Shadowing Practice: Animal Facts YOU Didn’t Know! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Did you know that a human gave birth to the first cat?
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Just kidding.
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But in today's video, we're going to be looking at animal facts you didn't know.
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86% knew this.
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Jellyfish are mostly water.
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Yeah, I still don't understand jellyfish, guys.
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I, they don't even look like they're alive, but they're alive and they don't even die.
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Apparently.
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Learned that in my last video, they don't even die.
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If you guys haven't watched that video, make sure to click the link in the description down below and watch that after this.
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But while you're down there, smash that like button.
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Actually, go down and smash that like button right now.
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Thank you.
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Birds don't pee?
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Really?
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They just poop everywhere?
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My girlfriend got pooped on when we were in Rome.
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Sharks don't have bones.
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Okay.
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Elephants can't jump.
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Well, I didn't know that, but it makes sense because they're so heavy.
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Horses sleep while standing up.
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I did know. Did I?
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They could lay down.
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Why don't they just lay down?
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Adult cats only meow at humans.
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Oh, bats only mammals that can fly.
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Oh, good grammar.
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It's the only mammal that can fly.
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Why am I thinking as if I'm trying to think of another animal that's a mammal
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that can fly when they're telling me that this is the only animal, the mammal that can fly?
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Ant eaters have no teeth.
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That's why they eat ants.
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Elephants mourn their death.
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Aw, poor elephants.
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Kangaroos can't walk backwards.
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Yeah, but kangaroos don't need to walk backwards.
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They can jump.
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Well, I can jump too, but they can bounce.
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And they have a cool little pouch.
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Octopuses have three hearts.
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I think I knew that, but I don't understand that.
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How do you have three hearts?
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And why do you need three hearts?
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I guess if one has a heart attack, they got two more.
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Small animals see in slow motion.
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What?
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You're telling me a mosquito sees my hand about to swat it in slow motion, huh?
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Swirls can't burp or vomit.
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This is why they're extra picky about their food.
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Don't they only eat like nuts?
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Cows have best friends.
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When paired with their best friend, the cow's heart rates are significantly lower.
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Oh.
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I was about to say, how the heck do you know if a cow is a best friend?
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Yeah, heart rate lowers.
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Sharks existed before trees.
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Oh yeah?
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Who knew that?
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Huh?
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Who knew that?
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Who was alive back then and is still alive and telling us that?
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Huh?
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Male seahorses give birth.
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Crows can hold drudges.
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You know, I didn't know that, but I suspected that.
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Crows look like they would hold drudges.
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Sheep can recognize faces.
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That's it.
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I'm gonna pet sheep.
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Goats have accents.
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No, they don't.
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Goats can change their accent when they move to a different group. So what?
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Do they go from... To...
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Ha ha ha ha ha.
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Wait, can we do a British ba?
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Ba ha ha ha.
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What about a French one?
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Ba ha ha who?
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Oh, I see.
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I see.
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Koalas have unique fingerprints.
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Don't we all?
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Penguins propose with pebbles.
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Aw.
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Penguins are literally one of my favorite animals.
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They're so cute.
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Who doesn't love a penguin?
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After this video, I'm going to search up a penguin proposal.
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The armadillo is bulletproof.
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Really?
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Ants carry 50 times their weight.
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Ants are strong.
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Well, I guess they only weigh like what?
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One gram?
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They could carry 50 grams.
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Oh, wow.
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They could carry like a feather.
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Just kidding.
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A feather's probably only like five grams.
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I don't know.
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Male lions sleep up to 20 hours a day.
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I think that's what cats do too, don't they?
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Mantis shrimp punch is like a bullet.
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And that's another reason why the ocean is scary.
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Blue whale heart is the size of a car.
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What?
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Boom, boom, boom, boom.
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Some worms can jump.
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Oh yeah, I wanna see that.
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How is a worm supposed to jump?
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Like this?
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I guess.
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Pandas spend 14 to 16 hours a day eating.
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About 99 of its food consists of bamboo.
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Okay, you know, I can see them just on that bamboo.
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But would you not get full?
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Platypus is venomous.
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Really?
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Harry, the platypus is venomous?
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Kangaroos can't fart.
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You know, I don't think I need to know that, guys.
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I could have went my whole life and I didn't need to know that.
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But you know what?
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That's kind of cool.
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Kangaroos can't fart.
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What do they poop some lizards can run on water?
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Okay.
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That's sick I want to see that I want to see a worm jumping
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and a lizard running not just running running on water Electric eels can generate 600 volts You know,
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I'm gonna get a pet eel to power my whole house crabs can regole green Regrow lost legs wait. So what
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if I get a pet crab cut off its legs eat
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them It regenerates cut them off again eat them it regen guys never-ending food source Wait, do you even eat crab legs or do you even eat crabs?
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Surely, right?
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Or is that just a lobster?
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I don't even know guys.
