Bats aren’t blind. Despite the famous idiom, bats can indeed see, but they still use their even more famous echolocation to find prey.
100 Mind-Blowing Prey Facts
Polar bears charge at a group of walruses while hunting. They attack those who are crushed or left behind during the mass panic. Seeing a polar bear directly attack its prey is considered rare according to observations and studies.
Apart from their fur, tigers also have striped skin. A tiger’s stripes are an advantage because it helps break up the outline of its body which makes it hard to spot. They also help camouflage a tiger in the grass while it stalks its prey.
There is a species of frog that devours its prey through its eyes. This frog is known as the Northern Leopard Frog which uses its eyes to help it push food down its throat. It does so by retracting them into its head.
Birds require gravity to swallow. Birds cannot chew their food and instead swallow their prey whole. The oesophagus of a bird is wide enough to swallow larger meals. They depend on gravity to push their food down the oesophagus and then later be propelled into their stomachs.
Cat jaws cannot be moved sideways. They are mainly built for killing prey and can open very wide to ensure their kill. Cats also cannot easily chew their food.
Flamingos eat with their heads turned upside down. Flamingos are unable to eat normally due to the structure of its mouth. Their bills are made to filter food from the mud and water. They feed by coming through the mud with their feet and catching their prey in their beaks.
Dogs like squeaking toys because they sound like their prey. Dogs are known to have a fixation on squeaky toys. Although dogs have been domesticated by man, they still retain some of their animal instincts – which is why squeaky toys stimulate them. Squeaky toys almost sound like small prey screaming for their life. Now that’s one of the WTF facts you could’ve lived without ever knowing.
Bald eagles don’t sound like in the movies. If you’ve seen a Western film, the iconic bird screech comes to mind. However, you’d be surprised that it’s not the sound of a bald eagle. The piercing call that most people associate with the bird is a sound made by another bird of prey: the red-tailed hawk. Hollywood uses the red-tailed hawk’s cry because it has a more dramatic effect. Real bald eagles would chirp rather than screeching.
Starfish eat with their stomachs outside their body. Starfish may not have brains, but they’ve got a hell of a stomach. Mostly feeding on clams and mussels, the starfish wraps its arms around its prey’s shell and squeezes it open. The starfish then pushes its stomach out of its mouth and into the prey’s shell. Once it digests the animal inside the shell, the starfish will retract its stomach back into its body. Who knew these innocent-looking sea creatures were so hardcore?
Lions are skilled hunters and can run up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres per hour) in short bursts while chasing prey.
Lions have excellent night vision, which helps them hunt in low-light conditions and gives them an advantage over their prey.
Angel sharks can flatten themselves to blend in with the ocean floor and ambush prey.
Hammerhead sharks use their unique head shape to pin ray and stingray prey.
Sharks use the electrical signals from their prey’s muscles to detect them.
There’s a place on Earth where seagulls prey on right whales. They dive-bomb the calves coming up to breathe air and take bites of blubber from their backs. The calves’ skin is thinner than adults, and they have to come up for air more frequently, making them more exposed and vulnerable to attack.
Sharks do not hunt humans or consider humans food. Shark incidents occur when sharks are hunting for seals, dolphins, or other “human-sized” prey. It’s a case of mistaken identity!
Sharks do not hunt humans or consider humans food. Shark incidents occur when sharks are hunting for seals, dolphins or other “human-sized” prey. It’s a case of mistaken identity!
WHALES ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN GROUPS. There are two types of whales: the baleen whales and the toothed whales. Baleen whales, including humpbacks and blue whales, have fibrous ‘baleen’ plates in their mouths instead of teeth, which help them filter out and consume huge quantities of zooplankton: small prey including krill, fish or crustaceans called copepods. Whereas toothed whales, such as orcas, beluga and sperm whales, have teeth which enable them to feed on larger prey such as fish and squid. All dolphin families, including porpoises, are also classified as whales, as they are more related to their toothed counterparts.
SOME WHALES USE BUBBLE NETTING TO FEED. This involves whales cooperatively blowing bubbles that encircle their prey. As the prey won’t cross through the bubbles, they’re trapped, making it easy for the whales to eat them.
A chameleon’s tongue is at least as long as its body, but it can grab prey in a fraction of a second.
Since they scarcely change from birth, axolotls have zero teeth. “How do they eat?” we hear you ask. Well, that’s all down to suction power. Axolotls have a surprisingly strong sucking force which use to crush and devour their prey.
Masters of camouflage, axolotls can adjust their colours to hide from predators and prey. This is a trait these clever critters share with other members of the salamander family.
African lions catch about 20% of the prey they chase. Dragonflies catch 95%.