8 impressive facts about Canadian wildlife

Canada’s blue whale—it spends at least part of its life on our Atlantic and Pacific coasts—is the largest animal on the planet, not to mention the largest animal that has ever lived on earth. A blue whale can weigh up to 132 tonnes; its tongue alone weighs as much as an elephant.

The tiny meadow vole is a reproduction machine. It has more babies than any other mammal, up to 17 litters in one year. With six babies in a litter, that’s 102 offspring. A hundred children? Imagine the college tuition.

The prairie-dwelling pronghorn antelope is the fastest herbivore on the planet, and the second-fastest land animal on earth (the cheetah is faster). A pronghorn can sprint, over short distances, at more than 70 km/hr. (Usain Bolt’s top speed was a measly 44.72 km/hr.)

A turkey vulture’s stomach acid is 100 times as acidic as a human’s—or, with a pH just slightly above zero, even more caustic than battery acid. That means that this big bird can literally stomach rotting or diseased animal flesh; their digestive system is actually strong enough to kill anthrax.

Western Canada’s bison is North America’s largest land animal. Males can weigh up to 2,000 pounds (that’s more than a Smart Car—remember those?). They’re also, by the way, agile and fast, plus powerful swimmers. Which is fairly amazing given how clunky and awkward they look.

Canada’s tundra swan ranks at the top of the list when it comes to birds with a huge number of body feathers. Most tundra swans have around 25,000, almost entirely on their necks. The feather record goes to a swan with 25,216 feathers. (Yes. Someone counted them.)

Ants may be pests in a cottage, but props to these bugs for being able to carry up to 50 times their own body weight, or, at minimum 10 times their own body weight. That would be like an adult man holding up a full-grown cow. While walking around. Without ever throwing his back out.

Peregrine falcons are fast and furious. Or, at least, they’re fast. While diving after prey, they can hit up to 320 km/h. That makes them the world’s fastest bird, and, if you don’t include animals that swim or run, the fastest animal on earth.