The ratel's skin is roughly six millimetres thick across the neck and shoulders and is loosely connected to the underlying tissue over most of the trunk. A grip on one part of the body therefore does not immobilise the rest. A honey badger held at the scruff can twist within the skin envelope and reach around with its jaws, which changes the outcome of an attack by a larger predator.
The skin is also tough. It resists bee stings, porcupine quills and many bites, though it is not impervious, and honey badgers do die in fights. With long digging claws and a habit of standing its ground, this produces the animal's outsized reputation.
Two widely repeated stories need care. The claim of full immunity to snake venom is overstated: honey badgers show unusual resistance, and animals have survived cobra and puff adder bites after periods of unconsciousness, but resistance is not immunity and its physiological basis is not fully described. And the cooperative partnership with the greater honeyguide bird, long presented as established, has surprisingly thin direct evidence, with almost no verified observations of the two species working together.