Playing dead seems like a last-ditch effort by someone or something that has lost all hope. When you're out of ideas, just stay still and hope the world passes you by. It's not smart and doesn't require much skill, but you'll be surprised how effective it is. And it's not just good for avoiding a bear attack.
10. Moorland dragonflies play dead to avoid mating
The marsh hawk dragonfly may be unfamiliar to you, but it's very common. It can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, spanning Europe, Asia, and North America. Females of this species have also developed a unique self-preservation technique that's both clever and a little sad by human standards.
Insect mating is never a particularly romantic affair, so after dragonflies have mated, everything returns to normal. But in their world, there is no such thing as consent, and the male has no way of knowing whether the female has mated or not. Females, seeking to prevent unwanted males, have perfected playing dead defense .
The female obviously does not need to mate twice, but a male who tries to do so can cause harm. damage her reproductive system. To fend this off, the female runs away from the male and then falls to the ground, lying on her back and remaining completely motionless. Since an upside-down insect is almost always a dead one, the male will assume she is dead and leave.
9. A domestic pig pretended to be dead to help its owner.
There is ample evidence that pigs are very intelligent, even more than dogs, and on par with human babies. Once a bond has been established between humans and a domestic pig, it's no surprise that the pig might have some clever tricks up its sleeve when the need arises. We can train dogs to sniff out drugs and alert people who are having a seizure. A pig that pretends to be dead to save life, seems quite reasonable.
In 1998, Jo Ann Altsman suffered a heart attack, and the only thing that helped her was a pot-bellied pig named Lulu. The pig actually got through a fence, tearing myself apart in the process, and made her way outside. There, she did the only thing a 150-pound pig could do. She played dead in the middle of the road.
Eventually, someone stopped to see why there was a dead pig lying in the road. Lulu took the person back home, and Altsman received medical attention. Apparently, if it had taken another 15 minutes, her doctor said she likely wouldn't have survived.
8. Male nursery web spiders play dead to fool females.
Arachnophobia is a powerful fear for many people, and there's little love lost between spiders and humans. This isn't surprising, considering how they treat each other. Take the nursery web spider, for example. The males of this species are deceitful, sneaky, and too cunning for their own good.
When it comes time to mate, males have to get creative. In many spider species, females kill the males, and the males are usually much larger. Male nursery web spiders use tricks to get the job done, including presenting the female with a gift., wrapped in silk , to distract her. The problem is that the gift may be a lie, and inside there will simply be a seed that she cannot eat, or even the husk of something the male has already eaten. And he also pretend to be dead , to trick her long enough to turn away so he could sneak in and mate while he had the chance.
About two-thirds of the gifts given were real insects, which the female could consume while the male mated with her. The final third consisted of tricks, which usually resulted in shortened mating periods, as the female realized she had been tricked. This led to the slacker male feigning death, giving him a chance to try another round of mating.
7. Cichlid fish play dead to deceive prey
We typically think of playing dead as an escape technique. We've all probably heard that playing dead is the way to deal with a grizzly bear. Just do nothing and hope it loses interest. But sometimes playing dead is done for the exact opposite reason, as in the case of cichlids.
The technique known as aggressive mimicry , is used by fish to attract others to feed on its dead body. The fish literally lies motionless on the bottom, resting in the mud, and when smaller fish come to inspect the corpse, it comes to life and eats them.
6. Embryonic sharks play dead after sending predatory electrical signals
Life for a shark can be tough. These predators are constantly hunting for food, and they're also in danger from humans and each other. Larger sharks are more than happy to prey on smaller ones, and smaller sharks are at great risk. This is such a daily part of shark life that their ability to avoid predators is pure instinct, part of their intelligence even before they're born. We know this because there's evidence that shark embryos pretend to be dead , to avoid danger. Even before they hit the water, they know to avoid predators.
Sharks are able to sense electric fields , generated by other living creatures. They use this ability as adults to aid in hunting. But when they're still young, they can sense the electric fields of potential predators and respond by restricting their movements and effectively feigning death to avoid being detected by anyone interested in a snack. All this occurs within the confines of the egg, still inside the mother shark. When electrical signals are detected, the embryonic shark restricts its gill movements and waits out predators.
