Eating Myself | National Geographic

you probably think of centipedes as tiny
squishy bothersome things cowering in
your garden meet the South American
centipede about a foot long in your face
and full of surprises first surprise
this centipede is still growing so it’s
got to shed so a new exoskeleton can
grow on its body like a debutante
wriggling out of a too-tight evening
gown the centipede has to squirm slink
twitch why then is out of its
confinement finally finally it gets out
of its old body armor now it has to
plump up fast before its epidermis
secretes chitin too soon
if the chitin hardens into a shell why
the centipede is still on the smallish
side the shedding would have been
pointless hey what could be more
convenient snackie than that handy old
exoskeleton what do you call this I mean
it’s not cannibalism because that’s
eating another of your own species I
guess you could call this in Auto
grazing
the centipede has a new skin and a new
attitude creditor it’s hungry and eating
its old skin just isn’t good enough it’s
after a baby green iguana the iguana is
fast twitchy
highly mobile and impulsive the
centipede is slower persistent hungry
and strategic the centipede advances on
the iguana the iguana retreats the
iguana scoots the centipede crawls scoot
crawl scoot crawl
whoopsie-daisy somehow after all that
scooting the iguana finds itself at the
end of a branch how bad happened yow
the centipede moves in for the moment of
truth the iguana considers its options
and in a defensive response leaps into
the safety of the water below
okay so the Senate aide wasn’t satisfied
eating its own skin and then it failed
to nab a more substantial meal know what
these baby rats are safe because mom is
guarding the nest but mom has to go
grocery shopping
leaving the babies completely helpless
speaking of grocery shopping
the centipede relies on ground
vibrations and antenna touch to locate a
feast like this one
mom senses danger and races to the
rescue the centipede is chased off but
not before mom discovers one of her
babies dead killed by the Senate Dean
now wait a minute we don’t want you to
think that centipedes are Venom’s
spewing hundred legged baby killers I
mean the females can be devoted moms I
dare any predator to try and get at
these eggs this mom is literally a
basket case protecting her eggs until
they hatch and a new generation of
fierce multi limbed warriors are
unleashed on the jungle
you