Questions About Jeff Corwin

Have you ever been bitten by any of the animals on the show?
Jeff: I have! Usually when I haven't been careful enough.

Do you have any animals of your own?
Jeff: I do! I have about 15 creatures living in my home. I have three cats, a macaw, a boa constrictor, some tri-colored king snakes, all sorts of stuff!

What's the scariest animal you've ever seen?
Jeff: I've never really been scared of an animal, but I've gotten nervous in certain situations, like being stalked by a leopard and charged by an elephant.

What is the most dangerous animal that has been on your show?
Jeff: Bears! We've also worked with dangerous African cats like leopards and lions.

Have you ever been caught by surprise, by a camouflaged animal?
Jeff: Yes, usually the animals are fairly small, like lizards or snakes. I usually study them afterwards.

How can I become an animal expert like you?
Jeff: You'll need to study some aspect of natural history, like Biology. Do your best in school and be really active with conservation groups, both locally and nationally. If you can, volunteer time at a local museum.

What's your favorite animal?
Jeff: I have a lot of favorite animals and they keep changing. Almost any animal can be one of my favorites, but I always seem to have a snake in a show. I really do like snakes!

If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be?
Jeff: I think I'd be a dolphin or a bird of prey.

Have you ever eaten a snake?
Jeff: Yes. In Texas I ate deep fried rattlesnake.

How many countries have you visited?
Jeff: Over 30, including Belize, Nicaragua, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Argentina, Borneo, Malaysia, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, Belgium, and Australia. I love to travel and meet new animals all over the world.

What is your favorite place to vacation, since you get to travel so much with your job? Do you stay in a hotel or do you and your family rough it?
Jeff: My favorite place is at home. I travel so much it's a vacation to go home near the ocean. As for roughing it, it depends on our destination. We do both.

Questions About Animals

Do camels really spit?
Jeff: Yes! So don't get too close!

How do parrots change their voices when they're talking? How are they trained to talk?
Jeff: Well, parrots have special muscles in their jaw region that allow them to form sounds. Parrots learn how to speak through repetition/hearing things over and over and repeating the sounds.

How many types of whales are there in the world?
Jeff: There are more than 60 types of whales and dolphins that can be found along the coast of North America. There may still be undiscovered types of whales we haven't encountered yet.

Can you give me some information about anacondas?
Jeff: Anacondas are extremely fat. They can get fatter than a telephone pole! Anacondas are also the longest snakes in the new world and grow from 25-30 feet.

What is the most poisonous snake in the world?
Jeff: The snakes with the highest amount of venom are sea snakes, taipans, and tiger snakes.

Are killer whales really killer?
Jeff: No Orca or killer whale has ever attacked a human. They are the lions of the sea, though, hunting other sea animals and even large whales.

What animal lives the longest?
Jeff: Probably a toss-up between certain parrots and tortoises. Each has species that can live well over 100 years.

How big can a giant clam grow?
Jeff: Giant clams can grow very big. Once near Palau, I was diving and I swam by a giant clam that was five feet in length! And don't believe any of those stories you might have heard about clams trapping divers--they're all false!

Do flying squirrels really fly?
Jeff: Flying squirrels don't really fly. There's only one flying mammal and that's the bat. "Flying" squirrels actually glide, using their wings like an umbrella to catch the air and create some lift. But since they're gliding, they can only go a certain distance before they must land and plan their next flight.

How do you tell which bugs you can eat and which ones you can't?
Jeff: Believe it or not, I don't eat a lot of bugs! And there's no way to tell by simply looking whether a bug is edible or not. What I use is the historical record, research, and the reports of natives to tell me if a certain bug can be eaten.

Why do elephants have tusks?
Jeff: An elephant's tusks serve two purposes. Tusks protect the elephants from predators and let them guard their territory. But the tusks are also used to root up trees and as a digging tool.

What's the world's largest monkey?
Jeff: The world's largest animal in the same family as the monkey would either be the Orangutan or the African Gorilla.

What baby animal weighs the most at birth?
Jeff: That would be the baby blue whale. When the baby blue is born it can be 20 feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds, that's one big baby!

Why do dogs not like cats?
Jeff: Dogs and cats can like each other just fine. But conditioning can make them enemies. If you have a dog and a cat, and raise them together, they can live together just fine.

How big is the biggest spider in the world?
Jeff: Eleven inches wide. It's a bird-eating spider from South America.

What is the deadliest spider in the world?
Jeff: In North America, there are two known: the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow. Both of these spiders are deadly to humans.

What's the slowest animal in the world?
Jeff: The slowest mammal is the sloth.

Why do cats meow?
Jeff: Cats meow as a form of communication. They express themselves and share messages through meowing. Cats are also very territorial so meowing is also used to guard their territory.

Why do skunks stink, and do they smell bad to each other?
Jeff: Skunks smell to ward off predators. They lift up their tails and spray a predator. It's a defense mechanism that will keep a predator smelling for miles and days! To each other, skunks probably don't smell that bad. They're probably used to the smell.