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Ostriches run faster than horses.
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That's fast.
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Only female mosquitoes bite.
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Oh.
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Male anglerfish fuse with a female?
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Huh?
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Males attach themselves to females becoming a permanent part of them?
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What?
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Wombat poop is cube-shaped.
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That's kind of gross, but I want to see that.
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How does a cube come out of an animal?
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That's crazy.
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Ants have two stomachs.
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Oh, that's why they're like, oh.
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You guys know what I mean.
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And then the head.
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Elephants are afraid of bees.
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Why?
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Even the smell of bees has the power to repel elephants.
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That's crazy.
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Butterflies can taste with their feet.
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Huh?
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Giraffes have black tongues.
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Cheetahs can't roar.
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Cheetahs belong to the purring cats.
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Oh, so what do they do?
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Just...
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Camels store fat in their humps.
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A common misconception is that camels store water in their humps, but they store fat.
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Interesting.
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Tigers have striped skin.
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Oh, even their skin?
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If you shave it, it will still be striped.
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I want to see a picture.
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If we have a picture, Plop it up.
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You guys are gonna see before me.
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Actually, no, you guys aren't because after this video I'm gonna go search it up.
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So technically I saw it before you Actually, I'm probably gonna forget
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because what we're like what click the screen guys Are we halfway through the video
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if we are I most likely forgot
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but now is my time to make sure you guys hit
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that like button While you guys are already tapping out on the screen hit that like button.
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Let's continue.
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Clotypuses don't have stomach They don't have stomachs in the venous.
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Interesting cats have whiskers on their legs They do my girlfriend has two cats living with me
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And I don't know if I've ever noticed that
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and I just saw two more cats today because we were feeding my friends cats Intertesting.
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Snails have thousands of teeth.
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Roaches can survive decapitation.
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Yeah, I knew that one.
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Decapitation, crazy.
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Those things do not need that superpower.
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Those things are scary enough, and on top of that, they don't die.
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Come on.
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They're not scary, they're just nasty.
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One time I was in Texas, we were eating at a restaurant, and I looked behind me and there's a cockroach on the wall.
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Mm-mm.
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In a restaurant while we're eating mantis shrimp has 16 color receptors butterflies drink tears oh dogs can smell time
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oh really they could smell the time it's five o'clock 5
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45 really hair worm controls insect minds they take control of their host brain
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and drive it to end its own life that's crazy that's
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like some movie horror movie stuff polar bears have black skin what oh goldfish remember for months no isn't
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that a thing you have the memory of a goldfish wouldn't
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you think they wouldn't be able to remember for months like there's some things i can't remember for months ago
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or is it like they remember things for months like a face
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and then they don't they forget like
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if you go up to it after a month they'll be
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like who the heck are you maybe that's why i don't know flamingos get their color from their diet flamingos
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and shrimp are pink from eating algae
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that contains carotenoid pigments i want to eat
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that thing i want to turn pink actually i'm already pink i'm
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so pale i need some sun guys
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but it's almost winter owl can turn its head 270 degrees i knew that penguins mate for life.
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Crows can use tools.
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What do you mean they could use tools?
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They create and use tools to retrieve food from hard to reach places.
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What do you mean they use tools?
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They like create a hammer and hammer something open?
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Albatroses can sleep while flying.
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How do you sleep and fly?
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Is that why some birds hit vehicles and windows because they're sleeping?
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Ostrich eye is bigger than its brain.
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Huh?
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I saw an ostrich when I was in Africa.
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Well, multiple.
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We went to an ostrich farm.
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I swear their eyes are only like this big.
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Their eyeballs measure two inches across and are about the size of a billiard ball.
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Wait, huh?
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Maybe they're bigger than I thought.
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Lizards can shoot blood from eyes.
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Moles can smell underwater.
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How do you smell underwater when there's water?
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If I try to smell underwater, some snails have hairy shells.
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Giraffes hum to communicate.
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An octopus has nine brains.
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They got three hearts, nine brains?
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What else do they have?
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Trillion tentacles.
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Wild chimps like to drink.
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Drink what?
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A study recorded chimps using leaves to drink fermented palm sap.
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I'm confused.
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Dolphins can be pink.
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I wanna see a pink dolphin.
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Lobsters pee out of their faces.
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Okay, and that, my friends, is where I will never eat a lobster again.
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Llamas were used as lawnmowers.
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Oh, their grazing helps preserve and prevent the overgrowth of vegetation.
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Oh, just from them walking around, they like pat it down.
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Okay, I get it, I get it.
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I was like, what do you mean?
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Like, axolotl never grows up.
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They never technically reach adulthood, even though they can reproduce.
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Rats laugh when tickled.
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I wanna go tickle a rat.
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I can imagine it, guys.
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I wanna see it in real life.
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Sea sponges are immortal.
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Yeah, I kind of figured that.
