Tag Archives: trivia

14

Cheeseland Election Update

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Hello everyone. Angel Katt here. Thank you to everyone who voted in our primary election. As we expected, Thomas Tabby was the winner with 75% of the vote. The other three candidates split the rest of the vote evenly. To decide which candidate will run against him in the general election, we decided to have a trivia contest to see who knew the most about Cheeseland. Each correct answer is worth 1 point.

Here are the contenders:

American mink

Molly Mink

Rats: Facts about these thin-tailed, medium-size rodents | Live Science

Vinny the Rat

How To Care For Golden Retrievers | VIDA Veterinary Care

Remy the Golden Retriever

The position you are voting for is Liaison to the Humans. Who leads the humans in Cheeseland?

Molly Mink: I think her name is Mom. (1 point)

Vinny the Rat: Her name is Cat. That’s why everything is so cat-centric. But it’s kinda weird that we’ve never seen her.            (1 point)

Remy the Golden Retriever: She is Snoops’ Mom. (1 point)

What is the first rule of the house?

Molly Mink : All animals are equal. (0 points)

Vinny the Rat: Don’t do anything to others that you wouldn’t want done to you. (0 points)

Remy the Golden Retriever: No eating family. (1 point)

Where are the Cheeseland offices located?

Molly Mink: Somewhere in a place called Zoom. That’s where all my calls come from. (0 points)

Vinny the Rat: Cat’s an American. Somewhere in the US. (1 point)

Remy the Golden Retriever: Somewhere in Cheeseland. (0 points)

Who is Uncle Stu?

Molly Mink: A relative of Cat’s.  (0 points)

Vinny the Rat: I have no idea. (0 points)

Remy the Golden Retriever: That alligator who keeps getting lost. (1 point)

How many felines live at the Cheeseland office? What are their names? (One point for the correct number and one point for each correct name.)

Molly Mink: There are five cats. Their names are Snoops, Sgt Stripes, Angel, Gypsy, and I don’t remember the last one. (5 points)

Vinny the Rat: There are four cats: Snoops, Sgt Stripes, Angel, and Onyx. (4 points)

Remy the Golden Retriever: Umm. Snoops, Sgt Stripes, Angel, and Gypsy.(4 points)

Which cat is oldest and which is youngest?

Molly Mink: Snoops is oldest, Sgt Stripes is youngest (1 point)

Vinny the Rat: Snoops is oldest, Sgt Stripes is youngest (1 point)

Remy the Golden Retriever: Snoops is oldest, Sgt Stripes is youngest (1 point)

Angel Katt: That was really close. Molly Mink had 7 points, Vinny the Rat had 7 points, and Remy the Golden Retriever had 8 points. The winners of the runoff is Remy the Golden Retriever. We’ll be back in the fall with the contest between Thomas Tabby and Remy the Golden Retriever.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

30

Global Cat Day: Some Fun Facts

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Premium AI Image | A group of cats celebrating a special day with party hats surrounded by balloons and confetti

Greetings! Monday, October 16 is Global Cat Day which means that ALL of our readers can celebrate. Don’t confuse it with International Cat Day which was August 8. We’re not sure why there’s two holidays that are basically the same. But we deserve them. We recommend treats, cuddles, and all-around pampering.

Sgt Stripes loves to work with Mr. Google. He has found some trivia to share with your human.

  • Cats are digitigrade. We can walk on our toes.
  • The average weight for a house cat is 6-10 pounds (2.7-4.5 kg). And we average 20-28 inches (50.8-71.1 cm) long. Mancats are generally bigger than the ladies.
  • We can bristle (fluff up) because of tiny erector muscles at the base of our hair follicles. It helps us look bigger when we want to frighten someone. (We have learned that this behavior does not work with human toddlers.)

Moment of Meow

  • We can twist our bodies around because our vertebrae (our backbone) are held together by muscles. Humans have ligaments between theirs which are nowhere near as flexible. That’s why we can stretch and contract our backs. And arch them up to scare off intruders.
  • We don’t have any crushing teeth (like molars in humans). We cut up our food when we eat it, rather than chewing it.
  • Our eyes are extra sensitive to light because of something called guanine. It coats our eyes and lets us see in extremely low light. It’s also what makes our eyes glow.

