Why doesn't anyone fear the 'Flat-headed Ghost'? Who are its enemies and friends?

Honey Badger, nicknamed 'Flat-headed Ghost', male average length 98cm, female average length 91cm, male shoulder height 39cm, male weight 9-14kg, female weight 5-10kg. The back is gray. Its lifespan can reach 24 years.

Residing in the tropical rainforests and open grasslands of Africa, it lives alone or in pairs, mainly active during dusk and night, resting in underground burrows during the day. Omnivorous, feeding on small mammals, birds, reptiles, ants, carrion, wild fruits, berries, nuts, etc., can hunt venomous snakes, and especially likes to eat honey. It has a typical mutually beneficial relationship with the Stunner Thrush, often following the Stunner Thrush that is good at discovering beehives but cannot destroy them, using its claws to dismantle the beehives, share honey, while its thick and rough skin can resist the attack of the bee swarm. It is ferocious and violent, with a low offspring survival rate of only 50%.

The honey badger is 'the most fearless animal in the world' and has been listed in the Guinness World Record for many years. It is distributed in Africa, Asia and South Asia.

The 'Flat-headed Ghost' with its white and silver shawl, 'the most fierce animal on African soil'! It frequently appears in the public's lens with its 'flat-headed, white-haired, silver shawl' and slightly cute appearance, and is a typical 'dare to die' personality, so it has captured a large number of loyal fans, and is affectionately called 'Flat-headed Ghost' by Chinese netizens!

The aggression of the 'Flat-headed Ghost' is reflected in the Lion, the King of Beasts, the Tiger, the King of the Forest, or the huge Elephant and Rhino, as long as you show a little disrespect, it will chase you to the ends of the earth and give you a blow. The sentence 'I don't hold grudges, I'll settle accounts on the spot if I do' perfectly describes the character of the 'Flat-headed Ghost'.

And the reason why this seemingly cute 'Flat-headed Ghost' is considered cunning is because when it confronts its invaders, it can accurately find your weakness within a short time. For example, when the 'Flat-headed Ghost' confronts the Lion, it will use flatulence to distract the Lion and give a fatal blow when the Lion turns its head to avoid the smell. When the 'Flat-headed Ghost' faces humans, it will give a fierce blow to your crotch at a very fast speed, and the recipient will fall down in severe pain.

8

So the question is: Why doesn't anyone fear the 'Flat-headed Ghost'?

Reason 1, the body structure of the 'Flat-headed Ghost'

The most distinctive feature is its thick and highly elastic skin, which helps protect the honey badger from the attack of predators.

The 'Flat-headed Ghost''s special ability – 'skin separation'.

Reason 2, the 'Flat-headed Ghost' is not afraid of poison

If a Black Mamba bites a Lion, the Lion will not be able to recover within an hour and will die from shock and suffocation; but if it encounters a honey badger, the honey badger will sleep for a while and wake up, and continue to eat. One is dying without a chance, and the other helps it sleep, this is the food chain system in nature.

Reason 3, the 'Flat-headed Ghost''s concave lens eye structure

There is a saying that the 'Flat-headed Ghost''s eyes are concave lens structure (as shown in the figure below), the concave lens result has a characteristic that can make everything in front of it look very small.

Reason 4, 'No one fears it' is just a survival tactic.

As the saying goes, the best defense is offense! From the perspective of the honey badger, high aggression helps it survive. Without a 'fish dead and net broken' mentality, its survival rate is smaller.

The 'Flat-headed Ghost''s enemies

However, despite the 'Flat-headed Ghost' which is 'no one fears it' seems to be fearless, it is actually wary of some things, and the things that make the 'Flat-headed Ghost' subservient are 'Money Badgers', scientific name: Leopard.

On the one hand, the Leopard's personality is even more ferocious than the Lion, although the Leopard has no strength and endurance like the Lion, but the Leopard's courage is much greater than the Lion, which is a typical 'dare to fight' personality, which can be seen from its hunting characteristics. A hungry leopard will not hesitate to rush into the wild cattle herd and capture small cattle, and a hungry lion will not dare to rush into the cattle herd to capture small cattle; they often lie in ambush by the stream and wait for the cattle to scatter before taking action.

On the other hand, the Leopard's weight can reach more than 200 kg, while the 'Flat-headed Ghost' is only about 30 kg, so the advantage in weight makes the Leopard never fear this little character.

The 'Flat-headed Ghost''s friends

The 'Flat-headed Ghost' has many enemies, but it also has some 'life-saving' friends, and the things that can peacefully coexist with it are a bird called 'Stunner Thrush'. However, calling it the 'Flat-headed Ghost''s 'friend' is somewhat inappropriate, calling it 'partner' is more accurate.

As we said before, the 'Flat-headed Ghost' is very cunning, not only when attacking enemies can quickly find weaknesses, but also when hunting prey can skillfully use cooperation. The 'Flat-headed Ghost' cannot find honey by itself, so it always follows a bird called 'Stunner Thrush' to find honey, or use this bird to find honey nests, the 'Stunner Thrush' lives in the 'Flat-headed Ghost''s paw and eats a delicious meal. The 'Flat-headed Ghost' can also use the 'Stunner Thrush' to destroy bee nests.