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I really don't understand how they're living because they just sit there and do nothing.
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They don't have an eye, they don't have a mouth.
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They just are there.
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Turkeys can blush.
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Reindeer eyeballs turn blue in winter.
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Cicadas stay buried for 17 years.
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What's a cicada?
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Starfish have no brain.
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Again, how is a starfish living?
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Actually, guys, guys, guys, guys, let's put up a video.
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I want to show you guys.
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When I was in Toronto like two weeks ago, I saw a starfish moving for the first time.
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Look at their little legs.
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Did you guys know starfishes move like this?
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Like this is crazy to me.
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Hundreds of little legs moving them.
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That's crazy.
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Clownfish are born male.
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Moss can smell from miles away.
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They can also see light from miles away and they're super annoying.
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Owls don't have eyeballs.
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What do they have?
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They have eye tubes or cylinders that can't move like eyeballs.
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Oh, snails can sleep for years.
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Well, yeah, they just slither up in their shell.
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Ducks have waterproof feathers.
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Oh, even when a duck dives, its downy under layer of feathers remains completely dry.
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Downy?
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Is that why it's, what's the dish soap?
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Is it not downy?
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Or is it down?
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Dove?
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Down?
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I don't even know.
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But if you know what I'm talking about, my editor, please put it up on screen.
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Caterpillars have 12 eyes.
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They can see more than 360.
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Glass frogs have transparent skin.
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Otters hold hands while sleeping.
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Aw, that's so cute.
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Sea star has no blood.
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Has no brain, no blood, but somehow it moves.
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Somehow it moves.
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Liar bird can mimic almost any sound.
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Male giraffes taste female urine.
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They savor female urine to see if she's ready to mate.
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Beavers have transparent eyelids.
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Really?
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Frogs can freeze and survive.
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A partial frozen frog will stop breathing and its heart will stop beating.
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How's it stay alive then?
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If its heart starts, stops breathing.
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Elephant recognizes itself in a mirror.
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Can't they all recognize themselves in a mirror?
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I thought that was pretty standard.
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Actually now that I think about though
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when the cat looks at itself in the mirror It's like
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what the heck like yeah Colossus penguin oh the one with the Put up an image was LeBron's height Oh
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that tall Oh penguins are kind of scary now actually Ravens
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can solve complex puzzles you know Ravens seem a little smart to me A rhino's horn is made of hair How's that?
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What?
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How?
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What?
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Nah killer whales are actually dolphins Oh they look like a whale
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and a dolphin They look pretty cool I do admit Ducks sleep with one eye open You never know guys
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You never know what's around Hippo hippo hippopotamus.
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Sorry.
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I thought it was some creature.
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I never heard of hippopotamus milk is pink I want some of that capuchin monkey washes its food.
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Well monkeys are almost human So if it's dirty, I would wash my food too.
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Beats communicate by dancing Yes, guys, this is a ditto if you just saw in my hand
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when i've been squeezing it crocodiles eat stones to aid digestion How is that tasty?
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And finally pigeons can do math Why would they need to do math?
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They can't talk Pigeons don't need to do math Do they just go to like a school window
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and be like Oh yeah that's like yeah yeah I know the answer to
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that Why would a pigeon need a new math?
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But anyway that's it for today's video
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If you guys enjoyed it by the way Slap
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that like button Subscribe if you're not ready And I'll see you guys in the next one Peace
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What You'll Learn from This Video
This fun animal facts video is a goldmine for learn english with youtube practice. You’ll build two key speaking skills: first, how to deliver surprising information with natural emphasis (perfect for IELTS speaking practice), and second, how to transition smoothly between casual anecdotes and factual statements. Plus, the conversational tone helps you mimic real-world English, making it ideal for shadow speak exercises—repeat the lines to match the speaker’s flow!
Listen For These Sounds
The dialogue is full of connected speech patterns. Notice how "I still don't understand" becomes "I still don’t unnerstan" (reducing "understand" to "unnerstan"). Also, linking is common: "they don't even die" sounds like "they don’t evendie" (linking "even" and "die"). Listen for the casual reduction of "did you know" to "d’you know"—a staple in everyday English. These nuances are key for improving your ear and prepping for shadowing app practice.
Say It Like a Native
To mirror the speaker’s rhythm, focus on stress. Words like "Jellyfish," "Sharks," and "Octopuses" get extra emphasis to highlight the surprising facts. The speaker also uses a rising intonation for questions like "Really?" and "Why am I thinking..." to keep the conversation engaging. Try shadow speak by pausing the video and repeating each line, matching the stress and pauses. For example, when saying "Adult cats only meow at humans," stress "only" and "humans" to emphasize the uniqueness. This will not only improve english pronunciation but also make your speech sound more natural and confident.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If you shave it, it will still · if it's dirty, I would wash · if you're not ready And I'll see |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't watched · have striped · I've ever noticed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be striped · are born · is made |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.