Deceit is all over the animal kingdom.

Everything from camouflaged fur to puffing up your feathers is an act of deception.

And I feel silly telling you this. If you're an average homo sapien, you probably told your first lie before your fourth birthday.

But in some species, deception gets really complicated.

There are birds who will pretend to have a broken wing

to feign vulnerability and lure away predators from their babies.

There are primates who will trick members of their own species

by giving fake alarm calls,

saying the monkey version of, look out, a hawk, and then using the

ensuing chaos as cover to steal some food. Animals are tricksters. Animals are liars.

And today we're going to talk about an animal who performs one of the most hilariously intricate acts of deception

in nature, an animal who goes to absurd lengths to deceive rivals. But today we aren't talking

about a rare creature you've never heard of, no, we're talking about an animal who might be in your

backyard right now.

An extremely common animal who performs a rare behavior you've never heard of.

The common garter snake.

Themnophis Sertalus.

I'm Mackin. This is Species.

Welcome to the show. If you liked this podcast and you haven't made plans for Thursday night,

I highly recommend you register for my upcoming lecture. This Thursday, October 22nd, at 7.30 p.m., I will be speaking for

about half an hour on symbiosis in the human species. I'll tell you about some insane

symbiotic relationships that are completely unbelievable. And I'll talk to you about the

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