Animal world “poison” door stunt big coffee show
Not long ago, many dogs in Australia became addicted to “drugs”, and they became addicted to licking cane toads. The toxins secreted by this toad make dogs so psychedelic that they spin, jump, and flutter. In addition to toads, there are many terrifying and deadly animals in nature. These animals look small and inconspicuous, but their toxicity is really amazing, and they can be called “Breaking Bad” in nature.
Toad-addicted dog was sent to rehab The “dog” (dog) of
Australian Susan’s family was sent to a pet drug rehab 3 times in a month. At first, a series of abnormal behaviors of the dog did not attract her attention. “Kiki (dog name) often paralyzes on the grass with all four of her legs drowning, her eyes narrowed into a line, and she seems very happy.” In a similar situation, Susan specially installed surveillance cameras in the yard, only to find that her dog was actually “drinking drugs” – licking toads.
The Sonoran desert toad, native to California, USA, was introduced to Australia and the Caribbean because of its good ability to prey on beetles that ate sugar cane, and is known as the “cane toad”. Its gray-headed ugly appearance is not so “cute”, but it has attracted many dogs in Australia. Dogs are so caught up in “licking the toad” that their owners have to send them to a pet hospital and ask a professional doctor to help them get rid of drug addiction.
It turned out that this large toad has well-developed poison glands behind its ears and back. When it is violated, it will secrete a violently poisonous mucus, which will leave a memorable lesson to the hapless enemy. It is called “Breaking Bad Toad”. The composition of its milky white venom is quite complex, and the two most important ones are “5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine” and “bufatoxin”. The two toxins can easily penetrate the brain through the blood-brain barrier (a “barrier” between blood vessels and the brain that selectively prevents certain substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream), and only a few milligrams can produce strong effects in smokers. Psychedelic. Among them, the psychedelic strength of 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine is 10 times stronger than that of synthetic dimethyltryptamine!
After a volunteer tried the venom of the Sonoran desert toad, he recalled: “The surrounding colors became extremely bright and colorful, and countless absurd ideas emerged in an instant. Indescribable strange hallucinations appeared one after another, and the whole world They are all shrinking or growing frantically, twisting into incredible shapes. I can’t help laughing with uncontrollable excitement.” The ”
dog star” who has licked this terrifying poison will roll his eyes lazily, no Stop spinning, jumping, fluttering like a fairy. They will chase hallucinatory butterflies or insects with surprising excitement. Like drug addiction, “licking toad” has a lot of symptoms, such as rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, red and swollen gums, drooling, body cramps, etc. In severe cases, it can even lead to death. Almost every year in the rainy season, “cane toads” will appear in large numbers, and a large number of pet dogs are killed by toads in this way.
In fact, Indians have been using the toad’s venom for thousands of years, long before modern technology revealed its true nature. With the unique potency of the Sonoran desert toad venom, ancient Mayan and Aztec priests were able to perform astonishingly bizarre performances in religious ceremonies. The Indians also deified the image of the toad in stone carvings and murals, which is how the big toad spitting beads in the computer game Zuma came from.
In addition to the Sonoran Desert Toad, there are many “poison experts” in the animal world who do not play cards according to common sense. Let us take an inventory.
”Trash bird”: Refinement of five poisonous bodies by eating
American scientists in the tropical rain forest of New Guinea in 1992, discovered a small bird named “Black-headed Forest Flycatcher”, with black head, wings and tail, and other parts For orange, the color is gorgeous. When the researchers made the specimen, they found that when the skin touched its feathers, there would be a burning, stinging sensation. It was later discovered that the bird’s skin and feathers were poisonous. Because it is poisonous and cannot be eaten, the local indigenous people call this bird “garbage bird”.
The skin and feathers of the black-headed forest flycatcher contain neurotoxic alkaloids of the bufatoxin family (the toxin in poison dart frogs), which often causes severe vomiting, arrhythmia, and death within hours.
Scientists have found that the black-headed forest flycatcher does not directly produce this poisonous substance, but obtains the toxin by preying on the beetles of the genus Gypsophila. The toxin is even smeared on eggs and chicks that have never eaten beetles, and predators have to avoid it for three points. The species that belong to the same genus as the black-headed flycatcher have more or less certain toxins.
This kind of skill of “protecting the body” by eating is not unique to the black-headed flycatcher. The blue-capped thrush, which is distributed in the Pacific islands, comes from the poisonous insects it eats. The far-winged geese distributed in Africa are rich in cantharidin because they eat poisonous insects, and they will die of poisoning if they eat their flesh. During the winter migration season, European quails that eat the seeds of poison hemlock (wild celery flowers that grow in swamps, wetlands or water) will also become poisonous. Turkish history records that many people died of poisoning by eating quails. case.
Broom-tailed hamster: gnawing poisonous wood to become venom
Bristle -tailed hamster, also known as brush-tailed hamster, belongs to the family Rodentidae, with soft and thick fur, fluffy tail, small ears, short legs, nocturnal, good at climbing, living among rocks or under tree roots In the burrow, there are long manes from head to tail. It eats leaves and twigs, sits on the ground while eating, and holds the food with its front paws like a squirrel. It looks cute.
