ANIMALSSeven Animals Whose Survival Tactics Are Stranger Than Science Fiction4 min read

The Opossum That Can’t Help Playing Dead

“Playing possum” implies a conscious act. It isn’t. When an opossum is confronted by a predator — a dog, a fox, a bobcat — its nervous system simply overrides voluntary control. The animal collapses. Goes limp, lips peeled back, drooling, emitting the smell of rotting flesh.

The opossum has no say in when this happens or when it ends. The coma-like state lifts on its own schedule. Fortunately, many predators are hardwired to ignore anything already dead, or to avoid flesh that smells potentially toxic. The opossum wakes up, orients itself, and shuffles off.

The Adorable Primate That Can Kill You

The slow loris has the kind of face that ends up on merchandise. Large liquid eyes, tiny rounded ears, fur soft enough to seem fictional. It is also the only venomous primate on Earth.

Glands on the insides of its forearms, near the elbows, produce a toxic secretion. When threatened, the loris licks those glands, mixing the secretion with saliva to activate the venom, then bites. The result can trigger anaphylactic shock severe enough to kill. Studies show many of these bites aren’t even defensive — lorises bite members of their own species in territorial disputes. Cute is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.