The ability to disorient is a powerful weapon. In nature, animals use it to survive, scaring predators and buying a precious few seconds to escape.
Most animals strive to avoid detection, adopting cryptic patterns or becoming masters of camouflage, like octopuses and their kin. When this disguise fails them, they opt to alarm
Animals like the mountain katydid might flash bright colors or adopt strange, intimidating postures aiming to derail an attack and escape with their lives. Some of these animals also use chemical defenses, whether by toxins or venoms, and a combination of the two.
These startle displays are called deimatic behavior — deimatic meaning ‘to frighten.’ — triggered when an animal feels threatened and reveals hidden defenses to dissuade the aggressor. Linguistics aside, here are three animals that are sure to stun:
