Animals That Are Sneaky

Nature and the animal kingdom is a tough place, so it’s no surprise that some animals need to do what they can in order to survive. 

Animals That Are Sneaky

However, doing what you need to do to survive is one thing, but some animals display behavior that is just downright sneaky and to be frank, mean! 

While we humans will never understand what it is like to have to fight for your life every day, some of the characteristics of some animals are so incredibly sneaky that you may find it difficult to justify! 

Here is a list of some of the sneakiest animals in the world! 

Black Herons

Animals That Are Sneaky

Black herons are African waterbirds and their dark appearance adds to their sneaky nature. They have a horrible predatory technique which is known as canopy feeding. 

What they do is create a little umbrella over the water by opening out their wings and crossing them together. This creates a little dark area in the water that leads fish to believe that either night has fallen, or that this area is a little nook of security. 

Whichever they believe, it causes fish to swim on over and investigate. Once they reach the area, this sneaky bird will stab it with its beak, gobbling it up for dinner! 

Skuas

Animals That Are Sneaky

Skuas are seabirds that can be thought of as airborne thugs, as theft is their specialty. They have earned themselves this reputation as they show no remorse when it comes to stealing the chicks and eggs of other birds. 

They also enjoy teaming up with fellow skuas and harassing other seabirds to the point where they throw up their catch. 

Topi Antelope

Animals That Are Sneaky

The sneaky behavior of Topi Antelope may remind you of human behavior, as they are notorious for telling lies in order to increase their chances of sex. 

In order to keep their females close by, male topi have been known to make certain noises that replicate sounding an alarm to prevent their females from wandering off. 

In other words, they scream ‘Fire Fire!’ to prevent their females from running off into the arms of another man. Sound familiar? 

Sabre Tooth Blenny

Animals That Are Sneaky

Don’t be fooled by the adorable face of this little guy. This species of blenny fish is called the aspidontus taeniatus and is tiny and lives in the Indo-Pacific. 

It resembles the cleaner wrasse, which is another fish that lives in this area, and this little sneaky fish uses that to its advantage.

Cleaner wrasse are very friendly fish that help out bigger fish by feeding on the parasites that are attached to them. This stops them from being hunted by these fish. 

However, this little fish impersonates the cleaner wrasse, and instead of feeding on the parasites of big fish, it will bite a chunk off its face or fin, and then run away. 

Despite this conniving behavior, they can only do this to juvenile fish, as older ones are aware of their tactics and will pursue them as their prey. 

Butterflies

Animals That Are Sneaky

While it might be hard to imagine beautiful butterflies being mean, these insects have no mercy when it comes to the tears of other animals. 

It’s hard to find sodium in certain areas, such as the Amazon basin, so in order to get their hands on it, butterflies will steal it from the tears of other animals! 

Other animals, such as parrots, aren’t as horrible and prefer to access the mineral from mineral deposits, but butterflies like to take advantage of this sadness and like to target the tears that fall from the eyes of other animals, such as turtles.

This is likely due to their slow nature. 

Alligators And Crocodiles 

Animals That Are Sneaky

Alligators and crocodiles are the largest reptiles in the world. This would have anyone believing they’re pretty high up on the food chain and don’t necessarily need to use sneaky measures to catch their prey – think again! 

They enjoy tricking birds into false landing spots by placing all kinds of sticks and twigs into their mouths. Birds view these sticks as the material they can use to build a nest.

The minute they swoop down to grab hold of one, the alligator or crocodile will attack and gobble the poor bird up!

Chameleons

Animals That Are Sneaky

Chameleons are reptiles known for being able to change color in order to camouflage into the background. 

While this is a defense mechanism they use to hide from predators, it is also a way for them to sneakily catch their prey. 

These little guys will camouflage into the background without moving a muscle. They will then catch insects that are flying by with their long tongues, and place them into their mouths. 

Golden Eagles 

Animals That Are Sneaky

What makes these majestic birds so sneaky, is their technique of catching prey in pairs. One eagle will begin to chase their prey, leading it away from the other animals and into their area. 

Once this eagle has chased the animal far enough, the second eagle will strike a blow to its neck, which kills it instantly. 

After they’ve killed it, they will carry it with their feet to their nests, and eat it up with their beaks. 

Foxes

Animals That Are Sneaky

Foxes are sneaky and cunning in their hunting technique. They have an amazing sense of smell and eyesight, and when it comes to catching their prey, they wait on trees and watch them for a while before pouncing on them from above. 

This is known as mousing, and foxes are just one of the very few animals that use this technique when hunting. 

Octopus

Animals That Are Sneaky

Octopus are very intelligent creatures, and they mainly hunt at night when they are hard to see. 

Their sneaky hunting technique involves squirting their black ink toward their prey to disorientate them before attacking.

They also have a secret beak they use in order to inject venom into their target, before wrapping them up in their arms and taking them away. There are multiple species of octopi you may want to check out.

Final Thoughts 

We hope this article has given you a good insight into how sneaky some animals can really be!

Olivia Kepner