The maned rat eats the bark of the poison dart tree (also known as the “blood-throat tree”), which, as its name suggests, contains a highly poisonous substance, and hunters usually use it to make poison arrows to kill animals. After gnawing on the bark of the curare tree, the maned rat applies the toxin-laden saliva to the short white bands on both sides of the mane like a jam. The structure of these short white hairs is like the wick of a candle and can be easily soaked with toxins. When the maned rat is frightened, it will erect its mane, show short white hair, and hiss at the same time, as if warning the enemy: don’t mess with me, I am poisonous!
Honeybee: a poison with multiple uses
Generally speaking, the higher the animal, the less poisonous it is, because the biggest disadvantage of using poison compared to weapons such as fangs and fangs or giant palms and horns is that it is slower and it is easy to lose both. Of course, there are exceptions to everything. The hummingbirds inhabiting Southeast Asia are nocturnal, withdrawn, timid and afraid of people. They are the only poisonous primates in the world. Their venom is stored in their armpits. If they are attacked by a strong enemy, they will rub the glands near their armpits with their hands to obtain the venom, then put the venom in their mouths to chew, and then use Biting an enemy with teeth stained with venom that can cause fatal anaphylactic shock.
In addition to attack, the toxin of the hummingbird is mainly used for defense. Before the mother hummingbird goes out foraging, the toxin is applied to the baby hummingbird. In addition, studies have found that despite living in hot and humid rainforest areas, hummingbirds have fewer ectoparasites than other primates. Really multipurpose.
Low-level creatures: borrowed from the “storm pear flower needle”
sea anemone has thousands of thorn needles or stinging cells. When stimulated, the nematocysts are discharged from the stinging cells, and the thorns are turned out from the nematocysts to prey and eat. defensive. The venom secreted by sea anemones is not very harmful to humans, and if we accidentally touch their tentacles, there will be a tingling or itching sensation. Diving enthusiasts are better off staying away from this mellow-looking creature.
The colorful nudibranchs, such as the nudibranch, feed on sea anemones, etc. They have a layer of hard chitin in their throats, and they can swallow the “stinger” unscathed. Not only that, after the treatment of the digestive tract, the nudibranchs will use the intestinal bulge to place the cnidocytes in a special position on the lower body, turning the cnidocytes of the sea anemone directly into their own weapons. Once encountering the enemy, they will throw these “storm pear needles”, killing the opponent by surprise. Although nudibranchs are low-level creatures, they are very “advanced” when they use poisonous methods.
The platypus: the stinger robs the love The
platypus lives around the rivers of Australia and Tasmania, and it is difficult to associate it with “poison” because of its naive look. But it is indeed one of the few poisonous mammals. Male platypus have venom-injecting spines on their hind limbs. Although it is extremely unlikely that a person will be stabbed, severe pain will occur in the event of a stroke, lasting from a few days to a few weeks.
The “stinger” of the platypus is neither used to prey on small fish and shrimp, nor to protect itself from crocodiles, wild dogs and other predators. The venom glands and testicles of male platypus become enlarged whenever mating season arrives. In order to compete for a mate, the male platypus will entangle the “rival” with its hind limbs and stab each other with venomous stingers. Once injected with venom, the hind limbs are temporarily paralyzed and incapacitated. The platypus, which lacks sharp teeth, can come up with this trick, which is really hard enough for them!
The rough-skinned salamander: the life after poison The rough-skinned salamander
living in the Pacific Northwest can secrete neurotoxins from its skin, and its eggs, embryos, and adults are highly toxic. It is covered in bright warning colors, including black, brown, reddish-brown, or light brown. When threatened, this salamander defends itself, assumes a suspended animation, closes its eyes, spreads its limbs to the sides, curls its tail, and turns its body over to reveal its ventral color—bright orange, right Potential predators issue ‘highly toxic’ warning.
If a big, hungry bullfrog ignores warnings and devours a rough-skinned salamander, it deserves to suffer. The toxin of the rough-skinned salamander is immediately released in the acid environment of the stomach, paralyzing the nervous system of the bullfrog, and quickly suffocating to death. The rough-skinned salamander will swagger out of the enemy’s stomach in a victorious manner and walk away.
Harvester Ants: A Friend Kills You
The Maricopa Reaper Ant is the only highly venomous harvester ant, a tiny creature that is very common in the southern states of New Mexico and Arizona, and is only 0.5 inches to 1.25 inches long (1.27 inches long). cm to 3.175 cm), but its venom is so powerful that 12 bites can kill a 4.5-pound (2.04 kg) mouse, 20 times more toxic than bee venom. If a person is bitten by it, the pain will last for 4 hours.
However, Maricopa’s trick of harvesting ants is not highly poisonous, but relying on the circle of friends. After a certain harvester ant bites the “enemy”, it will circle back and forth around the wound, leaving pheromones, and after a while, a large number of companions will come to the wind. The Maricopa harvester ant’s nest is enormous, reaching as high as 6.5 feet (1.98 m) above ground and 3.5 feet (1.07 m) deep underground. Under normal circumstances, there are thousands of “ant people” and that’s not a problem. So, once they launch an attack, the consequences are serious.
