My school is in a rural-urban area in Nigeria, Akure to be precised in Ondo state. So there are times I see animals that I shouldn’t come across in the city but it’s all fine and good.
When I mention the world nature to you, the first thing that comes to mind is the glamor and beauty associated our world but underneath the glowing petals, the butterflies pollinating, insects moving foods in and out of their home, the sweet sounds of birds, and the animals moving around is the fight for survival, the fight to stay alive and reproduce so their species survive and not go extinct but then there are times when some they decide to start undergo what we know as self death, it becomes something to learn about and understand.
I was coming from school one afternoon and i was going to the new apartment I had just rented, and I saw a snake biting its tail and I wondered what could be wrong. I ran to my house that day but was willing to know what could have happened that will cause this anima to want to self destruct. Could it be a virus, bug, or something out of the extraordinary?
First, snakes do not have good eyesight, and eating themselves could be as a result of disorientation when the snake is confused. This disorientation can be caused by changes in temperature, stress, or health issues. When this happen, they mistake their tails for themselves. While it can be found in snakes in the wild, it is very common with pet snakes.
While that of a snake can be as a result of disorientation leading to confusion, there are some animals that have instinct that could self destruct them but there are many animals that their attitudes sometime can lead to their death like sheeps which can decide to move in circles because some of them are moving in circles. They do this because they are docile and they go along with whatever happens around them. When these sheeps continue to move in circles, it can lead to their death by collapsing. When sheeps also move in circles, it could as a result of a bacterial infection and this can lead to death if not properly taken care off.
Still on accidental self destruct, sea animals like whales and dolphins move in large group which is led by a leader. The likely explanations to why these animals move in groups can be as a result panic from from orca pursuit, or human machines causing navigational issues. When these things happen, and the leader goes in the wrong direction, others in the pod will follow leading to their possible death.
If we are going to look at animals that intentionally self destruct, we will look into the ant family. The exploding ant as its name implies explodes but when does this happen? The ants, in the process of saving the colony rip themselves open to release a sticky substance that is used to trap insects. The ants the rip themselves up end up dying and saving the colony. Also exploding termites also do the same where they sacrifice for the rest on thr colony.
Still on insect that self-destruct is the bee which has an harpoon of venom attached to its belly which it lodges into the body of humans or anything it stings and when it does this, the harpoon gets ripped out if the belly so the venom can still be passed and the injury from the trauma ends up killing the bee but this insect does this with the goal of protecting the colony.
Either you fight to win or you fight to death in the animal kingdom, it is done for one purpose and that’s survival which is what makes nature beautiful and life continue.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/29/self-destructive
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-do-snakes-eat-themselves
https://www.petmd.com/reptile/conditions/behavioral/ouroboros-snake-bites-its-own-tail
https://in.virbac.com/sheep-and-goat/diseases/common-cause-of-circling
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/insects-invertebrates/why