Ready…set…H-O-C-C-CHHHHH!
SPITTING CAMELS
Next time you’re at the zoo, you might be tempted to walk right up to a camel. Bad idea. If a camel gets annoyed, it’ll hock a huge, green lugie at you! And this isn’t saliva—it’s the partially digested contents of the camel’s stomach. It smells so foul that you’ll be running for the shower…so keep your distance.
SPITTING SPIDERS
Some spiders build webs to ensnare their prey. Others move very fast, easily overcoming any insect. But not the spitting spider of northern Mexico. Instead, it waits until nighttime, when most insects are at rest. Then it sneaks up on a potential meal and pitooey! It spits a poisonous sticky substance in a zigzag pattern all over its prey, instantly immobilizing it. Dinner is served!
SPITTING SNAKES
An Asian viper called a spitting cobra kills its prey like every other poisonous snake: by injecting venom through its fangs. But it has another trick as well: it can spray venom from its fangs—not to kill, but to injure potential predators. This spitter aims for the eyes, to cause blindness. And because it has very good aim, it can spit its venom from up to 10 feet away and still score a bull’s-eye.
Human saliva contains an antiseptic that kills germs.