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Vitamin Q: the book!

~ Monday, August 11, 2003
 
I HAVE NO GUN BUT I CAN SPIT

Ten bad-mannered creatures which spit:

1 Some walruses spit jets of water into sand banks to loosen clams and other shellfish.
2 Spitting cobras don't wait to bite, instead sending a spray of strong venom at their enemy.
3 Llamas spit at each other to enforce territorial boundaries.
4 Dromedaries do this too, but mostly to claim rights on food.
5 The giraffe has paste-like saliva which it uses to spit on thorns, easing chewing and digestion.
6 Many cats will spit as part of their limited but generally successful arsenal to frighten dogs and other predators. Animals such as ferrets will also act this way.
7 The archer fish overcomes the mathematics of perspective and shoots a stream of water at insects above the surface.
8 The spitting spider, from the south-west USA, coats its prey with poisonous spittle to overpower it.
9 Flamingos eat by supping mouthfuls of water, combing out the food and spitting out the residue.
10 The white-nest swift, or grey-rumped swiftlet, uses only its own saliva with which to hold its nests together. These are the highly prized nests used in authentic bird's-nest soup. Its cousin, the swallow, by nature, does not spit.

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