Masters of Tricks in Animal World – 9 Pictures + 4 Videos

Life in the animal world can sometimes be cruel and hard. So many natural enemies and constant worry about food and shelter led some animals to pull tricks from their sleeves. After seeing their tricks you will wonder if Darwin’s theory should be survival of the trickiest.

Monkeys stealing things to trade them for food

Our rules do not apply in the animal kingdom, and these monkeys know it. This gang figures out that stealing can be very lucrative business. Watch them get the food of their choice by trading the stolen goods.

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That stinks

We all know the saying “Cunning as a fox” but this fox met her match. She was looking for dinner when she saw a skunk. She was probably imagined easy meal when the skunk released his unpleasant odor. The fox’s face says it all.

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The Oskar for the best actor goes to…

Hognose snakes are small types of snakes. In a hope of avoiding predators, they developed very convincing acting skills. When hognose snake senses danger, it starts to act dead. Many animals are not scavengers and their good acting keeps them alive. Watch the video with this Oscar wining performance.  

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Night time, day time

Black Herons are a type of water birds that live in Africa. They realized that more fish come to the surface when the sun sets, so they figure out how to make a small solar eclipse. They stand hunch over in the water and spread their wings in circular position. This blocks the sunlight and makes fish think that night has fallen. Unaware of this scam, fish ends up in the beak of this trickery bird. 

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Pray becomes a hunter

Livingston Cichlid is a fish, which discovered the benefits of acting dead like Hognose snake. He developed his act into tricking other scavenger fishes that he is an easy prey. When the scavenger approaches, Livingston quickly becomes live again and transforms himself from prey to hunter.

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Llamas behaving badly

Llamas spitting at other llamas is their way of saying get lost. They spit on people only if they are not treated right. Even if spitting is not considered a sign of good manners, we can agree it is pretty effective. 

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Easiest way of hunting

Alligator snapping turtle figure out how to make pray go straight to its mouth. Their worm liking tongue serves as bait. When the fish goes to their mouth there is no way back. This is a pretty easy way to get dinner. 

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The great pretender

Killdeer is a small bird, but a great pretender. When their nest is in danger, killdeer will pretend that he is injured and steer the predator away from the nest. They will drag one wing on the ground like it is broken, and when they are sure that their nest is safe, they will simply fly away leaving the predator with an empty stomach. 

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Secret stash

Winter is the time when the amount of food is restricted, and Gray squirrels are well aware of that. To be sure that their secret stash will be safe from other squirrels for winter, they are pretending to bury a nut several times before actually burying it. 

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Things we do for love

To get a female, male Adelie penguins turn to stealing. The bigger the nest they build the higher are chances that they will attract a female. Because bringing big stones and building is hard work, some penguins steal the stones from their neighbor. And while this poor guy struggles the other one is building a villa.

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Looks are deceiving

Smaller male cuttlefish will actually make them look like a female. Doing so, they are deceiving larger rivals and they increase their chances of finding a mate.  

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One more actor

Seems that playing dead is very popular in the animal world. Opossums also use this trick when they are in danger. There were cases that people buried live opossums because they thought they are dead. The fact that they need up to 4 hours to fully recover from their pretend death shows how seriously they take acting. 

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Shameless Topi antelopes

In order to keep female antelopes nearby, males sound off fake alarms. If female tries to wander off, male literally cries wolf to stop female to find a better suitor. This trick is really shameless. 

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Image Sources:

1. i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–tsDYztnv–/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/f4egt7vgprxl66nbsvnp.jpg
2. youtube.com/watch?v=8q1MyVUze8M
3. thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1478917.main_image.jpg
4. youtube.com/watch?v=ZuS7bJbcAWA
5. youtube.com/watch?v=Ibvc99E8u-E
6. i.ytimg.com/vi/LJMu1dA2PTk/maxresdefault.jpg
7. assets.rbl.ms/2741384/980x.jpg
8. i.imgur.com/DqcCVCW.jpg
9. image.xenogere.com/photos/555052963_HkB5y-M.jpg
10. whatdoanimaleat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/gray-squirrel-tree-squirrel-e1376158221746.jpg
11. youtube.com/watch?v=kQHeGEJDeW0
12. amazinglanta.com/gfx/lanta-liveaboard-marine-life/lanta-liveaboard-marine-life-14.jpg
13. blogdogs.com/possum.jpg
14. thehighdefinite.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/topi-antelope.jpg

Author: NevenaN

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