5 Mammals With Odd Defenses
5. Opossum
Everyone knows that “playing possum” means playing dead. The American opossum (Didelphis virginianus), found from Canada to Costa Rica, usually reacts to danger as many other mammals do; by hissing, growling and baring its teeth. It can also bite viciously if pushed too far. However, if this all fails and the situation becomes too dangerous, plan B is to feign death; the opossum collapses to the ground, drools as if it was very ill, and then remains motionless, with its mouth open and its teeth bared. It even produces a putrid, corpse-like smell from its anal glands – move over beaver ass juice.
Many predators prefer to kill their own prey and most will soon lose interest on an apparently dead animal, leaving the opossum alone. The most amazing thing about the opossum’s defensive method, is that it is not a conscious act; it is rather a physiological response to a highly stressful situation, and the animal does fall into a comatose state that can last for hours; usually, the opossum regains consciousness only after the enemy has left. Exactly how it’s body knows this, is still a mystery.
4. Potto
Found in the jungles of Africa, Pottos may look like some kind of small, arboreal bear relative, but they are actually primates. They are nocturnal and feed on tree sap, fruit and small animals. Due to their slow movements, pottos are vulnerable to a number of predators, and have a very unusual defensive method; they have enlarged neural spines on its vertebrae, which protrude from the neck and shoulders. These spines have pointy tips and seem to be used as some kind of unlikely weapon, with the primate “neck-butting” its enemies and perhaps, just making itself hard to swallow. The spines may also function as some kind of shield, protecting the potto’s neck from the killing bite delivered by some predators, often aimed at the neck or back of the head.
3. Pangolin
Pangolins are very weird mammals, whose bodies are almost completely covered on large scales, giving them an appearance somewhat reminiscent of a giant, living pine cone. They feed mostly on insects and are found in Africa and Asia. Although they have large, powerful claws on their forelimbs, they rarely use them as weapons; instead, when threatened, they coil into a ball so tight that’s almost impossible to unroll. The sharp edges of the scales make them practically invulnerable to most predators; they can also lash out with their powerful, heavy tail, causing serious injury with the sharp scales.
And that’s not all; a Sumatran pangolin was seen curling into a ball and then actually rolling down a slope at high speed to escape unwanted attention! The pangolin’s last defensive resource is to spray a foul smelling, gooey substance from its anus. Needless to say, this animal doesn’t have many enemies to worry about.
2. Three banded armadillo
Although we tend to think of armadillos as heavily armored creatures, protected by an almost turtle-like shell, in most species the shell offers no real protection against large predators, and the armadillos will rather bury themselves into the ground to escape danger. The South American Three Banded Armadillo is the only one that can roll into a perfect ball; this is accomplished thanks to its loosely jointed armor which allows for a greater range of movement, and to its armored head and tail which interlock when the animal rolls into a ball, thus making it completely invulnerable to most enemies.
This animal has also been known to shut closed at the last moment, making a snapping sound to startle its enemies as a clever additional defensive trick. Since it’s so well protected, the Three Banded Armadillo doesn’t need to be a good digger and will use the burrows of other animals instead of digging its own.
1. Crested Porcupine
Found in Africa and southern Europe (mainly in Italy), the Crested Porcupine is among the largest rodents in the world, and also among the best protected mammals. Its quills, which have black and white banding so that predators can spot them from the distance, are actually modified hairs, covered with layers of hard keratin. These quills are longer in the front part of the body, forming an erectile crest that gives the animal its name. However, the most dangerous quills are the short ones in the back of the body. When threatened by a predator, the porcupine usually shakes its tail quills, which are hollow and sound like a rattle; if this doesn’t scare the enemy away, the porcupine charges backwards, trying to stab the predator with its back quills.
These quills break off easily and once they enter the predator’s body, tiny barbs in the tip actually pull them deeper into the wound; many unexperienced predators die as the result of porcupine quill injuries, either due to infection, or because the quills work so deep into the flesh that they damage blood vessels or even internal organs! There are porcupines in North America too, but these are usually smaller than their African relatives and spend much of their time in trees; interestingly, they have very powerful natural antibiotics in their blood. This is because they sometimes fall from the trees while foraging, and become stabbed by their own quills. If it wasn’t for the antibiotics, many porcupines would die of infection after a fall.
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