Why do cats' eyes glow in the dark? | Optimax

  • There are over 100 different cat breeds.
  • We have the largest eyes, in relation to our body size, of any mammal. This lets us see approximately 280 degrees. (A full circle is 360 degrees.) That’s why it’s so hard to sneak up on us. (We also have excellent hearing.)
  • The average lifespan of an indoor cat is 15 years, but only 5 years for an outdoor cat. The oldest cat known lived 36 years.

Why Do Cats Land on Their Feet? | Purina® Canada

  • A cat can jump 5 times as high as its tail.
  • Cats respond more quickly to names that end in the “ee” sound. (We do not know who studied this or really believe it. We do not respond to anything we do not want to respond to.)
  • Cats have over 100 different vocalization sounds while dogs have approximately a dozen. We are obviously more articulate.

  • We purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine (approximately 26 cycles per second). We are much quieter.
  • We sleep more than any other mammal – an average of 16 hours per day. (Humans just aren’t that interesting.)
  • A cat’s nose pad is ridged in a unique pattern, like a human fingerprint.

Cats in Japanese Culture and History | KCP International

Cats have been living with humans for thousands of years. There’s some disagreement whether we first joined the hunter-gatherers as companions or waited until humans settled in one place and moved in as pest control. In either case, we are extremely popular these days. These countries have the most cats:

  1. United States – 76.5 million
  2. China – 53 million
  3. Russia – 12.75 million
  4. Brazil – 12.5 million
  5. France – 9.5 million
  6. Italy 9.5 million
  7. United Kingdom – 7.75 million
  8. Germany – 7.75 million (we know it’s a tie with the UK; the computer won’t let us have 2 #7s)
  9. Ukraine – 7.5 million
  10. Japan – 7.25 million

How Cats Tamed Us | The New Yorker

We don’t know who counted the cats. We’ve never taken part in a census. But that’s a lot of cats.

In Istanbul, Cats Are Sacred - Here Are Photos of the City's Cutest Stray Cats

Finally, wanted to give a meow-out to a few places that really love cats:

  • Mykonos Isle, Greece – The island is famous for it’s cats, and every street in the main town of Chora has its own kitty mascot.
  • Rome, Italy – The Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary has almost 300 cats living among the temple ruins.
  • Istanbul, Turkey – The Stray Cat Hostel is a cat-themed hostel where you can stay free if you add to the artwork. Istanbul is known as a haven for stray cats.
  • Key West, Florida – Ernest Hemingway’s home (now a museum) is home to more than 40 polydactyl cats.
  • Moscow, Russia – home to the Moscow Cat Theater and Cat Temple where you can watch cats perform or visit the 200 cats who live in the temple.

We hope you appreciate all the hard work Sgt Stripes put into his research. And hope you and your human enjoy Global Cat Day!

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

11

Live Big: Celebrate National American Bison Day

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Plains Bison (Bison bison bison) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Greetings. Exciting news. Today is National American Bison Day! You know, those huge hairy beasts roaming the North American plains. The ones everyone used to call buffaloes. They’re the largest mammal in North America, and they have their own day to celebrate their awesomeness.

Bison Bellows: A New Initiative to Celebrate Bison (U.S. National Park Service)

We’re lucky we still have this beauties with us. Before the European settlers arrived, there were approximately 30-60 million bison roaming around. (We know that’s a wide range, but bison weren’t very good recordkeepers.) Native Americans used bison for food, clothing, shelter, and other things, but the settlers hunted them almost to extinction. (They were also not very good with rifles.) We only have about 10,000 left, living in 17 herds. They live in the western U.S. and Canada.

Bison Interests - Investment Firm, Oil and Gas Investments

Every year since 2012, the US Senate has passed a resolution declaring the first Saturday in November as National Bison Day. (No, we have no idea why they have to do it every year. It doesn’t really seem controversial.) Even better, on May 9, 2012 President Obama made the American Bison the National Mammal of the U.S. with the National Bison Legacy Act.

