Eat and Be Eaten

Which side of the plate are you on?

The natural world is an exciting and dangerous place, where denizens spend their days – and nights – seeking food to survive, while trying to avoid being eaten themselves. Long before humans developed poisons and camouflage and other staples of modern warfare, nature was using all of these elements and more in the struggle to survive. Eat and Be Eaten, filled with live animals, explores the complex interaction that has been elegantly dubbed the "circle of life." You'll never think about dinner the same way again.

Exhibition Themes

► Hide and Seek
How do you escape from predators that are stronger and faster than you? Many plants and animals survive by developing camouflage to hide from their hunters. But blending into their surroundings can also help predators sneak up on their prey. Species you’ll encounter using these techniques include leaf-tailed geckos, firefly-mimic cockroaches and an alligator snapping turtle.

► Chemical Warfare
Animals and plants have come up with a wide variety of toxic compounds to help hunt and protect themselves. Sometimes they make the chemicals themselves; other times, they consume food full of toxins to which they're immune -- but their prey isn't. Natural chemists include black widow spiders, a Gila monster and poison dart frogs.

► Built for the Kill
The world's top hunters are known as apex predators, because they sit at the top of the food chain, blessed with adaptations that help them detect, capture and consume prey with little risk from predators of their own. This four-foot Asian water monitor is a perfect example of a born hunter.

► Cheating Death
Many animals have come up with individual and group behaviors that help them keep from getting captured. Some have even found ways to survive once they’re trapped in another creature’s jaws! These durable species include puffer fish, hissing cockroaches and red-legged tortoises.