Author: Lisa Mungovan

Pearls form when a parasite or grain of sand, gets into an oyster or clam. The animal surrounds the irritant in a coating, called nacre, to protect itself. Many layers of nacre, form a pearl. Today is Wear Your Pearls Day, reminding us that we can create beauty, from the bad stuff in life.

Have you ever tried to get a bunch of cats to obey you? They tend to ignore you, do what they want, and make a mess. So when someone’s having a hard time getting a group of people to do something, they say, “it’s like herding cats.” Happy Cat Herders Day!

A family in South Africa found an unwanted ornament on their Christmas tree, when they noticed it slithering. There was a venomous snake, giving their decorations a closer look. Boomslangs have small mouths, but they can open 170°. A wildlife rescuer came out to trap the boomslang, and release it into the wild.

The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, or SPUN, has an ambitious project planned. They’ll take 10,000 fungi samples from around the world, and start mapping out their trillions of miles, of underground networks. The mushrooms you see on the ground, are just a tiny piece of their total size.

How would you like to have, a see-through head? The rarely-seen barreleye fish, has a transparent head, making it easy to watch its big green eyes in action. Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, have only spotted barreleyes 9 times, during their 5,600 deep-sea dives. Look up Monterey Aquarium’s footage, hashtagged FreshFromTheDeep.

Today is Monkey Day! It started as a joke when a college student wrote “Monkey Day” on his friend’s calendar, but it’s now celebrated around the world. Did you know, almost all monkeys have tails? The smallest monkeys are Pygmy marmosets, at only 4.6 inches long! Jump around like a monkey today, and eat bananas!

You’ve heard the song that begins, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but have you ever eaten one? Today is Roast Chestnuts Day, so buy some chestnuts if you don’t happen to have a chestnut tree. Roast them on a campfire, grill, or in the oven, until the skin splits, then peel and eat!

To celebrate their 150th anniversary, the University of Central Missouri set a world record. The school’s official mascot is a mule, so they held the largest parade, of people riding on mules. 50 people on mules participated in the Homecoming parade, showing UCM is proudly, “Mule Strong.”

A ski resort in Maine, was overrun with Santas last week. 232 people dressed in Santa Claus suits hit the slopes on skis and snowboards, ringing sleigh bells and ho-ho-ho-ing. The annual fund-raising event, raised over $5000 for the River Fund Maine, a non-profit that works with youth education and the outdoors.

A snowy owl wasn’t looking too snowy, after being rescued from a recycling plant. The bird was covered in oil and diesel fuel, which it had been trying to clean off with its beak. The rescuers gave the owl a deep cleaning and medical attention, and report it has regained its sassy attitude.