144. 1st Grade SRR: Spines Jab

Ouch! Have you ever been poked by a thorn? Then you should know how useful having sharp points could be for an animal.

This sea animal has spines on its back. The spines help keep it safe from fish, turtles, and other sea animals that would like to eat it.

​

Sea urchins have spines, too. If a fish could talk, it might say, “I should go find something less sharp to eat.” Yet many fish are glad to gobble sea urchins. Birds, otters, and crabs eat them, too.

Sea urchins can jam into cracks between rocks. Their spines help hold them in place so animals can’t pull them out.

​

​What would this fish say if it could talk? It might say, “Boo!” Its spines lie flat when it is swimming and pop up when an animal starts coming close to it.

Then the fish puffs itself up into a big ball with spikes sticking out. Puffing up gives the other animal a fright and makes the fish hard for the animal to grab and eat.

This reptile has prickles that look like horns. An animal that picks it up is jabbed by these prickles. The reptile may be dropped quickly! Then it has time to run and hide.

The reptile’s skin colors also help it blend in with the sand and dirt where it lives. That helps keep it safe, too.

​

This hedgehog has very sharp spines poking out from its head to its tail. Animals that try to grab it are sure to get jabbed.

A hedgehog can roll itself into a ball. It tucks in its head, feet, and belly and leaves its pointy spines sticking out. Few animals would want to bite such a prickly snack!

This animal has long spines called quills. It starts shaking and rattling its quills when an animal comes too close.

It lashes its tail at the other animal so that its quills stick into the other animal’s skin. An animal that gets poked by this animal’s quills won’t be likely to hunt for it again!

​