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This Worm Uses a "Silly String of Death" | National Geographic


less than 1m read
·Nov 11, 2024

[Music]

In the rainforest, one sharpshooter is in search of its next target. Meet the velvet worm, a nearly blind creature with an impressive weapon. The worm is sensitive to air currents caused by movements and uses this to hunt.

The velvet worm moves so slowly that its prey usually doesn't notice it approaching. The worm's secret weapons are two pistols that fire sticky ropes up to a foot long. It's like silly string of death; the substance then paralyzes the prey with fast-drying adhesive.

The worm also has a knife in its jaw and uses it to slice its prey open. It then injects saliva that liquefies the insides of any unlucky victim.

So, to recap: this creature that looks like a scary alien monster and can feel you through the air moves slowly like it's in a horror film. Before projectile spraying you with its sticky super soaker of death, rendering you powerless to only watch as it then stabs you with the knife it has hidden in its jaws like a prison shank that it uses to rip you apart before drinking your organs.

Yeah, that thing is terrifying. [Music]

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