every jump.



Fleas are attracted to heat, aroused by carbon dioxide and sensitive to vibrations.



The world's biggest flea is the beaver flea, which reaches about 11mm.



A pullicologist is a flea expert.



In a Kiev museum, theres a flea that wears horseshoes made of real gold.



When jumping, the flea accelerates 50 times faster than a space shuttle.



More than 13,000 fleas were once removed from a Red Squirrel.





http://www.nationalfleaweek.com/funFleaFacts.asp It's National Flea Week (25 June to 1 July), so here are some 'fun flea facts' (source at the bottom).A flea can jump 30,000 times without stopping.Fleas can jump over 150 times their own size (12 inches high), the equivalent of a human jumping about 1,000 feet  which is higher than St Paul's Cathedral.Fleas can pull 160,000 times their own weight, the equivalent of a human pulling 11 million kilos  or 2,679 double-decker buses.There are 2,200 species and sub-species of fleas throughout the world.Female cat fleas can drink 15 times their body weight in blood.Cat fleas have been found on as many as 50 different hosts including foxes, skunks, rodents, raccoons and ferrets.Around 70 fleas can ingest 1ml of blood from a pet per day.Fleas dont have ears and are virtually blind.The average flea is 2-3 millimetres long and weighs half a grain (a millionth of a pound).79% of fleas found on dogs are cat fleas.Fleas reverse direction with every jump.Fleas are attracted to heat, aroused by carbon dioxide and sensitive to vibrations.The world's biggest flea is the beaver flea, which reaches about 11mm.A pullicologist is a flea expert.In a Kiev museum, theres a flea that wears horseshoes made of real gold.When jumping, the flea accelerates 50 times faster than a space shuttle.More than 13,000 fleas were once removed from a Red Squirrel.

Neotenic 185806. Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:41 pm I think it's worth pointing out that National Flea Week is an apparently exclusive fabrication of Fox Murphy , a PR firm, on behalf of Merial, who happen to make Frontline - "the Number 1 flea and tick product for dogs and cats in the world."

djgordy 185807. Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:56 pm Quote: Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,

And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.

And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;

While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.



Augustus de Morgan: A Budget of Paradoxes.



(Augustus de Morgan also said: "I don't quite hear what you say, but I beg to differ entirely with you.")

Bondee 185822. Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:44 pm Hands up who started scratching after they'd read the flea facts!

: )

Neotenic 185857. Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:51 pm Quote: The world's biggest flea is the beaver flea, which reaches about 11mm.



googling "beaver flea" brings back a mere handful of pages. Only a couple of them make any reference to it being the largest and they seem to be of dubious quality. Wiki thinks it's the echidna flea.



Neither Chambers nor dictionary.com have heard of pullicologist and the word seems to be exclusively in the preserve of the trivia quiz, or lists of Did You Know?-type 'facts'.

Last edited by Neotenic on Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

tetsabb 185858. Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:51 pm Can't raise a hand right now.. busy scratching

96aelw 185860. Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:55 pm Neotenic wrote: googling "beaver flea" brings back a mere handful of pages.



You're a braver man than I am to go googling that one.

Neotenic 185876. Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:07 am It's just lucky that we're not discussing crabs really.

Tas 185879. Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:43 am Quote: Fleas can jump over 150 times their own size (12 inches high), the equivalent of a human jumping about 1,000 feet  which is higher than St Paul's Cathedral.



A whole lot higher. St Paul's Cathedral is 'only' 365 feet tall.



:-)



Tas

Archie 185886. Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:00 am Neotenic wrote:



Neither Chambers nor dictionary.com have heard of pullicologist and the word seems to be exclusively in the preserve of the trivia quiz, or lists of Did You Know?-type 'facts'.



The Latin for the flea genus is Pulex, so perhaps it's pulicologist with one 'l'

dr.bob 185895. Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:30 am greentree wrote: When jumping, the flea accelerates 50 times faster than a space shuttle.



