Animal defense mechanisms: Skunks spray. Tobacco hornworm caterpillars use “bad breath”. The yellow headed vulture projectile vomits up to five feet away. When it comes to evading predators and staying alive, animals dip into a large, often nasty bag of tricks. Almost every animal has either a tiny parasite that bugs it or a much bigger predator that simply gobbles the animal up.
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To avoid this, animals have evolved ingenious defenses, things like playing dead, camouflage, spikes, and so much more. While many work, some of them simply have to be seen to be believed.
Did you know that cuttlefish don’t just squirt ink to distract their predators? They can use the ink (plus mucus) to create a small dense cloud that’s about the size of its own body. The attacker sees the pseudomorph, and thinks there’s another cuttlefish available for dinner. The momentary pause gives the cuttlefish just enough time to swim away.
If cuttlefish doppelgangers are too tame for you, here are ten other animals whose defenses range from ‘How-do-they-do-that’ to ‘You-didn’t-say-we-were-going-to-see-a-SAW-movie-marathon’
10. The African Spiny Mouse – Shedding & Regeneration
via nature.com
Cuteness overload, right? This desert dweller looks like it can do no harm, as long as it can scurry around, eating and pooping. The African mouse has evolved to perfectly understand its own limitations. It knows it will never outrun a bird swooping down on it or a snake creeping up on it.
The next best thing is to put up a struggle; when grabbed, the mouse wriggles violently to escape. As it does, it leaves chunks of mouse fur, skin and flesh in the predators grasp or mouth. The “pieces” left behind are inedible as the skin of the mouse is covered in sharp spines. This shedding doesn’t adversely affect the mouse as the lost flesh grows back within three days! A real-life Wolverine in mammal form?
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