A wasp lays its eggs under a
caterpillar's skin so that its young can
eat the caterpillar's guts as they grow.
A young head louse makes its home
on a human hair and feasts on
human blood.
Frogs use their eyeballs to help
swallow their food.
From small worms that live in a dog's nose mucus to exploding ants to
regurgitating mother gulls, this book tells of the unusual ways animals
find food, shelter, and safety in the natural world.
If animals all ate the same things and lived in the same places, it
would be impossible for all of them to survive. So they specialize. Some
animals eat the bits that others leave behind, such as skin and mucus.
They find all kinds of unusual places to shelter, including the cracks
and holes in another creature's skin or its internal organs. They use
their own bodies to protect themselves from predators by imitating
unsavory items such as bird droppings and even by blowing up.
These habits that may seem disgusting to us are wonderful adaptations
that make it possible for a great variety of creatures to live and
thrive on Earth. Read about them and marvel at the amazing ways animals
adapt to the natural world.