Animals set their complete defensive mechanism through which they save their lives from predators. There are a lot of tricks that animals use to save their lives. Some use their powerful legs as a weapon and some use their foul-smelling odor as a powerful weapon against their potential predators. The following are the 10 smelliest animals in the world.
10. King Rat snake
The King rat snake is a large and stunning constrictor that is mostly found in open forests and meadows of China, Northern Vietnam, and China. This snake is well known by the name of ‘stinking goddess’ because of its habit of producing a strong pungent smell. They use this defensive mechanism to save themselves from king rat snakes.
When they find any threat they quickly release the offensive odor from post-anal glands. Surprisingly, this stinky king rat snake is found as an exotic pet in some parts of the world. This large species can grow up to a maximum length of 2.4 meters. The main food of rat snakes is rodents.
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9. Earwig
The earwig is a small, dark insect that is native to America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The earwigs are nocturnal and they hide under the rocks or in the small opening during the day. The earwig is a stinky insect. When they found any threat they quickly squirt stinky, yellow colored liquid from its scent glands. This defensive mechanism actually protects them from their potential predators like frogs, beetles, and toads. Earwig comes at number 9 in the list of smelliest animals.
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8. Wood hoopoe
Wood hoopoe is a well-known medium-sized, long-billed bird native to sub-Saharan Africa. Their attractive and graceful plumage comes in green, blue, or purple. This unique creature is extremely famous for spraying smelly fluid. It smells as bad as rotten eggs and no one can even stand close to him. The main motive behind this stinky behavior is to protect their nest from predators.
Through specialized glands, Wood hoopoe produces a smelly fluid. It is a very effective and great defensive weapon for such a medium-sized bird.
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7. Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian devil is a strange mammal and also among unique creatures that are only found in the Tasmania State of Australia. The small dog-sized mammal looks fierce, but they are not dangerous. Tasmanian devils are highly famous for their black fur, keen sense of smell, and extremely loud screams. They are also among the smelliest animals who release a pungent odor when threatened. They use this defensive mechanism to save their selves from potential predators.
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6. Wolverine
Wolverine looks like a small beer and is also the largest member of the weasel family. They prefer to live in boreal forests and the Alpine tundra of Northern Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. Wolverine is also known as ‘skunk bears’ because of their habit of releasing a pungent odor. They are among those smelliest animals who produce very unpleasant and unbearable smells from the anal gland. The unique creature releases this unpleasant odor to mark its territory.
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5. Stink Bug
The stink bugs are named after their behavior of releasing a very unpleasant smell when they find any threat. This amazing defensive mechanism helps them to not be food for potential predators like lizards. It is the gland in the abdomen, which helps these unique creatures to produce an unpleasant smell.
They are agricultural pests that can cause huge damage to vegetables and fruits. They are among those interesting animals that are very common in the U.S., China, and Japan. These unique creatures can be found inside your house in the summer season.
4. Skunk
A skunk is a small mammal and comes at number 4 on the list of smelliest animals. This unique creature is well known for spraying horrible-smelling oily liquids when threatened. The skunks are capable of ejecting the foul-smelling oily liquid to a distance of up to 3 meters. This oily liquid is very unpleasant and is actually produced by two nut-sized glands under their tail. By doing this they can defend their selves from even a larger predator like bears.
The skunks basically did not use their ‘spraying foul-smelling liquid’ mechanism for the first time when they found a threat. They will growl, fluff their fur, and shake their tails in a stunning way on facing a predator. If the danger persists and won’t go away then the skunks will spray the stinky, oily liquid on the predators. The skunk liquid is not at all harmful. But it is completely uncomfortable and lingers for many days.
3. Bombardier Beetle
The bombardier beetles are named after their unusual defensive mechanism. When threatened, they release a foul-smelling which is unbearable, hot, and a noxious chemical. They release this unpleasant chemical from the tip of their abdomen. The Bombardier Beetle is capable of spraying the chemical several times on predators with great accuracy and speed and that is the reason they are among the smelliest animals,
The special chambers which are located inside the abdomen of bombardier beetles contain two unbearable chemicals called hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide. When they found any threat they quickly mixed the potent chemicals with enzymes and sprayed it on the intruder. These enzymes heat up the chemical mix to nearly 100 degrees Celsius.
They also use this noxious chemical for catching their prey. Through this chemical, they can easily kill small insects. If this chemical comes into contact with human skin it will produce a burning sensation. These unique creatures are well known for producing an unpleasant smell.
2. Striped Polecat
The striped polecat has an aggressive nature and is one of the most unique creatures found throughout the African continent. They look like skunks and similarly, their striped polecats are also notable for very strong and unpleasant fluid. They produce that unbearable stinky fluid from the anal glands. The horrible and strong-smelling fluid released by striped polecats is intense enough to feel from many meters away.
Once they find any threat the striped polecat will growl at the approaching predators as a first warning. If the predator won’t leave then they will quickly release the horrible smelling fluids from their anal glands.
1. Lesser Anteater
Lesser anteater is leading the list of smelliest animals. Surprisingly it is 5-7 times stinker than sunk. Like other stinky and unique creatures, the lesser anteater releases the unpleasant smell to defend against the predators. They produce an unpleasant odor from the glands under their tail.
The lesser anteaters are nocturnal; and spend the daytime resting in hollow tree trunks. Their eye vision is quite poor but has a strong sense of smell and hearing. Despite having a behavior of releasing unpleasant odor the lesser anteaters also have powerful arms to defend against the predators.
