It’s interesting how some creatures nourish their bodies. Here are just a few examples of some unusual eating habits of some of Earth’s creatures.

Spiders

Spiders don’t chew their food like we do. After trapping an insect in their web they bite into it and inject venom into the body of the insect. The venom will either paralyze or kill the insect. Then the venom turns the insect’s insides into liquid. While this is taking place the spider wraps the insect in silk then drinks the liquid from the insect leaving nothing but a shell of the insect behind.

Stingrays

Stingrays suck fish, crabs, squid and other small sea creatures into their mouths. They don’t’ have teeth so they eat rocks to crush their food.

Star fish

Starfish eat clams, oysters and fish. Starfish eat by surrounding their prey with their arms and then pushing their stomach out through their mouth envelope the prey with its stomach and digest it.

Frogsand toads

Frogs and toads soak up water through their skin instead of drinking it through their mouths.

Praying Mantis

When you see a praying mantis in the position that looks like he’s praying he is actually searching for food. Praying mantises’ legs are equipped with rows of sharp spikes that it uses to hold its prey. Mantises are carnivores; everyone knows they eat other insects but larger mantises have been known to eat small reptiles such as lizards and snakes. Some have been seen eating small birds such as humming birds.

The mantis waits motionless for their prey to come into range then strikes with its forelegs. Sometimes they will creep closer to the insect to capture it. The mantis will move back and forth possibly mimicking leaves swaying in the breeze that it resembles. Then suddenly it will lean forward and snap out and grab the insect with its front legs. Usually the mantis starts eating the insect while it’s still alive going for the neck first in order to stop the stop it from struggling quickly.

Crocodiles

Crocodiles hunt everything from fish to cattle. A large meal such as cattle can be enough for them for up to a year. Crocodiles can ingest up to 23% of their own body weight at one time. Crocodiles have a high acidity in their stomachs which enables them to dissolve bones, hooves and feathers. For some reason teeth are the only thing that can not be dissolved by these powerful juices.

Boa constrictors

Young boas eat mice, small birds, lizards, and frogs. The larger the snake grows the larger the size of its prey is. Adult boas have been known to eat larger animals such as monkeys and wild pigs. They overpower their victims by squeezing them and then once the prey is squeezed to death they swallow it whole. Boas are cold-blooded and move slowly so it doesn’t require a great amount of food. Once a boa has eaten a large animal it will not need to eat anything for about week sometimes more.