Tails

The *Tail* of an Animal is a vulnerable region most animals have, located directly behind their frontside. It is recommended for all animals, even the largest ones, to keep their tails well-guarded (this is relatively easy for Jellyfish, King Dragons and Blue Whales due to their abilities), for the reasons below.

## Tail-Biting

Tail biting is a game mechanic that allows prey to fight back by biting the tail of a predator. If a tail is bite-able, it will be highlighted with a light green outline. Certain animals lack a bite-able tail, with those being the Mouse, Shrimp, Chipmunk, Desert Rat, Rabbit, Trout, Arctic Hare, Desert Chipmunk, and Crab. Animals that are neutral (with a dark green outline) cannot have their tails bitten, unless they are tier 15 or above.

When an animal is tailbit, they lose 1 HP and the biter obtains 40 XP + 2% of the bitten animal's XP, said to be with a maximum of double the biter's current XP. Tailbit animals are immune to more tailbites for about a second and automatically turn around. Animals cannot be tailbit by an animal coming out of a Hiding Hole or Cave.

## Strategy

### Offense

A strategy that is used commonly with tail biting is to tail bite the animal when it is already stunned. This can be done if you are prey to a hippo or elephant, who are farming bees. You can also choose a good tail-biting animal like the Falcon, which can fly away. Then look for a high-leveled animal on low health, and if you have precision, skill, and luck, you might be able to eat it with a tail bite.

Another strategy is to hide on a Hiding Hole when a predator chases you. Chances are they will also enter the hole. Once they leave the hole out of boredom or thirst, their tail is very easily exposed. You may quickly bite it and enter the hole. This may, however, make the enemy more aggressive, so usage with higher tier animals is not reccomendable.

The 1v1 arena is an important feature of the game that is centered on tail-biting. The default mode is Last Man Standing, meaning you and another player try to tail-bite each other, and as bites does damage, one player will die soon enough. For more details, check out the 1v1 page.

### Defense

It is fairly easy to guard your tail if you are a predator; if an animal is biting your tail, simply turn around and bite it. The usual reaction is that the animal runs away, but if you are able to kill it, go ahead.

Usually, tail-bite battles, or 1v1s can only be attempted by tier 15 and above, but in some cases, like when the biter is a Gazelle, tail-biting is a lot easier. Defending yourself against a Gazelle is like a 1v1, however, the duration of the conflict is only as long as the Gazelle's ability lasts. Refer to the 1v1 article for defense strategies on equivalents.

## Trivia

* Some animals appear to have huge tails, but only a small part can be bitten. The longest tail is the Blue Whale’s, and one of the shortest tails is the Jellyfish's (with no visible tail at all).
* Before October 18, 2016, animals had absolutely no way of defending themselves against a predator, other than abilities and running away.
* After the update August 11, 2020, there was consequently a glitch created where tail biting gives no XP. This glitch is currently still in effect. It's sometimes due to the fact that when coming out of holes, there is a brief period of time where you are essentially in god mode except your ability will do no damage, and that you can't gain XP if you tail-bite during that brief period of time (formally you could lose XP by coming into contact with predators while in this "invincibility" which made the hole trick possible but now it's patched).
* In Wild Mope, animals below tier 15 can bite the tails of any animal, including neutrals.