First baby bison of the year born at Fermilab

Bison Fun Facts

  • They can weigh up to 1,000 pounds (that’s like 100 cats)
  • They originated in Southeast Asia about 2.5-2.6 million years ago. Yellowstone Park is the only place in the U.S. where they have lived continuously since prehistoric times.
  • They are a lot faster than they look. They can run up to 35 miles per hour.
  • They have poor eyesight, but their hearing and sense of smell help compensate.
  • They live up to 20 years.
  • The babies are called red dogs.

9 Laughing Animals | Laughing animals, Baby animals, Cute animals

Bison Riddles

What did the mother say when her son went to college?  Bison.

How can you tell there’s a bison under your sleeping bag? The ceiling of your tent is very close.

How can you tell a bison from a field mouse? Try to pick it up. If you can’t, it’s either a bison or a very large mouse.

What do you get when you cross peanut butter with a bison? Either peanut butter that roams the range or a bison that sticks to the roof of your mouth.

What do you call a bison at the North Pole? Lost.

What kind of car does a bison drive? A Furrari.

What animal is always the designated driver? Water buffalo.

What time is it when a bison sits on your bed? Time to get a new bed.

65 Different Species of Animals Laugh, Says a New Study

Bison Jokes

The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the range. Three weeks later, a bison walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The cowboy couldn’t believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the bison’s mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, “It’s a miracle!” “Not really,” said the bison. “Your name is written inside the cover.”

A man and his pet bison walk into a bar. It’s about 5 pm, but they settle in for a night of drinking. They spend the night drinking, one drink after another. Finally, it’s last call. The man says, ” One more for me, and one more for my bison.” The bartender sets them up, and they down the drinks. The bison falls over, dead. The mans throws some money on the bar, puts on his coat, and goes to leave. The bartender yells after him, “You can’t leave that lyin’ there.:The man responds, “It’s not a lion; it’s a bison.”

Bovini/Bisonte Americano(Bison Bison): | American bison, Animals, Herding

A bison sits down next to a man in a movie theater. The man asks, “Are you a bison?” “Yes, I am.” The man is surprised. “Why are you at the movies.” The bison replies, “I liked the book.”

A policeman stops a man who has a baby bison in the front seat of his car. “Why do you have a baby bison? You should take him to the zoo.” The man nods and drives off. The next week, the officer sees them again. They are both wearing hats and sunglasses. He pulls the car over. “I thought I told you to take the bison to the zoo.” The man replies, “I did, officer. We had such a good time, we’re going to the beach this week.”

Numbat - ZooBorns

Hope you found this entertaining. In case you’re interested, November 5th is also National Redhead Day, World Tsunami Awareness Day, Chinese Food Takeout Day, and World Numbat Day. Numbats are banded anteaters (also known as walpurti), who live in western Austalia. If you live in the UK, it is primarily known as Guy Fawkes Day/Gunpowder Day/Bonfire night. They are celebrating either an attempt to blow up Parliament or the successful repression of that attempt.

Regardless, we think it’s Bison who rule the day.

National Bison Month - American Humane - American Humane

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

Jokes courtesy of http://www.jokes4us.com/animaljokes/buffalojokes.

21

Snoops and Kommando Chat about Cats

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Online School for Cats Soon to be a Reality - Learning Liftoff

Greetings from Snoops and Kommando Kitty. Mom hasn’t been feeling well, so she said we could take over the blog this week. Unfortunately, it’s been really boring around here lately so we don’t have anything to talk about either. So we went to Mr. Google and asked about fun cat facts.

We found some interesting stuff. The information below is from https://www.quizbeez.com/blog/52-cats-fun-facts and https://laffgaff.com/cat-trivia-questions-answers/.

What Is The Name For A Group Of Cats? - Tuxedo Cat

Approximately 25% of American households “own” a cat.

A group of cats is called a clowder.

A group of kittens is called a kindle.

Can You Send A Cat In The Mail? – Catstourguide

If a human killed a cat in ancient Egypt, they could be put to death.

