6 Weird Animal Defence Mechanisms

There are approximately 8.7 million species on Earth! With that big of a number, you're bound to find some very interesting ones with some very peculiar methods of defending themselves. Humans may have guns and weapons, but most people have nothing on these guys…

6. Frog Breaks Its Own Bones To Stab Enemies 

When threatened by predators, a particular type of frog, commonly known as the "Hairy Frog", uses quite the unorthodox method indeed. It has the ability (and audacity) to break its own toe bones and then push them out of his skins. This frog will then use these sharp bones sticking out its feet as little swords to stab its enemy. Some scientists believe that the frog is able to bring the bones back into his body for healing with its muscles…either way, this frog is pretty crazy. 

5. Opossums Play Dead…For Real!

We've all heard of the old trick of "playing dead". You're supposed to lay there, secretly pretending to be dead until your predator loses interest and just walks away. The opossum does this too…except it doesn't even want to! You see, when opossums are overcome with a lot of fear (such as having their life threatened), their bodies involuntarily go unconscious. The act is so real that their bodies even release a smelly odour that's only supposed to be released by a corpse. Definitely not yummy! 

4. Potato Beetles Cover Themselves In Poop 

Baby eggs are usually easy prey for predators. In hopes of protecting their larvae, potato beetles like to cover them in poop. Not only does the poo stinks (obviously), it's also toxic and would probably kill any predator that tried eating it. Poisonous poop! Now I know what you're thinking: how come it's okay for beetles to cover their babies in poop, but when I do it, I get a felony?! It's a tough world out there, guys. 

3. Malaysian Ants Are Basically Suicide Bombers

A lot of people (including myself) hate ants. How can you blame us? I mean, have you seen their eyes!? Anyways, although they are pretty creepy crawlers, most people agree that they are pretty harmless…well, if you agree, you probably haven't met the Malaysian Ant. When confronted with a battle in which they know they will lose, they like to squeeze their muscles in tight and explode their guts out in the process. Their bodies contain toxic chemicals that kill any predator within range. Unfortunately for our ant friend, they also die in the process. 

2. Lizard Shoots Blood From Its Eyes 

That picture is not a photoshop. When certain types of lizards get scared in the face of a predator, they have the ability to squeeze their sinuses really tightly. This puts a great deal of pressure on the blood vessels in their eyes, forcing blood to shoot out of their freaking eyes up to a distance of 1 meter! C'mon, that's almost like laser eyes…except probably pretty painful for the lizard. Whatever works, I guess!

Go to 1:14 to see the lizard in action!

1. Proboscis Monkey Gets An Erection To Scare Predators 

Not the pretties monkey you've seen, right? In addition to their poor looks (hope i haven't offended any monkeys out there), these guys are also commonly targeted by predators. No need to worry about them though - they've developed a very sophisticated and advanced defence mechanism: They get angry erections and run after their prey, making sure to display their genitalia the whole time! For some crazy reason, it really does work as most predators back away in fear of the monkey's boner! 

Although it works great for these guys, I urge you to NOT try that one at home!