Deception is widespread in the animal kingdom. Caterpillars may look like twigs and crabs may cover their shells with a mini-forest of algae, to fool their predators. Fake eyespots on moth wings or the rear ends of caterpillars deflect predatory attacks from real heads. A predator may simply hide itself, in ambush, conveying no apparent threat.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the fakery involves decision-making on a more immediate and individual level. For instance, a defensive animal may puff itself up to look bigger and perhaps more dangerous than it really is. Or a chimpanzee, a titmouse or a jay might emit a fake danger call when no predator is near, just to spook other animals away from a food source.<\/p>\n
Deliberate deceitfulness is well-known among animals that cache food, particularly if another critter observes their caching behavior. The trickery goes beyond merely spacing the caches more widely, as chickadees do, or going behind some visual obstacle to make a cache. Gray squirrels make fake — empty — caches if they are watched by another squirrel. Ravens and other corvids are even more duplicitous. If observed by another raven, a bird with a food item caches the item but surreptitiously sneaks it out and goes away to stash it elsewhere, while the observing bird visits the now-empty cache site. And it matters just who the observer is: A stranger or known pilferer may be treated much more suspiciously than a mate or a buddy.<\/p>\n