Witness the art of deception in the animal kingdom as some creatures resort to faking their own demise to escape becoming a predator’s meal. A recent study reveals that the more repulsive the act of feigning death, the more effective it is as a defense mechanism.
Feigning death is a well-known survival strategy employed by various species (SN: 11/1/23). By playing dead, prey expose themselves to danger but also potentially deter predators who avoid consuming apparently lifeless creatures due to various reasons such as parasites or lack of movement triggering their hunting instincts.
The dice snake (Natrix tessellata) takes this act to a whole new level with a dramatic performance when faced with danger. It thrashes, hisses, excretes feces and musk, and even goes as far as filling its mouth with blood to convince its predator of its demise.
Researchers Vukašin Bjelica and Ana Golubović from the University of Belgrade in Serbia conducted a study to determine if these elaborate defense mechanisms expedite the process of fooling predators. They observed 263 wild dice snakes on Golem Grad island in North Macedonia, noting any instances of feces or musk smearing. The snakes were then monitored as they enacted their death-feigning behavior in response to a simulated predator, shedding light on the effectiveness of their survival tactics.
2024-05-07 18:01:00
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