Félicette was the first cat launched into space (as part of the French space program in 1963). She returned safely to earth.

In the 1870’s a town in Belgium had cats deliver the mail. They put the mail in waterproof pouches around the cat’s neck and sent the cats out. It was not successful.

Kittens Cats Group Of - Free photo on Pixabay

A cat’s nose print is a unique identifier.

The house cat shares 96% of her DNA with the tiger.

Cats have 230 bones in their bodies. (Humans have 206.)

All kittens are born with blue eyes.

Kittens from the same litter can have different fathers.

Someone slept too long and wrinkled her whiskers. - ) | Cat memes, Funny animal pictures, Dog memes

Trimming a cat’s whiskers will cause it to become disoriented. They help the cat determine whether a space is big enough to fit in and how far to jump to reach a certain spot.

Cats can either purr or roar. They cannot do both. Only the jaguar, leopard (except snow leopard), lion, and tiger can roar.

The average house cat can run up to 30 miles per hour (48 kph). Human athletes top out at about 27 mph.

How to Tell if a Cat is Smart | PetMD

Cats teeth can stab, anchor, and cut. But they cannot chew.

Cats cannot detect as many colors as humans. But they are far superior at detecting motion. Their eyes can also fully dilate which allows them to see in extremely low light.

Scientists have been unable to study cats’ intelligence to any great degree because cats are not interested in cooperating with the research.

A cat’s sense of smell is far superior to a human’s although not as good as a dog’s.

Create meme "sleepy cat, cat , cat " - Pictures - Meme-arsenal.com

Cats like to attack human feet because they are roughly the size of the prey cats normally hunt. (Fuzzy slippers or socks make the resemblance more striking.)

Most cats don’t like cold food. They prefer something close to the temperature of their tongue.

Cats sleep an average of 15 hours per day, although kittens and seniors generally sleep more. The actual schedule will probably vary by the household routine of a house cat.

Cats prefer to drink running water. Possibly because it tastes fresher.

Water Cats: Some Cats Love to Swim and Play in Water - Tufts Catnip

The Maine Coon is the largest domestic cat. They are not a hybrid with a wild cat.

Black panthers are not a specific feature. They are just large cats with extra melanin.

Turkish Van cats love water.

The Sphinx cat is the only breed native to Canada. It was formerly known as the Canadian hairless.

Bengal cats have fur that sparkles under the light.

Cat Books: 5 Books About All Things Feline

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

5

Trivial Trivia

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(I intended to post this yesterday, so the events all happened on April 5, not April 6. Feel free to hold onto it until next year if you think it would be more relevant.)

As you may have guessed, I love trivia. It’s probably related to my mind’s ability to hold onto almost any useless piece of information while forgetting that if I don’t call the school, my kids probably won’t have yearbooks for their senior year. For example, I needed a code to punch into the cash register at my second job (after my senior year in high school). I chose 1063. Why? Because it was three years before the Battle of Hastings. And I still remember it. Scary, huh?

Needless to say, the Internet is full of odd facts and ideas. Too bad I don’t know which ones to believe.

There used to be something in the local paper called “Today in History” and it would show which famous people were born on that day and major events. I really liked looking at it, although the same historical events kept popping up year after year. Oddly enough, the bombing of Pearl Harbor was there every December 7.

So what could be better than the web version of “Today in History”? I found several sites (of course). There was one that was mainly music-oriented. It was really interesting, but not really what I was looking for. Finally I settled on scopesys.com. It has births, deaths, events, holidays, and religious commemorations. And it seems to be pretty exhaustive. It was actually kind of boring, even to me.

For example, the birthdays included 1588 Thomas Hobbes, 1649 Elihu Yale, 1725 Giacomo Casanova, 1827 Joseph Lister, 1856 Booker Taliaferro Washington, 1923 Nguyen Van Thieu, 1937 Colin Powell. If you don’t know who these people are, you should :).

