Insects and animals have all kinds of crazy defense mechanisms. For instance, the Colombian Death Butterfly can (and will) detach it’s wings from its body and actually throw their wings at their prey like some kind of misshapen Frisbee. Normally you wouldn’t think that a butterfly wing would be very dangerous, but the wily Colombian Death Butterfly spends weeks carefully detaching its wings each evening and spending hours hardening them with tree sap. As if this isn’t enough, once the wings are hardened the butterfly will put them back on and sharpen them against rocks or, if the butterfly is really lucky, a sharpening stone. After a long, arduous wing preparing season, the wing of the Death Butterfly is about as sharp as the famed Ginsu kitchen knives. Many a wandering tourist throughout Colombia has been cut by one of these crazy ass butterflies.
But this article focuses on a much more familiar animal, the cat. The common house cat to be exact (any breed). Cats have some of the strangest animal defense mechanisms in the animal kingdom. Now, please take note that these animal defense mechanisms only apply to domestic cats. The larger cats such as panthers, lions and tigers do not need these defense mechanisms. Scientists and animal enthusiasts speculate that the larger cats lost these defense mechanisms years ago due to their confinement mainly in zoos. They don’t need to really do much of anything these days. They get thrown steaks all day and lounge around. And honestly, can you really blame them?
So now, let’s learn about the wonderful array of cat defense mechanisms, shall we?
Hissing
A cats hiss expels thousands of droplets of specialized saliva which if gotten in the hissee’s eye will cause glaucoma.
Growling
A cats growl is believed to resonate at a frequency that dissolves human hemoglobin.
Tail Swishing
Cat tails in the process of angry swishing have been clocked at over 85 mph and can cause severe welts.
Leaping
A cat can leap 10 times it’s height in order to frighten passers-by.
Teeth
The typical cat can kill and eat a small sparrow within 30 minutes.
Whiskers
Cat whiskers are actually hollow tubes which an alarmed cat can fill with pressurized air and launch at a nearby threat.
Claws
Cat claws are commonly referred to as “Widow-makers” because they can kill a medium sized rat by repeatedly pawing at it.
Allergens
When angry, a cat releases blasts of allergens causing it’s unfortunate victim to succumb to itchy eyes and sneezing.
Reflective Eyes
Cats eyes glow eerily in the dark causing people to run away, often to their doom.
