Happy Wednesday!
Congrats to Backpack, winner of Fat Bear Week 2026! 🐻 Missing the bears already? Watch live polar bears and northern lights in Churchill, Canada!
Here’s what we’ve got this week:
TRIVIA
Trivia detective 🕵️
Which fact is fake?
Explanation at the end!
ANIMAL FOCUS
Squirrels 🐿️
Shoutout to Emily, who asked for squirrels!
California ground squirrels “wear” snake perfume! They chew up shed rattlesnake skins and lick the mash onto their fur and their babies’ fur. Smelling like a snake may help them hide from snakes! 🐍
They can heat up their tails like a warning light! Rattlesnakes can “see” body heat. Ground squirrels pump warm blood into their tails, heating them by up to 12°F! By waving their warm tails, they tell the snake “I see you,” which often makes the snake back off. 🔥
Flying squirrels glow pink! Under a UV light, North American flying squirrels shine bubblegum pink! Bonus: northern flying squirrels can glide 300 feet, the length of a football field! 💗
Arctic ground squirrels hold the record for the coldest mammal! While hibernating, their body temperature drops to 26°F! That’s colder than ice water! Scientists still aren’t sure how they keep from freezing. 🥶
Squirrels have shut down the stock market! In 1987, a squirrel caused a power outage that knocked out NASDAQ’s trading computers for about 90 minutes. And it happened again in 2014! 📉
Want more? Get the rest of our facts, including how they can survive falling from any height!
EVER WONDER?
Why do our fingers get wrinkly in the bath? 🛁
Have you ever stayed in the pool or bath so long your fingers and toes turned into little raisins? Here’s what’s really going on:
Is it just water soaking in? 💧
That’s what scientists used to think!
But in the 1930s, doctors noticed that people with damaged nerves in their fingers didn’t get wrinkly at all.
This means your wrinkly skin is something your body turns on!
So how does it work? 🧠
Water gets into your skin through tiny sweat holes 💦
Your nerves notice and send a message to your brain 📡
Your brain tells the tiny blood vessels in your fingertips to squeeze tighter, so the skin underneath shrinks 🩸
The skin on top stays the same size, so it bunches up into wrinkles, like a grape turning into a raisin! 🍇
Don’t worry, it’s totally harmless!
For more: Why does our body do this? 🤔
PICKS OF THE WEEK
📹 A giant anteater and her pup look for food
🐝 How bee stingers work in slow motion
🍎 Fruits and veggies have fewer nutrients than 60 years ago
❤️ Baby Tasmanian devil cuteness:
BRAIN TRIVIA
Logic Puzzle: There are 3 light switches downstairs. One of them turns on an old-fashioned lightbulb in the attic upstairs. You can flip the switches as many times as you want, but you can only go upstairs to check one time. How can you figure out which switch turns on the bulb? 💡
Kevin Lohman | Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2026
Thanks for reading! Stay curious!
- Steve
P.S. The fake fact was Roy Sullivan! The park ranger was actually struck by lightning 7 times and survived every one! Most people only have about a 1 in 15,000 chance of being struck even once in their whole life. ⚡
P.P.S. Have an animal or science question? Just hit reply and tell us!