The list actually had 183 names on it. Included were such luminaries as 1818 Lewis Baldwin Parsons Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), 19– Chao Li Chi actor (Falcon Crest), 1946 Jane Asher Paul McCartney’s former girlfriend/actress (Deep End), and seven cricket players born between 1868 and 1953. While I have no problem with cricket, I can’t believe there has ever been a player who belongs on a list with Joseph Lister and Booker T. Washington. And it’s the only sport shown. Seems a little biased, no?

There were 82 deaths worthy of note. Among those cited were 1794 Georges-Jacques Danton, 1964 Douglas MacArthur, 1975 Chiang Kai-shek, 1992 Sam Walton, and 1997 Allen Ginsberg. I am going forward with the blissfully ignorant assumption that everyone knows who these people are too. Don’t burst my bubble.

Some of the others you should keep in mind are 1531 Richard Roose who was boiled to death for trying to poison an archbishop and five cricket players. I am guessing that Mr. Roose was included due to his cause of death rather than trying to poison an archbishop. Lots of people were going around poisoning church leaders at that time. There’s the cricket bias again.

I found it interesting that there were 183 people of note on this date, but only 162 events. Some of the highlights: 1614 Indian princess Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe (#1 item on every site I visited – probably thought everyone would know who she is), 1722 Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island, 1896 1st modern Olympic Games officially open in Athens, and 1951 Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, atomic spies, sentenced to death.

I had not known the name of the person who “discovered” Easter Island (although from all appearances someone had found it before he did). Unfortunately, I will probably not remember the name because I don’t know how to pronounce it. (My idiosyncrasies have idiosyncrasies.) Odd that I successfully finished a Masters’ degree in Russian Studies.

The next few things here are what I consider to be real trivia. They are more interesting than useful: 1792 George Washington casts 1st presidential veto, 1806 Isaac Quintard patents apple cider, 1973 NFL adopts jersey numbering system (ie quarterbacks, 1-19), 1986 Record for a throw-and-return boomerang toss is set (121 meters). I am wondering how a man can patent a drink that occurs naturally.

Of course, I took issue with some of the inclusions. Making the cut were 1585 Clemens Crabbeels becomes bishop of Hertogenbosch, 1961 Barbra Streisand appears on “The Jack Paar Show”, and 1992 Comedian Sam Kinison marries live-in girlfriend Malika Souiri. There were five sports references to four sports (maybe only cricket players were born and died on April 5). The most suspicious of these was 1953 Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open. I’d like to know who kept score.

In 1965 Lava Lamp Day was celebrated. Those have made a comeback. My daughter has one. Maybe we could make it a national holiday. At least in Colorado where smoking pot is legal.

I think that we should add some international holidays to our calendar. And maybe spread some of the local ones. April 5th is the first day of summer in Iceland. I really hope that has something to do with the length of the day as opposed to the temperature. It’s not halfway between the equinox and the solstice either. Perfect excuse for another day off.

It’s Arbor Day in South Korea. That one would work here in Michigan. We were given the official word that it is now safe to plant new trees. Of course, we’ve also been told that it’s better to plant trees at the end of the year. And the ground is still frozen in some spots. Another day off and nothing to do. Excellent!

In Taiwan, they are celebrating Death of Chiang Kai-shek/Tomb Sweeping Day. I’m not exactly sure how to spin this one for the U.S. Obviously we don’t want to support a dictator (particularly a dead one). Maybe we can make it into some sort of civilian memorial day. Then we can plan major sales, get a day off, and forget the people it is supposed to honor (just like the real Memorial Day).

I’d love to celebrate Switzerland’s Glarius Festival. If I knew what it was celebrating. Or could find any reference to it anywhere. It started in 1388. If anyone knows enough Swiss history to help, please chime in. I guess we could just pretend we know what it is and ask for the day off.

Last, but not least, it is Student Government Day in Massachusetts. It was celebrated on Friday since no one wanted to go to school on the weekend to study the government. I think this would be an excellent opportunity to send our paid politicians back to school to learn what government is actually supposed to do. That would probably take more than a day though…..

You can drive your HR department crazy suggesting new holidays. It won’t be long before they are encouraging you to shop and look at cat videos on company time.