general

I used to go to gradeschool with a girl named Samantha. She would argue with me for hours on the fact that turkeys (and all birds) had four legs like "normal" animals such as birds and dogs. Her four-legged turkey drawings at Thanksgiving always deeply troubled me, even as a six year old.

eL

When I was around 4 my sister told me the "truth" that my real parents were rabbits, and that my dad found me in the backyard whilst mowing the lawn. She said mom and dad only took me in because they felt bad about almost mowing me over. For years after I'd see a rabbit and wonder if it was a relative. Damn sister.

Bing

I used to believe that penguins could fly, they just didn't want to.

Mariah\

I used to believe that waves were made by whales who lined up in a row and flapped their tails.

Passionola

A friend of mine mistakenly believed that "a view" was an animal, rather than "a panorama". Thus on every family outing, some one remark "wow...look at the view", and the poor girl would look desperately out of the car window for the ever elusive glimpse of this rare species, to the evident mirth of her siblings. Despite it taking years for her to figure out the truth, there doesn't appear to be any lasting pyschological damage...

Richard

my older sister once told me that pandas created the universe, legend had it that they were bored of being alone so they drew us on paper and gave us life, angered by their mean ways, the humans revolted and took over, sending pandas to zoos as punishment.

Diego G.

As a small child my mother told me that baby penquins lived in the fridge and that if i kept opening the door (trying to catch the light off) penquins would become extinct and it would be all my fault. I believd this for many many years!

Hellen

Until I met my husband in my mid-twenties I didn't know that reindeer were real animals. I thought they were part of the "magic" of Christmas. My husband delights in telling this to everyone we know, including total strangers.

Elly

When I was a kid, we'd sometimes drive through the countryside and see large round bales of hay. My parents told us they were turds left by giant rabbits, and of course all three of us believed that. I had my kids believing it for a while, too.

Marla

sheep were wooly pigs

CJ

I used to live near Windsor Castle in England. My parents both told me that all of the sheep on the reservoirs near to Windsor had crowns on their heads and of course, belonged to the Queen. Naturally, I believed them...

Martin

Once my mom was reading me a bedtime story and I asked what a bull was. She said it was a male cow...and I couldn't figure out why there would be a special name for the cow postmen, not to mention why on earth the cows wrote each other letters. Seriously. She clarified it as soon as she stopped laughing...

CP

When I was little, I heard that starfish eat out of a little hole in their back. We had a few (dead) starfish in our house from the beach, and I was scared to death that they would attack me and eat me. To protect myself, I took some clay and covered their little hole so they couldn't eat me.

Laura

My dad used to tell me that the piles of hay in feilds we drove by were "cow cocoons" and that the cows hatched out of them and then ate them. So I thought for years cows hatched out of those cocoons.

allison

When I was a kid, my dad and I used to fish a lot. One day we were driving down the interstate and there was a retention pond by an off-ramp. I asked him if there were any fish in that pond and he said there were. I then asked him how fish got into ponds and he told me that a bird flies by and drops them in. It made perfect sense to me at the time, and I believed this until I was about 19 years old.

Anon

When I was little I watched the original Dr. Dolittle movie and never seeing a llama in person before, I believed that they actually had two heads up untill I was in college when I was told otherwise....oops!

DeLaine

That Hamstere are, genetically speaking, miniature bears.

charlotte

I used to believe that the big white ovals on killer whale faces were their eyes, until a year ago. I'm 20 now, and I've been to Sea World twice.

BEM

i have no idea where this believe came from but as long as i can remember i believed that baboons ate through their bums! i didnt find out the truth until i was 20 and was at my parents house and there was something about baboons on tv, and i said "they eat through their bums dont they?" everyone just looked at me really strangely and laughed, they have never let me live it down!

scarlett

When I was around the age of 6, I saw cows walking sideways on the slopes of hills (on the drive going from Sacramento to San Francisco). I couldn't understand how they could walk on something so steep without down the hill, so I asked my father. He told me it was because on the "hill" side of their body, their legs were shorter so they could balance AND that they could only go around the hill in a certain direction. I believed him till I was 10.

Alysha