Back left
Back right

Wacky Animal Defences

Dec 27, 2006

It's the nature of animals to be a little wild, but these extreme creatures take wild behavior to a whole new level. Check out some of the craziest ways animals defend themselves.

Skunk (North America, Europe)

Spotted skunks breakdance to scare away bad guys.

Everybody knows skunks use their gross smell to scare away enemies but not too many peeps know how they do it. A skunk has two glands just behind its tail that make the foul-smelling spray. The smelly stuff is shot out of two nozzles inside the anus. It can aim the spray by twisting the nozzles in all directions. The skunk's spray can shoot more than 10 feet. If you get hit in the face with the stinky stuff, it can cause temporary blindness and vomiting. How gross is that? Spotted skunks get funky before they spray. Before spraying their enemy, they do a handstand and wave their back feet around as a warning... or, maybe they're just showing off!

Horned Lizard (Southern American Desert)

Horned Lizards are sometimes wrongly called Horney Toads

This is one of the grossest creatures around. When the Horned Lizard gets really scared, it shoots blood out of its eyes by increasing the blood pressure in its sinuses until they explode. Ouch. The blood doesn't hurt the lizard's enemy but it really freaks them out, so the Horned Lizard has time to escape.

For more wacky animals click here.

Related Stories: