Amazing Animal Hunters

Life high up the food chain isn’t as easy as you might think. Predators often don’t know when they’ll find their next meal. Watchful prey often slip away, by either outwitting or outrunning their enemy. These challenges can make it difficult for hunters to survive. 

Because of this, many predators have developed adaptations that make it easier to nab a meal. Some of these abilities “are just phenomenal,” says Roger Powell, a biologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Read on to learn more about the tricks some animal hunters have—from amazing hearing to stunning speed and superior spit.

You might think life high up the food chain is easy. It’s not. Predators often don't know when they'll find their next meal. Watchful prey often slip away. That’s because outwit or outrun their enemy. These challenges can make it difficult for hunters to survive.

Because of this, many predators have developed adaptations. They make it easier to nab a meal. Some of these abilities "are just phenomenal," says Roger Powell. He’s a biologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Read on to learn more about the tricks some animal hunters have. Some have amazing hearing. Others have stunning speed. And some have superior spit.

What’s small, fast, and nearly impossible to see? Everything a barn owl eats. The nocturnal bird often hunts in the dark. Because it can’t easily spot its prey, the bird listens for it. It maps the noises it hears from mice and other small mammals. Flying silently above its prey, it homes in. Then it strikes.

What's small, fast, and nearly impossible to see? Everything a barn owl eats. The nocturnal bird often hunts in the dark. It listens for its prey. Then it maps the noises it hears from mice and other small mammals. Flying silently above its prey, it homes in. Then it strikes.    

Ready, set, smash! A mantis shrimp can punch right through a clamshell to get its next meal. “That’s why we call them smashers,” says Suzanne Cox, a biologist who studies mantis shrimp at Duke University in North Carolina.

To break a shell, the shrimp first loads up its limbs with potential energy, or stored energy. Then, like an arrow released from a bow, it strikes the shell extremely fast. Mantis shrimp can generate forces thousands of times their own body weight, says Cox.

Even with that amount of force, shells are tough to crack. “Sometimes it will take 100 strikes before they break the shell,” says Cox.

Use your knowledge of fractions to answer the following questions.

Ready, set, smash! A mantis shrimp can punch right through a clamshell. That’s how it gets a meal. "We call them smashers," says Suzanne Cox. She’s a biologist who studies mantis shrimp at Duke University in North Carolina.

To break a shell, the shrimp first loads up its limbs with potential energy. This is stored energy. Then it strikes the shell extremely fast. Mantis shrimp can generate forces thousands of times their own body weight, says Cox.

Even with that amount of force, shells are tough to crack. "Sometimes it will take 100 strikes before they break the shell," says Cox.

Use your knowledge of fractions to answer the following questions.

It takes about 1/3 of a second to blink your eyes. A peacock mantis shrimp can punch in 1/5 of a second. On a separate sheet of paper, draw models of each fraction. 

It takes about 1/3 of a second to blink your eyes. A peacock mantis shrimp can punch in 1/5 of a second. On a separate sheet of paper, draw models of each fraction. 

Which action takes less time—the blink of a human eye or a mantis shrimp’s punch? Explain how you know, referring to your models and using inequality symbols.

Which action takes less time—the blink of a human eye or a mantis shrimp’s punch? Explain how you know, referring to your models and using inequality symbols.

In 4/5 of a second, a peacock mantis shrimp can punch a shell twice. Is that amount of time greater than or less than the time it takes to blink your eyes 3 times? Explain how you know.

In 4/5 of a second, a peacock mantis shrimp can punch a shell twice. Is that amount of time greater than or less than the time it takes to blink your eyes 3 times? Explain how you know.

No tongue is faster or stickier than a chameleon’s. The tiny rosette-nosed chameleon can nab insects that are almost 12 centimeters away. That’s more than twice the length of the chameleon’s body. 

This tongue trick happens in two parts: First, the chameleon quickly contracts its tongue muscles. This loads the tongue with potential energy. 

Then it releases its tongue, which is coated in super-sticky spit. Chameleon spit is thick like honey, says Pascal Damman, a scientist at the University of Mons in Belgium. He recently discovered that chameleon spit is 400 times thicker than human spit. Watch out, bugs!

No tongue is faster or stickier than a chameleon's. The tiny rosette-nosed chameleon can nab insects that are almost 12 centimeters away. That's more than twice the length of the chameleon's body.