5. The praying mantis will play dead to avoid cannibalism.
The praying mantis is a notorious example of mating hazard in the animal kingdom. It is a well-known example of the mismatch between male and female insects due to the females' habit of eating. males After, and sometimes even during, mating. Males, as you can imagine, don't like this and will try to avoid it if and when they can.
At least one species of mantis has about 60% males are eventually eaten. The rest of the 40%? They need to think fast. For some, the key is to trick the female into thinking her job is already done, which means playing dead.
This can be seen in several different species of praying mantises, which also try to escape predators. They jump from trees, flatten themselves on the ground, and introduce themselves. corpses .
4. Opossums don't like to play dead.
Is any animal more famous for playing dead than the opossum? People literally call it "playing possum." Ironically, of all the animals that play dead, opossums are actually the least effective at it. This doesn't mean they won't trick you into thinking they're dead, it's just that they're not strictly speaking "playing." The reaction isn't voluntary, so it's less play and more suffering.
The reason why opossums are said to play dead is because, you think, it's a defense mechanism that comes into play when the opossum fears attack by a predator . Animal does not have You have no control over it and can't make it start or stop on its own. It's like a sneeze or a muscle spasm that can catch you off guard, and you just tolerate it because your body is doing what it needs to do.
The opossum also secretes a gland that emits a smell of rotting flesh to complete the illusion. This can last for up to four hours.
By the way, although it's called "playing possum," if you're talking about the North American marsupial, it's technically an opossum. In fact, the opossum is a similar but different animal native to Australia.
3. Young fire ants feign death until they get older.
When it comes to ants, the world is a real mess. Some species are tiny and relatively harmless, while others are larger and potentially very dangerous. -bullet The fire ant got its name because when it stings you, it inflicts pain comparable to being shot with a gun. It's quite terrifying. Slightly less terrifying, but still much maligned due to its sting, is the fire ant. If you've never been stung by a fire ant, you can probably guess from the name what you might be in for. Their sting filled with compounds , which can cause minor skin irritation or even severe pain.
Although fire ants, like most animals, have well-developed defensive skills, young ants are not as skilled as older members of the species. Young fire ants cannot defend themselves against rival fire ants, so they simply pretend to be dead , to avoid confrontation altogether.
«"Attack" ants may only appear and inspect the young ants; they don't need to be fully aggressive. Young ants straightaway are folding , and as soon as the rivals leave, they turn around and go about their business. However, once they are old enough, fire ants will take a more aggressive defensive stance and fight these invaders rather than try to outwit them.
2. A deer shot by a hunter was attacked after the man thought it was dead.
Hunting, whether for subsistence or even trophy hunting, usually proceeds the same way. Whether we agree with it or not, it stems from the fact that a person stalks and kills an animal either for sport or to feed themselves, their family, and their community. But this assumes the hunt went according to plan, which isn't always the case.
Thomas Alexander was deer hunting in Arkansas. He saw a deer and fired, bringing it down. Alexander abandoned his hide and approached the deer to inspect his kill. That's how most deer hunts go. But this wasn't like most deer hunts, and the deer Alexander went to inspect wasn't dead. It was just it looked like this .
Incredibly, the deer wasn't dead. As Alexander approached, the deer sprang to its feet and attacked him. The deer must have had a formidable rack of antlers, because Alexander had severe puncture wounds all over his body. He was able to call to his wife, who then called emergency services, but unfortunately, the man died shortly thereafter. The deer was never found.
1. Korean business allows people to pretend to be dead
It may seem obvious that humans also play dead, but if you think about it, can you think of many instances where this happens for a specific reason beyond why an animal might do it? We're told to play dead to avoid grizzlies, and in horror movies, it's sometimes a good way to avoid a killer.
In Daejeon, South Korea, there's another reason for pretending to be dead, and it appears to be suicide prevention. At a seminar called "« Coffin Academy »Participants charge $25 for four hours of preparation for death. They write letters to their loved ones, decide what to inscribe on their tombstones, and then spend some time resting in the coffin to experience their final, dirty sleep.
The feigned death lasts 10 minutes of silence and stillness. At least according to one account of it, the coffin is actually boarded up staff to actually enter the simulation house. Some feared that the experience, which many find therapeutic, could encourage people to commit suicide by presenting them with the idea of a peaceful afterlife. The founder argues the opposite, suggesting it shows how lonely people would be in the country with the most high suicide rate in OECD countries.