[Jess] This episode is brought you by Brillant.org.
[male announcer] It was just about this time
that things were beginning to happen.
It began like this. Hey, everyone.
I'm Jess Keating, and you are watching
Animalogic: Second Nature.The animal world is absolutely full
of fascinating survival strategies.
Some are novel, some are strange,
and some are just plain ineffective.
Yet, for the ultimate strategy, these animals had
to look within, to their vomit.
These pukers spit saliva, cud, acid, bile,
and venom at their attackers as a defence mechanism,
and one of them uses spit as an attack.
[♪♪♪] [Jess] Hands down the most
badass spitters out there are the spitting cobras.
[Flute music playing] [Jess]
Unlike most other spitters who essentially target their
attackers with projectile vomit, spitting cobras straight up
shoot venom. There are 18 spitting cobra
species in the naja genus as well as a false spitting
cobra called the rinkhals, and they're all found
in Asia and Africa. These snakes spit venom
as a defence mechanism when they're cornered.
In front of their fangs, they have two little holes from
which they shoot their venom, targeting their attacker's
weakest point. When they spit,
they jerk their heads forward, aiming their shot
towards the predator's eyes. In a study evaluating
what happened to the eyes of nine patients spat at by
a black-neck spitting cobra, two of the patients
were permanently blinded, while the other suffered
more temporary issues like inflammation.
Their venom is cytotoxic which means it destroys
the cells that it touches. Spitting cobras in general
can spit accurately from up to two metres away.
But the Mozambique spitting cobra is the most accurate
and can hit targets from up to three metres away.
The effects of this venomous spit
can be devastating to attackers, yet just looking at this guys,you know they're
gonna be bad news. But on the other hand,
perhaps the most deadly incognito spitter is the northern fulmar.
[male announcer] The sight of birds
soaring through the firmament is a marvel to behold and suggests that joy
may be realized merely through observing the
natural that is forever present. [Jess] These seabirds
are from the petrel family and they projectile vomit
onto predators to make them lose
their waterproof coating. But it's a lot more sinister
than it sounds. Living on the coasts,
their predators are usually other larger seabirds.
These predatory seabirds need to have waterproof wings
in order to fly. Northern fulmars have
developed the ability to vomit up stomach oils
which can destroy the waterproofing
on these attacking seabirds. The oil has a similar
effect to birds coming in contact
with petroleum spills. The stomach oils will gunk up
their feathers, sticking them together.
Even after the seabirds preen and bathe in clean water,they're not able to get
their feathers dry. They become waterlogged,
exhausted trying to stay afloat and ultimately they drown.
Northern fulmars can accurately hit targets
up to two metres away. Both adults and chicks
can spit oil, but amazingly,
even unhatched babies can spit oil through a
small hole in the egg. [male announcer] This is a very
special kind of egg. It's a nest egg.
[Jess] European roller chicks also employ vomit as a defence,
though not nearly as mercilessly.
If a predator draws near, they spew super-stinky
orange vomit. They don't target
the predators though, and the vomit is meant to
make the nest smell horrible, causing the predator
to lose its appetite. What's particularly
interesting though is the chicks don't produce
the chemicals that make their vomit so stinky.
They get that from grasshoppers. [male announcer] As green
as the leaves he's found on, with the six jointed legs
all insects have. [Jess] Grasshoppers
get hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids
from the plants that they eat. This is supposed to
make them taste bad, but the European rollers
really don't care. Interestingly enough,
like many insects, the grasshoppers
that the rollers eat also vomit when disturbed.
When the rollers eat the grasshoppers,
they get those same acids in their stomachs.
These produce horrific smells that are highly effective
at deterring predators. Turkey vultures also employ
a similar strategy. [male announcer]
The turkey vulture is a scavenger,
feeding mainly on decaying flesh.
It is often seen circling high in the sky above a carcass.
[Jess] more acidic than our own,
and in fact, is even more acidic than car battery acid.
You really don't wanna be on the receiving end
of turkey vulture vomit. There is some speculation as to
the reason why turkey vultures throw up when threatened.
It's possible they're doing it in defence,
but it's equally likely that they are simply
making themselves lighter so that they can make a speedy getaway.
Spitting is not only used in defence,
but also to show dominance. Camels and llamas use spit
as a core component in their pecking order,
which for camelids should really be called spitting order.
[Spitting] [Jess] Camelids will spit
to demonstrate dominance over one another as well as to let you know
if you're invading their personal space.
They will also spit at one another when they're fighting,
and like many other spitters, they spit when threatened.
Their spit is a combination of saliva and food
that they've partially digested. So if a camel spits on you,
it's more like it's puking on you.
[Spitting] [Jess] The ultimate spitter,
however, uses its range offensively.
The archerfish. [male announcer] Oh-who,
this is the famous archerfish of the Malay ocean, toxotes jaculator.
[Jess] These fish are the only spitters that spit to hunt.
They swim near the surface looking for insects
perched in the branches and leaves above them.
When they spot their prey, the archerfish pokes its mouth
out of the water and shoots a blast of water at the insect,
knocking it off its perch and down into the water
where the archerfish devours it. They can accurately
shoot down bugs, butterflies, and spiders from up to
three metres away. The physics behind their
shots is pretty interesting. [male announcer]
Now on its side 'cause the way it is in the fish,
it looks like a bow tie there. [Jess] To shoot the water,
they make a little tube shape with their mouth and tongue
and then the contract their gills to push out the water.
But they've mastered the ability to the point that the top
and bottom of the water stream
move at slightly different speeds.
So instead of being hit with a steady stream of water,
all of that water arrives and hits the target
at the same time. It will be akin to being hit
with a water balloon rather than the stream of water
from a water gun. This blast of water is really
effective at knocking down prey, and it also makes the archerfish
worthy of its name. If you wanna master the act
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Thanks so much for watching. [♪♪♪]