What about animals fake their death This is similar to what happens to football players who fake a fall or injury. A way to buy time against an opponent. This is a fairly common phenomenon in many animal species. However, not everyone does it the same way. The best thing to do is to remain motionless long enough for your opponents to think there is no more danger. But you can always spice things up a little more by adding special effects, like some blood, a bad smell, or some feces on her. This is not an exaggeration, since there are some snakes that they do this.
A team of scientists from the University of Belgrade recently observed it in two species of snakes: Natrix tessellata And Heterodon platyrrhinos. Both add some special effects to the immobility, which these researchers believe gives them a greater advantage over the enemy.
If football players could get a ketchup packet out of their sock, they would do it too. It should not be surprising that since snakes have this gift, they make the most of it.
Drama Queen of Snakes
To conduct their research, these scientists were afraid 263 snakes kind N. tessellata, grasping them tightly by the middle, so that they felt the attack. All of them, as expected, played dead, but some added even more drama to the situation. About half defecated as if they were out of breath. sphincter control. But in addition, 28 of them bled from the mouth as a result of a controlled process known as autohemorrhage.
Moreover, both this and other species tend to exude musk in quantities that give them the peculiar smell of death. Some even convulsions. The researchers noticed that those snakes that added special effects to their fake deaths had an advantage because theythey forgot about life before the rest.
What is this for?
Perhaps false death is the last resort against the enemy when it has already occurred preliminary contact. Logically, if they are predators who want to eat them, this is not true because it leaves them at their mercy. But for opponents who just want to kill them, it’s an indicator that the fight is over.
Snakes that fake their death are best at returning to normal faster because they are used to it causing their opponents to retreat faster. They suspect there is no longer a risk, so They move again and run away.
If they only paralyze their muscles, it is more likely that another animal will come to check if they are dead, so they will have to wait. more time to escape.
This conclusion was reached by scientists who hope to continue studying other species, both snakes and other animals. It is clear that these are the biggest drama queens, but let’s not rule out that there are more such cases.
Source: Hiper Textual