This tongue trick happens in two parts. First, the chameleon quickly contracts its tongue muscles. This loads the tongue with potential energy.

Then it releases its tongue. It is coated in super-sticky spit. Chameleon spit is thick like honey, says Pascal Damman. He’s a scientist at the University of Mons in Belgium. He recently discovered that chameleon spit is 400 times thicker than human spit. Watch out, bugs!

What is the total length of the bearded pygmy chameleon and its tongue when its tongue is stretched out? Write and solve an equation. Use like denominators in your fractions.

What is the total length of the bearded pygmy chameleon and its tongue when its tongue is stretched out? Write and solve an equation. Use like denominators in your fractions.

A veiled chameleon can capture prey that weighs about 3/10 of its own body weight. Let’s say a veiled chameleon weighs 4 ounces. What is the most its prey could weigh? Write and solve an equation. Express your answer as a mixed number.

A veiled chameleon can capture prey that weighs about 3/10 of its own body weight. Let’s say a veiled chameleon weighs 4 ounces. What is the most its prey could weigh? Write and solve an equation. Express your answer as a mixed number.

Let’s say that during one day, a veiled chameleon ate a big snail weighing 1 2/10 ounces, a small snail weighing 2/5 ounces, and 3 crickets weighing a total of 3/10 ounces. What was the total weight of that day’s meals? Write and solve an equation, decomposing the mixed numbers with a number bond.

Let’s say that during one day, a veiled chameleon ate a big snail weighing 1 2/10 ounces, a small snail weighing 2/5 ounces, and 3 crickets weighing a total of 3/10 ounces. What was the total weight of that day’s meals? Write and solve an equation, decomposing the mixed numbers with a number bond.

When zoo officials offered Roger Powell two weasels, he accepted. The biologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh studies predatory mammals. He was eager to adopt a few weasels so he could observe how they behave. “They’re gorgeous little critters,” he says. “It’s amazing what they can do.”

Every animal on Earth needs food to create energy in its body. And animals have to figure out how much food they need to replace the energy they use up each day. It’s called an energy budget. Powell studies how this works in mammals. Weasels eat about one-fourth of their body weight in food each day!

“Predators are very efficient,” he says. In other words, they’re born to hunt. Lightweight and flexible, weasels can bounce easily onto small tree branches. Larger weasels called fishers are brave enough to dart in front of porcupines, running circles around their prickly prey.

When zoo officials offered Roger Powell two weasels, he accepted. The biologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh studies predatory mammals. He was eager to adopt a few weasels. That’s so he could observe how they behave. "They're gorgeous little critters," he says. "It's amazing what they can do."

Every animal on Earth needs food to create energy in its body. And animals have to figure out how much food they need to replace the energy they use up each day. It's called an energy budget. Powell studies how this works in mammals. Weasels eat about one-fourth of their body weight in food each day!

"Predators are very efficient," he says. In other words, they're born to hunt. Weasels are lightweight and flexible. They can bounce easily onto small tree branches. Larger weasels called fishers are brave enough to dart in front of porcupines. They run circles around their prickly prey.

How much food does the short-tailed weasel need to eat in a 30-day month? Express your answer in grams.

How much food does the short-tailed weasel need to eat in a 30-day month? Express your answer in grams.

Let’s say the average mouse weighs 20 grams. How many mice must a short-tailed weasel eat to get the amount of food it needs for one 30-day month? Round your answer to the nearest whole number. 

Let’s say the average mouse weighs 20 grams. How many mice must a short-tailed weasel eat to get the amount of food it needs for one 30-day month? Round your answer to the nearest whole number. 

At one time, Roger Powell kept five weasels in his home. Three weasels weighed about 100 grams each, one weighed 150 grams, and one weighed 75 grams. If they each needed to eat 1/4 of their body weight each day in food, what is the total amount of food Powell had to provide the weasels each day? Solve using an equation with parentheses.

At one time, Roger Powell kept five weasels in his home. Three weasels weighed about 100 grams each, one weighed 150 grams, and one weighed 75 grams. If they each needed to eat 1/4 of their body weight each day in food, what is the total amount of food Powell had to provide the weasels each day? Solve using an equation with parentheses.