Opossums are not the only creatures in the animal kingdom that can "play dead."
photo by Chattanooga Nature Center
Opossums are famous for "playing dead." In fact the phrase “playing possum” has become part of our language, but it doesn’t happen like it’s often depicted in cartoons.
Opossums aren’t making a choice to look dead until a potential predator goes away. They actually get so scared that they pass out.
Laying on their sides in curled posture, their eyes glaze over, and they bare their teeth with tongues hanging out to the side. Their body temperature drops, their heart and breathing rate slows down so that they feel dead too. They also secrete a green liquid from glands under the base of their tail that smells putrid making them smell dead as well. They can remain in this state from a few minutes to over two hours or more.
They are incapable of feeling anything, and poking or shaking will not revive them. They are somehow able to detect when the threat is gone and come out of their catatonic state.
Another animal native to Tennessee that plays dead is the Eastern Hognosed Snake. These snakes roll over, open their mouths, hang their tongues out and secrete a foul-smelling liquid from their musk glands. Apparently they have conscious control of this behavior because if you turn them back on their bellies, they will roll upside down again.
Hognosed snakes are toad predators. Toads are highly toxic and these snakes are one of the few predators that can eat them. Large adrenal glands in their brains neutralize the toxins.
Most snakes in the world that specialize in eating toads also have large adrenal glands and play dead as a defense.
Other native Tennessee animals that have been reported to play dead as a defense include the Turkey vulture and the Blister beetle.
All of these animals play dead because most predators have to kill their prey before eating it and, in fact, their feeding stimulus is driven by the act of killing. Since most predators don’t wish to eat rotten meat, the foul smell usually associated with the “playing dead” behavior, deters eating the imposters.
Click HERE to learn more from the Chattanooga Nature Center.