A space shuttle doesn't accelerate terribly quickly. According to



A space shuttle doesn't accelerate terribly quickly. According to http://hypertextbook.com/physics/mechanics/acceleration/ Quote: Despite the immense power of its engines, the acceleration of the Space Shuttle is kept below 3 g. Anything greater would put unnecessary stress on the astronauts and the ship itself.



Now, admittedly, 150g is still pretty impressive, but the implication that the space shuttle accelerates really fast is a bit sensationalist. You probably experience higher g forces on a roller coaster, and it's nothing like the forces encountered by fighter pilots.

djgordy 185973. Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:10 am Tas wrote: Quote: Fleas can jump over 150 times their own size (12 inches high), the equivalent of a human jumping about 1,000 feet  which is higher than St Paul's Cathedral.



This is one of those totally meaningless "facts" that people come up with from time to time. Fleas and humans are such different animals, both in size and construction, that comparisons are absurd and the word "equivalent" has no real meaning.



If a flea were the size of a human it wouldn't be able to move its foot and if it did jump 1,000 ft it would land with a sickening "splat" and its exoskeleton would burst.



Small creatures like insects are proportionately stronger than large creatures such as human simply because they are small.



http://www.ftexploring.com/think/superbugs_p2.html



Fleas also have a special mechanism in their legs which acts like a catapult, releasing energy explosively, allowing them to jump further than they would otherwise be able to.









Flea joke (or scientist joke, depending on how you look at it):



A prominent scientist conducted very important experiment. He trained a flea to jump upon giving her a verbal command ("Jump!").



In a first stage of experiment he removed flea's leg, told her to jump, and the flea jumped. So he wrote in his scientific notebook: "Upon removing one leg all flea organs function properly."



So, he removed the second leg, asked the flea to jump, she obeyed, so he wrote again: "Upon removing the second leg all flea organs function properly."



Thereafter he removed all the legs but one, the flea jumped when ordered, so he wrote again: "Upon removing the next leg all flea organs function properly."



Then he removed the last leg. Told flea to jump, and nothing happened. He did not want to take a chance, so he repeated the experiment several times, and the leg less flea never jumped. So he wrote the conclusion: "Upon removing the last leg the flea loses sense of hearing"







Obviously, the subject of fleas has to include the role of Xenopsylla cheopis in the history of the 14th century. This is one of those totally meaningless "facts" that people come up with from time to time. Fleas and humans are such different animals, both in size and construction, that comparisons are absurd and the word "equivalent" has no real meaning.If a flea were the size of a human it wouldn't be able to move its foot and if it did jump 1,000 ft it would land with a sickening "splat" and its exoskeleton would burst.Small creatures like insects are proportionately stronger than large creatures such as human simply because they are small.Fleas also have a special mechanism in their legs which acts like a catapult, releasing energy explosively, allowing them to jump further than they would otherwise be able to.Flea joke (or scientist joke, depending on how you look at it):A prominent scientist conducted very important experiment. He trained a flea to jump upon giving her a verbal command ("Jump!").In a first stage of experiment he removed flea's leg, told her to jump, and the flea jumped. So he wrote in his scientific notebook: "Upon removing one leg all flea organs function properly."So, he removed the second leg, asked the flea to jump, she obeyed, so he wrote again: "Upon removing the second leg all flea organs function properly."Thereafter he removed all the legs but one, the flea jumped when ordered, so he wrote again: "Upon removing the next leg all flea organs function properly."Then he removed the last leg. Told flea to jump, and nothing happened. He did not want to take a chance, so he repeated the experiment several times, and the leg less flea never jumped. So he wrote the conclusion: "Upon removing the last leg the flea loses sense of hearing"Obviously, the subject of fleas has to include the role of Xenopsylla cheopis in the history of the 14th century.

gerontius grumpus 186311. Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:07 pm greentree wrote:



The world's biggest flea is the beaver flea, which reaches about 11mm.









http://www.nationalfleaweek.com/funFleaFacts.asp





Are you sure that's not just another name for a pubic louse?

Neotenic 186331. Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:06 am I think you ought to get that seen to, mate.